'Formula 1 heading towards arrival of new race on calendar'

It had been rumoured for some time that Formula 1 was going to host a Grand Prix in Madrid from 2026.

According to AS, it is being reported the scenario appears to be a formality, despite no official confirmation from F1 yet.

Madrid would thus return to the schedule for the first time since 1981 and likely replace the Barcelona, which has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's contract expires in 2026, however it seems very likely that Barcelona will disappear from the calendar after 2025.

A new race track in Madrid is set to be a street circuit that will be built (in part) on a large exhibition grounds, near the complex of Real Madrid soccer club. In that case, the circuit will be very easily accessible by public transport, something that F1 values very much these days and something that differs from Barcelona.

The Madrid circuit will also be partly covered, meaning part of the lap will be completed indoors.

Carmelo Sanz de Barros, the FIA president of the Senate as well as president of RACE (Royal Automobile Club of Spain) recently played down the rumours: "Has the Spanish Federation so far received this project to analyse and study it? No, it hasn't. So that first step has not been taken yet.

“When the Spanish Federation considers that the project is suitable and they are interested, they communicate it further to the FIA.

“The Spanish Federation hasn't received anything, so they haven't forwarded anything to the FIA either. Nobody, no engineer, has worked on this project until now."

But npw confirmation does seem imminent. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the politician in Spain, states to AS "that no government or country can reject a project like this because of all it will contribute to the Madrid brand and the Spain brand."