Barcelona rate their chances of a new contract at 90%

Will there be a Spanish Grand Prix here in Barcelona next year?

2019 was the last year of the contract. We're laying the groundwork for the next one with Liberty Media. We are 100% in the spirit of renewal. We had a contract based on an “Ecclestone model” and we are moving to a “Liberty Media model”, and a lot of things need to be overhauled.

Sportingly and commercially, the product we have today is no longer the same, just like the economic reality, with the rise of social networks, the broadcast of Grands Prix on a pay channel, the lack of suspense on the track , the departure of Fernando Alonso...

Digital offers possibilities that did not exist with Bernie and which must now appear in black and white. Liberty Media is aware of our requirements and we are aware of theirs, and discussions are ongoing.

When Fernando won, there were 7,8 million viewers. The figure fell to 2 million, then to 200 following the move to a pay channel. How can we promote the event and find new financial partners?

These issues need to be discussed with Liberty Media. The contract must take these parameters into account. Joaquim Torra, President of Catalonia, received Chase Carey to reaffirm the region's attachment to its Grand Prix, but also to emphasize the need to review our agreements. What is reassuring is that there is a common desire to reach an agreement.

The return of the Netherlands to the calendar, on the presumed date of May 4, 2020, still raises serious doubts...

When it was necessary to find a date in June for the return of the French Grand Prix, a solution was found. We would have preferred a date in November because Paul-Ricard is not that far away, but we live together. We must not link the destinies of Barcelona and Zandvoort.

Zandvoort is carried by Verstappen like Barcelona was by Alonso. Liberty Media cannot be held responsible for Fernando’s departure…

No, except that the passage of the F1 on a pay channel has finished sinking the audience and the spectacle offered on the track is too predictable. Over the same period of time, we went from 142 spectators in the stands to 000. Personally, I have confidence. I rate our chances of a new contract at 90%.