Ecclestone: No F1 race planned in Madrid
As the Spanish press reported on a project to organize a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the streets of Madrid, Bernie Ecclestone acknowledged the existence of the project but believes it should not materialize because the Iberian country already hosts an F1 race.
Spain has hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit for several years now, and while Valencia hosted a European Grand Prix between 2008 and 2012, according to El Confidential, Madrid would also like to host F1.
The project would be to design a circuit layout in the streets of the Spanish capital. According to the newspaper, Bernie Ecclestone would be involved in the project, and with the Montmelo circuit contract ending in 2016, the urban circuit could be interesting to reduce costs in particular.
On the Barcelona side, this project does not worry Salvador Serva, quoted by GMM: « We know nothing. No one has told us anything. For years, we have read in the newspapers that we will no longer have a Grand Prix, that we would have to alternate with Valencia. Our reality is that we have two years left on the contract. We are not changing anything. We are proud of our contract and we will respect it. »
However, the project does not seem to be fully on track, despite the involvement of Bernie Ecclestone as announced by the Spanish daily. Indeed, the FOM boss confirmed to Christian Sylt for Forbes that discussions had taken place before adding: “We are not going to have a race in Madrid. We don’t need a second race in Spain. It’s as simple as that.”
The F1 calendar will expand in the coming years with the return of Mexico and possibly Las Vegas, the arrival of Azerbaijan, but organizing a race in Madrid does not seem to be a priority for Bernie Ecclestone.
