Street course
Officially: Formula 1 in Madrid from 2026
Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali: “Madrid is an incredible city.” photo
© Hasan Bratic/dpa
In the future, Formula 1 wants to race on a street circuit around the trade fair in the Spanish capital. The fans should be happy: there should be over 100,000 seats.
Formula 1 will have a new highlight in Europe from 2026. Spain’s capital Madrid will then be an integral part of the premier motorsport class and will become a new European attraction with a race track for over 100,000 spectators. The contract that was confirmed is valid until 2035. There has been speculation about Madrid’s entry for some time.
From 1968 to 1981 there were nine Formula 1 races at the Circuito del Jarama near Madrid. The Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona near the Catalan metropolis has been on the calendar since 1991, and the contract there is valid until 2026.
With the multi-year contract for Madrid, the American Formula 1 owners are continuing the trend for long-term planning security. After places like Miami in the USA, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Doha in Qatar were added in recent years, Madrid will be a race in a European capital.
Street course around the trade fair
The new route will be 5.47 kilometers long, have 20 corners and will be partly a street circuit around the Madrid exhibition center, near Real’s training ground and around 16 kilometers from the city center. Initially, up to 110,000 fans should be able to come per day. According to estimates, 90 percent of them will come to the course using public transport.
An expansion of the spectator capacity to up to 140,000 seats is planned during the first half of the contract, it was also said. According to calculations, the Grand Prix is expected to bring in 450 million euros per year for the Madrid economy. There will also be activities for fans in Madrid’s city center.
The proposal made by the Madrid Trade Fair, the regional government and the mayor “truly embodies Formula 1’s vision of creating a multi-day sports and entertainment spectacle that offers fans maximum added value and combines innovation and sustainability,” said Formula 1. 1 managing director Stefano Domenicali in a statement.
“We have the ambition to organize a Grand Prix that will become a reference in the global Formula 1 calendar,” emphasized Jose Vicente de los Mozos, President of the Executive Committee of the Madrid Fair.