The history of the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix

Formula 1 announced on Tuesday that the Spanish Grand Prix is set to move to Madrid for 2026, which marks a return to the city for the world’s premier single-seater series.

F1’s Spanish history saw the sport run multiple grands prix at the purpose-built Jarama circuit, 18 km north of the nation’s capital city.

In total, F1 has had five different hosts of the Spanish GP, with a sixth Spanish venue playing host to the European Grand Prix.

The first Spanish GP officially on the F1 calendar was held in 1951 at the 6.316km Pedralbes circuit.

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Pedralbes was a street circuit with long, wide straights and just six corners, the inaugural race was won by Alfa Romeo’s Juan Manuel Fangio, with the second and final Spanish GP to be run at the venue in 1954 won by Ferrari’s Mike Hawthorn.

After a 14-year absence, two circuits stepped in to host the Spanish GP on a rotating basis, starting with the aforementioned Jarama venue in 1968, which handed over a year later to the fearsome Montjuïc Park circuit in the hills of Barcelona.

The circuits continued alternating until 1975 when disaster struck at Montjuïc.

The Montjuïc Park circuit was high speed, demanding and fraught with danger and in the ’75 race a tragic accident occurred, with Rolf Stommelen clearing the barriers resulting in the loss of life of five spectators.

Despite protests from the drivers in the build-up to the race regarding the safety of the barriers, matters forced their hand and the race was run with the worst of consequences – Montjuïc’s time as an F1 venue was done.

From 1976 to 1981, Jarama assumed sole-hosting duties of the Spanish GP and the final race was one of, if not its most famous.

Jarama in ’81 played host to a Gilles Villeneuve masterclass. Despite being in an uncompetitive Ferrari, the Candian maestro found himself in the lead and put on a sterling defensive display, keeping faster rivals at bay to lead past the checkered flag with a margin of just 1.24 seconds over fifth place.

With a narrow layout with an undulating track surface and a mix of high and low-speed corners, F1 outgrew Jarama, but the circuit is still in use for other racing to this day.

From Jarama near Madrid, F1 went to the Andalusian Jerez circuit in 1986, with Ayrton Senna winning the inaugural race in the glorious JPS-liveried Lotus 98 T just 0.014s ahead of Nigel Mansell’s superior Williams FW 11.

Familiar to MotoGP fans, Jerez’s time in F1 was short-lived and it held its final Spanish GP in 1990, but the circuit’s defining moment in the sport will undoubtedly be when it hosted the 1997 European Grand Prix.

That race was the season-finale, setting the stage for a climactic showdown between Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Williams’ Jacques Villeneuve.

Remarkably, Schumacher, Villeneuve and Williams’ Heinz-Harald Frentzen set identical qualifying times, setting up an enthralling race, in which Schumacher stole an early advantage.

However, Villeneuve was able to catch his championship rival and in an act of desperation, Schumacher deliberately hit the side of the Canadian’s car amid a battle for the lead.

Schumacher ended up in the gravel trap and Villeneuve cautiously drove home to third to seal a dramatic title.

From Jerez, the Spanish GP found its most permanent home to date, the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya, which has hosted the race since 1991 and is set to continue hosting through 2026, when its current contract ends (coinciding with the beginning of Madrid’s contract).

Widely regarded as the perfect layout to assess the all-around capability of an F1 car, the Barcelona circuit has often been used for official pre-season testing along with development driver testing through the years.

Never one to produce classic racing, the track has had some standout moments in F1.

The first race saw Nigel Mansell and Ayton Senna produce iconic imagery as they raced side by side down the start-finish straight and in 1996 the circuit saw Schumacher win his first race for Ferrari in extremely wet conditions by an extraordinary margin of 45 seconds.

Barcelona also saw Pastor Maldonado take a surprise win for Williams in 2012, the Grove-based outfit’s final race win to date and in 2016 Max Verstappen won on debut for Red Bull and remains the sport’s youngest race winner at 18 years and 228 days.

Madrid’s future street venue will have some fans recalling the Valencia street circuit which hosted the European GP from 2008 to 2012.

Set in the city’s marina, the layout wasn’t prone to overtaking opportunities and failed to leave a huge impression on the sport, but saw the nation’s hero Fernando Alonso win in dramatic style in 2012, guiding his Ferrari from 11th on the grid to victory – sharing the podium with Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher, with the latter stepping onto the F1 rostrum for the final time.