Revealed: The huge amount Madrid paid to secure place on F1 calendar – report

A report in Spanish media has claimed Madrid is paying a figure close to double what Barcelona offered to host the Spanish Grand Prix.

Madrid was announced on Tuesday as taking over the hosting of the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026, having signed a 10-year deal to race on a new bespoke circuit around the IFEMA exhibition centre in the city.

The deal understandably comes as a blow to the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona in Montmelo, whose contract ends in 2026 – but F1 bosses have been keen to stress that Madrid’s race doesn’t necessarily mean the end for Barcelona and Catalunya’s inclusion on the calendar.

Spanish media reports claim eye-watering figure for Madrid fee

With the dust settling on the announcement and fanfare from Madrid, a report from Catalunya-based CCMA through their television station TV3 has claimed the Madrid effort pulled together funding of around €48 million per year.

This means a figure of almost half a billion euro is claimed to have landed the 10-year deal, that expires in 2035.

This eye-watering sum would eclipse other European track figures, and puts it in the same ballpark of around €50 million as believed to be paid by the likes of Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

The publication states this figure is almost double what the Generalitat de Catalunya paid for the race in Barcelona, estimated at €25 million.

Sources familiar with the situation in both Madrid and Barcelona have told PlanetF1.com that the reported figures by CCMA are in the right ballpark.

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What is certain is that, even if Catalunya does manage to secure a race in 2027 or beyond, it will not be held under the Spanish Grand Prix moniker.

With contract negotiations between Catalunya and F1 underway, does Madrid paying such high fees mean Catalunya will also have to find that kind of money going forward?

Not so, claims CCMA, who estimate a bid of over €30 million to keep the race.

Pointing to how difficult it can be to make a circuit profitable, CCMA says IFEMA will now put to tender an invitation for private investors to come on board and join the Madrid project – although they claim public funds will have to be used, contrary to the claims of the Madrid organisers.

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