F1 CEO Reveals Future of Two Spanish Races by 2026
Sep.5 - Formula 1's CEO insists it is possible that the sport's calendar can cope with two world championship rounds in Spain.
In 2026, traditional Spanish GP host Barcelona is still set to host its race, but it will be in addition to the brand new street event in Madrid.
And while Madrid has a long-term contract all signed and sealed, 2026 is the last contracted year for Barcelona, where the race takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya.
"I was expecting this question," F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali smiled on Wednesday, "but maybe I wasn't expecting it to be the first one.
"We are here to talk about Cantabria, not Catalonia or Madrid," the Italian added.
Indeed, after it emerged a few days ago that Banco Santander is leaving Ferrari as a sponsor, Domenicali was in the Cantabrian capital - Santander - to announce the Spanish bank as the sport's newest global sponsor.
The Spanish journalists, however, wanted to know if Barcelona stands a chance of keeping its Formula 1 race alive post-2026.
"We're very happy with what Barcelona has done and what it's doing to try to renew with us in the future," Domenicali replied. "But we're also very happy with what Madrid brings, because it comes with a proposal for a city.
"It's a good time for Spain from a sporting point of view. And as always in life, competition offers the best result for sport," he added.
One reported chimed in to mention that two races for Spain might definitely be viable, given that there is talk of a fourth annual race in the United States.
"One more race in the United States is not true," Domenicali hit back. "That is clear. Three races in the United States is perfect.
"But as I said before, I am not here to talk about the calendar, but to talk about Santander and the great agreement we have signed. Of course, this is a good sign, because everything can help, but it is not right to put the focus on this today because the focus today is on the great collaboration between F1 and Santander.
"What I would say is that everyone has their job to do so that we can anticipate the calendar of the future."
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I still can't really see a long term future involving both Madrid & Montmelo, i.e., beyond 2026, especially with the likes of Thailand & South Korea possible candidates in the medium term.
As Domenicali rightly pointed out, zero foundation in the fourth US round claims, not to mention they're outdated as well.
At a time when all the teams and drivers are saying that the 25 events (including pre-season testing days) is more than enough, Domenicali is campaigning for more! One wonders how much commission Domenicali gets from Liberty for expanding the calendar even further.
IMO they are at risk of overloading the public's interest. Over the years, F1 has been rather special due to it's uniqueness, and when you remove that uniqueness it is in danger of becoming rather mundane and repetitive, and seen as a money grab.
The concept of F1 is that it is used by the car industry as a test bed to develop and prove new technologies and efficiencies and apply those to cars produced for road use. Liberty's approach is to wring as much money out of it as they can by subjecting F1 to bulls hit Hollywood style extravaganzas! They have lost their way ... although maybe they've never had it!
Wrong, he's said on many occasions that 24 is the long-term stable GP amount target, so contradicting him is pointless.
Simply put, nothing will change on this front as long as he doesn't say differently, just like with any matter in the world.
People seem to have this obsession of contradicting relevant parties by twisting their words or whatever (mostly for clickbait purposes or to make them look bad), especially in F1.
Bi-annual rotation means the European circuit amount will remain unchanged or be slightly lower.
i think what people forget is that a venue may have a contract untill hell freezes over , but if the race fee isnt paid every year the contract is void, I also think the longer youve followed f1, the more cynical you become, crashgate,spygate to name but 2 recent scandels where people have just lied, I also think if liberty could arrange 30 races a year they would, and a target isnt a promise, nor guarantee
Of course, only 'if they could' since 30 is something that'll never be achievable logistically & practically in a global series like F1, especially as teams can't do staff rotation in an unlimited manner even at the very maximum.
Good point about a contract not guaranteeing a place in the championship in literally every scenario, though.