Formula 1 in flesh, blood, heart and ashes

Madrid wants a Formula 1 Grand Prix and, unfeasible, the Jarama circuit, where nine were held between 1968 and 1981, and myths such as Jim Clark, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, ​​Graham Hill or Gilles Villeneuve won, to celebrate the capital offers to the competition the avenues and highways that surround the pavilions of the trade fair.

The patron and CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali, thanks you for your interest and desire, explains that although the 2023 calendar provides for 23 grand prix, there are more than 30 requests to host one, remember that in Spain there is a commitment to Montmeló circuit until 2026 with which they are very comfortable, and they see it as very difficult for there to be two Grands Prix in Spain in the same year.

As a reward,

the first official exhibition of Formula 1 and its 73-year history that is celebrated in the world, and that after Madrid, where it will be until the summer, will tour the rest of the planet, starting with Milan.

Under the melancholy gaze of Ayrton Senna in a large poster reminding him that whoever does not try to reach a gap first cannot call himself a racing driver (and screw Alain Prost), the pavilion opens into six rooms full of materials, screens with current interviews and old films, engines, chassis and memorabilia, helmets and overalls.

Formula 1 is flesh and blood, and heart.

Technology, a lot of technology, legendary drivers -from Fangio to Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, and Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher, and all the greats-, visionary bosses -Enzo Ferrari, Ron Dennis, Frank Williams-- and revolutionary engineers, Colin Chapman and his black invincible Lotus, Ross Brawn, the best years of Ferrari, or Adrian Newey, the father of the sweeping Red Bulls.

“This exhibition is a unique opportunity to showcase what Formula 1 is, was and will be, all the dimensions of our commitment,” says Domenicali, 57, an Italian from Imola, where the Dino and Enzo Ferrari circuit crashed. and Senna died.

“Visiting it, you feel how the story of your life is connected with the great moments of motorsport.

You realize how many things happened and marked us when we were children.

Each corner awakens a memory”.

The charred chassis of Romain Grosjean's Haas. PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU (AFP)

Perhaps the jewel of the exhibition, the

so to speak, she occupied one of the rooms by herself.

This is the charred chassis of Romain Grosjean's Haas that became a ball of fire when it crashed into the barriers at 192 kilometers per hour at the 2020 Bahrain GP. The French driver survived the accident with only a few burns on his hands and ankles thanks to the security measures and the halo of his car.

It was the supreme triumph of technology and evolution, as stressed by the British pilot Tim Harvey, curator of the exhibition.

“I think the story of how Grosjean was able to walk out of his burning car in November 2020 is one of the most fascinating in the history of our sport, because it reflects more than 50 years of continuous work to improve safety,” he says. Harvey.

“It's an incredible journey that started in the late 1960s,

in the days of Jackie Stewart, when three-liter engines reached Formula 1 and a pilot died every month.

And the pilots then instigated the revolution so that the culture of safety reached the sport.

And since then everything has developed as a kind of string theory that connects everything, starting with the ground effect, the air cushion under the chassis that improves aerodynamics and prevents the car from taking off.

And all this is perfectly seen in the exhibition, which offers interviews with 80 of the people who have forged the history of motorsport, more than 200 hours of testimony of the history of the sport”.

And the pilots then instigated the revolution so that the culture of safety reached the sport.

And since then everything has developed as a kind of string theory that connects everything, starting with the ground effect, the air cushion under the chassis that improves aerodynamics and prevents the car from taking off.

And all this is perfectly seen in the exhibition, which offers interviews with 80 of the people who have forged the history of motorsport, more than 200 hours of testimony of the history of the sport”.

And the pilots then instigated the revolution so that the culture of safety reached the sport.

And since then everything has developed as a kind of string theory that connects everything, starting with the ground effect, the air cushion under the chassis that improves aerodynamics and prevents the car from taking off.

And all this is perfectly seen in the exhibition, which offers interviews with 80 of the people who have forged the history of motorsport, more than 200 hours of testimony of the history of the sport”.

Not so many hours will be necessary to appreciate the greatness of the exhibition, its promoters promise.

“In an hour and a half, you could enjoy everything that the exhibition offers, and each person who sees it will leave with a unique, special memory,” says Domenicali.

“And it will attract people like us, who live within Formula 1 and also, for sure, those who don't know anything about it.

As the exhibition tells it, the life not only of those who sit behind the wheel but of the people who created this great technological development, the people who make the difference.

It will be a great experience."

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