Madrid will work to once again have a Formula 1 Grand Prix after 45 years. The single-seaters would return to the Spanish capital in 2026 in a semi-urban circuit whose epicenter will be IFEMAas he has been able to confirm THE SPANISH NEWSPAPER, from the Iberian Press group. The layout will be displayed by Valdebebas, in the north of Madrid. It will not be incompatible with the Spanish Grand Prix that will be held in Montmeló (Barcelona), at least until 2026, when the contract expires.
The test would see the light after the work that began more than a year and a half ago. The first public showing took place in June 2022, when Enrique Lopezthe Minister of the Presidency of the Community of Madrid, sent a letter to Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1, nominating the Spanish city as the venue for a GP in the short term.
‘Formula 1 Madrid Grand Prix’, trademark
The sample of a coexistence between Barcelona and Madrid is in the record that was made on March 28 in the Official Bulletin of Industrial Property, which reports on the new patents. Between them, ‘Formula 1 Madrid Grand Prix’ y ‘Madrid Grand Prix’. would be compatible with Barcelona Spanish Grand Prix, a denomination that could have in case the Catalan test declines. Whatever the destination of Montmeló, Madrid will be integrated into the calendar.
“We would like the Spanish Grand Prix to continue for many years. That there would be compatibility between the two races. But you have to ask Formula One Management (the operating company of F1). I am working on my Madrid project, but if there are two races in the end, better“, assured José Vicente de los Mozos, president of the executive committee of IFEMA Madrid, who confirmed the project.
Two races have already coincided in the past, while the European GP was held between 2008 and 2012 in Valencia. Although all the steps taken in recent times have led F1 to countries like the US, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Azerbaijan. “I know when we are going to sign it and when we are going to do it. As I have confidence with Domenicali, we are doing things“added the head of IFEMA, the key figure in these negotiations.
De los Mozos, figure of the key engine in the negotiation
CEO of Indra since the end of June, De los Mozos is one of the most important figures that the automotive sector has had in Spain. Among other charges, was a member of the executive committee of the Renault GroupChairman of the Board of Directors of Renault Spain and Chairman of ANFAC, the employers’ association of automobile manufacturers.
IFEMA will play a leading role in the future Madrid GP. Its 200,000 square meters, 13 pavilions, 85 rooms or two convention centers are a powerful base of operations on which to deploy the enormous infrastructure that a test of this type requires. In fact, the fairgrounds could be integrated into a semi-urban layout that would be between five and six kilometres, following the trend of the last great prizes that have been incorporated, like Miami, Las Vegas or Jeddah.
Although information came out at the beginning of the negotiation linking the return of F1 to Jarama, the circuit that hosted the last Grand Prix in Madrid in 1981 to date has not become a real option. Taking the test to a track that hosts other championships would require an important reform and not in line with recent testing policy.
Hotel and airport to facilitate disembarkation
In addition, Valdebebas, where IFEMA is located, offers multiple possibilities. It is an expanding area of Madrid, with a financial and business focus, where the Sports City of Real Madrid. It is next to the Barajas airport, which will facilitate the movement of the more than 100 people and 50 tons of material that each team moves.
With the same intention, the Philippine company HOTEL101 will build a 6,600-square-meter establishment with a capacity of 736 rooms in Valdebebas. In fact, this property, which will be one of the five largest in the capital, is considered strategic in the framework that will surround the Madrid GP.
The Valdebebas roads are wide, with multiple lanes in each direction of travel. In turn, access to the airport poses convoluted detours that could be used in the semi-urban route. The area invites designers to all kinds of innovations without harming the city. The circuit would be removable and would be included in the F1 roadmap to be emission neutral by 2030.
Red Bull International Exhibition and Exhibition
Madrid has a culture with motor sports, especially thanks to the aforementioned Jarama, where Formula 1 landed in 1968 after 14 years of racing in the Spanish Grand Prix in Pedralbes (Barcelona). The layout was designed by John Hugenholtz, the creator of other mythical tracks such as Suzuka and Zandvoort. He hosted the Spanish GP alternately with the Montjuïc circuit, something that F1 has ruled out in the event of a coincidence between Barcelona and Madrid on the calendar.
The Spanish capital has contributed to making his candidacy a reality with different actions. IFEMA Madrid has extended until August 20 (it started in March) the first international exhibition in the history of Formula 1, whose inauguration was attended by Stefano Domenicali. On July 15, it was held in the center of the Spanish capital an exhibition starring the Red Bull Racing team. The demonstration included the participation of the Mexican pilot Checo Pérez.
His car was also exhibited in other towns in the community such as Alcalá de Henares, Alcobendas or San Lorenzo de El Escorial to promote the economic and tourist potential of this sport. According to data from ‘Palco 23’, Formula 1 had an economic impact of 163 million euros in Barcelona in 2022.
A “show race” for a 30-round World Cup
For Madrid, José Vicente de los Mozos, president of the executive committee of IFEMA, expects an immediate generation of 430 million in the region. His mirror is more Miami than Barcelona, due to the concept of a grand prize. The American appointment is the ‘summum’ in which all the applicants look at each other, with a project that will generate 5,000 million over 10 years.
“I am thinking of ‘wheel’ events for Madrid. I want it to be a world reference,” he detailed in July. The idea of the ‘Formula 1 Madrid Grand Prix’ or ‘Madrid Grand Prix’ is “to be much more than a race: We will seek the best experience in Europe about F1. There is no other circuit that has 13 pavilions and a space as versatile as IFEMA. It will be a spectacle race”. A concept that fits perfectly into the roadmap for a World Championship that contemplates up to 30 tests in 2030.
The idea of a sequence with almost no stops on the calendar will be accompanied by an increase in teams up to 12 o’clock. The American Andrettiby the hand of Cadillacalong with the British Hitechwhich compete in the divisions below F1, are the main candidates to be part of the grid from 2026.
The year in which Madrid’s entry into the calendar is contemplated and when the new engine regulations will arrive. Everything to feed the spectacle of a completely global sport, far from European labels, but which continues to look to the ‘Old Continent’ with projects like the one in the Spanish capital.
2023-08-06 07:52:49
#Madrid #works #host #IFEMA #independent #project #Barcelona
