Spain :Everything you want to know about ADV News, Photos & Exclusive stories.

After a joint agreement with IFEMA MADRID, Formula 1 announced that the Spanish Grand Prix will move to Madrid from 2026 until 2035. The goal of this undertaking is to construct a new circuit in the Spanish capital that combines street and non-street segments in an innovative manner. Surrounding the highly anticipated IFEMA exhibition venue, the 5.47km track is set to have 20 turns and, subject to FIA homologation and final design parameters, an expected qualifying lap time of 1 minute and 32 seconds. The future of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which has hosted the race since 1991, is in doubt due to Madrid's newfound connection, which signifies a departure from the venue.

Although the current location was not mentioned in Formula 1's first announcement on Tuesday, it is known that the authorities in Barcelona are now discussing the future of the Grand Prix often.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenical said: "Madrid is an incredible city with amazing sporting and cultural heritage, and today’s announcement begins an exciting new chapter for F1 in Spain. I would like to thank the team at IFEMA MADRID, the Regional Government of Madrid and the city’s Mayor for putting together a fantastic proposal. It truly epitomises 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."

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autox.com/motorsport-news/f1-mclarens-ceo-zak-brown-positive-on-teams-performance-hopes-to-challenge-red-bull-in-2024-115900/" rel="bookmark" title="F1: McLaren's CEO Zak Brown Positive on Team's Performance, Hopes to Challenge Red Bull in 2024">F1: McLaren's CEO Zak Brown Positive on Team's Performance, Hopes to Challenge Red Bull in 2024</a>

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: "Modern Formula 1 cars racing on a new circuit in the Spanish capital city of Madrid is an enticing prospect. As we build towards the introduction of the FIA 2026 Formula One regulations, which have been framed with Net Zero carbon by 2030 in mind, it is pleasing to see that the local organisers have placed a sharp focus on environmental sustainability in their plans for the event. As is customary, the proposed circuit will be subject to FIA homologation and safety checks and calendar approval by the World Motor Sport Council.

<h2>F1: About IFEMA</h2>

As a coalition of public entities, IFEMA has been in existence since 1991. The Jarama track, located in the Madrid region, played host to the race nine times between 1968 and 1981. Now that a 10-year deal has been announced, Madrid will join Australia (until 2035) and Bahrain (until 2036) in extending their affiliation with Formula 1 into the future. This follows the current trend of securing long-term race commitments.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Let’s go racing in Madrid! 
 
Say hello to the brand-new circuit built around the <a href="https://twitter.com/IFEMA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IFEMA</a> Exhibition Centre <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/F1?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#F1</a> <a href="https://t.co/klysY8HAiT">pic.twitter.com/klysY8HAiT</a>
— Formula 1 (@F1) <a href="https://twitter.com/F1/status/1749731195917672710?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

According to predictions, the arena can comfortably host more than 110,000 fans every day, including those in the grandstand, spectator sections, and VIP hospitality areas. In order to establish Madrid as one of the top sites on the F1 calendar, additional plans are in the works to increase the circuit's capacity to 140,000 people per day during the first half of the agreement.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autox.com/motorsport-news/f1-mercedes-and-alpine-announce-livery-launch-dates-for-2024-season-115858/" rel="bookmark" title="F1: Mercedes and Alpine Announce Livery Launch Dates for 2024 Season">F1: Mercedes and Alpine Announce Livery Launch Dates for 2024 Season</a>

The Spanish Grand Prix is going to be one of the most accessible races on the Formula 1 calendar because of its strategic location, just five minutes from the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez airport. Commuting is made easy by the circuit's closeness to the Metro, train, and city lines. It is believed that 90% of spectators can use public transport to get to the paddock, while those staying in nearby hotels will just be a short stroll away.

F1: Madrid Secures a Spot on the Formula 1 Calendar with a Long-Term Agreement Starting in 2026

In a thrilling move, the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix shifts gears to Madrid in 2026 with a 10-year contract, leaving rival Barcelona in a race to retain its calendar spot.

With seven FIA Formula 1 World Championship titles, 99 wins and 200 podiums between them since their F1 debuts in 2007, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are by far the most prolific drivers of the 'post-Schumacher' era of grand prix racing. 
The two were marked as stars of the future well before F1, though, when they were rivals in European Formula 3. The two had wheel-to-wheel battles as junior drivers but fast forward to 2017, they are battling for the F1 title with little to separate them either on the timing screens or out on track. 
The 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix around the 16-turn, 4.655km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was the scene of a terrific duel between Hamilton and Vettel in which the Mercedes AMG F1 driver bested the Ferrari man.
The race was however, close enough for Mercedes to resort to some quick thinking and cunning use of Valtteri Bottas to give Hamilton the edge over Vettel.
VETTEL STEALS THE START 
After the German leapt past pole-sitter Hamilton at the start, he was able to maintain a gap of around two to 2.5 seconds before the first of his two tyre stops on lap 14. Mercedes kept Hamilton out for another eight laps in order to give the tyres he would use on his second stop less work to do as compared to Vettel. 
It still could have counted for nothing as Vettel still had impressive pace but that is where the struggling Bottas - unable to keep up with the leaders - came into play. Keeping him out for even longer than Hamilton, the Finn kept Vettel behind him for as long as he could before the German sold him a dummy on lap 24 heading into the first corner to finally get past.
However, by Vettel's estimation, he had lost around eight seconds to the chasing Hamilton in doing so. 
Another turning point in the race came on lap 34 when McLaren-Honda's Stoffel Vandoorne turned in on the Williams-Mercedes of Felipe Massa going into the right-handed first corner despite the Brazilian being clearly alongside the Belgian. 
A virtual safety car was brought out briefly during which Mercedes were able to switch from the mandatory medium compound Pirelli tyre to the soft compound whereas Ferrari, which had Vettel out on the soft tyre until then, waited until the race resumed to fit his SF70-H with medium compound tyres on lap 38. 
CLASH OF THE TITANS 
This led to the German losing his lead over Hamilton as the two banged wheels going into the first corner and the Briton being forced off the track as he tried to pass Vettel on the outside. 
Hamilton was, however, on the faster tyre and five laps later he stormed past Vettel to take the lead before being able to nurse his tyres home for the remainder of the 23 laps. Vettel tried to put some pressure on him, hoping that his relatively harder set of tyres would allow him to attack late in the race but Hamilton judged it perfectly to take his 55th career win. 
There was little to celebrate for the other drivers in both Mercedes or Ferrari as Bottas ultimately retired with what looked like a blown engine and Raikkonen retired on the opening lap itself after clashing with Red Bull-Tag Heuer's (Renault) Max Verstappen. 
It was left for the other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo to come home in a lonely third place while Force India-Mercedes took a solid points haul with Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finishing fourth and fifth. 
Nico Hulkenberg was sixth for Renault and Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso-Renault, Pascal Wehrlein of Sauber-Ferrari, Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso-Renault, and Romain Grosjean of Haas F1 rounded out the top ten.
A notable finish outside the points-scoring positions was Fernando Alonso whose McLaren-Honda allowed him to finish a race for the first time this year in 12th place, after the Spaniard had a poor start that saw him miss out on scoring points after qualifying seventh.
The F1 world championship continues with the Monaco Grand Prix on 25-27 May. Of course, that will also be the Indy 500 weekend where Alonso will be competing for McLaren-Honda-Andretti.

F1 2017: Battle of the titans goes in Hamilton's favour at Spanish Grand Prix

With seven FIA Formula 1 World Championship titles, 99 wins and 200 podiums between them since their F1 debuts in 2007, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis

If one's memory goes back far enough to the 2015 Formula 1 season, there was a surge of hope among the fanbase of F1's oldest and most followed team. Sebastian Vettel's arrival to Ferrari had not only reminded people of when his hero and former Ferrari icon Michael Schumacher joined to help an underperforming team reach the top again. The German picked up three opportunistic wins and was a regular on the podium throughout the season despite Mercedes AMG F1 dominating once more.

Conjecture and the presence of one of the most renowned technical personnel in F1 - James Allison - had hopes and conjecture going wild for 2016. Fast forward to the end of last season and Ferrari finished with no wins and being beaten to second place in the constructors' championship by a resurgent Red Bull Racing team that had found itself a new star in Max Verstappen. Ferrari's season highlights could be summed up by a video montage of Vettel complaining about a lack of blue flags while overtaking backmarkers and his foul mouthed tirades.

PASSING THE TEST 
Fast forward to the present day and the eight days of pre-season testing are done. And aside from the new look and speed of the new generation of F1 cars, everyone - and not just Ferrari fans - are going gaga over the pace Ferrari showed throughout testing. And not just the pace, but also the reliability and the consistency the new SF70H displayed.

Mercedes did end up completing more laps of the 4.655km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya than any team - 1,096 of them - but Ferrari was not far behind in terms of total mileage. The scarlet cars completed 956 laps in the hands of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen for a total distance of 4,450km over the eight days with Mercedes at 5,102km.

What has many talking, however, is the 1min18.634sec lap that Kimi Raikkonen managed to pull off on the final day of testing on Friday. Even factoring in the revised technical regulations, the lap was stunning not just because it was 3.364 seconds faster than last year's pole position. What made it stunning was also the fact that Raikkonen admitted to there being more speed yet to come!

Teams have to make do with just four power units throughout the entire season so reliability is always sought after. And that means turning down the power until required for an absolute flat out blast. We are unlikely to see that until qualifying on race weekends.

Hence the reason why many still feel that Mercedes' best time from testing being over seven tenths slower is not really an accurate indication, even if Ferrari set its time on comparable tyres.

IF ANDS AND BUTS 
There is also the question of fuel loads to consider. That is still an unknown during pre-season testing but the word from those present in Spain has been that the Ferrari still is capable of a lot of speed without mistreating its tyres.

Had this been 2016, Ferrari fans would have been leaping for joy as it would have meant that Mercedes would run into noticeable degradation issues during a race. But this year Pirelli's tyres - aside from being wider with a greater contact patch - are offering a lot more performance for longer distances. Which means that drivers can push a lot more and if fuel load levels are comparable, Mercedes may still be ahead or Ferrari may not be that far ahead.

Then there is also the question of Red Bull. Their engine partners Renault (badged as Tag Heuer) have experimented with a new architecture for its internal combustion engine as well as new motor generator units. The French manufacturer says that it will provide it with a big edge over its rivals if they get it right. And that is what they seemed to be doing in testing.

Red Bull and the factory Renault team were just seventh and eighth, respectively, in the list of teams that had completed the most number of testing laps. Max Verstappen and Nico Hulkenberg left it until late in the second test to set their best efforts that were 0.804 and 1.251 seconds slower than Raikkonen's mark, respectively. Prior to that the focus was on achieving reliability, which took some time.

LAND OF OZ 
With the big three having showed their hand as much as they could in testing, the question now remains is what will the state of play be once the field touches down in Melbourne a little under two weeks from now.

Well, with budget caps still a distant dream in F1 and engine development no longer restricted, it is very likely that we can see some more progress being made by both Red Bull and Renault. The former dominant team in F1 is famed for constant development throughout a season and paddock folk believe that they are most likely to bring the most amount of upgrades from testing until the start of the season.

So aside from Mercedes unlocking more performance from their car, there is also the prospect of Red Bull doing so, especially once the season hits its European leg when more support can be given to the race team from its factory.

THE REST 
As far as the remainder of the field is concerned, Williams Racing - who admitted to be running on low fuel when it set some eye catching times - is looking good in terms of reliability with the experienced and physically more capable Felipe Massa leading the way in terms of mileage and speed. The team's 'meal ticket', so to speak, and reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Lance Stroll has struggled so far to get used to the far more physically demanding cars.

They are likely to fight for midfield honours against Renault, Force India, Toro Rosso and Haas F1.

Sauber could find themselves struggling as they start the season using last year's Ferrari engine while McLaren are finding themselves in a difficult position yet again due to engine supplier Honda struggling for reliability. McLaren were the only team to not hit at least 2,000km in over the eight days of testing and fell way behind schedule in unlocking what they feel is the true potential of their partnership with the Japanese manufacturer.

While we may not know if Ferrari's threat to Mercedes or even Red Bull is real, unfortunately we do know with some certainty that F1's second most successful team ever is unlikely to be in the hunt for victory, at least at the beginning of the season.

F1 2017: Is the scarlet sizzle for real?

If one's memory goes back far enough to the 2015 Formula 1 season, there was a surge of hope among the fanbase of F1's oldest and most followed team. Sebastian Vettel's arrival to Ferrari had not only reminded people of when his hero and former Ferrari icon

Spain

F1: Madrid Secures a Spot on the Formula 1 Calendar with a Long-Term Agreement Starting in 2026

F1 2017: Battle of the titans goes in Hamilton's favour at Spanish Grand Prix

F1 2017: Is the scarlet sizzle for real?

Recent Posts