Chase Carey on the future of the Spanish Grand Prix. Formula 1 boss hopes the race in Barcelona will remain in the calendar.

Chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Formula One Group Chase Carey recently said that he intends to sign a long term deal in order to keep the Spanish Grand Prix on the F1 calendar. The current contract, which was negotiated by former boss Bernie Ecclestone two years ago, is available only until the end of 2019, but the American executive admitted that he hopes Barcelona would continue to be part of the line-up for many years to come:

“We have a contract to continue with Barcelona. We hope it will also continue to be the case in the future. Our intention is that the contract will be in the long term, and we’ll put our efforts into making it the case. We choose to be here in this part of Europe, because this continent is very important to the sport.” – Chase Carey said, as reported by the Spanish media in the weekend, as Formula One’s new chairman added that he thinks Barcelona itself is “a beautiful and magical city”.

The first Spanish Grand Prix on the FIA calendar took place back in 1951, when the race was won by Argentine racing car driver Juan Manuel Fangio for Alfa Romero. The next race to be held at Pedralbes was won by Scuderia Ferrari’s Mike Hawthorn in 1954. The event became a regular fixture of the Formula 1 calendar from 1967, missing only four years between 1982 and 1985. During the years there have been several venues for the race, included Jarama, Montjuic and Jerez. But from 1991, the Spanish GP has been held continually at the 2.892-mile, 16-turn Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Chase Carey also said that he is happy with how the 2017 Formula 1 season has started, as the new aerodynamic and tyre regulations have resulted in faster cars and closer competition on track in the first four rounds of the championship, two of which were won by Scuderia Ferrari: “We have plans to make Formula One ever more interesting and attractive to the fans. So far we have had three different winners in four races and that is something that makes this championship a lot more interesting.” – Chase Carey explained, as reported by the Spanish media.