Why F1 is no stranger to Madrid

As F1 confirmed its long-mooted move to Madrid in 2026 for a 10-year period, we look back at the series’ first decade in the region.

The Jarama circuit, in the Community of Madrid but about 30 km from the city, was inaugurated in 1967 and following a demonstration race in November, the twisty 3.404-kilometre circuit hosted its first proper F1 grand prix on 12 May 1968.

Chris Amon put Ferrari on pole position and looked on course to win until on lap 57 of 90 a fuel pump failure forced him to retire. Graham Hill, who had come from seventh on the grid, inherited first place and handed Lotus the victory.

However, after that first successful edition, F1 began to alternate Jarama with Barcelona’s perilous Montjuic Circuit, with the Madrid track hosting the Spanish GP in 1970, 1972 and 1974 until a fatal accident in the 1975 race ended Montjuic’s stay on the calendar.

Jarama hosted the Spanish GP for the second time in 1970, but the event descended into chaos over the number of participants allowed to start the race and over whether or not practice and qualifying results would count for the grid.

Drivers took the the grid without knowing if they had qualified or not and ultimately only 16 cars were allowed to start, with the likes of Jo Siffert forcefully thrown off the grid.

The drama didn’t stop there as on the first lap Jackie Oliver slammed into Jacky Ickx’s Ferrari, setting both cars ablaze. With Ickx coming off worse, a steward and a member of the Guardia Civil helped the Belgian escape the inferno.

Lauda’s first victory

Emerson Fittipaldi took his second F1 victory at Jarama in 1972, in a rainy race held on a Monday. But perhaps the most historic edition came in 1974. In a wet-to-dry race that took two full hours, Ferrari’s Niki Lauda put in a brilliant performance from pole to take his maiden F1 grand prix win, and Ferrari’s 50th.

At the 1976 race, Lauda arrived with three broken ribs after a tractor accident on his farm in Salzburg. He still qualified second behind title rival James Hunt and a retirement for Hunt’s team-mate Jochen Mass ensured the finishing order remained the same.

Afterwards, Hunt was disqualified on technical grounds, but two months later he was reinstated as the winner following a lengthy appeal procedure.

Back-to-back wins for Mario Andretti…