The Fernando Factor Has Put Spain on the Right Track

Spain may only recently have developed a taste for formula one but the fact that Valencia will this weekend host the country's second round of the world championship in a single season, aka the European grand prix, emphasizes the upturn in interest in the sport and underscores the importance of the Fernando Alonso factor.

Historically the country proved slow to show any sustained interest in formula one, but after a faltering start in the 1950s it has finally got into top gear. The country hosted a grand prix on the now long-defunct Pedralbes street circuit in Barcelona in 1951 and 1954, after which there was a 13-year break before the country revived an F1 fixture with a non-championship race at the newly completed Jarama track just north of Madrid.

Jarama hosted its first championship Spanish GP in 1968 after which the fixture alternated between there and Barcelona's spectacular Montjuic Park track until the latter was abandoned following a tragic accident in the 1975 race, when Rolf Stommelen's Hill-Cosworth suffered a rear wing failure, vaulted the trackside barrier and killed four onlookers. The race was held at Jarama through to 1981, then dropped from the schedule again until '86 when it popped up at Jerez , then switched to its present home at Barcelona in 1991.

A tight little track at Valencia, outside the city, was subsequently developed as a winter formula one testing venue, but this weekend's race is being staged on a totally new track down on the waterfront.

"The thing you've got to remember about Spain is that there was no real formula one interest there prior to Alonso because they had never had a formula one driver of any consequence," said John Hogan, for more than 20 years the vice-president of sponsorship for Philip Morris, who masterminded the Marlboro cigarette brand's multimillion-dollar investment in the McLaren and Ferrari teams.

"Spain was always a motorcycle racing country. Until Alonso arrived there were only patchy crowds in the grandstands at tracks such as Barcelona, but when it came to the MotoGP events there was so much support from the Spanish riders that they would be staging three or four events a year simply to satisfy the huge demand."

Hogan added: "You have also got to look at Spain in the context of the European Union. Economically it has been one of the great growth engines of the EU. It has also become a very modern country in a relatively short period of time.

"When many of the current formula one generation went there for the first time in the early 1970s the place seemed grey and flat, but post-Franco it was transformed dramatically. The final aspect to consider is the sheer sporting momentum the country has displayed.

"Whether it is Alonso, Rafael Nadal, the bikes, the football teams or even the America's Cup program, which of course has been based in Valencia too, all these things have amalgamated to give added impetus to Spain's international reputation and justify its claim to a second grand prix."

Justification for Hogan's viewpoint can be gained from the fact that Banco Santander, one of Spain's most profitable financial institutions which also owns the Abbey, is in its second season of sponsorship of McLaren, Alonso's former team. The fact that they are now widely tipped to switch to Ferrari in 2010 gives added weight to speculation that Alonso will be joining them from Renault at the famous Italian team.

One of those quick to spot the potential of Spain as a growth area which would yield rich pickings was Flavio Briatore, the Renault formula one team principal. In 2002 not only did he shrewdly sign up Alonso as the team's test driver, but also acquired the rights to Spanish television revenues from his close friend Bernie Ecclestone.

Briatore and Ecclestone have increasingly become soul mates over the past few years. From the moment Briatore arrived in formula one running the Benetton squad in the early 1990s, the two men have developed a close friendship which most recently saw them both take a stake in Queens Park Rangers.

Recent reports suggest that the Italian tycoon pocketed more than $11m (£5.9m) generated from his UK-based company Stacourt's share of the Spanish television rights. The majority of Stacourt's $23m turnover in 2007 came from the Spanish broadcaster Telecinco, which pays for the formula one rights.

It is possible that Briatore will get richer still in 2009 when the long-term broadcast rights are expected to switch from Telecinco to La Sexta. The deal could be worth almost $1.5bn, ensuring that Briatore will keep a smile on his face no matter how the Renault team fares out on the circuit.