José Vicente de los Mozo, president of IFEMA Madrid’s Executive Committee, said on Thursday that they have yet to sign the contract that will seal the Madrid Grand Prix, “I know when we are going to sign it and when we are going to do it.” However, he did not give further details.
Photo credit: Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team
IFEMA has a confidentiality agreement with FOM (Formula One Management), the F1 operating company, which prevents it from revealing the details of the contract, but de los Mozos said that the date of the announcement is already known.
The Grand Prix would be run on a street circuit around the exhibition grounds and it was recently announced that it would generate around 500 million euros a year for the Madrid region, and there has been talk of having more than 12 pavilions available to the teams to make it not just a race, but an experience and “the best there is in Europe.”
Some of the races in Europe are quite traditional, such is the case of Barcelona or Monza, whose grand prix are focused on the race per se and not on the spectacle or the experience of the attendees, however, we have seen that recently the grand prix in the American continent have set a pattern in this sense, so it seems that Madrid wants to follow in their footsteps.
In the Spanish capital at present is the F1 exhibition held at the IFEMA (Institución Ferial de Madrid). It ends next month after starting in March.
During today’s breakfast, the venue’s director commented that the idea is not just F1, but for Madrid to be a world reference point for motorsport.
We know that there are some countries that have even three grand prix (USA), Italy (two), Spain would be the third to have two if Barcelona stayed, so de los Mozos took the opportunity to clarify that both events could coexist within the national territory, but he took the opportunity to make it clear that his priority is Madrid: “If in the end there are two, I’m delighted, but I speak and work for Madrid.”
