‘Mental,’ said George Russell of the new track in Madrid that gets its first outing this weekend, and he sighed. He was not nervous, or at least not betraying nerves, but he wanted to express the verdict.Over on a screen at this very moment an ‘orange ball’ that has stalked and fascinated Formula One fans for years lit up.That is how it was in the Madrid paddock, on the fringes of this great city hosting its first F1 race for 45 years, as he sat next to me and we stared at the monitor while he held his breath.A day before, Russell had called this new race the ‘most risky’ in the sport. The track is surrounded by concrete walls and he and his ‘pals’ are circumnavigating it at far higher speeds than they do in the similarly confined Monaco streets. ‘A car-killer,’ reckoned Max Verstappen, the four-time world champion, perhaps the most fearless competitor on the grid.This so-called orange ball came in practice for F1’s feeder series, F2, when Thai driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s car caught fire after he hit barriers at Turn 19.The 20-year-old escaped straight away as Russell watched on. The red flag was waved. Marshals arrived on the scene. The fire was extinguished. The driver was fine. George Russell has warned fans that the new circuit for the Spanish Grand Prix is ‘mental’ Formula Two driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak saw his car go up in flames following a crashA few hours later Arvid Lindblad pranged his Racing Bulls car at Turn 13 in practice for tomorrow’s F1 race. The 19-year-old Briton was uninjured. This incident added to the state of concern over the track, though it may, in truth, be less dangerous possibly than Jeddah, home of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.Russell, who is 66 points adrift of his Mercedes team-mate and championship-leader Kimi Antonelli, exclaimed: ‘Wow.’He looked at the TV screen ahead of him.’This circuit is mental, and this corner… it is a fast right hander,’ he added.’There are a lot of really fast corners. The barriers come back on to the track. So, if you are going to go wide, you’re not hitting it at the same angle as the car is going.’The car is going towards the wall but the wall is coming in at you. Another element of the challenge here, which probably won’t cause major crashes, there’ll be a lot of lock-ups.’You have got three corners where you’re turning and braking, and if you lock up, the wall is right in front of you, which is very reminiscent of the – Oh, my God (as he watched the TV replay) – the 15th corner in Baku.’We’ve got three corners that are very similar to that Baku corner. Russell explained how there are ‘a lot of really fast corners’ – but there are no concerns that the track could be too dangerous’When I heard about the 20 red flags in F3, it was surprising. This circuit has less margin than Monaco. Purely because of the speed. In Monaco, the walls are closer, but because you’re going far slower, if you make a mistake, you’re not into the wall as quickly. And you can recover it sometimes, a small lock-up you can get over. Here, I think there’s less room for error.’Is there any concern that this track is too dangerous?’Not at the moment, but the view on that question will definitely be interesting after this weekend,’ said Russell, who was fifth quickest in practice under blue, with affairs led by Antonelli; an ominous sign for the Englishman, yet again.Of the fire-ball incident and, linked to that, a sense of hazard, Russell added: ‘I don’t think too much to be honest… I’m sure my mother worries more than I do on seeing any crash.’But I’m content with whatever happens. This is part of the risk. You can hurt yourself doing anything. My biggest incident where I probably hurt myself the most was on a vehicle when I was playing with my three-year-old nephew. He was on a quad and I was on an electric bike racing him through the garden.’I was next to him, and he looked at me, and, as he looked, he turned, and he wiped me out, and he’s gone barrel-rolling on the quad. I’ve gone barrel-rolling on the electric bike. That was the one when I hurt myself the most.’Let’s hope it stays that way, as F1 ponders its new track in Madrid.