Spanish GP Drums, the more than 100,000 fans that will pack the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next weekend (May 20-22) resound. And they rumble louder than ever because for the first time since 2013, a Spanish pilot aspires to the best possible result. Carlos Sainz was the host at the Madrid karting for the presentation of the home grand prix to the press and the authorities, and he picks up the glove: “It’s an intense week, but also a lot of fun, I’m going to enjoy the Spanish GP like I haven’t enjoyed it so far, with the first real opportunity to fight for the podium and to win the race. The full house shows the good direction in which Formula 1 is going and the support we have in this country. It will be a unique and very fun grand prize.”
“Win? It would be unique, because it would be the first and it would be at home, For that I work every day and I try to get it as soon as possible. The fans will want but the one who wants the most is me”, admits the Ferrari driver, fifth in the World Championship with three podiums in 2022 in the three races he finished. One of the stands bears his name, but all of them will cheer on Sainz and Alonso. “That they support me as much as they can, because every little bit they do is noticeable from the car. At home I have always done my best races, I always scored points when I had a car to do so. And this year, when there is a car for the podium, they will try to win. I remember going to the Spanish GP in 2005 and 2006, with the grandstands full when Fernando was winning races. In 2010 and 2013 it filled up again, but we haven’t seen it like this since. The drivers parade It’s one of the best moments of the grand prix.”
The event was attended by the director general of the CSD, Albert Soller, and the president of the RFEdA, Manuel Avigno: “Hopefully it will be Carlos’s grand prize, because it would be everyone’s grand prize, and because after the first victory all the others will come. We have a pilot, we have a team and we play at home. But we have a great representation in addition to Carlos and Fernando, there are Nerea (Martí), Marta and Belén (García) in the W-Series; and there are Pepe Martí and David Vidales in Formula 3″.
Regardless of what happens on tarmac next week, it will be a historic grand prix: More than 100,000 fans will pack the stands of Montmeló as has not happened for a decade. A two-time world champion and a Ferrari driver are the perfect cocktail to revitalize the Spanish GP. The race, in addition, recently renewed with Formula 1 until 2026 in one of the longest and most exciting contracts on the current calendar. “When we designed the temporary stands we were conservative, remembering 2018 or 2019, but the pace of sales since Christmas allowed us to expand capacity. We quickly reached the ‘sold-out’, although with less seating capacity than in 2006 and 2007. As the demand continues, we have taken out special discounts on some of the last tickets with reduced visibility, due to pillars and others”, explains Josep Lluís Santamaría, general director of the Circuit, who has a surprise, “a new, more special podium, which is also red” . “We would be very excited if Carlos could premiere it”, Santamaria points out. There is license to dream.