The second triple-header of this frenetic Formula 1 season comes to an end with this Sunday’s 50th Spanish Grand Prix. The race takes place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, one of the tracks best known to the drivers who generally rack up a huge mileage here in testing.
The track boasts a mix of high, medium and low speed corners, with several direction changes, some climbs and drops and a long main start-finish straight and thus provides a real test of a car’s abilities. The final part used to be high speed, but now features a slow chicane leading onto the straight. Of the permanent tracks, this is one of the hardest when it comes to overtaking. With the sea and mountains nearby, changing wind direction can be tricky to contend with as it upsets car balance considerably. This year, the race is being held in the height of summer, rather than usual spring date, so air and track temperatures will be much higher. Pirelli is supplying the same three tyre compounds as those used at the first Silverstone race.
Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel previews the next round of the 2020 Formula 1 season, the Spanish Grand Prix:
“When you get to the Barcelona track you already know it will be a race where it’s the small details that make the difference. The teams and drivers all know this track very well and that’s why, right form the start of Friday free practice, you can work on fine tuning the car. This circuit is quite different to Silverstone and I am curious to find out how the car will feel here. We can expect very high temperatures and so it will be important to find a set-up that allows you to have good speed without causing excessive tyre wear.” – the German driver said.
Leave a Reply