How Madrid stole a march on Barcelona (and London!) with new F1 race in heart of city

F1 returns to Madrid for the first time in 45 years with a brand-new street circuit - (AP)

As if to emphasise the scale and enormity of the proposition at hand, it was 2017 and the inaugural year of Liberty Media’s game-changing takeover of Formula 1 when conversations first took place with stakeholders in Madrid about hosting a grand prix.

Following the American train of thought with a modern-day city-centre circuit and extravaganza, could the Spanish capital go where no Western European capital had gone before? Nine years on, the end-product will be showcased to the world this weekend. Forty-five years after F1 last raced in Madrid, the Spanish Grand Prix has a new destination.