Spanish Grand Prix 2016: Preview and Weekend Times

Opening hours

Friday May 13

Free 1: 10:00-11:30 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full broadcast at 14pm on RaiSport 30

Free 2: 14:00-15:30 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full broadcast at 19pm on RaiSport 30

Saturday May 14

Free 3: 11:00-12:00 (Sky Sport F1 HD)

Full broadcast at 15pm on RaiSport 30

Qualifying: 14pm (Sky Sport F00 HD)

Full deferral at 18pm on Rai 00

Sunday May 15

Race: 14pm ̶ 00 laps ̶ 66km (Sky Sport F307,890 HD)

Full deferral at 21pm on Rai 00

Previous race

The Russian GP certainly didn't give us the same spectacle as 2015, and in fact of all the races this year it was perhaps the first one that was a bit boring, but the repercussions of this grand prix were felt in the following days . First of all the incredible exchange between Kvyat and Verstappen due, perhaps a bit as a scapegoat, to the Russian's double collision with Vettel in Sochi. A questionable choice by the team leaders, a choice which, however, turned out to be the right one, would be praised by all the people of the circus. However, what we saw at the Sochi Autodrom was once again a monologue from the blonde from Mercedes, who is taking advantage of all that bad luck suffered in the previous two years. When will this positive trend reverse?

Predictions from F1GrandPrix.it

Nicotine. Forgive the pun, but Rosberg has a serious addiction to first place this season and has no intention of stopping. Good for him, of course. Therefore, behind the very favorite we have Lewis Hamilton, who we cannot say with how much anger/grit/hunger or call it what you want will take to the track to sound the charge and grab - at least - the pole. Behind them we have the Ferrari duo: let's face it, they are a bit unlucky and a bit can't find the key to how to beat the two Arrows up front. Then come Williams and Red Bull, where we are quite curious to see what Max Verstappen will do. Fast is fast, let's see if he can handle the media pressure - and otherwise - that they have put on him in the last week. And we also believe that the Toro Rosso Sainz Jr. - Kvyat duo will have a lot of bloodshot eyes and will want to do well. Let's not forget about McLaren, which slowly seems to be recovering and for which we reserve at least a place in the Top 10.

Circuit

Name: Circuit of Catalonia.

Place: Montmelò, Barcelona, ​​Catalunya, Spain.

Construction: the route was built in 1991, on the occasion of the 1992 Olympic Games which were to be held in Spain. Since 1991 it has permanently hosted the Spanish Grand Prix of the Formula 1 championship. In 1995 the Nissan chicane was modified, replacing it with a stretch of straight. In 2004, to facilitate overtaking, the Caxia curve (10) was brought forward, narrowing its radius, while in 2007 a chicane was inserted between the last two curves. This track is much loved by drivers for the mix of slow and fast corners, but a little less loved by enthusiasts due to the very limited possibilities of overtaking. Precisely thanks to this "completeness", the Spanish track is always designated as the site of pre-season tests, so all the teams arrive at this appointment with important data already accumulated at the beginning of the season.

Distance per lap: xnumxkm.

Number of curves: 16, nine on the right, seven on the left.

Direction of travel: hours.

Technical data:

Characteristics of the Track: The presence of fast corners and a long straight are contrasting factors for the choice of a set-up based on high aerodynamic load rather than a lower downforce to have a higher top speed. For this round of the world championship the teams use highly developed aerodynamic packages, counting on the fact that the pre-season tests take place on this very track. The temperatures are never particularly severe, but the very long Montmelò straight puts the engine's reliability to the test. Here the gear changes for each lap are fifty-eight while the hourly average is around 194 km/h.

Brakes:

Rubber:

DRS zone: starting straight with detection point before turn 16. Straight between turn 9 and turn 10 with detection point before turn 9.

Previous Editions

Last 3 Editions:

2013 edition: in FP1 the two Ferrari drivers set the fastest times, with Fernando Alonso before Felipe Massa, while third is Vergne on Toro Rosso. In FP2, Alonso is second between the two Red Bulls – Renault by Vettel and Webber. Finally in FP3 it is Felipe Massa the fastest of all, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus – Renault) and Mark Webber. Qualifying takes place on Saturday afternoon in which the two Mercedes surprisingly stand out: Nico Rosberg sets the fastest lap in 1'20''718 and takes pole position at the end of Q3, following him Lewis Hamilton at +0.254 thousandths of a second. In the second row Sebastian Vettel and Räikkönen, in third the two Ferraris of Alonso and Massa. Race: Rosberg maintains the lead while Alonso passes Hamilton and Räikkönen. Hamilton in difficulty passed the Finn and Massa in the following two laps. After the first tire change Rosberg appears to be in difficulty and loses several positions: he is overtaken by Alonso, Vettel, Massa and Räikkönen. Gutiérrez goes to change tires on lap fourteen. The Spaniard thus takes the lead in the race. On lap 21 Massa makes his second pit stop, followed on lap 22 by Alonso, on lap 25 by Vettel and two laps later by Räikkönen. The ranking now sees Ferrari's Spaniard once again in command, followed by Massa, Vettel and Räikkönen. The Finn conquers third position with an overtake on Vettel on the thirty-third lap. The third stop for the Ferraris on lap 37: as soon as he returned to the track Alonso passed Kimi. Massa returns to third after Vettel's pit stop. With the last tire change Alonso found himself first again, going on to win, while Räikkönen came second and overtook Massa at the end, who came third to complete the podium.

2014 edition: on Friday Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) dominates in both free practice sessions, while his teammate Nico Rosberg, delayed by a technical problem on the single-seater, showed up in FP3 on Saturday morning, setting the best time. The afternoon is a battle between the two for pole: first Hamilton sets the time, Rosberg responds by lowering it but the Briton doesn't give up and, returning to the track, completes the fastest lap which earns him 35th^a pole start. In the second row Daniel Ricciardo (RBR – Renault) ahead of Valtteri Bottas (Williams – Mercedes). Race: the start takes place regularly with Hamilton leading the group, behind there are contacts without significant consequences between Vettel – Magnussen and Kobayashi – Maldonado. On lap 12 the phase of the first pi-stops begins, inaugurated by Vettel (occupying lap 12^a position), the others gradually follow. Ricciardo manages to get the better of Bottas and regains third place, while behind Kimi Rӓikkӧnen (Ferrari) takes fifth place, passing Grosjean (Lotus – Renault). Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel gains three positions behind him and is now ninth. Second waltz of tire changes between laps 34 and 45, the one who benefits the most is still Vettel, who from ninth goes first to seventh and then fifth, passing both Ferraris and then Bottas with 3 laps to go for fourth place. In front, however, Hamilton has tire wear problems, Rosberg gets behind him but is unable to overtake him even in the final stages. It is yet another Mercedes double of the season, Hamilton wins for the twenty-sixth time in his career and fourth in a row. Daniel Ricciardo comes third, almost 50 seconds behind.

2015 edition: Renault and Honda bring updates to the power units, in the hope of improving the performance of teams such as Red Bull, Toro Rosso and McLaren. Friday: in the first free practice sessions the track is quite dirty and the various cars take to the track with caution. At the end Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) was the fastest ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. In FP2, history repeats itself but in different ways, with the Englishman setting the best time ahead of the German duo. Finally, in Fp3 on Saturday morning the same situation as just 24 hours earlier arose again, with Rosberg still in command. Qualifying: Nico Rosberg reiterates the concept to everyone and goes on to earn the sixteenth pole of his career ahead of Hamilton, 6 tenths behind. Vettel, Bottas, Sainz Jr., Verstappen, Räikkönen, Kvyat, Massa and Ricciardo complete the Top 10. Race: Rosberg gets off to a great start while behind Vettel passes Hamilton, who now has to watch out for Bottas, while 'Iceman' overtakes the two youngsters from Toro Rosso. A difficult match for them which sees them inexorably drop to the middle of the table. On lap 13 Hamilton tries to undercut Vettel but after everyone has returned for the regular tire change he is unable to do so; last to return was Räikkönen who uses the hard compound. In the middle of the race Fernando Alonso had to retire due to a problem with the braking system. Meanwhile, up front, Hamilton opts to mount the hard at the 32nd lap, effectively gaining ground on those preceding him. On lap 51 he goes for the third pit stop when he is momentarily in the lead: this allows him to obtain second place to the detriment of Vettel. Thus Rosberg wins for the ninth time in his career and Mercedes scores the 19th^à double, the German from Ferrari completes the podium.

Best Edition For Authors:

1986 edition: second event of the season which took place on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit. Starting from pole position is Ayrton Senna, who won over the two Williams and the two McLarens with his Renault-powered Lotus. The race was a real head-to-head between the Brazilian and Mansell: on lap 39 the Englishman took the lead, however Senna did not give up as did Prost, who was slightly separated from the leading pair. Due to excessive tire wear the "Lion of England" had to let the two pass and attempted the impossible by returning to the pits for a final tire change with 10 laps to go. His choice was the right one: he returned 20 seconds behind the Brazilian but soon managed to overtake Prost, whose car was running low on fuel, and arrive in the slipstream of Ayrton's Renault. However he failed to beat him by a matter of thousandths, only fourteen (the smallest gap in the history of Formula One). Prost completed the podium, more than twenty seconds behind and the only one not to be lapped in a race where only eight of the twenty-four starting cars finished.

Best Edition For Readers:

2008 edition: in free practice on Friday Kimi Rӓikkӧnen (Ferrari) set the best time on both occasions, first ahead of teammate Felipe Massa and then ahead of the two Renaults of Piquet and Alonso. In the third free practice on Saturday morning Nick Heidfeld (BMW – Clean) is the fastest ahead of David Coulthard (RBR) and Fernando Alonso. Qualifying: as already shown the day before, Rӓikkӧnen is the man to beat, who obtains pole position with a time of 1'21''813 set at the end of Q3 ahead of Alonso and Massa. Race: on the reconnaissance lap Alonso ends up on the grass, dirtying his tires and at the start his sprint is not exceptional, so much so that Felipe Massa passes him at the first corner. Also on lap 1, an accident between Vettel and Sutil causes the safety car to come in for two laps. On lap 21 Kovalainen was the victim of a terrible accident due to a suspension failure at over 200 km/h while taking a bend, forcing the safety car to return to the track for 6 laps. The pilot miraculously emerges unharmed. On lap 34 Alonso blew up the engine of his Renault and was forced to retire. Räikkönen was elusive for everyone and went on to win the Grand Prix ahead of his teammate, thus scoring a double for the Maranello team. Hamilton (McLaren – Mercedes) completed the podium. From a world championship perspective, the Finn is in command with 29 points, nine more than Hamilton.

RECORD

Test lap: 1:19.954 – R Barrichello – Brawn Mercedes - 2009
Race lap: 1:21.670 – K Raikkonen – Ferrari – 2008
Distance: 1h31:36.230 – F Massa – Ferrari – 2007
Driver victories: 6 – M Schumacher
Team victories: 12 – Ferrari
Driver pole: 7 – M Schumacher
Pole team: 13 – Ferrari
Best driver laps: 7 – M Schumacher
Best team laps: 14 – Ferrari
Driver podiums: 12 – M Schumacher
Team podiums: 35 – Ferrari

Hall of Fame

1. 1951 J Fangio – Alfa Romeo
2. 1954 M Hawthorn – Ferrari
3. 1968 G Hill – Lotus Ford
4. 1969 J Stewart – Matra Ford
5. 1970 J Stewart – March Ford
6. 1971 J Stewart – Tyrrell Ford
7. 1972 E Fittipaldi – Lotus Ford
8. 1973 E Fittipaldi – Lotus Ford
9. 1974 N Lauda – Ferrari
10. 1975 J Mass – McLaren Ford
11. 1976 J Hunt – McLaren Ford
12. 1977 M Andretti – Lotus Ford
13. 1978 M Andretti – Lotus Ford
14. 1979 P Depailler – Ligier Ford
15. 1981 G Villeneuve – Ferrari
16. 1986 At Senna – Lotus Renault
17. 1987 N Mansell – Williams Honda
18. 1988 A Prost – McLaren Honda
19. 1989 At Senna – McLaren Honda
20. 1990 A Prost – Ferrari
21. 1991 N Mansell – Williams Renault
22. 1992 N Mansell – Williams Renault
23. 1993 A Prost – Williams Renault
24. 1994 D Hill – Williams Renault
25. 1995 M Schumacher – Benetton Renault
26. 1996 M Schumacher – Ferrari
27. 1997 J Villeneuve – Williams Renault
28. 1998 M Hakkinen – McLaren Mercedes
29. 1999 M Hakkinen – McLaren Mercedes
30. 2000 M Hakkinen – McLaren Mercedes
31. 2001 M Schumacher – Ferrari
32. 2002 M Schumacher – Ferrari
33. 2003 M Schumacher – Ferrari
34. 2004 M Schumacher – Ferrari
35. 2005 K Raikkonen – McLaren Mercedes
36. 2006 F Alonso – Renault
37. 2007 F Massa – Ferrari
38. 2008 K Raikkonen – Ferrari
39. 2009 J Button – Brawn Mercedes
40. 2010 M Webber – Red Bull Renault
41. 2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
42. 2012 P Maldonado – Williams Renault
43. 2013 F Alonso – Ferrari
44. 2014 L Hamilton – Mercedes
45. 2015 N Rosberg – Mercedes

Andrea Villa, Matteo Bramati.

Sources: Brembo, Pirelli, Magneti Marelli.