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The Spanish Grand Prix is held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, and is situated just north of Barcelona and is used for testing by the F1 teams throughout the year. This circuit was built in 1991, after the Spanish Motor federation decided to stop sharing the Spanish Grand Prix between four other tracks.

Barcelona’s mix of high and low-speed corners (Elf, Renault, Repsol, Seat, Campsa, Nissan, La Caixa, Sabadell, New Holland), plus its abrasive and rather bumpy track surface, makes for a physically and mechanically taxing race. Tyre wear is particularly high and the varying winds that cut across the circuit mean an optimum set-up can be hard to find. For spectators Elf corner is among the best places to watch, as it is one of the track’s few overtaking opportunities.

For the drivers it is the final two turns, known collectively as New Holland, which provide one of the biggest challenges of the season. A fast exit is essential in order to maximise speed down the start-finish straight into Elf.

Overtaking can be difficult, as cars are unable to follow each other through the fast final corner due to turbulence created by the leading car. This makes it difficult for a car to get close enough to the car in front of it to attempt a pass at the first turn, which is the only obvious overtaking point on the circuit.

The wind direction can change drastically at the circuit during the course of the day. A significant factor given the importance of aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars, resulting in teams finding it hard to get a good setup since cars can have massive aerodynamic drag and understeer on one part of the circuit in the morning, but suffer oversteer at the same part of the circuit in the afternoon. These changeable conditions can make for unexpected performances from some teams during the race.

With Barcelona signalling the start of the European races, this is the circuit where we often see the first big batch of development parts fitted to the car’s since the season’s opening race.

2011 Season

Formula One fans and teams should expect a different race in 2011 compared with previous years, with thanks to the introduction of the DRS and KERS on the cars. Overtaking has always been notoriously hard at the Circuit de Catalunya, but with the majority of the drivers having the two devices to hand, we should see vast more action down to turn one, Elf.

As always, it’s hard to predict the form each team going into the Spanish GP because its known to be the first race where teams introduce major upgrade packages being back in Europe since the start of the season. In hindsight, the front running team in Turkey could find themselves the fourth fastest team in Spain. This might not be the case, but it has been known in previous years for a few teams to play their joker card and spring a surprise. Until Friday’s first practice, each teams guess is as good as the others…

Overview

Built as part of Barcelona’s Olympic development programme, it was finished in time for the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix. Former Minardi driver Luis Perez Sala advised on the layout of the track. It follows the principles of many modern circuits with a long straight and a number of high speed corners, making the aerodynamic efficiency of cars particularly important when racing here. The nature of the track is such that it’s particularly heavy on the front left tyre of the car, causing understeer problems as a result of these heavy aerodynamic loads.

The circuit was modified at the start of 2009 for safety reasons with a new chicane replacing the two very quick corners at the end of the lap. The Circuit de Catalunya hosts many pre-season tests so it is one of the most familiar venues on the F1 calendar. For the huge amount of spectators who flock to the circuit on race day, it is a well laid-out circuit with easy access and good viewing positions that give a stadium-style ambience.

The circuit is 4.655 km long. The track has 16 corners but in recent races, has seen very little overtaking action compared to other Formula One tracks on the calendar which makes qualifying important at this track.

The race is held over 66 laps where the cars will cover 307.104 km during this process. The lap record of 1:21:670 is held by Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari 2008 challenger.

History

The first Spanish grand prix back dates to 1913. The race was not actually run to the Grand Prix formula of the day, but to touring car rules, taking place on a 300 km road circuit at Guadarrama, near Madrid.

The Spanish grand prix has not always run to plan however. Over the years the organisers have had to look at various different venues due to financial difficulties, another year the GP was cancelled due to the bad economic situation following the Wall Street crash in October 1929. The 1931 and 1932 Spanish Grands Prix were also announced, only to be cancelled due to political and economical difficulties.

Following the 1935 race, Spain descended into civil war and the racing was stopped. In 1946, racing returned to Spain in the form of the Penya Rhin Grand Prix at the Pedralbes Circuit in Barcelona. However, Spain did not return to the international calendar until 1951, joining the list of races of the Formula One championship, on the Pedralbes Circuit. In 1955, during the 24 hours of Le Mans, a terrible accident resulted in regulations governing spectator safety, and the pedestrian-lined street track at Pedralbes was dropped from the racing calendar as the Spanish GP.

In the 1960s, Spain made a bid to return to the world of international motor racing with a change of circuit to north of Madrid at Jarama, and Cataluña refurbished their circuit at Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona. A non championship Grand Prix took place at Jarama in 1967, which was won by Lotus driver Jim Clark.

In 1968, Jarama hosted the Spanish Grand Prix, near the beginning of the F1 season. It was agreed, following this event, that the race would alternate between Jarama and Montjuïc.

The 1975 Grand Prix at Montjuïc was marked by another tragedy in the sport. There had been concerns about track safety during practice races, resulting in double winner Emerson Fittipaldi retired in protest after a single lap. On the 26th lap of the race, Rolf Stommelen’s car crashed when the rear wing broke off, killing four spectators. As a result, the race was stopped later and won by Jochen Mass, though only half the points were awarded.

The Spanish Grand Prix was confined to Jarama until 1981, after which it was dropped from the racing calendar. In 1985, the Mayor of Jerez commissioned a new racing circuit in his town to promote tourism. The track, the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, was finished in time for the 1986 championship, which saw a furious battle between Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell. The two cars finished side by side. Senna won by 0.014 seconds and is remembered by all as one of F1′s closest finishes.

The 1990 Spanish Grand Prix was the last in Jerez, although Jerez did stage the European Grand Prix in 1994 and 1997 respectively.

Which brings us to the current Spanish venue, the Circuit de Catalunya was which was first raced in 1991.

Key Moments

2010

On the penultimate lap of the race, Lewis Hamilton lost second place when he suffered a left front tyre puncture followed shortly by a blowout at turn three, which punted him into the wall.

2008

Prior to the race weekend, the event was put on probation by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the sport’s governing body. Following racist taunting during pre season testing at the circuit. Subsequently, no such racism was reported during the race weekend.

2007

The first start had to be aborted when Toyota driver Jarno Trulli stalled on the grid, forcing another formation lap. As a result, the total number of laps was decreased to 65.

2004

During the warm up lap of the race, a man going by the name of Jimmy Jump ran through the starting grid, only to be apprehended soon by the security. He claimed to have many fans, but was later criticised for risking the lives of the drivers, even though the cars were still travelling at low speed at this point.

2002

The Stewards of the Meeting received a notice from KL Minardi Asiatech, informing them of their intention to withdraw from the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix following a number of front and rear wing failures over the weekend. Having spoken to the Team Manager, the Stewards of the Meeting decided to accept the withdrawal of KL Minardi Asiatech from the Event in 2002.

2001

Mika Häkkinen was on course for his first win of the season, but following a hydraulic failure on the last lap, he retired and gave the victory to Michael Schumacher. This was the first race to be raced with the reintroduction of traction control systems since they had been banned in 1994.

1999

Only one on-track overtaking manoeuvre was reported during the whole race.

1998

This was the first race of the season in which a driver failed to qualify due to not completing a time inside 107% of the pole position time. The unfortunate driver was Ricardo Rosset.

1996

Michael Schumacher’s first victory for Ferrari. Schumacher’s drive is generally regarded as one of his finest. In the torrential rain, he produced a stunning drive and is a prime example of why he earned the nickname rain master.

1994

Williams notched up their first victory of the season and the teams first after the death of Ayrton Senna. Championship leader Michael Schumacher finished a strong second, despite being stuck in fifth gear for most of the race.