In an F1 2026 season which will bring great change for Formula 1, the calendar will also look different with a new arrival on its way.

And that is the new-look Spanish Grand Prix which will move to Madrid, with the first staging of the event reportedly pencilled in for September 6, 2026.

Madrid race debut date reportedly set

As the start of F1 2025 moves ever closer, the teams and drivers are preparing to go racing with the current set of regulations for the last time, as from F1 2026, new chassis and power unit rules are to be introduced.

The changes will be significant, as smaller cars arrive on the grid for next season, powered by redesigned engines which will feature a 50/50 split between electrical power and an internal combustion engine running on fully-sustainable biofuels.

In addition to that, the sport will have two new teams as Cadillac arrive for F1 2026 and Sauber morphs into Audi F1, but the changes do not stop there, as Madrid will make its return to the calendar next year too, taking over as Spanish GP host from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

And as per Spanish publication Marca, the first Madrid Grand Prix will be held on September 6.

The event is to take place at a street circuit to be built around the IFEMA Exhibition Centre in Madrid.

However, concerns have been raised about the proposed track by ex-F1 test driver Dani Juncadella, who has expressed fears over a lack of overtaking and major danger.

A steeply-banked right-hander is included among the track’s 20 corners, with FIA homologation and final approval needed before the fully-defined track can be readied for F1 action.

Writing on X above a video showing a virtual lap of the circuit, Juncadella stated: “I don’t say what I think of the circuit because they’ll take me to prison. Oh well no yes I do say it: what a…”, followed by a toilet-themed emoji to express his view on the circuit.

In a further post, he added: “No option to overtake.

“Ultra-dangerous layout. Miami, Vegas, Sochi, etc. type piano/wall philosophy. Which I don’t like.

“Luckily this is not the final circuit.”

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Juncadella would also propose an alternate venue which he would liked to have seen take over as home to the Spanish Grand Prix.

“I wish it could be run at Jarama,” he responded to a fan expressing the same view.

“It would be [the] BEST. But talking about it with some people who know about it and knowing the current conditions of Jarama (both in terms of circuit and environment), I understand that it is something unthinkable.”

F1 last raced at the Jarama circuit based in Madrid in 1981, but its current FIA Grade 2 status would not be sufficient to host future F1 action, with a Grade 1 licence required.

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