Brand new F1 race 'sells out' despite still being built

The general manager of the Spanish Grand Prix, Luis Garcia Abad, has said his event is 'technically sold out', despite parts of the infrastructure still being under construction.

Spain's F1 race has a new location this year, with the Spanish Grand Prix being hosted in Madrid from 2026 onwards.

The Madring will host the event in September, meaning the previous home of the Spanish Grand Prix (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya) hosted the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix instead, earlier this year.

Madrid's new circuit heads through some of the most of the city's iconic landmarks, including the lavish IFEMA conference centre, and while the track has been set up and even tried and tested, a lot of the infrastructure is still under construction.

The pitlane garages are still being built with the grandstands and paddock area incomplete, with Madring's Chief Operations Officer Carlos Jimenez recently admitting workers may have to work through the night to ensure it gets finished on time.

But Garcia Abad has been much more positive about the circuit. Earlier this month, Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc both drove around the new track in a filming day which also acted as a test for the new circuit.

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Madring official reveals event has sold out

"We've been technically sold out for weeks," Garcia Abad said at a press event with just a few weeks to go until the F1 circus arrives.

"There's still time. The final capacity is determined at the end of the race. The circuit can hold many more people, but we want access to an experience to enjoy; it's an event from morning till night."

Ferrari's test at the Madring was the first time any F1 car had driven on the new circuit, and it was revealed last week that Hamilton had a couple of gripes about it. But Garcia Abad insists the test went very well.

"We've delivered results, not just words," he continued. "The construction was finished at the end of May, as stipulated in the contract. We did the test because we had made a commitment to Ferrari.

"Nobody believed in it last November, but they did. It was crucial because it was the test to ensure that everything designed, everything technical, worked as expected."

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