Banking on success: Inside Madrid’s new grand prix circuit

Positioning a grand prix circuit within a city requires not just political but financial support from local or national government, which is why European street circuits have retreated from the calendar in recent decades. Only Monaco remains, enjoying the full support of the royal family which owns and runs the principality.

The first world championship Spanish Grand Prix was held in 1951 on the Pedralbes track in the heart of Barcelona, on a roughly triangular loop which takes in part of what is now known as the Avenida Diagonal – as well as a short stretch of the B-20 along which most visitors will drive from the airport to the Circuit de Catalunya.

75 years on, the Spanish Grand Prix is moving to Madrid – and not the Jarama circuit which hosted a handful of championship rounds between 1968 and 1981, but a hybrid of public roads and temporary infrastructure near the IFEMA (Institucion Ferial de Madrid) exhibition centre. Not quite as proximate to the CBD as its equivalents in Singapore, Las Vegas, Baku, or even Melbourne, but not far – and close enough to Madrid’s main international airport to plug into pre-existing public transport links.

At a time when races which don’t enjoy financial backing from governments are beginning to fizzle out – Zandvoort exits the calendar this year – this is a fascinating outlier. But the promoters believe it will be a commercial success because of its easy international connections.

Luis Garcia Abad is a familiar face in the F1 paddock, having been part of Fernando Alonso’s management for many years. Now general manager of the Madring circuit, he spoke exclusively to Autosport about the final stages of preparation.

What have been the main challenges in building a new racetrack in a European capital city?

Luis Garcia Abad: "Well, to be honest, it's very difficult because to build something in Europe isn’t easy. We have a lot of regulations, we have to respect a lot of laws, rules, environmental, everything. But we were on time and our plan from the very early moment, it was something that we have been working in advance.

"And we have been announcing everything when it was 100% sure. So we are on time, in terms of construction, because our plan is to finish all the works end of May."

The Madring makes its first appearance on the calendar this year

Photo by: Madrid Grand Prix

We understand there have been discussions about a test event around August time. What would that be – a touring car race or something like that?

LGA: "It’s something we’re considering and we’re discussing with FIA and Formula 1, because maybe to have road cars isn’t the best solution in terms of testing. We would like to use some single-seater, but we’re still playing about which is the best way because it's our decision. We want to test the circuit in advance.

"It's something that we want to be sure. I don't want to find unexpected problems on Friday morning [of the grand prix weekend]. No, I don't want to do that."

How have your plans for the circuit layout advanced and modified in the two or three years since the track was announced? It seems to have grown two more corners since then…

LGA: "Yeah, this was because we were trying to get this big banking corner, La Monumental, that is 547 metres with 24% banking. It's a huge turn.

"The FIA considered that it was much better to reduce the entrance speed in the corner. And we had to build another two corners to reduce the speed of the corner entrance. This is the reason for this modification. And to be honest with you, it was something that was good because we could install a number of grandstands and we reduce the noise impact in the neighbourhood because it was much, much more far away.

"And we are planning this aspect carefully because it will be a unique F1 grand prix in a big capital in Europe. We have to consider that everything is important in terms of sustainability and noise impact and all these aspects that in terms of regulation are very important for the future of F1 in a big city."

Cars will roar through the street circuit, creating a complex challenge for organisers

Photo by: Madrid Grand Prix

You make an interesting point because how challenging was it to get the necessary permissions? Because for instance, if you do a track day at Ferrari's test circuit at Fiorano, there's a point where you have to lift off the accelerator as you go past the noise meter – and then there's a sign saying you can accelerate again. So if even Fiorano has to abide by noise regulations, it must be very tricky to get anything built in an urban setting.

LGA: "Well, our route was to be sure that we can respect all the whole legislation in Madrid and in Spain, and for sure in Europe, because it's something that we have to respect. But it's mandatory [for commercial reasons] for us to have the track inside the city.

"It's not a permanent circuit. So in the end, the impact is that we will have less than 14 hours of noise during all the year. So it's much better than another [out-of-town] facility.

"And in terms of noise, Formula 1 isn’t the same as in the past. We had a road show with Carlos Sainz in June last year with Williams, and we had more noise impact with Mari Boya’s Formula 3 car than the FW45 Carlos was driving. It's something we can manage.

"We’ve been very proactive in terms of communication with the neighbours, with the city in order to help them understand that this is just the impact for three days, and the rest of the year it’s nothing. It will be bicycles, running, and things that will be very useful for the community."

I was going to ask about what other uses the facility would have for the rest of the year, because I that must be quite important for your commercial sustainability. Silverstone, for instance, says the British Grand Prix is one event they have a year that needs to make a profit, but then the circuit also has to be open for the rest of the year for it to wash its face commercially.

LGA: "It was very important when we started to plan the idea, because we’re using the pre-existing facilities like IFEMA, the big exhibition centre.

The Madring will utilise pre-existing facilities

Photo by: Madrid Grand Prix

"We have in this moment more than the rest of the tracks on the calendar. We have Wi-Fi, we have energy, we have toilets.

"So, in terms of construction, we’re not spending the money that maybe our friends in Qiddiya [the new Saudi Arabian ‘gigaproject’] are spending, or Abu Dhabi or even Austin, because we’re using the pre-existing facilities. In terms of investment, it's not huge compared with trying to start from scratch in a different place.

"We’re planning to create a big experience with Formula 1, but it's a big experience for the city, it's a big experience for the people who will be with us this weekend. The airport is well connected with public transport, we have metro stations very close to the circuit.

"Our plan is to bring as many people as possible via public transportation and create a big party around that."

Like Silverstone and Zandvoort, you don't have government backing. It's very easy for sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia to build massive circuits in the middle of nowhere and expect people to drive. But as a European race promoter, you don't have that luxury of government cash, do you?

LGA: "No. We’ve been planning very carefully with all the figures, all the investment, the sponsor supports, the contract with F1. We’ve been working with the idea that the contract is for 10 years, it's a long-term arrangement.

"We don’t have to pay the for maintenance of the facility during the rest of the year because the rest of the year it will be part of the centre. We didn't want to have public money because it's something that is very difficult to sustain a business like that.

Like Silverstone and Zandvoort, the Madring will receive no government backing.

Photo by: James Sutton / LAT Images via Getty Images

"In this moment we’re selling in a very good rhythm, upwards of 90,000 tickets sold. We feel very comfortable.

"We’ve received the support from F1, from Santander. It's something that is important as well to receive the support from the local sponsors in order to create a unique experience and a different way to organise a grand prix in Europe."

So 90,000 tickets sold. What's going to be your capacity for a weekend in terms of spectators?

LGA: "In this moment it's very difficult to say exactly. We’re still experimenting with the grandstand capacity, with the evacuation routes, so we’re leaving a buffer of tickets at the moment. But we’re talking around 125,000 people per day. A big, big Formula 1 grand prix in terms of spectators, for sure."

What's your balance roughly going to be in terms of the general admission and the VIP areas? Because the American circuits, Miami and Las Vegas particularly, they are going very hard on VIP hospitality and not so much on the people in the bleachers.

LGA: "We’re talking that in terms of grandstands we will be around 100,000-98,000. Well, it depends on the final figure. General admission, grandstands with a lot of prices.

"It depends because our facility is upwards of 1.5 million square metres. So we have a long distance from different areas. And in terms of hospitality, we will be very close around 20,000 or maybe 22,000 people between paddock club and secondary hospitality.

F1's US-based circuits are focusing heavily on hospitality offerings

Photo by: Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images

"One of the big advantages we have is that Madrid is a very strong city in terms of relation with South America. We have living here people from Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, from everywhere. I was in Mexico last week and we have seven direct flights to Mexico City every single day.

"So the capacity is quite big to attract this market. We’re creating the experience step by step, but it depends on the grandstand capacity.

"That is something that depends on the evacuation routes. It depends on the quality that we can deliver our customers, the capacity of the train station, capacity of the metro station, capacity of the access. It’s something we’ve been working in silence on for the past two years to create the best experience."

Have you got any sort of extra events planned? Venues such as Silverstone, Circuit of The Americas, Singapore and Abu Dhabi have concerts on most nights of a grand prix weekend, for instance.

LGA: "We’re working on it and we would like to deliver our customers a good surprise. We’ll communicate when everything has been sold."

What is the estimated economic impact on Madrid, in terms of the extra visitors?

Thousands of fans will descend on the event, providing footfall for the local economy

Photo by: Madrid Grand Prix

LGA: "At the moment we put it at around 500 million Euros for the city – that’s direct impact. We haven’t calculated the indirect impact and that could be a big, big figure – Madrid will have another 10 five-star hotels in the next two years and maybe one of the reasons is that the grand prix is here."

Do you have any plans to do something that makes it very distinctively Madrid? You know, the Miami circuit has its fake marina and cruise ship.

LGA: "My dear friend – we’re in Europe, we’re in Spain. We have to play by the European rules. We’re creating, I hope, iconic places in terms of enjoying the race, but in this moment we’re not planning to put a ship in the middle of Madrid – because the sea is at least 343 kilometres from here and it will be real fake.

"We would like to show our culture, we would like to show our city. Our city is quite particular in terms of life. Madrid is a city to live in and we will try to bring this spirit to the people that come to visit us, and hope to create a unique customer experience."

Now that Formula 1 is such a television spectacle, it is so important for the venue to look good in those helicopter shots in HD, doesn't it? I remember when F1 first went to Azerbaijan, and a lot of people in the audience were quite surprised by how picturesque the old city of Baku looked.

LGA: "It's very important and we’re working in order to decorate properly – we have a lot of square metres to decorate. We will try to work with the green colour once we’ve finished with the asphalt because we have a lot of things to do.

"When the helicopter is flying, the spectator will realise that it's an event in the city. So you can walk, you can access to the Museo del Prado in 30 minutes, you can go to the Plaza Mayor... it will be very easy to enjoy the city.

"And, well, I'm quite old, but I hear the nightlife in Madrid is awesome. That’s something very important to deliver for the new customer that’s attracted by Formula 1 – we’re talking less than 35 years old. It's a new group of people we have to take care of, to deliver the right experience in terms of the value of the money they’re investing to spend in one weekend in Madrid."

Will the Madring endear itself to F1's feverous supporter base?

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images