Police investigate cable theft at Madring

Preparations for Madrid's first Formula 1 Grand Prix have acquired an unwelcome complication less than two weeks before cars are due on the new Madring circuit.

Police sources told EFE and Europa Press that cable had been taken from generators supplying circuit installations. The theft was detected on Sunday in a tunnel area through which part of the 5.4-kilometre track runs.

ABC reported that about 300 metres of cable was missing and that no arrests had been made. The authorities have not said what systems were affected, and there has been no public indication that the incident will alter the schedule for the Spanish Grand Prix on September 11-13.

The theft comes during the final event-preparation phase rather than the construction of the racing surface. Madring ran two days of official Formula 3 testing last week, when 30 drivers from 10 teams completed laps and the organisers exercised race control, communications, medical, safety and recovery procedures.

That test provided rather more useful evidence about the circuit's readiness than the inevitable speculation surrounding a stolen length of wire. It did not, however, end the scrutiny of a new semi-permanent venue preparing for its first Grand Prix.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem acknowledged that the approval work had required attention when he spoke to AS during the Rally of Paraguay.

The homologation has been complicated, but the feedback is good, he said. I'll be there, of course.

Madring has 22 corners and combines permanent sections around IFEMA Madrid with public roads in Valdebebas. The Formula 3 test showed that cars can run and the principal operational systems can function; the police investigation is now a separate and unwelcome item on the organisers' final checklist.