Official Spanish Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 4 of 23
The Circuit de Catalunya is known by the teams know inside out, as the traditional mainstay of the testing calendar. It has traditionally tended to produce Noah's Ark grids – with teams' cars lined up two by two on the grid, because it is more common to extract more out of both cars than elsewhere. Perhaps that will be less the case in 2021, after a mere three days' pre-season running.
The enthralling tussle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen looks so close that it could rage all season. Meanwhile, although he has his doubters. Valtteri Bottas remains steadfast and intent on mixing it up with them. Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, has had a fairly solid start to Red Bull life, producing what Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon couldn't, even delivering a characteristic tyre-enduring display in Portimão.
Spanish drivers Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz have had decent enough starts to life at their new teams, Alpine and Ferrari respectively, but many will be wondering if or when they can get on top of their firmly ensconsed team-mates with any frequency. The same applies elsewhere on the grid with experienced drivers - Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo are being shown the way by Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.
The history
Since 1991, the Spanish Grand Prix has been held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a little outside the Catalonian capital.
Grand Prix racing actually has a long history in Spain, and particularly in Barcelona. The country's first Grand Prix to bear the name was in 1913, although it was run to touring car rules on a road circuit in Guadarrama, near Madrid. It was won by the official importer of Rolls-Royces, Carlos de Salamanca. He drove his 7.4 litre Rolls-Royce at an average speed of 76.4km/h over 3 laps of the 90.5km track.
A 2-kilometre steeply-banked oval was later built at Sitges-Terramar, near Barcelona, at which the 1923 Spanish Grand Prix was held. Walking around this derelict track, it is a sight to behold and extremely difficult to climb up the banking, such is the gradient (a maximum of 60 degrees). Albert Divo won in his Sunbeam from Louis Zborowoski in his Miller at an average speed of 156km/h after a wheel-to-wheel battle.
Financial difficulties at Sitges meant that the Spanish Grand Prix moved to a track called Lasarte, near San Sebastián in 1926. A Grand Prix had been run at Lasarte since 1923, known as the San Sebastian Grand Prix, and it lasted until 1930. There were years where a Spanish Grand Prix and a San Sebastian Grand Prix took place.
The first Lasarte race to be known as the Spanish Grand Prix was, however, in 1926 and held to Formula Libre rules. The sporting manager of Bugatti, Bartolomeo Costantini, took victory in his 2-litre car after 40 laps of the 17.315km circuit. Joint 3rd-placed driver Robert Benoist won the following year in his Delage 15-S-8 in a time 15 minutes quicker than the winning time of 1926. The race formed part of the AIACR World Manufacturers' Championship.
For the next two years, the Spanish Grand Prix was run to sportscar regulations. Monegasque Louis Chiron took the spoils in 1928 and 1929 in a Bugatti T35C and T35B respectively (just 15 laps in 1928 and back to 40 in 1929). The 1930 race was cancelled following the Wall Street Crash. Races were scheduled in the coming years, but cancelled due to political and economic issues. In 1933, a Spanish Grand Prix took place at Lasarte, held over 30 laps, which was won by Chiron, this time in an Alfa Romeo B. 1934 victor Luigi Fagioli took half an hour off Chiron's race-winning time, in his Mercedes-Benz W25A. Mercedes-Benz W25Bs filled the first three places in 1935, after which the Civil War put paid to Lasarte's Grands Prix for good.
Grand Prix racing bounced back in Spain in 1936 in the form of the Penya Rhyn Grand Prix in Montjuïc, in Barcelona. The Penya Rhyn race next took place in 1946 at Pedralbes, also in Barcelona, in 1946, after which it was held there in 1946, 1948, 1950 and 1954. The next Spanish Grand Prix, though, was in 1951 at Pedralbes. It was part of the Formula 1 World Championship and played host to the final round. Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio led Ferrari's Alberto Ascari by two points going into the race. Ascari qualified on pole, but suffered tyre problems and after pitting various times, Fangio comfortably won the race by almost a minute and with it, his first title.
F1 returned to Pedralbes in 1954 with Mike Hawthorn winning for Ferrari ahead of the Maserati of Luigi Musso and the Mercedes of Juan Manuel Fangio, who had already claimed the title. This was to be the final Spanish Grand Prix until Jarama in 1967, held as a non-championship race before getting approval for Formula 1. The Lotus-Fords of Jim Clark and Graham Hill came home around a minute in front of Jack Brabham's Brabham-Repco. The following year, Jarama was back, now in the championship, in the aftermath of Jim Clark's death. Colin Chapman did not attend, but Graham Hill won, after pole man Chris Amon retired his Ferrari from the lead on Lap 58 with a fuel pump failure.
1969 saw the Spanish Grand Prix move to a new street circuit in Montjuïc, Barcelona. It was the final time high wings were seen. Both Lotus drivers Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt experienced accidents when their wing supports failed. As with the previous year, Chris Amon led, holding a big margin to the next car, until his engine seized on Lap 56. Matra's Jackie Stewart won by 2 laps, the only time an F1 driver has taken victory from the runner-up by 2 laps, other than Damon Hill in Adelaide in 1995.
The following year, the Grand Prix moved back to Jarama, starting to alternate with Montjuïc until 1976, at which point it remained at the Madrid-based circuit until 1981. They were two highly contrasting circuits, Jarama tight and twisting and Montjuïc fast and open. There was outcry when the Grand Prix organisers limited the field to 16 cars during the weekend. After reversing their decision, the Commission Sportive Internationale then forced the organisers to go back to 16 starters. Jackie Stewart won in his March-Ford, while Mario Andretti got his first F1 podium, also in a March-Ford. Jackie Oliver and Jacky Ickx had a fiery accident on Lap 1. In 1971, Stewart again won, in his Tyrrell-Ford, after starting 4th in the race where slick tyres were introduced. Emerson Fittipaldi won from 3rd and then from 7th in 1972 and 1973. Niki Lauda took his first F1 win in Jarama in 1974, driving for Ferrari and leading home team-mate Clay Regazzoni, the only 2 drivers to finish on the lead lap in the wet race. The race ended six short of the scheduled number of laps at the 2-hour mark.
In 1975, Rolf Stommelen crashed his Hill in Montjuïc when his rear wing broke and he went into barriers which, it is suspected, had possibly not been bolted together properly. The drivers had protested about the lack of properly fixed barriers and had threatened to boycott the race; Emerson Fittipaldi did so, retiring after one lap. This was also the race to see the only woman thus far get into the points-paying positions, with Lella Lombardi getting half a point for sixth after only half points were awarded for the stopped race. Jochen Mass took the only F1 win of his career after only 29 laps. It was to be the last race there.
In 1976, James Hunt won, but his McLaren was disqualified when it was found to be too wide. The victory was awarded to Niki Lauda, but the McLaren driver got the win back 2 months later when he won an appeal in which the team had protested that it only exceeded the maximum width when the tyres were hot and had expanded. Mario Andretti took his first win in a Lotus-Ford the next year and led Ronnie Peterson home in a Lotus 1-2 in 1978, while Patrick Tambay won for Ligier-Ford in 1979.
Due to the FISA-FOCA war, non-FOCA teams Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Renault did not compete the following year and retrospectively, the race lost its world championship status that season. Alan Jones won for Williams, followed home by Jochen Mass in his Arrows. In 1981, Jarama held its last race and Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari led home Jacques Lafitte's Ligier by 0.22 seconds in the one of the closest finishes in F1 history. In fact, the top five of the aforementioned, plus John Watson, Carlos Reutemann and Elio de Angelis were covered by just 1.24 seconds.
After an absence of four years, the Spanish Grand Prix moved to the sherry-producing town of Jerez in Andaluc?*a in 1986. Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell were involved in a tight battle at the end of the race, in which the Brazilian emerged ahead by just 0.014 seconds in his Lotus.
Nelson Piquet scored the final pole position of his career in the 1987 edition, but it was team-mate Nigel Mansell who got by him at the start and won from the McLarens of Alain Prost and Stefan Johansson, taking his fifth victory of the season.
Prost led every lap in 1988 and was followed home after 26 seconds by Mansell's Williams and Alessandro Nannini's Benetton.
Mansell was banned the following season after his disqualification in Portugal and Ayrton Senna pulled off a lights-to-flag win from the sole Ferrari of Gerhard Berger and title rival Prost. Philippe Alliot took an impressive 6th in the Lola-Lamborghini.
1990 was to be the final Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, although it would return four years later under the guise of the European Grand Prix. The Ferraris of Prost and Mansell came home first and second, followed by Nannini, who, like two years earlier, achieved a podium in the Benetton. His F1 career was ended the next week in a helicopter crash.
In 1991, the Spanish Grand Prix moved to the Circuit de Catalunya. McLaren's Gerhard Berger started on pole on a damp but drying track, but it was Mansell who, after falling back, overtook back up to the lead and won the race, not before a memorable wheel-to-wheel race with Senna down the start-finish straight. Prost claimed second with Ferrari while Mansell's Williams team-mate Ricardo Patrese was 3rd.
The Grand Prix shifted from an autumn to a spring slot in 1992 and for the second year running was rain-affected, this time a proper wet race. Mansell took honours from Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Jean Alesi, who put in a spirited and battling drive in the Ferrari, overtaking various cars. Ayrton Senna spun out of 3rd 2 laps from the finish.
A year later, Damon Hill initially led for Williams before team-mate Prost got by on Lap 11. Hill was challenging Prost for first place again when his engine expired on Lap 41. Prost held on to win, while Schumacher threatened Senna for 2nd until he ran wide. The race ended with a Prost-Senna-Schumacher podium in that order.
In 1994, for Round 5 of 16, Roland Ratzenberger's replacement Andrea Montermini crashed on the pit straight in practice and put himself out for the season. A temporary chicane was installed before Turn 10 (a turned called 'Nissan' on what is now a straight which goes to the current Turn 10) on advice of the new GPDA. Hill took Williams's first win of the season, but Schumacher starred for Benetton, finishing 2nd despite being stuck in 5th gear. Mark Blundell came home 3rd for Tyrrell, achieving his 3rd and final podium.
F1 returned to Jerez for Round 14 and the European Grand Prix, after plans to revive the Argentinian Grand Prix didn't bear fruit until the following season. On his return from his two-race ban, Schumacher duly qualified on pole, but Hill beat him away in the early stages. Schumacher won out at the stops, though, and showed Hill the way home by 24.7 seconds, with Mika Hakkinen 3rd for McLaren. Nigel Mansell, back for Williams, tangled with the gearbox trouble-afflicted Hideki Noda, before eventually spinning off on Lap 47. Schumacher led Hill by 5 points in the title battle, setting things up nicely for Hill's impressive drive in the wet conditions in the next round at Suzuka. As for the European Grand Prix, it moved to the Nurburgring the following season to create a second German race along with Hockenheim, coinciding with surging interest in the country thanks to Schumacher's successes.
1995 at the Circuit de Catalunya saw the final race for Nigel Mansell. Unhappy in the McLaren, he parked it on Lap 14, citing handling issues, and never returned. Michael Schumacher won from pole, while Hill dropped from 2nd to 4th with a gearbox issue on the final lap, paving the way for Johnny Herbert to get his first podium and Benetton to have only their second and indeed final podium finish. This is perhaps amazing for a team that won the constructors' title that year and the drivers' title with Schumacher in both 1995 and in 1994. Gerhard Berger completed the podium for Ferrari.
1996 was the last time rain affected the Spanish Grand Prix and it was torrential. Damon Hill dropped back from pole to 8th in the early laps, spinning three times and into retirement on Lap 12. Michael Schumacher fell from 3rd at the start with clutch difficulties, but fought back to the lead, taking a dominant first win for Ferrari and making amends for crashing on Lap 1 in the damp race at Monaco in the previous round. Alesi was 2nd for Benetton, with Jacques Villeneuve 3rd for Williams.
In 1997 in Catalunya, Villeneuve won from pole position, while Schumacher vaulted from 7th to 2nd, eventually dropping back to 4th. Olivier Panis claimed 2nd for Prost, with an excellent performance on the durable Bridgestone tyres, with Alesi back in 3rd for Benetton.
When Estoril experienced financial troubles, the Portuguese Grand Prix made way for the European Grand Prix at Jerez one more time and it decided the 1997 drivers' championship. The drama started when Villeneuve, Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen all set a 1:21.072 in qualifying, placing them 1st to 3rd on the grid in that order. In the race, Schumacher got away better than the Williams cars and led by Turn 1. On Lap 48, Villeneuve challenged him for the lead and Schumacher turned in on him. Unlike Adelaide 1994, it didn't come off and he was out. Villeneuve still led, but with a damaged car, not taking risks and with McLaren having agreed with Williams pre-race to not get in their way, the Woking-based team were returned the favour, with Hakkinen sailing through, the other McLaren of David Coulthard and the Williams of Villeneuve just holding off Berger, competing in his final race, to claim 3rd and win his only championship by 3 points.
1998 and 1999 were McLaren whitewashes, Hakkinen beating Coulthard and Schumacher into 2nd and 3rd in both events.
Hakkinen won again in 2000, and the Ferarris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed the podium. Schumacher had two bad pit stops, the latter of which lost him the race lead. First, he ran over refueller Nigel Stepney, then at the second, the fuel did not start to be put in until after the tyres were changed.
Hakkinen was on course to win for a fourth straight time in 2001, but his engine gave up the ghost on the final lap and Schumacher inherited the victory, with Juan Pablo Montoya claiming his first podium in his Williams and Villeneuve 3rd for BAR.
Schumacher dominated from lights out to flag wave a year later, with Montoya 2nd despite running over his front jackman. Coulthard came 3rd.
Renault driver Fernando Alonso found himself in a Ferrari sandwich in 2003, with Schumacher winning and Barrichello 3rd. In 2004, Jarno Trulli led the early laps for Renault before Ferrari imposed themselves, Schumacher finishing ahead of Barrichello, with Trulli back in 3rd.
It was time for someone else to have a bite at the cherry in 2005, with Kimi Räikkönen converting pole into a win, and Alonso 2nd and Trulli 3rd (although this time the Italian featured for Toyota). A year later, home hero Alonso won for Renault, with Schumacher 2nd and Giancarlo Fisichella in the other Renault 3rd. In 2007, the chicane was added before the final corner, breaking the circuit's flow and limiting the colossal speed at which cars went onto the start-finish straight. Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Alonso touched on Lap 1, sending the Spaniard wide. Massa went on to win from season debutant Lewis Hamilton and Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Alonso.
A year later, Räikkönen took his second win at the circuit, this time for Ferrari, ahead of his team-mate Massa and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen had a tyre delamination and he hurtled into the barriers at high speed.
From 2008 to 2012, Valencia hosted the European Grand Prix. The track, which was on a layout which used the redeveloped marina area and some purpose-built road, did not seem to produce exciting races, though. Despite later being touted for a Spanish Grand Prix race share with the Circuit de Catalunya, it was dropped. Like Sitges, the purpose-built track is now abandoned apart from the parts by the marina and near the beach, which form access roads in the area and despite it being not so long since the last race was run, it is strange to already see the scruffy, derelict vestiges of a part of Formula 1 history.
The first race took place four months after the Spanish Grand Prix and Felipe Massa qualified on pole and duly won the race, from Hamilton and Robert Kubica in the BMW, escaping a race-affecting penalty for an unsafe release. It wasn't the only Ferrari pit calamity, as Räikkönen also left his stop with the fuel hose attached.
In 2009, it was the Brawn pair of Jenson Button and Barrichello who claimed a 1-2, while Mark Webber grabbed 3rd with Red Bull. Barrichello had shot into the lead off the start, but Button's two stops to the Brazilian's three were more successful.
In Valencia, there were no overtakes recorded on track, but that didn't stop third-placed qualifier Barrichello from taking his first win for Brawn. Hamilton was 2nd, with Räikkönen 3rd. The Finn's team-mate Luca Badoer, deputising for Massa, was well off the pace and finished 17th.
In 2010, Alonso was the meat in the Red Bull sandwich in Barcelona, with Mark Webber 1st and Vettel 3rd, while in Valencia, Vettel took victory, with Mark Webber tangling with Kovalainen and undergoing a spectacular flip. Hamilton damaged his front wing in contact with Vettel, but managed 2nd, with his McLaren team-mate Button on the final podium slot.
The next season, in Barcelona, Alonso made a stonking start in the Ferrari to pass the two Red Bulls and Hamilton to lead at Turn 1. It was Vettel, though, who went on to win, by a slender margin from Hamilton, with Button about half a minute behind. In Valencia, all 24 drivers were classified finishers, and Vettel won from Alonso and Webber.
2012 bore witness to a big upset in Barcelona, with Williams's last victory to date, Pastor Maldonado taking a surprising win (the fifth different winner in 5 races in the season, which would go on to be a statistic of 7 different winners in the first 7 races) after inheriting pole, when Lewis Hamilton was excluded from qualifying for a low fuel sample. Maldonado was beaten into Turn 1 by Alonso, but successfully undercut him to win from the Spaniard and Kimi Raikkonen in the Renault.
The final race to take place in Valencia, hitherto quite dull, was ironically probably the most exciting. Vettel initially led, but suffered an alternator failure. Alonso came through the pack to win, from Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher, who claimed his final podium in F1.
In 2013, Mercedes locked out the front row in Barcelona, with Rosberg on pole and Hamilton second. However, it was Alonso who took a popular win, his last to date in Formula 1. Räikkönen and Massa completed the podium, for Renault and Ferrari respectively.
One year later, Daniel Ricciardo scored his first F1 podium and Hamilton took his first win in a Grand Prix in Spain, in a Mercedes 1-2, with Rosberg challenging him but not quite close enough at the end. In 2015, it was Rosberg's turn to come out on top, reversing the Mercedes 1-2 from the year before, with Hamilton 2nd and Vettel 3rd for Ferrari.
Next time around, like in 2012, a surprise winner was the order of the day, but unlike Maldonado's win, this was the start of many for the talented Max Verstappen. Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat had traded teams, with the 18 year-old Dutch driver moving from Toro Rosso to Red Bull. Verstappen became not just the youngest podium finisher in F1 history, but the youngest winner too. Nico Rosberg overtook team-mate Lewis Hamilton off the start, but Nico then didn't select the right engine mode and coming out of Turn 3, Hamilton attempted to overtake. They both collided and went out. Ferrari team-mates Raikkonen and Vettel completed the podium.
Lewis Hamilton has won since 2017. In that year's race, Vettel got by him at the start and Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Räikkönen all collided and put themselves out of contention. Hamilton passed Vettel on Lap 44 and they finished in that order, with Ricciardo 3rd for Red Bull.
A year afterwards, Bottas completed the Mercedes 1-2 in 2nd, with Verstappen 3rd, while in 2019, the finishing order was identical – Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, although the result much closer than in 2018.
Last year, in August, Hamilton's victory was by 24 seconds, from Verstappen and Bottas.
This is not usually a particularly exciting event for overtaking and the racing can be really lacking, so let us hope for something special. A small note - this year, the changes to Turn 10 mean that track length has increased from 4.655km to 4.675km and the race distance accordingly, from 307.104km to 308.424km.
The trivia
Michael Schumacher has the most wins in the Spanish Grand Prix, with 6. Lewis Hamilton has taken 5 wins at the Spanish Grand Prix, and of the other current drivers, Vettel and Verstappen have won 1 and Räikkönen 2.
Räikkönen has retired here 6 times.
There have been 3 rain-affected Grands Prix at this circuit, but the last was in 1996.
Only 11 podium finishes since 1991 have come from drivers starting lower than 5th on the grid.
Between 2007 and 2016, 10 different drivers won the Grand Prix.
The track
Despite the lack of wheel-to-wheel action, the track has a decent enough flow, though, and it is therefore a pity that the mightily quick final corner, slightly reminiscent of Monza's Parabolica, was removed and turned into a slow corner that follows a chicane.
A lot of the Barcelona lap is spent in a varied range of corners and going up and down the changing topography. Hitting around 330kph in qualifying at the end of the start-finish straight, the first corner is a right-hander which quickly leads into the brief left-hand Turn 2, before immediately going into Turn 3 while going up a slight gradient and then down again. The apex of this long corner is quite early and drivers tend to hug it for a while before letting the car drift quickly to the left of the track as it flattens out and they are now ready for the right-hander of Turn 4.
Again, the apex is reasonably early but the corner continues for a while and heads downhill. After the left-hander of Turn 5, a short straight with a left-hand kink is followed by a left whose exit already puts you in the apex for Turn 7. Turn 8 is just a slight right bend, but Turn 9 is exciting, Drivers can point it into the right-hander with very little braking.
After a short straight with DRS activation, they go into the new much-more curved Turn 10 and the slight bend at Turn 11 This is followed immediately by the long Turn 12. Drivers can go into this right-hander which starts to go uphill and let it drift out just a little to keep the speed before getting it in tight again. As they go downhill, the next right-hander can have a lot of speed carried into it, then they need to get over to the right to get a wide line into the chicane at Turns 14 and 15. Turn 16 is the right-hander that leads onto the start-finish straight. The final chicane breaks the rhythm of the circuit, although at least to its credit, you could say that it provides a different challenge from the rest of the circuit as the drivers attack the kerbs, a little like the Bus Stop at Spa. There is DRS activation on the start-finish straight again.
Other information
Circuit length: 4.675km
Number of laps: 66
Race distance: 307.104 km
Race Lap Record: n/a
Dry weather tyre compounds: C1, C2 and C3
First Spanish Grand Prix: 1913
First World Championship Grand Prix: 1951
First Grand Prix at this circuit: 1991
First Grand Prix on current configuration: 2021
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The enthralling tussle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen looks so close that it could rage all season. Meanwhile, although he has his doubters. Valtteri Bottas remains steadfast and intent on mixing it up with them. Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, has had a fairly solid start to Red Bull life, producing what Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon couldn't, even delivering a characteristic tyre-enduring display in Portimão.
Spanish drivers Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz have had decent enough starts to life at their new teams, Alpine and Ferrari respectively, but many will be wondering if or when they can get on top of their firmly ensconsed team-mates with any frequency. The same applies elsewhere on the grid with experienced drivers - Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo are being shown the way by Lance Stroll and Lando Norris.
The history
Since 1991, the Spanish Grand Prix has been held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a little outside the Catalonian capital.
Grand Prix racing actually has a long history in Spain, and particularly in Barcelona. The country's first Grand Prix to bear the name was in 1913, although it was run to touring car rules on a road circuit in Guadarrama, near Madrid. It was won by the official importer of Rolls-Royces, Carlos de Salamanca. He drove his 7.4 litre Rolls-Royce at an average speed of 76.4km/h over 3 laps of the 90.5km track.
A 2-kilometre steeply-banked oval was later built at Sitges-Terramar, near Barcelona, at which the 1923 Spanish Grand Prix was held. Walking around this derelict track, it is a sight to behold and extremely difficult to climb up the banking, such is the gradient (a maximum of 60 degrees). Albert Divo won in his Sunbeam from Louis Zborowoski in his Miller at an average speed of 156km/h after a wheel-to-wheel battle.
Financial difficulties at Sitges meant that the Spanish Grand Prix moved to a track called Lasarte, near San Sebastián in 1926. A Grand Prix had been run at Lasarte since 1923, known as the San Sebastian Grand Prix, and it lasted until 1930. There were years where a Spanish Grand Prix and a San Sebastian Grand Prix took place.
The first Lasarte race to be known as the Spanish Grand Prix was, however, in 1926 and held to Formula Libre rules. The sporting manager of Bugatti, Bartolomeo Costantini, took victory in his 2-litre car after 40 laps of the 17.315km circuit. Joint 3rd-placed driver Robert Benoist won the following year in his Delage 15-S-8 in a time 15 minutes quicker than the winning time of 1926. The race formed part of the AIACR World Manufacturers' Championship.
For the next two years, the Spanish Grand Prix was run to sportscar regulations. Monegasque Louis Chiron took the spoils in 1928 and 1929 in a Bugatti T35C and T35B respectively (just 15 laps in 1928 and back to 40 in 1929). The 1930 race was cancelled following the Wall Street Crash. Races were scheduled in the coming years, but cancelled due to political and economic issues. In 1933, a Spanish Grand Prix took place at Lasarte, held over 30 laps, which was won by Chiron, this time in an Alfa Romeo B. 1934 victor Luigi Fagioli took half an hour off Chiron's race-winning time, in his Mercedes-Benz W25A. Mercedes-Benz W25Bs filled the first three places in 1935, after which the Civil War put paid to Lasarte's Grands Prix for good.
Grand Prix racing bounced back in Spain in 1936 in the form of the Penya Rhyn Grand Prix in Montjuïc, in Barcelona. The Penya Rhyn race next took place in 1946 at Pedralbes, also in Barcelona, in 1946, after which it was held there in 1946, 1948, 1950 and 1954. The next Spanish Grand Prix, though, was in 1951 at Pedralbes. It was part of the Formula 1 World Championship and played host to the final round. Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio led Ferrari's Alberto Ascari by two points going into the race. Ascari qualified on pole, but suffered tyre problems and after pitting various times, Fangio comfortably won the race by almost a minute and with it, his first title.
F1 returned to Pedralbes in 1954 with Mike Hawthorn winning for Ferrari ahead of the Maserati of Luigi Musso and the Mercedes of Juan Manuel Fangio, who had already claimed the title. This was to be the final Spanish Grand Prix until Jarama in 1967, held as a non-championship race before getting approval for Formula 1. The Lotus-Fords of Jim Clark and Graham Hill came home around a minute in front of Jack Brabham's Brabham-Repco. The following year, Jarama was back, now in the championship, in the aftermath of Jim Clark's death. Colin Chapman did not attend, but Graham Hill won, after pole man Chris Amon retired his Ferrari from the lead on Lap 58 with a fuel pump failure.
1969 saw the Spanish Grand Prix move to a new street circuit in Montjuïc, Barcelona. It was the final time high wings were seen. Both Lotus drivers Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt experienced accidents when their wing supports failed. As with the previous year, Chris Amon led, holding a big margin to the next car, until his engine seized on Lap 56. Matra's Jackie Stewart won by 2 laps, the only time an F1 driver has taken victory from the runner-up by 2 laps, other than Damon Hill in Adelaide in 1995.
The following year, the Grand Prix moved back to Jarama, starting to alternate with Montjuïc until 1976, at which point it remained at the Madrid-based circuit until 1981. They were two highly contrasting circuits, Jarama tight and twisting and Montjuïc fast and open. There was outcry when the Grand Prix organisers limited the field to 16 cars during the weekend. After reversing their decision, the Commission Sportive Internationale then forced the organisers to go back to 16 starters. Jackie Stewart won in his March-Ford, while Mario Andretti got his first F1 podium, also in a March-Ford. Jackie Oliver and Jacky Ickx had a fiery accident on Lap 1. In 1971, Stewart again won, in his Tyrrell-Ford, after starting 4th in the race where slick tyres were introduced. Emerson Fittipaldi won from 3rd and then from 7th in 1972 and 1973. Niki Lauda took his first F1 win in Jarama in 1974, driving for Ferrari and leading home team-mate Clay Regazzoni, the only 2 drivers to finish on the lead lap in the wet race. The race ended six short of the scheduled number of laps at the 2-hour mark.
In 1975, Rolf Stommelen crashed his Hill in Montjuïc when his rear wing broke and he went into barriers which, it is suspected, had possibly not been bolted together properly. The drivers had protested about the lack of properly fixed barriers and had threatened to boycott the race; Emerson Fittipaldi did so, retiring after one lap. This was also the race to see the only woman thus far get into the points-paying positions, with Lella Lombardi getting half a point for sixth after only half points were awarded for the stopped race. Jochen Mass took the only F1 win of his career after only 29 laps. It was to be the last race there.
In 1976, James Hunt won, but his McLaren was disqualified when it was found to be too wide. The victory was awarded to Niki Lauda, but the McLaren driver got the win back 2 months later when he won an appeal in which the team had protested that it only exceeded the maximum width when the tyres were hot and had expanded. Mario Andretti took his first win in a Lotus-Ford the next year and led Ronnie Peterson home in a Lotus 1-2 in 1978, while Patrick Tambay won for Ligier-Ford in 1979.
Due to the FISA-FOCA war, non-FOCA teams Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Renault did not compete the following year and retrospectively, the race lost its world championship status that season. Alan Jones won for Williams, followed home by Jochen Mass in his Arrows. In 1981, Jarama held its last race and Gilles Villeneuve's Ferrari led home Jacques Lafitte's Ligier by 0.22 seconds in the one of the closest finishes in F1 history. In fact, the top five of the aforementioned, plus John Watson, Carlos Reutemann and Elio de Angelis were covered by just 1.24 seconds.
After an absence of four years, the Spanish Grand Prix moved to the sherry-producing town of Jerez in Andaluc?*a in 1986. Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell were involved in a tight battle at the end of the race, in which the Brazilian emerged ahead by just 0.014 seconds in his Lotus.
Nelson Piquet scored the final pole position of his career in the 1987 edition, but it was team-mate Nigel Mansell who got by him at the start and won from the McLarens of Alain Prost and Stefan Johansson, taking his fifth victory of the season.
Prost led every lap in 1988 and was followed home after 26 seconds by Mansell's Williams and Alessandro Nannini's Benetton.
Mansell was banned the following season after his disqualification in Portugal and Ayrton Senna pulled off a lights-to-flag win from the sole Ferrari of Gerhard Berger and title rival Prost. Philippe Alliot took an impressive 6th in the Lola-Lamborghini.
1990 was to be the final Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, although it would return four years later under the guise of the European Grand Prix. The Ferraris of Prost and Mansell came home first and second, followed by Nannini, who, like two years earlier, achieved a podium in the Benetton. His F1 career was ended the next week in a helicopter crash.
In 1991, the Spanish Grand Prix moved to the Circuit de Catalunya. McLaren's Gerhard Berger started on pole on a damp but drying track, but it was Mansell who, after falling back, overtook back up to the lead and won the race, not before a memorable wheel-to-wheel race with Senna down the start-finish straight. Prost claimed second with Ferrari while Mansell's Williams team-mate Ricardo Patrese was 3rd.
The Grand Prix shifted from an autumn to a spring slot in 1992 and for the second year running was rain-affected, this time a proper wet race. Mansell took honours from Michael Schumacher in the Benetton and Jean Alesi, who put in a spirited and battling drive in the Ferrari, overtaking various cars. Ayrton Senna spun out of 3rd 2 laps from the finish.
A year later, Damon Hill initially led for Williams before team-mate Prost got by on Lap 11. Hill was challenging Prost for first place again when his engine expired on Lap 41. Prost held on to win, while Schumacher threatened Senna for 2nd until he ran wide. The race ended with a Prost-Senna-Schumacher podium in that order.
In 1994, for Round 5 of 16, Roland Ratzenberger's replacement Andrea Montermini crashed on the pit straight in practice and put himself out for the season. A temporary chicane was installed before Turn 10 (a turned called 'Nissan' on what is now a straight which goes to the current Turn 10) on advice of the new GPDA. Hill took Williams's first win of the season, but Schumacher starred for Benetton, finishing 2nd despite being stuck in 5th gear. Mark Blundell came home 3rd for Tyrrell, achieving his 3rd and final podium.
F1 returned to Jerez for Round 14 and the European Grand Prix, after plans to revive the Argentinian Grand Prix didn't bear fruit until the following season. On his return from his two-race ban, Schumacher duly qualified on pole, but Hill beat him away in the early stages. Schumacher won out at the stops, though, and showed Hill the way home by 24.7 seconds, with Mika Hakkinen 3rd for McLaren. Nigel Mansell, back for Williams, tangled with the gearbox trouble-afflicted Hideki Noda, before eventually spinning off on Lap 47. Schumacher led Hill by 5 points in the title battle, setting things up nicely for Hill's impressive drive in the wet conditions in the next round at Suzuka. As for the European Grand Prix, it moved to the Nurburgring the following season to create a second German race along with Hockenheim, coinciding with surging interest in the country thanks to Schumacher's successes.
1995 at the Circuit de Catalunya saw the final race for Nigel Mansell. Unhappy in the McLaren, he parked it on Lap 14, citing handling issues, and never returned. Michael Schumacher won from pole, while Hill dropped from 2nd to 4th with a gearbox issue on the final lap, paving the way for Johnny Herbert to get his first podium and Benetton to have only their second and indeed final podium finish. This is perhaps amazing for a team that won the constructors' title that year and the drivers' title with Schumacher in both 1995 and in 1994. Gerhard Berger completed the podium for Ferrari.
1996 was the last time rain affected the Spanish Grand Prix and it was torrential. Damon Hill dropped back from pole to 8th in the early laps, spinning three times and into retirement on Lap 12. Michael Schumacher fell from 3rd at the start with clutch difficulties, but fought back to the lead, taking a dominant first win for Ferrari and making amends for crashing on Lap 1 in the damp race at Monaco in the previous round. Alesi was 2nd for Benetton, with Jacques Villeneuve 3rd for Williams.
In 1997 in Catalunya, Villeneuve won from pole position, while Schumacher vaulted from 7th to 2nd, eventually dropping back to 4th. Olivier Panis claimed 2nd for Prost, with an excellent performance on the durable Bridgestone tyres, with Alesi back in 3rd for Benetton.
When Estoril experienced financial troubles, the Portuguese Grand Prix made way for the European Grand Prix at Jerez one more time and it decided the 1997 drivers' championship. The drama started when Villeneuve, Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen all set a 1:21.072 in qualifying, placing them 1st to 3rd on the grid in that order. In the race, Schumacher got away better than the Williams cars and led by Turn 1. On Lap 48, Villeneuve challenged him for the lead and Schumacher turned in on him. Unlike Adelaide 1994, it didn't come off and he was out. Villeneuve still led, but with a damaged car, not taking risks and with McLaren having agreed with Williams pre-race to not get in their way, the Woking-based team were returned the favour, with Hakkinen sailing through, the other McLaren of David Coulthard and the Williams of Villeneuve just holding off Berger, competing in his final race, to claim 3rd and win his only championship by 3 points.
1998 and 1999 were McLaren whitewashes, Hakkinen beating Coulthard and Schumacher into 2nd and 3rd in both events.
Hakkinen won again in 2000, and the Ferarris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed the podium. Schumacher had two bad pit stops, the latter of which lost him the race lead. First, he ran over refueller Nigel Stepney, then at the second, the fuel did not start to be put in until after the tyres were changed.
Hakkinen was on course to win for a fourth straight time in 2001, but his engine gave up the ghost on the final lap and Schumacher inherited the victory, with Juan Pablo Montoya claiming his first podium in his Williams and Villeneuve 3rd for BAR.
Schumacher dominated from lights out to flag wave a year later, with Montoya 2nd despite running over his front jackman. Coulthard came 3rd.
Renault driver Fernando Alonso found himself in a Ferrari sandwich in 2003, with Schumacher winning and Barrichello 3rd. In 2004, Jarno Trulli led the early laps for Renault before Ferrari imposed themselves, Schumacher finishing ahead of Barrichello, with Trulli back in 3rd.
It was time for someone else to have a bite at the cherry in 2005, with Kimi Räikkönen converting pole into a win, and Alonso 2nd and Trulli 3rd (although this time the Italian featured for Toyota). A year later, home hero Alonso won for Renault, with Schumacher 2nd and Giancarlo Fisichella in the other Renault 3rd. In 2007, the chicane was added before the final corner, breaking the circuit's flow and limiting the colossal speed at which cars went onto the start-finish straight. Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Alonso touched on Lap 1, sending the Spaniard wide. Massa went on to win from season debutant Lewis Hamilton and Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Alonso.
A year later, Räikkönen took his second win at the circuit, this time for Ferrari, ahead of his team-mate Massa and Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen had a tyre delamination and he hurtled into the barriers at high speed.
From 2008 to 2012, Valencia hosted the European Grand Prix. The track, which was on a layout which used the redeveloped marina area and some purpose-built road, did not seem to produce exciting races, though. Despite later being touted for a Spanish Grand Prix race share with the Circuit de Catalunya, it was dropped. Like Sitges, the purpose-built track is now abandoned apart from the parts by the marina and near the beach, which form access roads in the area and despite it being not so long since the last race was run, it is strange to already see the scruffy, derelict vestiges of a part of Formula 1 history.
The first race took place four months after the Spanish Grand Prix and Felipe Massa qualified on pole and duly won the race, from Hamilton and Robert Kubica in the BMW, escaping a race-affecting penalty for an unsafe release. It wasn't the only Ferrari pit calamity, as Räikkönen also left his stop with the fuel hose attached.
In 2009, it was the Brawn pair of Jenson Button and Barrichello who claimed a 1-2, while Mark Webber grabbed 3rd with Red Bull. Barrichello had shot into the lead off the start, but Button's two stops to the Brazilian's three were more successful.
In Valencia, there were no overtakes recorded on track, but that didn't stop third-placed qualifier Barrichello from taking his first win for Brawn. Hamilton was 2nd, with Räikkönen 3rd. The Finn's team-mate Luca Badoer, deputising for Massa, was well off the pace and finished 17th.
In 2010, Alonso was the meat in the Red Bull sandwich in Barcelona, with Mark Webber 1st and Vettel 3rd, while in Valencia, Vettel took victory, with Mark Webber tangling with Kovalainen and undergoing a spectacular flip. Hamilton damaged his front wing in contact with Vettel, but managed 2nd, with his McLaren team-mate Button on the final podium slot.
The next season, in Barcelona, Alonso made a stonking start in the Ferrari to pass the two Red Bulls and Hamilton to lead at Turn 1. It was Vettel, though, who went on to win, by a slender margin from Hamilton, with Button about half a minute behind. In Valencia, all 24 drivers were classified finishers, and Vettel won from Alonso and Webber.
2012 bore witness to a big upset in Barcelona, with Williams's last victory to date, Pastor Maldonado taking a surprising win (the fifth different winner in 5 races in the season, which would go on to be a statistic of 7 different winners in the first 7 races) after inheriting pole, when Lewis Hamilton was excluded from qualifying for a low fuel sample. Maldonado was beaten into Turn 1 by Alonso, but successfully undercut him to win from the Spaniard and Kimi Raikkonen in the Renault.
The final race to take place in Valencia, hitherto quite dull, was ironically probably the most exciting. Vettel initially led, but suffered an alternator failure. Alonso came through the pack to win, from Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher, who claimed his final podium in F1.
In 2013, Mercedes locked out the front row in Barcelona, with Rosberg on pole and Hamilton second. However, it was Alonso who took a popular win, his last to date in Formula 1. Räikkönen and Massa completed the podium, for Renault and Ferrari respectively.
One year later, Daniel Ricciardo scored his first F1 podium and Hamilton took his first win in a Grand Prix in Spain, in a Mercedes 1-2, with Rosberg challenging him but not quite close enough at the end. In 2015, it was Rosberg's turn to come out on top, reversing the Mercedes 1-2 from the year before, with Hamilton 2nd and Vettel 3rd for Ferrari.
Next time around, like in 2012, a surprise winner was the order of the day, but unlike Maldonado's win, this was the start of many for the talented Max Verstappen. Verstappen and Daniil Kvyat had traded teams, with the 18 year-old Dutch driver moving from Toro Rosso to Red Bull. Verstappen became not just the youngest podium finisher in F1 history, but the youngest winner too. Nico Rosberg overtook team-mate Lewis Hamilton off the start, but Nico then didn't select the right engine mode and coming out of Turn 3, Hamilton attempted to overtake. They both collided and went out. Ferrari team-mates Raikkonen and Vettel completed the podium.
Lewis Hamilton has won since 2017. In that year's race, Vettel got by him at the start and Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas and Räikkönen all collided and put themselves out of contention. Hamilton passed Vettel on Lap 44 and they finished in that order, with Ricciardo 3rd for Red Bull.
A year afterwards, Bottas completed the Mercedes 1-2 in 2nd, with Verstappen 3rd, while in 2019, the finishing order was identical – Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, although the result much closer than in 2018.
Last year, in August, Hamilton's victory was by 24 seconds, from Verstappen and Bottas.
This is not usually a particularly exciting event for overtaking and the racing can be really lacking, so let us hope for something special. A small note - this year, the changes to Turn 10 mean that track length has increased from 4.655km to 4.675km and the race distance accordingly, from 307.104km to 308.424km.
The trivia
Michael Schumacher has the most wins in the Spanish Grand Prix, with 6. Lewis Hamilton has taken 5 wins at the Spanish Grand Prix, and of the other current drivers, Vettel and Verstappen have won 1 and Räikkönen 2.
Räikkönen has retired here 6 times.
There have been 3 rain-affected Grands Prix at this circuit, but the last was in 1996.
Only 11 podium finishes since 1991 have come from drivers starting lower than 5th on the grid.
Between 2007 and 2016, 10 different drivers won the Grand Prix.
The track
Despite the lack of wheel-to-wheel action, the track has a decent enough flow, though, and it is therefore a pity that the mightily quick final corner, slightly reminiscent of Monza's Parabolica, was removed and turned into a slow corner that follows a chicane.
A lot of the Barcelona lap is spent in a varied range of corners and going up and down the changing topography. Hitting around 330kph in qualifying at the end of the start-finish straight, the first corner is a right-hander which quickly leads into the brief left-hand Turn 2, before immediately going into Turn 3 while going up a slight gradient and then down again. The apex of this long corner is quite early and drivers tend to hug it for a while before letting the car drift quickly to the left of the track as it flattens out and they are now ready for the right-hander of Turn 4.
Again, the apex is reasonably early but the corner continues for a while and heads downhill. After the left-hander of Turn 5, a short straight with a left-hand kink is followed by a left whose exit already puts you in the apex for Turn 7. Turn 8 is just a slight right bend, but Turn 9 is exciting, Drivers can point it into the right-hander with very little braking.
After a short straight with DRS activation, they go into the new much-more curved Turn 10 and the slight bend at Turn 11 This is followed immediately by the long Turn 12. Drivers can go into this right-hander which starts to go uphill and let it drift out just a little to keep the speed before getting it in tight again. As they go downhill, the next right-hander can have a lot of speed carried into it, then they need to get over to the right to get a wide line into the chicane at Turns 14 and 15. Turn 16 is the right-hander that leads onto the start-finish straight. The final chicane breaks the rhythm of the circuit, although at least to its credit, you could say that it provides a different challenge from the rest of the circuit as the drivers attack the kerbs, a little like the Bus Stop at Spa. There is DRS activation on the start-finish straight again.
Other information
Circuit length: 4.675km
Number of laps: 66
Race distance: 307.104 km
Race Lap Record: n/a
Dry weather tyre compounds: C1, C2 and C3
First Spanish Grand Prix: 1913
First World Championship Grand Prix: 1951
First Grand Prix at this circuit: 1991
First Grand Prix on current configuration: 2021
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