- Barcelona holds F1 contract until 2026
- MotoGP reportedly looking to unite with F1 in Madrid
Formula One could race in Madrid on a ten-year contract from 2026, according to journalist Joe Saward.
The Spanish Grand Prix is currently hosted at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which has held the race annually since 1991.
The circuit’s most recent extension secured the Grand Prix until 2026, so it is unclear why the final year of that deal is being nullified in these rumours.
Previous reports from Spanish daily sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo (MD) and the president of the executive committee of Ifema Madrid, José Vicente de los Mozos, indicated Madrid would agree the contract from 2027.
The plan is for the race to be held around the fairground of the Ifema Madrid exhibition centre. It would be a semi-permanent track, like the Formula One circuits in Canada and Australia, rather than a street circuit.
MD also reported that MotoGP is interested in uniting with Formula One at the circuit, with potential for a joint race weekend to be held.
“I have spoken with Stefano Domenicali to do an F1 and motorcycle championship on the same weekend at the same circuit,” Carmelo Ezpeleta, chief executive of Dorna Sports, told MD. “We are thinking about it. Stefano has spoken to me about a circuit in Madrid and I have spoken with the mayor of Madrid.”
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While we await final confirmation of this new contract, Barcelona’s replacement on the calendar has appeared imminent for some time.
Organisers of the Spanish Grand Prix have faced criticism for failing to cope with the size of the crowds in recent years, for example.
But, despite the sport placing such a focus on sustainability, it continues to move away from the circuits doing the best work in the area.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has ranked first and second in the last two years of Enovation Consulting’s Sustainable Circuits Index (SCI).
Other high-ranking circuits like Mugello and Paul Ricard have also dropped off the Formula One calendar in recent years, which prompts questions around Formula One’s commitment to a sustainable future.