In September 2026, Formula 1 is scheduled to race through Madrid: construction work has not yet begun, but the mayor is still relaxed about it.
No new races are planned for the 2025 Formula One season, apart from a few changes in order – but that is set to change in 2026, as last winter the Spanish capital Madrid secured a ten-year deal with the premier class to host a Grand Prix.
According to Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, preparations for this are currently progressing “as planned”: Work on the facility and the track buildings is scheduled to begin as early as April this year, at least according to the plan of the city administration and the organizers, who have received five different offers in response to their call for tenders for the implementation of the project.
The organizers have set a time frame of 14 months for the construction of the facility. Since the race is currently expected to take place in September 2026, there is still some leeway for possible delays in the construction of the 5.47-kilometer circuit around the IFEMA convention center near the airport, which will also partly run on public roads.
Where does the money for the Grand Prix come from?
“The race will take place and it will be a success,” Martinez-Almeida told the news agency Europa Press on Monday, and despite the large-scale project, he appears quite ‘calm’ and relaxed – all parties involved have been ‘working very hard to make it a reality,’ explains the 49-year-old politician.
However, the question of how to finance the Grand Prix still seems unresolved, although the mayor has assured that no public funds will be used for this purpose, but that the burden will be shouldered by private companies acting as sponsors.
Martinez-Almeida does not want to accept that critics accuse the project of the fact that Madrid will ultimately resort to money from the community fund, and he counters, especially with regard to the competition from Barcelona: “The Spanish government has provided 70 million euros for Barcelona to host the America’s Cup. The Catalan authorities are also spending 50 million on Formula 1 in Barcelona.”
Madrid does not have to mean the end for Barcelona
The Circuit de Catalunya has been home to the premier class since 1991 and continues to hope for a race in the future, as Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali had always emphasized that the deal in Madrid does not necessarily mean the end for Barcelona.
The Italian emphasized that the relationship with the traditional circuit in Montmelo, where the official Formula 1 test drives have often taken place over the years, is excellent. It is clear in any case that the European races in particular will be based more on a rotation principle between the individual circuits in the future – so Barcelona could also be reinstated in the race calendar…