Montmel ensures a full house on Sunday due to the threat of the project at IFEMA. “Our work can be seen, it is not a project,” says the director of the layout.
Behind the main stand, a riot. Formula 1 arrives at the Montmel circuit and, before the single-seaters appear, hundreds of fans walk the asphalt, get on the simulators and browse the shops. Most stop in front of the booth by Aston Martin. There is a desire to destroy the marketing of Fernando Alonso, but the prices -a cap, 50 euros; a T-shirt, 90; a jacket, 280 euros – contain the spirits. It doesn’t matter, the success of the Grand Prix seems assured. It’s Thursday and the crowd is already smelling. Nothing to do with the sad stretch between 2015 and 2019, when no one came to the track the days before and on Sunday, with luck, 80,000 spectators were reached.
This year we are going to exceed 100,000 fans, sure, proclaims the director of the circuit, Josep Llus Santamara, in conversation with THE WORLD and at the same time points out a novelty: And there will be many, many are young. You are right: in the fan zone noticeable.
Little remains of the first Alonsomana, that tide of Asturians that packed Montmel with extra stands superimposed one on top of the other -140,000 spectators came to pass-; the new fans come from all over Spain and they are teenagers, twenties, thirties at most. They did not see Alonso overcome Michael Schumacher or they did it when they went to Primary, but they have seen it on TikTok and in the documentary Drive to Survive from Netflix. Fernando is very important to me. I’ve been following him since 2005 and there have been hard years, but now he’s back. He had been waiting for 10 years for him to fight for victories, he explains Josefrom Barcelona, 29 years old, a fan since he was 11.
The effect of the elections
It is an example of the new public. In fact, the tickets for some grandstands have taken longer to sell -they range from 264 to 484 euros-, but they flew in the stands Carlos Sainz -180 euros- and especially in the young pelouse -49.5 euros-. We have always had an expert fan, who knows about regulations and settings, but now another type of fan is growing. That is why it is important that there are more things, activities, concerts, in addition to what happens on the track, comments Santamara, head of the Montmel circuit, who warns of a clear future thanks to this new Formula 1 boom with only one threat: Madrid. The possible march of the Spanish Grand Prix in 2027 -when the current contract ends- at the IFEMA facilities in Madrid.
A member of the circuit acknowledged yesterday to this newspaper that the results of the last elections were followed with nervousness in the place. the defeat of Ada Colau in Barcelona it seems good news, since the Catalan capital can increase its investment in the facility, contained in recent times, but the absolute majority of the Popular Party both in the Community and in the Madrid City Council multiplies the danger.
- Does the Madrid project pose a threat to the Barcelona circuit?
- We have 33 years of history here, before we had been in Montjuc and, before that, in Pedralbes. We have a contract until 2026 and we are focused on carrying out the Grand Prix in the best possible way. That is our reality: what we do, not what we talk about. Our work can be seen, it is not a project.
The circuit director, Josep Llus Santamara, assures that relations with Formula 1 are excellent and that its facilities continue to be updated to retain the World Cup, but uncertainty hovers over the Grand Prix between the enjoyment of the appearance of a new hobby to the engine. There are also many circuits that function without Formula 1, adds Santamara, who promises the circuit a long life even without the Great Circus. The economic impact in the region would be lost -it is estimated between 160 and 180 million-, but the layout would also stop paying the Formula 1 canon, which exceeds 20 million.
The opinion of Alonso and Sainz
With everything, the essential thing now is that so many people, so many new fans, have a good time on Sunday. The important thing is that there is a Formula 1 race in Spain every year. Whether it is in Barcelona or Madrid is not so important, Carlos Sainz analyzed this Thursday.
I am comfortable in Barcelona and I would also be in Madrid. I like the classic circuits more, but it depends on the interest of the regions involved, added Fernando Alonso, who celebrated the increase in fans, but distanced himself from a debate that points to the long run: In 2027 I don’t know if I will be in F1 or I will see it. on the couch
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