Madrid street circuit from 2026

[Circuitmaster]

I know we all groan about new street circuits but.. if they're replacing Catalunya..

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/new- ... y-verdict/

I have to say..the circuit itself doesn't look great for overtaking though

[Cheeveer]

Cool. The Spanish GP has long needed change.

[DoubleFart]

Yay, more identikit street circuit BS

[Ruslan]

Are they just adding it to the calendar or are the replacing an existing race?

[Star]

Are they just adding it to the calendar or are the replacing an existing race?

It will swap from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026.

Sometimes street circuits are good, only sometimes though. I'll reserve judgement until we see some action here.

[Everso Biggyballies]

So, it has two tunnels, banked corners, and F1 liken it to Miami. I feel ill.

The track will be a mixture of street circuit roads through the exhibition building area and a smaller section of permanent track that will be built on adjacent land that has yet to be developed.

The two parts are split by an elevated highway and will be connected by a pair of tunnels that pass underneath it.

F1 compares the hybrid nature of the new venue to Miami, which also features a combination of existing roads and p

Is it a street or permanent circuit?
The circuit will use both public roads and private land, so some sections are set to feel more like a street circuit and others more like a permanent set-up – mirroring what is seen at the Miami International Autodrome, if we take an example from the current F1 calendar.

“It’s in between what you’d consider a normal street track layout and more towards a permanent circuit style layout,” Wilson comments. “A lot of the places will have a temporary circuit-type installation, but then there’s other sections which may look or feel a bit different depending on the final implementation decisions to suit the IFEMA site.”

There is “scope” for the looping Turn 10 righthander to be banked in a similar way to Zandvoort’s final turn. The hope is to create an overtaking opportunity. Discussions are continuing regarding “how banked we make it, what kind of banking and what kind of profile we go for, with a mind to how can we turn Turn 11 and Turn 12 into a potential overtaking action area.”


I find it very ironic that F1 are raving on about how sustainable it all is....

Formula 1 is fully committed to reaching Net Zero Carbon by 2030,” says Domenicali. “And IFEMA MADRID shares our vision and ambition to make the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid one of the most accessible and sustainable F1 events on the calendar.

.... yet they are saying it will host 140,000 people and it is just a stones throw from an International Airport. So the track area is a sustainable environment , .... but they then say its right next to the airport so people can fly in using jet aircraft ! Maybe they are expecting the 140,000 people to all be locals who will all arrive by eco friendly ways.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Are they just adding it to the calendar or are the replacing an existing race?

It will swap from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026.

Not so fast...... Domenicali wants both to run.

Madrid’s arrival doesn’t necessarily mean the end for Barcelona

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been a permanent fixture on the F1 calendar since 1991. With Madrid signing a deal for 2026, it has raised questions about the future of the Barcelona race.

Domenicali says it isn’t necessarily the end of their partnership, especially as Formula 1 is having a resurgence in the country, which currently has two drivers on the grid in the form of Aston Martin’s double world champion Fernando Alonso and Ferrari racer and two-time Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz.

“For the avoidance of doubt and to clarify here, the fact we are in Madrid is not excluding the fact we could stay in Barcelona for the future,” he says.

“Looking ahead, there are discussions in place to see if we can really extend our collaboration with Barcelona, with whom we have a very good relationship, for the future.”

So we will no doubt end up keeping Catalunya, gaining a crappy street circuit and likely at the expense of Spa or somewhere decent.

[Ruslan]

Are they just adding it to the calendar or are the replacing an existing race?

It will swap from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026.

Sometimes street circuits are good, only sometimes though. I'll reserve judgement until we see some action here.

So, two races in Spain it appears. I guess that is a good thing.

[XcraigX]

If there are some decent elevation changes, I'd be willing to give it a chance... But if it ends up like miniMiami or Valencia2.0, I'm gonna yell.

[Michkov]

See Valenica.

Spanish GP tracks tend to be underwhelming as GP tracks go, although there are some decent ones around. Swapping Catalunya for the street circuit isn't much of a loss, if Catalunya stays and we lose a better circuit instead that's another matter.

[Cheeveer]

I think losing F1 races are starting to become a blessing in disguise for race tracks. See Sepang. Find your own marquee event. Barcelona should go all in on MotoGP, like also Jerez has done. Get WEC over there for a night race, hell, try to lure Indycar in.

For a classical racing circuit, F1 is not the future. F1 is looking for "events". But I think they are misinterpreting what people are after a lot of the time. I'm all for not having Circuit de Catalunya on the schedule, as it is quite (very) boring, but as F1 are more and more leaning for street circuits, a market could be emerging for more unique "traditional" races in other categories.

[MonteCristo]

If there are some decent elevation changes, I'd be willing to give it a chance... But if it ends up like miniMiami or Valencia2.0, I'm gonna yell.

Sums up my feelings.

[Star]

Are they just adding it to the calendar or are the replacing an existing race?

It will swap from Barcelona to Madrid in 2026.

Not so fast...... Domenicali wants both to run.

Madrid’s arrival doesn’t necessarily mean the end for Barcelona

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been a permanent fixture on the F1 calendar since 1991. With Madrid signing a deal for 2026, it has raised questions about the future of the Barcelona race.

Domenicali says it isn’t necessarily the end of their partnership, especially as Formula 1 is having a resurgence in the country, which currently has two drivers on the grid in the form of Aston Martin’s double world champion Fernando Alonso and Ferrari racer and two-time Grand Prix winner Carlos Sainz.

“For the avoidance of doubt and to clarify here, the fact we are in Madrid is not excluding the fact we could stay in Barcelona for the future,” he says.

“Looking ahead, there are discussions in place to see if we can really extend our collaboration with Barcelona, with whom we have a very good relationship, for the future.”

So we will no doubt end up keeping Catalunya, gaining a crappy street circuit and likely at the expense of Spa or somewhere decent.

I stand corrected, I read that it would be swapping from one to the other and it would be the end of Barcelona, clearly what I read differs from what you read. On the other hand, it could be there was mention of wanting to keep Barcelona further down in the long article and I didn't read that far down

[Ruslan]

In the finest traditions of Bernie Ecclestone shaking down governments to pay for grand prixes, the Barcelona city council will be making "extra efforts" to keep the Barcelona on the calendar. They used to provide 3 million euros a year but now provide only half that amount: https://www.grandprix.com/news/barcelon ... -race.html