Barcelona's Optimism: "There is Room for Two GPs in Spain"
Feb.17 - A top official insists Barcelona is "not considering" joining Spa-Francorchamps in agreeing to take part in Formula 1's new race rotation scheme.
With a ten-year contract in its pocket, Madrid is joining the F1 calendar from 2026 - the last year of existing Spanish GP host Barcelona's race contract with the sport.
Nonetheless, Pau Relat, president of the organisation (Fira Barcelona) that manages the Circuit de Catalunya, says he is "very optimistic" a new deal will be struck.
"The Circuit (de Catalunya) has its own identity, its own life and is independent of any other grand prix that may be held," he told Diario Sport.
"From a market perspective, there is room for two grands prix in Spain and we will work to make the renewal a reality," Relat added.
One thing in Barcelona's favour is that MotoGP, to also be owned by F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media, has just extended its race deal with Barcelona.
"Common sense tells us that if Dorna is part of Liberty and has decided to renew its contract for five years in Barcelona, taking into account the quality of the infrastructure and the organisational capacity, this is a point in our favour," Relat said.
"It makes us very optimistic in this regard."
Multiple Barcelona officials are reporting that they will keep their negotiations with F1 "silent" publicly.
What Relat will say is that he is not keen on the idea of Barcelona not hosting the grand prix every year. Spa-Francorchamps' new deal, for instance, guarantees the Belgian track only four races out of the six years between 2026 and 2031.
"At the moment we are not considering a rotation system," Relat said.
"We have a contract until 2026, so we have time and what we intend is to give continuity to a grand prix that has been held here since 1992 without interruption. This is the will of both the Catalan government, which is the owner of the facility, and of Fira."
He said he will not be divulging any other details of his negotiations with F1.
"I would say that one of the keys is maximum discretion," Relat said. "It is an absolutely essential condition for things to happen."
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I once again get a deja-vu feeling of already reading a very similar article on a given matter with only marginal differences.
However, such an attitude has the risk of ending up without anything as FOM ultimately has the final say rather than any individual GP host.
Furthermore, not everything can fit all at once anyway, so sacrifices are simply necessary to free up space for more lucrative non-European options in the long-term.
Therefore, bi-annual hosting is realistically the maximum beyond the 2026 season, if anything.
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