Formula 1 shakes up Madrid: who pays for this?

MadridCatalonia 40, Madrid 0. This is the claim made by Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the PP of the Community of Madrid regarding the public money costs of Formula 1. While the Madrid president's team wields this controversial comparison in millions of euros, the Madrid left, associations of residents affected by the Madrid Grand Prix, and environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, have questioned the narrative of the Popular Party and reject the claim that the organization of this major event will not be to the detriment of the public treasury.

"The economic project is so brilliant that it is super-opaque," jokes the spokesperson for the Stop Formula 1 Madrid platform, Constantino Blanco, in a conversation with ARA. This group of residents affected by the assembly and disassembly works, mobility restrictions, and noise have protested throughout the weekend against the Grand Prix with a premise contrary to that of Ayuso, which is exemplified by some of the signs at this Sunday's rally. Slogans could be read such as "Formula 1 is paid for by the neighborhood, the businessman gets rich" or the comparison "F1: 365 million euros, 0-3 year old Education: 0 euros".

Blanco raises the public cost that the event may have had to 400 million euros. "We have been extracting data and more data and we have reached 319 million euros. We must add about 40/50 million for the fee, which already raises it to 367. We know there are more works, but we cannot find them anywhere. So we estimate that it will be about 400 million euros to which we must add the assembly and disassembly every year", explains the spokesperson for the platform. However, precisely the lack of official information about who has assumed these expenses causes a fluctuation of figures. From Més Madrid they also maintain that there are "500 million euros committed that all Madrilenians pay".

Their spokesperson at the City Council, Rita Maestre, present at Sunday's protest, has raised the bill, in a message on X, adding circuit works and services associated with the grand prix, the rights for the next ten years, tourist promotion, as well as mobility in public transport and even the large Spanish flag that was flown there. The spokesperson for Més Madrid in the regional Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, went even further in a press conference this Monday and pointed to possible irregularities that she believes will reach the courts. "We have yet to know which relative of Ayuso has received a millionaire contract or if the boyfriend has taken a commission", she concluded.

Without going into detail, the leader of the Madrid PSOE and Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar López, also questioned that there is a zero cost. "We will see how much it has cost. We might find ourselves as happened in Valencia a few years ago," he said yesterday on TVE, in reference to the 300 million euro hole that Formula 1 left there. The socialist spokesperson in the Madrid Assembly, Mar Espinar, added that "they have not obtained the reports" on the cost and warned that they will be "very attentive to how this may affect Ifema Madrid [organizer of the event], which is a company with public capital".

From the PP they rebut these calculations and forecasts and claim Madrid as a "success". In statements to the media this Monday, Ayuso attributed these criticisms to a supposed attempt to "tarnish" Madrid and argued that, although she denies having done so until now, it would be justified to dedicate public money to it due to the economic return that she calculates it has in the city. The national PP spokesperson, Borja Sémper, branded the left as a "political grinch". "There are people who are determined to be in a bad mood and always angry," he stated.

From Stop Formula 1 Madrid they reply: "They accuse us of being sad and these people need to squander 400 million euros, make a huge wound in a district of 200,000 inhabitants, expel 10,000 people from their neighborhood and cut down 700 trees to be entertained for two hours", in the words of Blanco, their spokesperson. The platform is already preparing legal actions to try to stop next year's edition.

Sports doubts

Beyond the political and neighborhood complaints, the grand prix has left sporting doubts. The driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull, second place) was critical of the layout and has already publicly requested that there be modifications for the 2027 edition. He was not the only one to propose changes to favor overtaking and improve a spectacle that, sportingly speaking, was very austere. "Liberty Media –the company that manages Formula– does not care as much about the layout as the show. The race was not worth much, but the packaging was perfect, for them," explains to ARA a person who was involved in the construction of Madrid, reports Martí Molina. This same source, who asks to remain anonymous, recalls that the definitive layout changed with respect to the initial proposal and sees room for more changes to be made in the future. This year, only 4 overtakes could be seen, the negative record of the season, even surpassing the 100% urban circuit of Monte Carlo.