Spanish Grand Prix 12th May
The circuit
Located just 30 minutes north-east of Barcelona, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the circuit at which all Formula One teams and cars spend the most time of the year, completing countless laps during both testing days and the Grand Prix weekend itself. It is the technical nature of the track, with a mixture of low, and mid to high-speed corners, undulations, and the side-to-side balance shifts of the car that makes it a benchmark track to create a car that will perform well on most of the circuits on the calendar.
What's changed on track
The track layout has been relatively untouched, but a huge tarmac run-off at turn 1 has been added, where in the past there was a gravel. The biggest change that has possibly affected the teams’ strategies over the race weekend was the completely new surface that was laid during the winter. Combined with the cold weather and the lack of testing laps during the winter, the teams had no benchmark data related to tyre wear.
Tyre selection
Medium, Soft and Supersoft – Traditionally, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has favoured the harder tyre compounds, but this year Pirelli has introduced the Super Soft for the race weekend, combined with the Medium and Soft tyres. The new track surface has reduced abrasion, but the technical nature of the track still proves to be hard on the tyres, with the front left tyres taking the most beating per lap.
