There are proposals circulating presently for an F1 race around the streets of the Spanish capital Madrid, with the layout being around the IFEMA Convention Centre in the northeast of the city, close to the Barajas International Airport.
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
The idea is that the convention centre complex as part of the F1 paddock including the permanent garages and pit straight. The track would then loop around the streets, including a section of motorway and run next to world-famous football club Real Madrid’s Valdebebas training camp.
The race would run from 2026 for a ten-year deal until 2035 and has the support of the local government but will be financed through private investors, notably Luis Garcia Abad being one of the potential investors, who is Fernando Alonso’s former manager.
If the deal were to go ahead, what would it hold for the Spanish Grand Prix held outside Barcelona? While that event always brings a great crowd and has been a mainstay on the calendar since 2005, many fans often speak about the lack of exciting races that the track layout yields in the Catalonia Region. Would this spell the end to racing in Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya?
However we have had two races on Spanish soil in the same season in the past, most recently the European Grand Prix was held on the streets of Valencia for five years from 2008 to 2012, and the Spanish Grand Prix kept it’s slot in Barcelona. A point of interest here is that the Trademarks ‘Formula 1 Madrid Grand Prix’ and ‘Madrid Grand Prix’ were registered in March this year.
In recent days we have heard of F1 personal becoming ill due to the calendar constraints of the current F1 season, another race would add to this burden and for sure put pressure on Barcelona. Speaking about the potential Madrid Grand Prix, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali acknowledges that having two races in Spain may be difficult.
“You can never say never in life, of course, but two races in Spain is very complicated. There is great interest from Madrid but it is also true that we are focused at the moment on Barcelona, which has a contract, and the relationship is strong,” said the Italian earlier this year.
