Madrid: the obstacle for Barcelona
The 2026 it will be a year of great news in Formula 1, especially with regards to the changes relating to the technical regulations, but not only. In Europe, for example, there will be a real revolution also for the circuits that will host races in Spainwhich after years in the alone Barcelona will see the addition of the new one Madrid city route. In that season, therefore, F1 will make two stops in the same country, with the Catalunya circuit which, however, should be destined to disappear from the calendar from 2027 due to the expiry of the contract scheduled for the previous year, with the future permanence of only the Iberian capital.
Spain like Italy
In recent days, the President of the ACI Angelo Sticchi Damiani had focused on the future of Imola in Formula 1, which despite the modernization works of the racetrack could lose its presence on the calendar from 2026, again due to the expected deadline in 2025 and with Italy which, to date, is the only European nation to have more than one GP on the calendar. F1, at the same time, seems increasingly determined to open up to other countries outside the Old Continent.
Hope is the last to die
A struggle, that of maintaining two races in Italy also in the coming years, which is therefore reminiscent of the Spanish one. Although Liberty Media had seemed skeptical about the idea of two GPs in Spain, hope for the Iberian public came from the recent words of Kate Hodkingsonresponsible for the development of F1 racing and the market, who during a recent press conference did not rule out the possibility of Barcelona and Madrid coexisting for the next few seasons.
“The Spanish market is very important for F1 – he has declared – The Madrid Grand Prix (which will take the name of Spanish GP, ed.) was announced, but since then we have always maintained the possibility of having a race in Barcelona at the same time. However, we have many requests from all over the world and we have to consider all aspects. No decision has been made yet, but it is important to underline that the Spanish market is very important for F1.”
