Madrid wins the race for 5,000 million euros, from the impossible utopia to an achievement of negotiations to the limit

Jaime Rodríguez Madrid

Madrid

Updated Wednesday, January 24, 2024-01:56

What seemed like a utopia, the exclusive of this newspaper, advanced in June 2021 and confirmed on December 5, came to fruition this Tuesday at mid-morning on the main façade of Ifema.

The arch of the finish line, where the cars will circulate, sang the news: Madrid,

Spanish Grand Prix 2026 - 2035

.

There stood, in the wake of January, the authorities who have signed the historic agreement by which Formula 1 undertakes to return to Madrid 44 years later.

After more than two years of discreet negotiations, Ifema, the Community and the City Council posed proudly alongside

Stefano Domenicali

, the director of F1 and a key name when it came to raising his thumb to a city that seduced him 15 years ago, begin the sponsorship of Banco Santander in Ferrari, the team that directed and awaited

Fernando Alonso

.

When José Vicente de los Mozos, president of Ifema, told him why the capital of Spain wouldn't have an F1 race, this Italian with the appearance of a university professor put on a smile that was more enthusiastic than formal.

The idea had been around De los Mozos since 2017, according to what he confessed yesterday, when he was one of the leaders of Renault, the large automobile company.

Upon arriving at the presidency of Ifema, in the middle of the pandemic, and with the institution converted into a field hospital (at the worst moment of the Covid crisis), he envisioned a great prize for the grounds of the fair institution, already taking advantage of the modern facilities and pavilions.

Then Luis García Abad appeared, Alonso's manager at that time and perhaps the Spaniard with the best contacts in the difficult world of F1.

Design of the future F1 circuit at Ifema.EM

Soon his friend Domenicali encouraged him to present a project and in June 2021, the historic representative of the two-time Asturian champion took out the metro and calculated distances between the main façade of Ifema and Valdebebas.

Political management

From those castles in the air to yesterday's show, on the stage of

Wah

, one of Ifema's most successful shows.

To a musical rhythm, Ifema welcomed Formula 1, with a start date in September 2026 and a circuit of more than 100 million euros to be built.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso and José Luis Martínez Almeida

, president and mayor of Madrid, smiled with relief at being able to release, without ties, the secret that they had been keeping for months, even avoiding using it in the electoral campaign last May, when the deal was well underway.

However, F1 demanded confidentiality and keeping politicians at bay.

Its teams have provided the necessary bureaucratic flow and guarantees for Ifema to present to the company organizing the championship a solid and different project, which fits with the new races, where sport, entertainment and the gastronomic and tourism offer intermingle.

"There is the strength of Madrid," F1 sources said yesterday, convinced that they were right to give the flag of the Spanish GP to their capital.

The almost 5 billion direct impact on the region is a dazzling horizon.

F1 presentation event at Ifema.EFE

«Madrid is an incredible city with an amazing sporting and cultural heritage, and today's announcement begins an exciting new chapter for F1 in Spain.

I would like to thank the Ifema team, the regional government and the mayor of the city for having prepared a fantastic proposal," Domenicali dedicated.

"It truly embodies Formula 1's vision to create a multi-day spectacle of sport and entertainment that delivers maximum value for fans and embraces innovation and sustainability."

Catalonia

The Italian also avoided controversies with

Montmeló

, home of the Spanish GP in recent years and who now knows he will lose it.

Another thing is that in some way the Circuit manages to maintain its place, although the possibility of having two races in our country seems complex.

Even so, Domenicali's words make the Generalitat maintain hope.

Its president, Pere Aragonès, said that they are working to ensure that F1 continues there.

Asensio (Chamber of Commerce), Almeida (mayor of Madrid), Ayuso (president of the CAM) and De los Mozos (Ifema).NAVARRETE

Who was missing from the presentation was the Secretary of State for Sports,

José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes

.

Representatives from Ifema later went to visit her superior, Minister

Pilar Alegría

, seeking the support of the central government, essential for an event of such magnitude.

"And now the most difficult thing remains, organizing this," they commented yesterday afternoon from the Field of Nations.

The 8,200 jobs to be created in the heat of the test, the 8,5000 expected visitors or the 0.4% growth in the calculated regional GDP await.

Ahead, a lot of work.

The first thing is to know the name of the company that will be the promoter of the event.

The contest is already launched.