'Madrid Grand Prix follows Las Vegas as seventh evening race'

It seems only a matter of time before the Madrid Grand Prix is announced, but now it also becomes clear what time the race will be held. Formula 1 are aiming for an evening race, although the organisers think otherwise.

Rumours are growing stronger that there will be a new venue for the Spanish Grand Prix in 2026. F1 wants to move to Madrid and local authorities are doing all they can to bring the top class of motorsport to Spain's capital. Barcelona's contract still runs until 2026, which is unlikely to be renewed after that.

The plan is to build a street circuit in the city for a Madrid race. In doing so, Madrid follows the example of many major cities, including the latest addition to the F1 calendar, Las Vegas.

However, F1 would like to copy more of the Vegas concept. Namely, F1 wants to organise the race in the evening as well, which, according to F1, would make for more beautiful images. According to Motorsport.com, the Madrid organisers themselves would like the race to be held during the day. According to the medium, F1 would even look at a midnight race like in Vegas. In which the race is run on Saturday night when most viewers can be reached.

With an evening race in Madrid, that would be yet another on the calendar. The F1 calendar for 2024 already includes six Grands Prix where the race will be held in the evening local time: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Madrid would be the seventh GP to be run in the evening in 2026.