The official website says that “you no longer have to imagine it. Now you can live it.”
But the truth is that, as the matter stands, it is difficult to imagine. Let’s hope we can live it.
Because when there are nine months left, Madringthe capital’s Formula 1 street circuit looks like anything but a circuit. At these moments, it becomes difficult to think that through those streets and those half-assembly curves you can search Fernando Alonso his 33.
If everything goes as planned, the September 11 The cars have to start rolling south of the city. Among the streets of Valdebebas, one of the Madrid PAUsand the bowels of IFEMA, which competes with the Fira de Barcelona for being the largest fairground and convention center in Spain.
The layout is a good reflection of everything that Formula 1 is rewarding: urban layouts that allow attracting large investments from cities to export their image to the world even if, as in the case of Madrid, all the attractions around the circuit are residential buildings, a fairground and a half-built City of Justice for more than 20 years.
Now, with 243 days left until Madrid returns to the Formula 1 calendar 45 years later, a doubt is beginning to float: whether Madrid will return to the Formula 1 calendar.
Some works in diapers
The FIA said that everything is going well, that there is no problem.
That’s what they collected in I amMotora portal specialized in motorsport competitions, a little less than a month ago. “There are no delays or concerns within the FIA,” they then stated from the media, which also claimed that a commission from the International Automobile Federation had been supervising the status of the works in the streets of Valdebebas.
From IFEMA they also defend that they are advancing at the expected pace. “The works are going within the established deadline. The paving has begun and part of it is already finished, although it is being done little by little due to the rain,” they point out to Autobild. And they make it clear that the circuit still remains to be completed: “the last layer of asphalt is expected to be completed during the summer.”
That IFEMA has come out to speak is no coincidence. The information points to a closing of ranks after the viability of the project was questioned. At least for this year. The Italian media Rmc Motori claimed last November that Liberty Media, owner of the rights to the sport, was considering removing 2026 calendar to Madrid in favor of Imola, given the progress of the works. The legendary Italian circuitwill not be part (at least for the moment) next year of the F1 calendar.
What is certain is that the works seem to be in an embryonic phase. Those who are walking around the circuit these days are finding the streets of Valdebebas without any type of modification. Ready for you the cars pass at full speed but not single-seaters.
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With few exceptionsit is difficult to intuit the circuit along the 22 curves that make it up. The Monumental, a banked curve with a 24% inclination that has become one of the great attractions of the circuit, it’s a muddy mess right now. Yes, progress has been made on the route but there is no sign of progress in the surrounding services and the first asphalt is conspicuous by its absence.
The times are also much tighter than we might think. In August the circuit must be ready so that Eurocup-3, a single-seater category inferior to Formula 1, can compete in one of its grand prizes. If it arrives, the intention is to make it the first big test before Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz or Max Verstappen set foot on the soil of Valdebebas.
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The circuit, in addition, has to fight with the opposition of the neighbors. Pave the way for cars to pass is causing profound changes in its streetsconstant works and the anticipation that the noise suffered during that weekend will be much higher than the averages that have paralyzed the concerts at the Santiago Bernabéu. Besides, environmental associations They defend that the project threatens the conservation of wetlands and “non-transplantable” trees in the area.
Nor is Madrid the first city where the viability of a Formula 1 Grand Prix is doubted a few months before its celebration. In South Korea, Yeongam circuit was not reviewed by the FIA up to 10 days before the traffic light went out on the finish line in a clear example of “out of sight, out of mind” heart. That same weekend work was being done on the track and in some areas the asphalt was not well established. In Las Vegas, Formula 1 has been fighting with a recurring problem for three years now: the sewers become loose with the passage of cars. And in Hanoi, 600 million euros were spent on a circuit so that five years later a total of zero cars raced before its abandonment.
Photos | Ifema
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