The
Monumental
547.82 metres of asphalt curving at 24% banking. It is the feature the Madrid circuit wants to be known for, and the only part of the lap that looks like nothing else on the calendar. Here is what has actually been measured, what the drivers who have already driven it say, and where you can watch it from.
Every measurement
All these figures come from the official circuit fact sheet and the organisers’ press releases. Where one source rounds and the other gives the decimal, the decimal is what you get here.
- Length
- 547.82 m
- Banking
- 24 %
- Width
- 12 m
- Maximum height
- 10 m
- Time inside
- ~6 s
- Spectators
- 45,000
The organisers round it to 550 metres in the press.
Constant gradient across the whole corner.
At its widest point.
Drop between the bottom and the top of the banking.
How long cars spend turning at that angle, per the organisers.
Capacity the official fact sheet gives the area around the corner.
The 547.82 metres is the exact figure from the circuit fact sheet; the 550 metres you see in headlines is the same measurement rounded, not a different one.
Where the name comes from
The organisers explain the name two ways: the semicircular shape, which echoes the ring of a bullring, and how demanding the corner itself is. Madrid has the reference close to hand —Las Ventas is the best-known bullring in Spain— and the circuit has built much of its visual identity on it: La Monumental is the centrepiece of the official Grand Prix poster.
It is not the only corner at MADRING with a name of its own. The organisers have named eight sections of the lap, almost all after places nearby: Hortaleza, the Las Cárcavas climb, El Búnker, El Parque. It is a branding decision, but a practical one too: these are the names the broadcast will use and the ones you will see signposted inside the venue.
What makes it hard
The banking is half the story. The other half, and the part that surprised Carlos Sainz when he drove it for the first time in May 2026, is that the corner is blind: from the car you cannot see the exit, because the gradient itself hides the horizon. That turns a section that looks flat out on paper into a corner about reference points and memory.
What Sainz said after driving it
Quotes from the first driver to complete a lap of the circuit, translated from Spanish. Each one shows the original wording and links to where it was published.
«I thought La Monumental was just a banked corner and that was it»
Original in Spanish: «Yo pensaba que La Monumental tenía peralte y ya»
«It is not just banked, it is blind as well. You have created quite a cocktail»
Original in Spanish: «No solo tiene peralte, sino que además es ciega. Habéis creado un buen cóctel»
«All you can see is the sky»
Original in Spanish: «Sólo se ve el cielo»
Which grandstands look onto it
The official sale does not sell «tickets for La Monumental»: it sells sections. These are the ones around it according to the official description of each grandstand. If the banking is the reason you are going, check here before you choose.
The one facing the banking
The only section the official sale describes explicitly as being around the Monumental corner. Silver category, partial cover.
Covered, same sector
Silver Plus, and among the few grandstands the organisers describe as covered. They sit in the fast technical stretch that feeds into the banking.
The entry to the corner
Carlos Sainz’s Team FIFTY5 grandstand, high up on the Las Cárcavas climb. From there you see the fast sequence before it and the entry to La Monumental.
The exit
Silver, described as the technical sector after the banking. This is where you find out who got the corner right and who did not.
The Monumental Fan Zone
Beyond the grandstands, the venue has a Fan Zone named after the corner. Access depends on your ticket category: it is open to Silver Plus and Silver.
How it was built
The banking was surfaced in March 2026 and the organisers published the details of the operation. This is construction data rather than spectacle, but it explains why this corner is not just another stretch of asphalt.
Over 1,800 cubic metres of mix
For the base layer of the banking alone. The mix was produced at the Vicálvaro plant, in Madrid itself.
Laid at around 170 °C
With a window of barely 30 minutes from leaving the plant to being laid, which meant coordinating two pavers working in sync.
20% less material
The pavement design cut roughly that proportion of material compared with the original plan.
The other named corners at MADRING
La Monumental is turn 12 of a 22-corner lap. These are the others the organisers have named, with the lengths published on the official fact sheet.
| Turn | Name | Length | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Hortaleza | 139.73 m | Fast right-hander named after the neighbouring district, launching the cars into the urban part of the lap. |
| 6-7 | Subida de las Cárcavas | — | An 8% climb that gains ten metres of elevation: the highest point of the circuit. |
| 8 | El Búnker | 72.79 m | Named after the Spanish Civil War bunkers still standing beside the track. |
| 10-11 | La Chicane | 92.94 + 94.5 m | Two linked corners whose job is to scrub off speed before the banking. |
| 12 | La Monumental | 547.82 m | The 24% banked corner. Semicircular like a bullring, which is where the name comes from. |
| 14-16 | Las Enlazadas de Valdebebas | 76.06 + 209.7 + 40.54 m | The fastest sequence on the circuit: three linked corners taken almost flat out. |
| 18 | Norte | 95.34 m | Named after IFEMA's North Convention Centre, right beside the corner. |
| 22 | El Parque | 119.14 m | Final corner of the lap, next to the Juan Carlos I park. |
Frequently asked questions
Exactly how long is the Monumental corner?
547.82 metres, according to the official circuit fact sheet. The organisers round it to 550 metres in their press releases: same measurement, not two different figures.
Is 24% banking a lot?
It is a 10-metre drop between the bottom and the top of the corner, and enough for the circuit to have made it its signature. Cars spend around 6 seconds turning at that angle inside it.
Can you walk up onto the banking?
No. La Monumental is part of the live track, with the grandstands and the Fan Zone that carries its name around it. Track access is not included in any ticket category.
Which ticket do I need to see it?
There is no corner-specific ticket. Section 9A is the one the official sale places around it, and Silver Plus 8 and 8A are in the same sector. Every Grand Prix ticket is a three-day pass: single days are not sold.
Is it really the longest corner in the world?
The organisers publish it as the longest on the Formula 1 calendar, and that is the claim that holds up. The «in the world» version is the circuit’s own line, repeated by the press, rather than a measured comparison against layouts in other categories.