Ferrari in Spain for Carlos Sainz's home Grand Prix

Ferrari in Spain for Carlos Sainz’s home Grand Prix. Ferrari in Spain for Carlos Sainz's home Grand Prix.

Just one week on from the Portuguese Grand Prix, on a track that has only hosted two Formula 1 races, the World Championship now moves to the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit in Montmeló, 25 kilometres from the Catalan capital, which has featured on the calendar every year since 1991. It also used to be the usual venue for pre-season testing, but this year, because of the pandemic, that was moved to Bahrain.

Difficult to overtake. The track layout, featuring high, medium and low speed corners, direction changes, undulations and a long start-finish straight, is a demanding test-bench of a car’s abilities. It is also one of the most difficult tracks for overtaking. Being close to the coast means that changes in wind direction are one of the factors to deal with, because it has a significant impact on the balance of the cars that run in a medium-high downforce configuration. There are two DRS zones, one on the main straight leading to the first chicane and another after turn 9 on the back straight that leads to turn 10, where it will make less of a difference under braking, but it will not be impossible to try a textbook overtaking move around the outside, relying on entry speed going into the turn. During the winter, major changes were actually made to turn 10, a very heavy braking point where it was easy to lock up the wheels and which now looks more like its original version. The radius is less tight, allowing for a higher speed through the turn.

Home race. The Spanish Grand Prix is the home race for Carlos Sainz, who has always finished in the points in his six races at Montmeló. His best results so far are two sixth places, one last year and one in 2016, during his second season in Formula 1. As for Charles Leclerc, he finished fifth here in 2019 in the Ferrari SF90.

Programme. The cars take to the track for the first time on Friday, for the usual two hours of free practice, starting at 11.30 CET and 15. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 15, preceded by the final free practice at 12. The Spanish Grand Prix gets underway on Sunday at 15, running over 66 laps of the 4.655 kilometre track, for a distance of 307.230 kilometres.

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