The city of Barranquilla, Colombia has signalled its intent to bring Formula 1 to its streets going forward as it looks to secure a long-term agreement with the sport.
F1 is currently attracting interest from multiple locations around the world amid the ongoing boost in the sport’s popularity and consumption.
Currently, F1 hosts just one race in South America, with Brazil being a round that has been present on the schedule for a number of decades.
A number of new venues have joined the sport in recent years, including Miami and Las Vegas in the United States, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar in the Middle East.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali reportedly made a trip to Colombia to investigate the feasibility of the country hosting a grand prix.
The mayor of Barranquilla Jamie Pumarejo told El Heraldo that his city is pushing forward with plans to add another South American venue to F1.
“The process is progressing favourably, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he said.
“We are still there, that is to say, it is a real, palpable possibility; it is a financially sustainable project that brings investment to the city by being promoted by the private sector.
“It is not yet a reality, but we are in the race and we hope to reach the finish line. We don’t want to raise false expectations yet
“If it is signed, we could be talking about 2024 or 2025 and it would be signed, hopefully, for 10 years.”
Pumarejo even stated that there are already track plans in place, but one is being complicated by the Magdalena River
“Two semi-urban routes have been identified and approved, a plan A and a plan B,” he said.
“In one of the routes, the river is the main protagonist, but both are within the metropolitan area.”
Barranquilla is situated roughly 1,000km from Colombia’s capital, Bogota.
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