On June 22, 2022, few took Madrid’s candidacy to host a Grand Prix of Madrid too seriously. Formula 1. Less than two years later, everyone has had to reconsider.
This morning Formula 1 and the event promoter IFEMA, in the person of José Vicente de los Mozos, have announced that starting in 2026 the capital of Spain will host a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The race, which will be held in the city of Madrid, will be another citizen of a calendar already full of events that bring Formula 1 cars to the streets that ordinary people use every day to go to work, to get to their homes. loved ones, to walk or visit.
IFEMA, a large congress and convention center in the capital, is a venue large enough – counting the streets that surround it – to be exploited and hold a Formula 1 race.
It is managed by a consortium of public entities, formed by the Madrid City Council (31%), the Regional Administration of the Community of Madrid (31%), the Madrid Chamber of Commerce (31%) and the Montemadrid Foundation (7% ).
For several months it had been clear that IFEMA was serious. De los Mozos had already declared: ‘I know when we are going to sign the contract and I know when we are going to make the tender.’
“We have followed the process that was indicated to us. The Spanish Automobile Federation was informed from the first moment, we signed the exclusive and now we are proceeding with the contract.”
In recent weeks the contract has been signed and the Madrid Grand Prix will be held starting in 2026. It will be an important year, since in that same season the last Grand Prix should also be held at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, better known like Montmeló.
For many years the Catalan track has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix, but with the inclusion of the Madrid Grand Prix things are going to change. Thus, in 2026 the nomenclature of the events could become the Grand Prix of Catalonia for Montmeló and the Grand Prix of Spain for Madrid. Then, the focus will shift to the Circuit de Catalunya, to see if the promoters try and manage to extend the contract or if, on the contrary, the track that stands a stone’s throw from Granollers will be doomed to bankruptcy.
Returning to Madrid, according to the event promoters, the race weekend is expected to generate 500 million euros for the region. Important income for an even more money-focused Formula 1. We will have to be careful not to exceed the limit, because forgetting the sporting aspect could lead to the collapse of the house of cards built in recent years.