Formula 1 is back in Madrid, but you didn’t need to be anywhere near the track to know it.
As the Spanish capital welcomed the FORMULA 1 TAG HEUER GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2026 at the new MADRING circuit, F1 spilled out across the city, offering everything from fashion launches inside historic palaces to coffee parties, pop-ups, live music and some serious trackside access.
And for us, race week started in slightly unexpected surroundings. Formula 1 linked up with Madrid-born label Pompeii at the Gran Meliá Palacio de los Duques, taking over the historic setting to unveil a new nine-piece capsule collection. Classical architecture, manicured gardens and a relaxed atmosphere replaced grandstands and garages for the evening, setting the tone for a weekend where F1 continuously found itself in places you might not traditionally expect it.
Taking inspiration from the photography of Slim Aarons, the event brought a more leisurely side to the usually high-speed world of motorsport. Much of the evening unfolded outside in the palace gardens, where guests came together to discover the collection, while an official Formula 1 show car wrapped in Pompeii’s bespoke design and covered with flowers became one of the evening’s centrepieces.
Pit crew jackets, mechanic shirts and graphic tees took familiar pieces from motorsport and shifted them into everyday wardrobes, while friends of the brand and Madrid creatives came together around the collection.
But the Pompeii launch was only one part of F1’s presence across Madrid. The following morning, the pace shifted again with F1 Paddock Club x The Coffee Party, another off-track activation designed to bring race week into the city and connect Formula 1 with Madrid beyond the circuit. This one was built around coffee, music and community, creating a more laid-back entry point into the weekend and showing just how many different forms an F1 experience can now take.
It also tapped into something much bigger happening around the sport. Formula 1 is increasingly meeting its audience through the culture surrounding racing, and F1 Paddock Club x The Coffee Party felt like a natural extension of that. People could drop into the atmosphere of Grand Prix weekend without having to be trackside, while the F1 Pop-Up Museum offered another route into the sport for fans across the capital. In short, these were different experiences with the same idea: you didn’t necessarily need a grandstand ticket or an encyclopaedic knowledge of tyre strategies to get involved.
Then, at the circuit, Madrid showed us the other side of the equation. Formula 1 might be expanding far beyond motorsport, but getting trackside was a reminder of why everything ultimately revolves around racing. Behind-the-scenes access brought us closer to the machinery of an F1 weekend, from paddock tours and pit lane walks to seeing the grid and podium from a perspective most fans rarely experience.
House 44, F1 Paddock Club’s premium hospitality space curated in partnership with Soho House and Lewis Hamilton, sat somewhere between those two worlds. Bringing together racing, music, food, entertainment and culture, the space offered guests a base throughout the weekend while putting a broader lifestyle spin on the traditional idea of F1 hospitality. Premium views of the circuit sat alongside a revolving programme of performances and experiences, making what happened away from the track action feel like part of the weekend rather than an afterthought.
Grammy Award-winning artist Eladio Carrión was part of that experience, performing across the weekend and adding another layer to a programme that sat at the intersection of sport, music and contemporary culture.
It meant you could spend one part of the weekend standing metres away from an F1 car, another watching a live performance, and another exploring what was happening across Madrid itself.
We found out that this is what a modern Formula 1 weekend now looks like. Of course, the racing remains the reason everyone comes together, but everything surrounding it has become a part of the wider spectacle. Fashion, music, food, nightlife, hospitality and fan experiences now sit alongside the action on track, opening the sport up to people who might have previously felt completely removed from it.
In Madrid, we got to experience both sides. One minute, we were looking at an F1 car covered in flowers outside a 19th-century palace, the next, we were grabbing a coffee at F1 Paddock Club x The Coffee Party, walking the pit lane, taking in the action trackside or listening to music flow through House 44.
