AUSTIN – The announcement that IndyCar will race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been the talk of the Formula 1 paddock ahead of the United States Grand Prix, but opinions about its impact on the American series are mixed.
The IndyCar Series announced that it has signed a multi-year contract to host an international event in Spain, with the first race scheduled for July 18, 2027. It represents the sport’s first trip outside of North America since 2013, when it hosted an event in Brazil.
IndyCar ‘specific to US market’ says Fernando Alonso
Speaking to media, including Motorsport Week, ahead of the US Grand Prix, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ambassador and Aston Martin racing driver Fernando Alonso claimed the event would be a good one for Spain and IndyCar, though he remained skeptical about the value it could provide to the American series.
“IndyCar is very specific to the US market,” he explained. “One of the things that is more penalising in F1 for the drivers and for the teams — the costs go very high when you travel around the world. So it has some benefits and some downsides.
“I think they need to keep it somehow in the US and have one or two one-off races. I don’t think they will keep going elsewhere.”
Will Buxton bullish on IndyCar in Spain
Yet in an exclusive chat with Motorsport Week before the race’s official confirmation, Will Buxton has taken a much different view.
“I think that the idea is wonderful,” Buxton said. I’m all for it. “I think that, if it happens, it can only be a positive for the championship [and] wonderful for Alex Palou as a five-time champion and undeniable GOAT of his era to be able to have a home race and celebrate his success in front of his home fans.”
Buxton, a former Formula 1 presenter turned lead commentator for the IndyCar Series on FOX, pushed back against the sentiment that the American championship would be unable to find its footing abroad.
“You’re going have people who say, ‘Why are we doing this? We’re an American championship, our sponsors are primarily American,’” Buxton said. “I think it’s worth remembering there is a global viewership of IndyCar that exists and a fanbase that exists for IndyCar globally — and drivers from all of the world, so many from Europe.
“Approximately 25 percent of our global audience exists in Europe. How wonderful to be able to give them a race that they can attend, a race that they can come and watch.”
Per Buxton, IndyCar’s return-on-investment is tied specifically to the number of people who view its FOX broadcast in a given weekend. Should the series head abroad, the interest would almost certainly be associated with an increased viewership.
“We’re getting some of the best viewership figures every single year since the Split at a number of the tracks that we’re going to, which I think shows the strength of the partnership between FOX and IndyCar,” Buxton explained.
Buxton pointed to IndyCar’s most audacious race of the 2026 season, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, as proof that a new event in a high-profile location can break barriers. That race attracted a peak of almost 3.5 million viewers, according to the series, which made it the most-watched IndyCar race since 1995, per The Athletic.
But not every race attracts anywhere near those stratospheric numbers. RACER reports that August’s race at Portland drew an average of 677,000 viewers, while May’s Indianapolis Grand Prix only managed 656,000. IndyCar may be an American series, but it’s clear that some of its American races have failed to deliver.
Both Buxton and Alonso agree on one thing, though: The Spanish fans would turn up for the race.
“That’s the benefit of having a permanent circuit; you have that opportunity to test any day of the year, but also to host races here and there,” Alonso said, mentioning WEC’s recent event in Barcelona and MotoGP’s annual visit to the circuit. “When we compare street circuits to the normal, conventional circuits, that’s the biggest advantage, and that’s why Barcelona is so crucial for motorsport in Spain. We cannot survive without Barcelona for the younger categories. You have to have a circuit that you can go there.
“And with this IndyCar, it is another example of how lucky we are.”
For Buxton, IndyCar would fill a gap in the calendar of the local Barcelona-Catalunya fans who will find themselves without a Formula 1 Grand Prix for the first time since 1990 — and who would have a local champion to cheer for in the form of five-time title holder Álex Palou.
He told Motorsport Week: “I think it’s fantastic for the fanbase, who are used to paying $400 or $500 a weekend to come and watch Formula 1. IndyCar is a very different price point, yes, and offers a very different weekend experience.
“But obviously Barcelona won’t be hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix next year, and what a wonderful opportunity for those fans in Barcelona, who won’t be getting [an F1] race in their backyard, to be able to have an IndyCar race and go and cheer on their home champion.”
IndyCar’s Spanish excursion has been confirmed, and Palou will race in front of his home crowd in 2027. Its success, though, can only be evaluated after the chequered flag falls.
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