{"id":738183,"date":"2026-06-15T11:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/738183\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T11:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T11:56:14","slug":"formula-1-news-barcelona-not-giving-up-on-permanent-f1-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/738183\/","title":{"rendered":"Formula 1 News: Barcelona not giving up on permanent F1 future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(GMM) Barcelona is refusing to abandon hopes of returning to the Formula 1 calendar every year despite agreeing to alternate with Spa-Francorchamps from 2028.<\/p>\n<p>The comments come just days after Royal Spanish Automobile Federation president Manuel Avino <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoracing1.com\/pl\/495442\/formula-1-news-barcelona-could-return-in-2027-if-calendar-disrupted\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">suggested Barcelona could even return as early as 2027<\/a> if continuing instability in the Middle East forces Formula 1 to revise its plans.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Catalan president Salvador Illa has made clear that authorities are still pushing for a bigger future in Formula 1.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-495876\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/catalan-president-salvador-illa.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"555\"\/>Catalan president Salvador Illa. Image provided by Catalan Government<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not ruling anything out,\u201d he said at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday. \u201cWith the prestige of Barcelona and Catalonia, as has been seen this week, we can aspire to whatever we want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona recently secured a new agreement covering 2028, 2030 and 2032, sharing its place on the calendar with Spa.<\/p>\n<p>However, Illa is not treating the alternating arrangement as the final outcome.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly two countries host more than one F1 Grand Prix \u2013 the United States and Spain. That also demonstrates the confidence in Catalonia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, speaking to AS newspaper in Barcelona, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali said local authorities had previously assumed the race would remain regardless of investment levels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can say this because I was direct with my friends in Barcelona,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen a major promoter needs government support to invest, there was a time when Barcelona, frankly, thought they had this race guaranteed regardless of the investment they made and the things that needed improving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-495394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/stefano-domenicali.jpg\" alt=\"Stefano Domenicali, F1 president and CEO of Formula 1 Group, during the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Barcelona 11-14 June 2026, Montemel\u00f2 Formula 1 World championship 2026.\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\"\/>Stefano Domenicali, F1 president and CEO of Formula 1 Group, during the Barcelona-Catalunya GP, Barcelona 11-14 June 2026, Montemel\u00f2 Formula 1 World championship 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Domenicali said attitudes have since changed dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow, the people involved at the government level and on the promoter\u2019s team have done an incredible job and have won back the race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are some very important people involved, and I thank the President of Catalonia for his commitment,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were serious about reaching this agreement, working very hard to ensure the future of a circuit that deserved to be part of F1.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Illa also revealed he had held fresh talks with Domenicali during the Spanish GP weekend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just met with Domenicali and we had a very productive conversation,\u201d said the Catalan leader.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe seemed very happy and satisfied with how things are going here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look ahead and I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll have Formula 1 in Barcelona for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(GMM) Barcelona is refusing to abandon hopes of returning to the Formula 1 calendar every year despite agreeing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,576,577,82],"class_list":["post-738183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}