Madrid's IFEMA reportedly nearing deal with F1 for street race

José Vicente de los Mozos, the president of the executive committee of the IFEMA fairgrounds and convention centre located in Madrid believes an F1 street race in the vicinity of the site is set to become a reality.

Formula 1's global success continues to spur interest from venues and potential race promoters from around the world.

A year ago, the city of Madrid informed Formula One Management that it was committed to bringing Grand Prix racing to the streets of the capital of Spain at some point in the future.

That commitment led to a formal project being put on its rails and supported by IFEMA, Madrid's major center for conferences and conventions which is operated by public organisations, and on the grounds of which would be laid out a proper F1 street circuit.

IFEMA has also been the site since last March of the sport's first official Formula 1 Exhibition which features a wide range of unseen artefacts from Grand Prix racing's most legendary teams and personalities.

"I know when we're going to sign it and when we're going to do it," said de los Mozos while discussing Madrid's future race deal, as reported by Europa Press.

"We have followed the process indicated to us. The Spanish Automobile Federation has been informed from the first moment, we have signed exclusivity, and now we are advancing with the contract."

It's unclear if the prospective event would appear on the calendar as the Madrid GP or replace Barcelona as the official Spanish GP. The Circuit de Catalunya is contracted to run the race until 2026.

• Read also: First official Formula 1 Exhibition opens in Madrid

Last month, speaking during an episode of F1's Beyond the Grid podcast, F1 boss Stefano Domenicali confirmed that Madrid had put itself on the ranks to host a round of the F1 world championship.

But while such an event would be of interest to F1 given the sport's popularity in Spain, the Italian offered no assurances that the city's efforts would come to fruition.

"It is true that Madrid wants to host a race in the future," he said. "And no decision has been taken so far. That's another great sign of the state of the health of F1.

"And this is the right competition that will not involve at all any political discussion, only commercial and technical and sporting discussion we'll be taking the next couple of months.

"And for the best of F1 we will take the right decision. I'm sure about it.

"But we need to remember that we still have years of contract with Barcelona, and we are really very, very happy with the way that Barcelona is handling the future because, of course, this has helped them to react, to push for the improvement that is needed at all levels, everywhere.

"And then this, of course, is in a moment where we have Fernando [Alonso] performing incredibly well, and we have Carlos Sainz in Ferrari. Both of them have a lot of fans.

"We see that the TV rating figure is growing incredibly well in Spain. So the market is very, very strong now. And so that's great that we have these kinds of hopes for the future."

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