Formula 1 announced a sold-out weekend attendance of 353,000 at the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix – the first F1 weekend to take place at the new MADRING in Madrid.
Kimi Antonelli secured his eighth win of the season at the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix, becoming F1’s first winner at the all-new MADRING venue. It was the first time F1 had raced near Madrid since the 1981 Spanish Grand Prix – won by Gilles Villeneuve – at the Jarama circuit, north of the city.
Max Verstappen made the new Madrid circuit the 32nd at which he had recorded a podium finish, while Lando Norris, who took pole on Saturday, completed the podium. Elsewhere, the Spanish drivers had a weekend to forget in front of their home crowd. After making contact with one another, Carlos Sainz failed to finish the race, while Fernando Alonso could finish no higher than 17th and two laps down on the leaders.
During its broadcast of the race, Formula 1 announced that the race weekend had sold-out, attracting a total of 353,000 fans. That’s despite empty seats being visible in grandstands during Friday’s on-track action.
MADRING Exceeds Capacity Expectations
The MADRING was expected to have a total capacity of around 110,000 for its first appearance on the calendar, with that figure set to expand to 140,000 over the coming years. A sold-out weekend figure of 353,000 suggests capacity was closer to 117,000 per day across grandstands, general admission areas and hospitality suites.
The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix currently ranks as the sixth best-attended weekend of the season, just behind the Canadian Grand Prix, which attracted 360,000 fans. The British, Australian, Italian and Belgian Grands Prix also sit ahead of Madrid in the list of this year’s best-attended events.
Using official figures reported by F1 and local media, plus estimates for races at which attendances have not yet been announced, total attendance across the 14 rounds so far this season is believed to be nearing 5 million.
Spanish Grand Prix Staying in Madrid until 2035
2026 is the first F1 season to feature two Grands Prix in Spain since 2012. The 2026 Spanish Grand Prix had a larger weekend attendance than the 2026 Barcelona Grand Prix, which was held at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the previous host of the Spanish Grand Prix for the last 35 years. Catalunya’s attendance reached 301,273 in 2026 – a slight increase on the previous year’s figure. The MADRING welcomed around 50,000 more spectators over three days.
This was the first of ten confirmed Spanish Grands Prix to take place at the MADRING, with the venue signed up to host the event until at least 2035. Following the first race weekend at the track, in which overtaking proved difficult in Formula 1 and its support events Formula 2 and Formula 3, many commentators are of the opinion that the track could be tweaked for 2027 to allow greater passing opportunities.
Dates have not yet been announced for the 2027 Spanish Grand Prix, which could move to an August date next year. F1 is expected to reveal its 2027 calendar imminently, having announced last week that a 3-day season launch event will take place in Milan next February.
