The Spanish Grand Prixwhich is again disputed in Madrid from 2026, like and as officially announced this Tuesday at the Madrid Fair Institution (IFEMA) grounds – which will host the new semi-urban track where the races will be held -, it will return to the capital of Spain after 45 years; and after playing nine times on the Jarama circuit.
He Spanish F1 Grand Prix, which will reach its fifty-third edition this year and which, like the next one, will still be held in Montmeló (Barcelona) – home of the last 33 Spanish events in the premier category – took place nine times in Madrid, all them on the Jarama circuit: the first in 1968, with the victory of the Englishman Graham Hill; and the last in 1981, when Canadian Gilles Villeneuve won.
Therefore, 45 years later in F1 was run for the last time on the circuit outside the capital of Spain, 3,850 meters and 13 curves, built in 1967 and designed by the Dutchman John Hugenholtz, the engines are roaring again in Madrid. On a semi-urban circuit in the area of IFEMA, which, in the absence of approval from the FIA (International Automobile Federation), will have a length of 5.47 kilometers and twenty curves.
Hugenholtz also designed the circuits of Suzuka (Japan) and Zandvoort (Holland), the remodeling of which, before it returned to the calendar three years ago as the Dutch Grand Prix, was one of the most prominent activities of Dromo, the company headed of Italian. Jarno Zafelli – also present at this Tuesday’s event -, who is in charge of designing the track where Madrid will once again host F1.
The visible leader of a project that emerged from an exclusively private initiative -and running for several years- is the aforementioned José Vicente de los Mozos, who had the invaluable help, in endless negotiations, of Luis García Abad: someone who knows the ins and outs of F1 very well and that, in many other activities related to the premier category, he experienced on the front line, as a representative, all the successes of the Spanish double world champion Fernando Alonso.
No one has won more times in Spain than the two seven-time F1 world champions, the German Michael Schumacher and the Englishman Lewis Hamilton, with six victories each, which they always achieved at the Circuit de Barcelona -Catalunya, years after this. race in Spain.last chance at Jarama. And the only Spaniard to win the Spanish Grand Prix is the Asturian Alonso, who won twice, also in Montmeló (Barcelona): in 2006, aboard a Renault – the year in which he reaffirmed the title; and in 2012, when he achieved his thirty-second and final victory to date.
Don’t know if Alonso, who, at 42 years old, became the sensation of last season -by reaching the podium eight times in his first campaign with Aston Martin- will continue driving in 2026 and will participate in the first race to be held at IFEMA, in a venue which can potentially hold up to a total of 110,000 spectators. But, without eliminating the presence of the brilliant and inflammable Asturian driver, it seems likely that on that day Carlos Sainz from Madrid (29), now at Ferrari, with two victories in F1, will compete with his fans; son of the new quadruple winner of the Dakar Rally of the same name.
It is assumed that the Mexican S will also be part of the grid for the next Spanish Grand Prix to be held in Madrid.Ergio Perez (33), world runner-up last season, which included the three-time champion Verstappen reaffirmed the constructors’ title for Red Bull.
‘Checo’, six-time F1 winner, who held an exhibition in the Spanish capital in July, pointed out that day, in an interview with Efe, that -obviously-, apart from Mexico, among the places to those who have not yet done so. still want to win “in Madrid.”
The brave driver from Guadalajara, a specialist in urban circuits – he won in Monaco, Baku (capital of Azerbaijan, where he did it twice), Singapore and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) – will have his chance to look for success in two years, when Madrid hosts the Grand Prix that will be held on that occasion for the tenth time in the Spanish capital.
Graham Hill, double F1 world champion and the sole winner of the ‘Triple Crown’ (scoring the Monaco Grand Prix, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500) was the first winner at Jarama, home – in 1968 – of the third edition of Spanish Grand Prix. A test held for the first time in 1951 at the urban circuit of Pedralbes (Barcelona), where it was run again three years later.
In 1970, Scottish triple world champion Jackie Stewart won Jarama, a circuit where Emerson Fittipaldi would do so two years later, winning two crowns for Brazil; and where other legends of the queen category succeed.
The great Niki Lauda, triple World Cup winner for Austria, he did it in 1974. And two years later, when he scored, after a tough fight with the former – who was on the verge of death, on fire, in a brutal accident at the Nürburgring (Germany) -, a championship faithfully immortalized in the movie ‘Rush’, was achieved by the amazing Englishman James Hunt.
The American Mario Andretti He was the only one to repeat the victory at Jarama, in 1977 and 1978: the season in which he won the title. And before the legendary Gilles Villeneuve (in ’81) scored the last race held in Madrid, the Frenchman Patrick Depailler did it two years ago.
The next winner in the Spanish capital will be known in 2026, after the agreement was announced on Tuesday in which the Spanish Grand Prix will be held on the IFEMA circuit, in principle, until 2035.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
