[akash_v12]

The Spanish Grand Prix at the Catalunya Circuit has returned! The 4.655KM long circuit which has been home to the Spanish GP for 29 years has 2 high-speed long straights and 16 corners. It also plays host to winter pre-season testing for the teams.

Pirelli has opted to go for the hardest compounds this time - C1,C2 & C3 due to the temperatures of the track.

Stream On - Star Sports Select HD2 | Hotstar
All Times IST

Schedule



The Circuit

2019 Results

Tyre Choice

[shibujp]

I think all the F1 teams will be quite experienced with this track given that they usually conduct their testing sessions on it. I think though the temperatures are cooler than during this time.

The track is known as an all rounder with a longish straight and a mix of slow corners. It's a maximum downforce circuit and it would be interesting how the tire shennigans at Silverstone for Mercedes factor here. However I think that from inspection of Bottas tyres in Silverstone after the second pit stop, Mercedes had concluded that there was enough rubber to continue even though the blistering looked concerning which was why they gave the go ahead to Hamilton to push. The power advantage of the Mercedes engines should be a big factor here. Looking at the tyre strategies for 2019 where the top 5 had different strategies like SHS, SSM,SMS there might be scope for some variations. However almost everyone started on softs.

Wind is also seems to be a factor here prone to changing direction provoking both oversteer and understeer at the same corner depending on how the wind blows. This was another aspect that we saw affecting cars at Silverstone.

The main overtaking point is under braking for turn 1 after the straight.

• Longest straight 1.047km/0.651 miles (longest of the season: China, 1.17km/0.727 miles)
• Top speed 335 km/h/208 mph, on the approach to Turn One (fastest of season: Monza, 350km/h/217mph)
• Full throttle 65 per cent (highest of the season: Monda, 75 per cent)
• Fuel consumption 11.7kg per lap, which is average
• ERS demands Medium
• Gear changes 44 per lap/2,904 per race

Turn 1 is the main overtaking point at Catalunya, as it is a braking zone at the end of a long DRS straight. The inside and outside are equally difficult for overtaking; drivers who can hold the line around the outside of turn one, can get the inside line for turn two. The corners themselves make up a medium-speed chicane – drivers brake rather late for turn one (Elf) and shift down to gear two, and turn two is almost full throttle as they try to gain as much exit speed as possible. Turn 3 (Renault) is a long, flat-out (in most cars) right-hander that has a g-force of about four, and it leads to a short straight before turn 4, the Repsol curve. Another right-hander, turn four is similar to Monza's Curva Parabolica – drivers brake and take an early apex (in third gear), carrying great speed out of the exit. Turn 5 (Seat) comes immediately after and is a slow left-hander taken in second gear which drops rapidly downhill towards the left kink of turn 6 which is ignored by F1 cars. Turns 7 and 8 make up a medium-speed, uphill, left-right chicane. Drivers brake and shift down to gear three, and must not run too wide as turn eight has a large kerb on its apex which could potentially damage cars' suspensions. Turn 9, Campsa Corner, is a very fast, sixth-gear right-hander which is made incredibly difficult by being completely blind (drivers cannot see the apex on approach). It is initially quite steep uphill but the exit is then downhill, so it is quite easy to run wide onto the astroturf. The long back straight leads into turn 10 (La Caixa), a second-gear, left-hand hairpin, then turns 11 and 12, a left kink before a long, slow, third-gear right. The next section has been redesigned by German engineer Hermann Tilke to lower speeds onto the 1,047 m (1,145 yd) pit straight – which in turn increases overtaking opportunities and safety. Turn 13 is a tight, third-gear right-hander and drivers have to cross the track quickly to take the racing line through the slow left-right chicane of turns 14 and 15, taken in second gear. Good traction is needed here as it determines speed down the pit straight.Turn 16 (New Holland) is a flat-out right-hander which takes cars across the start/finish line.

Drive on,
Shibu

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by shibujp

• Longest straight 1.047km/0.651 miles (longest of the season: China, 1.17km/0.727 miles)
• Top speed 335 km/h/208 mph, on the approach to Turn One (fastest of season: Monza, 350km/h/217mph)
• Full throttle 65 per cent (highest of the season: Monda, 75 per cent)
• Fuel consumption 11.7kg per lap, which is average
• ERS demands Medium
• Gear changes 44 per lap/2,904 per race

I thought Baku and Mexico tracks had the longest straights on the calendar? Or are they not considered 'straights' owing to slight kinks?

Also fuel consumption will be much lower than 11.7 kg/lap seeing as they can only use 105 kg during a race. It used to be 2.1 kg/lap in 2013 (https://www.auto123.com/en/racing-ne...a?artid=155511)

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Fuel consumption - 11.7kg per lap, which is average

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

Also fuel consumption will be much lower than 11.7 kg/lap seeing as they can only use 105 kg during a race. It used to be 2.1 kg/lap in 2013

Even I believe fuel consumption numbers are around 1.9-2KG/Lap around the Catalunya Circuit. Also, the cars start with 130KG of fuel in them.
I think Baku has the longest straight as the kinks are considered as flats by most people.

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Also, the cars start with 130KG of fuel in them.

Max fuel limits:

a) Pre-2014: 160 kg

b) 2014-2016: reduced to 100 kg owing to efficient turbo-engines (fuel flow 100 kg/hr)

c) 2017-2018: 105 kg to compensate for higher drag due to wider cars

d) 2019-now: 110 kg to improve racing and compensate for even higher drag

http://www.fia.com/regulations/regul...ampionship-110

[Hatari]

Qualifying should be very interesting with the banning of quali modes.
Dont expect anything other than a Merc 1-2, but Racing point's result should be compromised in the top 10.

[ds.raikkonen]

Spain is expected to have similar 2-stop strategy as the fastest way to cover the race distance. Last year, apart from Hulkenberg, everybody opted to run a 2-stop race. Giovinazzi ran an extremely long 35 lap first stint!

Point to note is that all front runners started on C3 Ultrasofts which means nobody dared to qualify to Q3 on C2s, which looks certain this year for the Mercs.

Excellent tyre management skills shown by Verstappen, LeClerc, Raikkonen and Ricciardo in the 70th Anniversary GP. I am sure they will be gunning for a similar gamble on Sunday.

Here is some tyre and pit stop info from the 2019 Spanish GP by Pirelli.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

I thought Baku and Mexico tracks had the longest straights on the calendar? Or are they not considered 'straights' owing to slight kinks?

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Even I believe fuel consumption numbers are around 1.9-2KG/Lap around the Catalunya Circuit.

You guys are right on both counts. My information was a bit stale (by around 3 years).

Baku has the longest straights of around 2.2 kilometers. Also the current fuel consumption is around 1.5kg per lap in Spain.

Meanwhile in first practice Vettel seems to be quite close to Leclerc after the chassis change. This may be interesting.

Drive on,
Shibu

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Qualifying should be very interesting with the banning of quali modes.

That will only reduce the gap from Mercedes to Red Bull by 0.4-0.5 sec, still good enough for pole and front row lock out as you mentioned.

The race though, will be another story, as Mr. James Vowles will be constantly looking behind his back this time

[neo_narender]

Mercedes P1 & P2, as expected. May be there will be a change after the ruling which says no engine modes in qualifying, experts expect at least half a second increase in the lap times.
Verstappen P3.
Perez is back with a very good qualifying time finishing P4, with Stroll P5.
Albon certainly had a better Saturday when compared to the earlier weekends at P6.
Sainz outqualifying Norris in P7. Norris P8.
Leclerc, although he jumped in front of the line before doing his timed lap in Q3, could only manage P9.
Gasly at P10.

What is happening to Vettel? Has he seriously lost his mojo?
He received a new chassis from Ferrari after finding a crack after 70th anniversary GP & still he is not able to keep up with Leclerc at the very least. Seems like it will turn out to be a very nasty divorce between him & Ferrari.

Neo

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by neo_narender

Mercedes P1 & P2, as expected. May be there will be a change after the ruling which says no engine modes in qualifying, experts expect at least half a second increase in the lap times.
Verstappen P3.
Perez is back with a very good qualifying time finishing P4, with Stroll P5.
Albon certainly had a better Saturday when compared to the earlier weekends at P6.
Sainz outqualifying Norris in P7. Norris P8.
Leclerc, although he jumped in front of the line before doing his timed lap in Q3, could only manage P9.
Gasly at P10.

What is happening to Vettel? Has he seriously lost his mojo?
He received a new chassis from Ferrari after finding a crack after 70th anniversary GP & still he is not able to keep up with Leclerc at the very least. Seems like it will turn out to be a very nasty divorce between him & Ferrari.

Neo

For a short time it looked that Perez would be P3! But the Racing Points are up there. I would like to see them offer a serious challenge to the Red Bulls.

Though Vettel missed Q3 by just two milliseconds thanks to Gasly, at the end the two Ferrari's do looks quite comparable in performance, P9 and P11 respectively. And Vettel has a choice of tyres. To me Vettel never ever looked as comfortable in the Ferrari as he did with the Red Bull.

Sainz is the more experienced but Norris is impressive given he is a recent entrant. 100% Q3 record this season too. Bodes well for Mclaren.

Renault just can't seem to nail it down. They are fast becoming another Toyota. Impressive now and then but not consistent in race or qualifying.

Drive on,
Shibu

[Agarwal_Aayush]

As expected Mercedes P1 & P2, Verstappen somehow seems to have subscribed to the P3 position in qualifying, he has maximum number of P3's to his name this season.

I really felt for Vettel when he lost his chance into Q3 by that 2 thousands of a second, but I am glad that his performance is somehow at par with Leclerc now post chassis change. There time difference is lesser than the previous races.

Vettel is really down right now given him being blatantly told his services will not be required next year onwards. Its upto Ferrari to inspire confidence in him for the remainder of the season.
Also the chat about him leaving or being replaced mid season has done no good for his performance.

-Aayush

[akash_v12]

Super-interesting Q2 & Q3. Vettel barely missed Q3, however he seems to have improved after the chassis change.

Here's tomorrow's starting grid:-

[neo_narender]

Another boring race. There was some excitement in the mid field at least in this Spanish Grand Prix.

1. Hamilton, as expected with a P1.
2. Verstappen, did his best & could at least split the Mercedes at P2.
3. Bottas, who lost the position at the start of the race, not sure what happened to him there finishes P3 with the fastest lap.
4. Racing Point's Stroll with two pit stops finished P4
5. Even with a single pit stop Perez finished 4th but 5 sec penalty ended him up in P5.
6. Sainz at P6 had a commendable race.
7. Vettel, even with a worst car & managing his Soft compound tyres for over 40 laps ended P7 (Pirelli says a Medium compound tyres will last 33 laps), what a drive!!! Driver of the day rightfully earned.
8. Albon with early pit stop & into the traffic did his best with P8.
9. Gasly P9.
10. Norris P10.

Sad to see Leclerc having engine problems when it stalled & spin him, also with his seat belt undone. Out of the race. Only retirement for the race.
Grosjean almost taking out Räikkönen due to dangerous driving.
Perez & Kvyat with 5 sec penalty for avoiding blue flags to let go a lapping Hamilton.

Neo

[Night_Fury]

It's incredible how incompetent Ferrari is as a team. Literally forgot vettel was driving for them. The team radio is an absolute classic
I think even pirelli is surprised he survived 36 laps on soft at that heat!!! Damn.

Just routine stuff for Hamilton. What an exciting race