“Stop with the street tracks” – Fans storm X with protests as Circuit de Barcelona loses F1 contract to a street circuit in Madrid for hosting the Spanish GP

The iconic Spanish GP hosted at Barcelona will be replaced by the Circuit del Jarama located in Madrid.

“Stop with the street tracks” – Fans storm X with protests as Circuit de Barcelona loses F1 contract to a street circuit in Madrid for hosting the Spanish GP

Spanish GP at the Madrid's circuit.

The Formula 1 2024 season is set to kick off next year with an all new calendar that has 24 races lined up. While everyone is concerned with the huge number of street races that are going to be held, the Formula One Management may have incited an even more shocked reaction from the fans with their latest announcement. It has now been revealed that by 2026, the Spanish GP at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will be removed from the Formula 1 calendar. In its place, the F1 world will find an all new Street Circuit hosting the Madrid Grand Prix.

The bidding war for the host of the Spanish GP was conducted recently. In the bid, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya circuit los to the Madrid’s Circuito del Jarama to host the subsequent grand prix from 2026.

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Another street circuit has replaced the exclusion of the Barcelona track on the F1 calendar. The Circuit del Jarama will be a semi-permanent track encircling the IFEMA convention center and situated in the vicinity of Madrid’s Barajas Airport. Additionally, the circuit is just next to the Real Madrid’s football team’s training ground of Ciudad Real Madrid.

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The Spanish GP at Madrid secures its place in F1 calendars for an additional ten years after 2026, in addition to hosting the Spanish Grand Prix on the street circuit. Hence, this inclusion of the street circuit of Madrid would raise the number of street circuits in a calendar from six street races to an astonishing seven street races.

Hence, the fans have talked about the exorbitant amount of street circuits in a year and showcased dissatisfaction by the removal of the iconic circuit of Barcelona.

Fans reacted to Madrid hosting the Spanish GP from 2026 onwards

In a recent tweet on X, fans have brutally slammed F1 for discontinuing racing at the Barcelona circuit and shift to the street circuit of Madrid. One fan claimed that Barcelona GP was cancelled as soon as it started producing great racing action. Another fan recalled the exorbitant amount of street circuits and asked F1 to finally stop with the high amounts of street track racing.

Grandstands of the Madrid's circuit of Spanish GP.
Grandstands of the Madrid’s circuit (via Google Maps).

One particular fan exclaimed that another street circuit was replacing a classical circuit and claimed that this move was not at all needed. A fan also commented that F1 really doesn’t listen to their fans at all and coined it ‘depressing’ for the fans. Other fan highlighted that F1 will sell the entire sport exclusively to the highest bidder.

Although the exclusion of Barcelona from the calendar would be a shocking change for the sport, but Madrid circuit might put forth it’s own benefits and adventures to the sport. It might be too early to judge the track as the team still prepares the circuit for racing. The main race is still atleast another two years away and would surely work out in the fan’s favor.

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