The Spanish GP is scheduled to take place from 20th to 22nd of May at Circuit de Barcelona, Catalunya
A warm and sunny Barcelona is set to welcome F1 to Europe at the Spanish Grand Prix. The temperature in Barcelona at this time of year is already a lot higher than in the rest of Europe, it can still sometimes be quite stormy. However, there are ideal racing conditions for this weekend.
In Imola, rain played an important role during the Grand Prix on Sunday and even in Miami, rain threatened over the circuit on Sunday. For the upcoming race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, there is little chance of rain during the Formula One weekend.
The racing weekend will be partly cloudy with a maximum five percent chance of rain. Winds will gradually increase over the weekend, reaching gusts of 21 kilometres per hour on Sunday. On Friday, the temperature is expected to be 25 degrees and on Saturday and Sunday, it will be as high as 27 degrees.
How challenging is the track at Circuit de Catalunya?
The circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona has been the home of Spanish Grand Prix since 1991. The track spans over a total length of 4.675 km. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has a maximum capacity of 140,700. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license.
The Grand Prix has a total of 66 laps with the track having 16 turns. The official lap record for the current Grand Prix circuit layout is 1:18.149, set by Max Verstappen driving for Red Bull Racing in the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher holds the record for the most number of poles (7) in the Spanish GP while Schumacher and Hamilton have the joint-most number of wins (6).
The track is demanding of a car’s aerodynamic qualities. The wind direction at the circuit can change drastically during the day, a significant factor given the importance of aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars. These changeable conditions can make for unexpected performances from some teams during the race. The changeable wind conditions have also caused accidents at the circuit, with Fernando Alonso’s testing accident in 2015 partly blamed on the severity of the wind.
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