by VALERIO BARRETTA
F1 in Madrid. And Barcelona?
Today the long-awaited marriage between Formula 1 and Madrid. From 2026 the Spanish capital will return to the Circus after over 40 years of absence (the last GP dated back to 1981, in Jarama) and will replace Barcelona as the venue for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The signs at this morning's press conference at the Madrid exhibition center (Ifema) left no room for many interpretations: next to the words “Formula 1 Gran Premio de España” there were the dates 2026 and 2035, the beginning and end of the ten-year period with which the Circus linked itself to the Spanish capital. And now Barcelona's future in F1 involves a series of question marks not at all clarified by F1 president Stefano Domenicali.
The 2026 node
The first question concerns the name of the two grand prix scheduled for 2026. For that year, in fact, Barcelona also has a contract with Formula 1 to host the Spanish Grand Prix. At least this is what the Circus communicated in 2021.
Since there can be multiple races in the same country on the same calendar but only one can organize the “national” GP, it is clear that Madrid and Barcelona have the requirements to host F1 in 2026, but one will have to cede the name of GP to the other of Spain. From 2027, this problem will no longer arise as the Spanish GP will only be held in Madrid. However, another question will arise: will Montmeló still be in Formula 1? At the moment it seems highly unlikely, because the organization of a GP like the one in Barcelona costs approximately 25 million dollars and involves a significant outlay by local institutions, an expense which in recent years in Catalonia they have paid with increasingly reluctance.
Domenicali's opening
In today's press conference, Domenicali did not close the doors to Barcelona for the future, in order to have two races in Spain, as is happening for Italy (and will happen at least until 2025). Everything will focus on Barcelona's ability, and at this point also desire, to remain on the Circus calendar after almost four decades of F1: in 2026 the Catalan city will host the 36th consecutive GP. Perhaps, the last one.
#Madrid #future #Barcelona
