Official and historical: Formula 1 will come to Madrid in 2026

It’s official and historic: Formula 1 will return to Madrid starting in 2026. The long-awaited agreement, developed in recent months, has now become a reality, guaranteeing the future of the Circus Maximus in Spain for the next decade with a semi-urban circuit around IFEMA. The ambitious plan is currently being presented at an event in Madrid, which will be attended by Domenicali, CEO of the championship, as well as Ayuso, president of the community; Almeida, mayor of the capital, and José Vicente de los Mosos, president of IFEMA. It will be called the Spanish Grand Prix, and a contract has been signed for ten years, until 2035.

The route has already been planned and will include a banking section and clear overtaking points,

occupying some pavilions of the Madrid Congress Palace, as well as the surrounding area. This is included in the following calendars will indirectly affect the future of the current Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, confirmed for 2026 for now because the calendar does not allow more than 24 races per year, although both the circuit and Formula 1 say negotiations are underway, in Montmelo they hope to present enough offer to stay and Domenicali will listen to her.

The Madrid project is viewed in two mirrors: Miami and Zandvoort. Because this will be an event designed to make the most of hospitality areas such as the famous Hard Rock Stadium paddock, use of IFEMA funds; and because there will also be the huge Spanish fans who have packed the home Grand Prix in recent seasons, along with good recent results from Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz. Additionally, a track designed by the studio of Jarno Zafelli (who remade the Dutch layout). It will involve spinning to increase overtaking ability, a common weakness on the city roads frequented by Formula One. The track has 20 turns, and the circle is more than 5 kilometers long and will take about one and a half minutes.

Because it is located relatively far from the nerve center of the city, it will not have an undue impact on traffic. The projected capacity of the track is 110,000 spectators per day, there is an idea to increase it to 140,000.

The 2026 race is set to be the first Formula 1 race in Madrid since 1981: Jarama hosted the World Cup intermittently between 1968 and that campaign and recorded victories for Graham Hill, Stewart, Fittipaldi, Lauda, ​​Hunt, Mario Andretti and Gilles Villeneuve. That is why the official slogan says that Formula 1 is returning, albeit under a new scenario. It is this grand prize that aligns with Liberty Media’s two main goals for the calendar: This is an event of historical tradition (The Spanish Grand Prix has been held 53 times, the seventh in history), but at the same time with modern preparation aimed at a Miami or Las Vegas style spectacle, in a Latin and European city with a huge projection.

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