Lead Up to Lights Out: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

It’s time for the F1 grid to return to Spain as they begin their first European triple header, let’s have a look what the updated Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has to offer!

TRACK STATS

Location: Spain, Barcelona

Time Zone: BST+1

First Grand Prix: 1951

Number of Laps: 66

Number of Turns: 14

Number of DRS Zones: 

Circuit Length: 4.655 km/2.892mi

Race Distance: 307.236km

Top Speed: 207.4mph

Capacity: 140,700

Temperature: Highs of 27°C and lows of 20°C with a 11% chance of rain in June.

Track Elevation: 29.6m

Lap Record: 1:16.330 by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull Racing RB19 (2023)

Most Wins: Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton with six wins with Benetton-Renault, Ferrari and Mercedes respectively.

Designed By: Hermann Tilke

Interesting Fact: Only five of the 23 races at this track between 2001 and 2023 have not been won from pole position.

2023 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

In an attempt to improve the racing the layout of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was updated ahead of the 2023 race. This saw the chicane at turns 14 and 15 be removed to make the final section more free flowing and allow more opportunities for overtakes, as well as more run off space being added at turn one to increase safety for the drivers.

A very eventful qualifying saw Max Verstappen put his Red Bull on pole for the first time ever in Spain. Unlike previous years where he had to battle through the pack to claim the win, in 2023 he led from the start and greeted the chequered flag first for his fifth win of the season.

In contrast to his teammates blistering pace in qualifying, Sergio Perez failed to get out of Q2 and lined up in P11 for Sunday’s race. He wasn’t the only big name to not make it to Q3 with a collision between Lewis Hamilton and George Russell causing the latter to qualify in P12 and Charles Leclerc’s lack of grip seeing him start the race in P19.

Behind the race leader it was a race full of overtakes!

It was Carlos Sainz who lined up in P2 and put Verstappen under pressure into the first corner but the Dutchman did enough to stay ahead.

We saw a very early pitstop from Lando Norris, who started in P3, he picked up damage to his front wing on the first lap after colliding with Hamilton who beat him off the line. This put the McLaren driver in last position and firmly out of contention for points.

With just one podium in the opening seven races, courtesy of Hamilton, Mercedes travelled to Spain with upgrades. After a tricky qualifying they had much better results on race day.

Despite going off the track on the opening lap, Russell managed to climb up to P6 by lap 7. On the following lap his teammate overtook Lance Stroll to reclaim the P3 spot he had previously lost out on and forced his way back onto podium.

On lap 6 the Perez managed to overtake Nico Hulkenberg into turn 1 moving him up to P9 and into the points. With the help of cars in front of him pitting, the Mexican momentarily got up to P4 behind just the Mercedes and his teammate.

Once again proving how fast his Red Bull was, Verstappen was able to pull away a gap big enough to give him a free pit stop and still came out leading the race.

On lap 31 Hamilton was able to capitalise on his fresher tyres and comfortably overtake Carlos Sainz which saw him move into P2.

After pitting Perez slipped down to P9, but after back-to-back-to-back overtakes on Fernado Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon moved up to P6 in three laps.

Lap 35 saw Russell overtake Sainz with much better pace and traction to take the final podium position. Things went from bad to worse for the Spaniard who was overtaken by Perez shortly after, putting him even further down the pack.

With 16 laps remaining Alonso managed to perfectly execute two passes in turn one in two laps which saw the home driver move into the points. On the following lap he earned a cheer from the crowd as he overtook Ocon with a late move down the inside.  

The final 10 laps saw a close battle for the final points positions with the stewards having to intervene. It was deemed that Tsunoda pushed Zhou Guanyu off the track during a battle and was therefore given a penalty which saw him miss out on any points.

At the waving of the chequered flag the front three were Max Verstappen in 1st, Lewis Hamilton in 2nd and George Russell in 3rd for the first Mercedes double podium of the season. The rest of the top ten drivers finishing in the points positions were as follows:

4. Sergio Perez

5. Carlos Sainz

6. Lance Stroll

7. Fernando Alonso

8. Esteban Ocob

9. Zhou Guanyu

10. Pierre Gasly

2024 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

Four of the twenty drivers have won a race this year, but the question is will anyone stop Max Verstappen winning three consecutive Grand Prix’s?

Last time out at Montreal, Verstappen came away victorious but he was under pressure for the full 70 laps from McLaren and Mercedes with Lando Norris leading before the first safety car.

Mclaren travel to Spain with more upgrades as they look to claim their second win of the season … and based on last race’s performance it doesn’t look far away!

"For the coming races, we will have some upgrades, but they won't be a single kind of big upgrade like we have seen over the last 12 months. This is more some individual components where we found a little bit of performance” said Andreas Stella.

Another team that is bringing upgrades (including a new floor, near bodywork and tray area) is Ferrari. After a tough weekend where they were hit with weather condition and reliability issues that led to a double DNF. The boys in red will be hoping for a much better race this weekend if they want to stay in the title charge, in a post-race interview Carlos Sainz stated “I think it was a one off and in Barcelona we should be back where we are normally”.

Despite claiming pole position and the third step on the podium in Canada, Mercedes still say “there is more we still need to do” but believe the large range of cornering conditions in Barcelona will give them a better idea of how good the W15 is.

A driver that would be looking to build on his momentum is Pierre Gasly who has finished in the points in the previous two races; last time out in Canada he was joined by his teammate Esteban Ocon for their first double point weekend.

Daniel Ricciardo was the only RB driver to finish in the points in Canada, finishing six places ahead of teammate Yuki Tsunoda. He is also the only driver to not drive on the new Barcelona tracks layout as Nyck de Vries was still in his seat this time last year.

The Australian said “I’ve been waiting a while, but I like to think it’s the start of where my season continues to progress and show performances like I did in Montreal. Really looking forward to it and excited to get the European leg started!”

Last year we saw lots of overtakes so hopefully more of the same this weekend! Leave your predictions in the comments below!