- Barcelona holds Spanish GP contract until 2026
- MotoGP interested in combined F1 weekend in Spanish capital
Formula One could be set to move the Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid as early as 2027.
Last year, local authorities sent an open letter to Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali outlining Madrid's commitment to hosting a future Formula One race.
This dream appears one step closer to reality as reports indicate that the global motorsport series is exploring the capital as an alternative host to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The Spanish Grand Prix has been hosted at the circuit since 1991, with the most recent contract extension cementing the Formula One race in the region until 2026.
Spanish daily sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo (MD) revealed that its sources assume that the Madrid project “will come true in 2027”, but a Formula One spokesperson clarified in response that “nothing has been done nor has an agreement been reached”.
“There have been conversations, but nothing is final and nothing is agreed and we have an agreement with Barcelona,” the spokesperson told MD.
Mundo Deportivo has also revealed that Dorna Sports chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta is interested in uniting MotoGP and Formula One for a race weekend in the Spanish capital.
“I have spoken with Stefano Domenicali to do an F1 and motorcycle championship on the same weekend at the same circuit. We are thinking about it. Stefano has spoken to me about a circuit in Madrid and I have spoken with the mayor of Madrid,” Ezpeleta told MD.
“We have to to see why we need bigger loopholes that are more difficult on non-permanent circuits,” said Ezepeleta. However, MD sources have indicated that this avenue is no longer something being explored.
BlackBook says…
Formula One's desire to ditch traditional circuits in favour of street circuits has been apparent in recent years. The three most recent circuits to be added – Saudi Arabia, Miami and Las Vegas – are evidence enough.
What's interesting is how this lines up with Formula One's often publicised sustainability goals. In 2022, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was ranked as the most sustainable circuit in the world in a report by Enovation Consulting, with contributions from Right Hub.
In second place was Mugello in Italy, which only hosted Formula One once due to the Covid pandemic, and in third was Circuit Paul Ricard in France, which dropped off the Formula One calendar after last season.
If Formula One is so readily turning its back on circuits with proven sustainability credentials, in favour of logistically challenging overhauls of city centres around the world, how seriously can we take the series' sustainability drive?