Spanish Grand Prix 2010, Circuit de Catalunya - Race 5/19

[Glaucus]

TV times:
Circuit de Catalunya, 7-9 May

Friday 7 May
Practice one: 0855-1035, BBC Red Button/online
Practice two: 1255-1435, BBC Red Button/online

Saturday 8 May
Practice three: 0955-1105, BBC Red Button/online
Qualifying: 1210-1415, BBC One/online and BBC Radio 5 live sport extra/online

Sunday 9 May
Race: 1210-1515, BBC One/online and BBC Radio 5 live/online
Post race forum: 1515-1615, BBC Red Button/online
Highlights: 1900-2000, BBC Three (highlights then looped on Red Button)


Standings:

Track:


Formula One at the Catalunya Circuit
Formula One touches down in Europe for the first time this season for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. The Red Bull Racing team with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber want to reap the benefits for their hard work during the three-week break. Join Mark on a virtual 3D animated trip around the Circuit de Catalunya in the team's simulator.

Track Diagram

Circuit information
Length: 4.655km
Race distance: 66 laps / 305.256km

Full throttle: 57%
Top speed: 308kph
Longest flat-out section: 16s / 1.14km
Right/left-hand turns: 9/7

Tyre wear: Medium
Brake wear: high
Downforce level: High
Gear changes per lap: 44

Tyres

2010 tyre compounds: hard (prime, no markings), soft (option, green markings)
2009 tyre compounds: hard (prime, no markings), soft (option, green markings)
2008 tyre compounds: hard (prime, no markings), medium (option, white markings)

Average fuel consumption: 2.271kg per lap (source: Williams)
Pit lane time loss: 22 seconds


Spain preview quotes - Renault, Force India, Virgin, Toro Rosso & more
After the hard slog of four long-haul races, the European leg of the F1 season kicks off next weekend with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. The Circuit de Catalunya is a venue the teams know well from testing, though racing there is a completely different challenge. The drivers and senior team personnel discuss their prospects…

Spain - Team Preview
Bridgestone
Cosworth

McLaren Not uploaded yet
Sauber
Mercedes
Ferrari
Red Bull Not uploaded yet
Williams
Renault Not uploaded yet
Force India Not uploaded yet
Toro Rosso
Lotus
HRT Not uploaded yet
Virgin


Classic F1

Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1977
Watch short highlights from the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix as Lotus's Mario Andretti dominates at Madrid's Jarama circuit to win the first European race of the season ahead of Carlos Reutemann.

Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1988
Watch short highlights from the 1988 Spanish Grand Prix as McLaren's Alain Prost keeps his title hopes alive by winning in Jerez ahead of the Williams of Nigel Mansell.

Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 1994
Watch short highlights from the 1994 Spanish Grand Prix as Damon Hill wins the first race for Williams following the tragic death of Ayrton Senna at Imola.

Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 2006
Watch short highlights from the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix as Renault's Fernando Alonso becomes the first Spaniard to win the race on home soil.

Classic F1 - Jenson Button wins Spanish Grand Prix 2009
Watch highlights as Jenson Button wins his fourth race of the season in Spain ahead of Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Classic F1 - Spanish Grand Prix 2009 extended highlights
Watch extended highlights as Jenson Button wins his fourth race of the season in Spain ahead of Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull's Mark Webber.


Technical Changes - Chinese Grand Prix

Weather Forecast

F1’s run of rain-affected races is likely to end this weekend in Barcelona. Although it has been raining in the Montmelo area recently, rain is expected to leave the region before the Grand Prix.

At present the Spanish Meteorological Office gives a low chance of rain falling on race day or Saturday – 45%.

However there is a more significant chance of rain disrupting Friday practice, with a 70% chance of rainfall at the track in four days’ time.

Air temperature will be in the high teens reaching 20C by Sunday.

Wind could be a factor, particularly on Saturday when gusts of up to 6m/s are expected. The cars are especially sensitive to wind at the fast Campsa corner.

You can keep an eye on the conditions at the circuit in the run-up to the race weekend using the rainfall radar below.


News

• McLaren: MP4-25 more suited to Spain
  McLaren is confident its MP4-25 will be more suited to the Circuit de Catalunya than recent predecessors have been, as the team looks to close the pace gap to the front on Formula 1’s return to Europe.
• Lewis says Spain quali progress 'vital'
  Lewis Hamilton says McLaren must do everything it can to secure a strong grid position at Barcelona next weekend as the nature of races there mean it won’t be able to again rely on carving its way through the field.
• Herbert: Button will only get better
  Former grand prix star Johnny Herbert reckons Jenson Button is only going to get stronger as he gets increasingly comfortable at McLaren - and thinks Lewis Hamilton could have his work cut out to regain his supremacy in the team.
• Formula One World Champion Button moving to Guernsey
  Formula One world champion Jenson Button is moving to Guernsey, his PR agency has confirmed.
• Schu says Merc upgrade only first step
  Michael Schumacher is not expecting Mercedes’s big Barcelona upgrade to suddenly catapult the team to the front of the field – but the German is confident the package will lay a baseline from which it can make continued progress.
• Judge Michael Schumacher after Monaco, says Mark Webber
  Red Bull's Mark Webber says Michael Schumacher's return should not be judged until after the next two races.
• Di Montezemolo: Barcode talk is ridiculous
  Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has labelled gossip surrounding a Ferrari-tobacco advertising link as 'ridiculous'. Reports last week explained that leading doctors are looking to ban a barcode depiction on the team's cars and driver overalls which has been linked to 'subliminal' Marlboro publicity.
• Brundle: Massa totally unimpressed by Alonso move
  With several driver changes on the run-up to the 2010 season, the majority of previews focussed on inter-team driver relationships, not least Ferrari's all-Latin combination and McLaren's double British Champion pairing; and following the Chinese Grand Prix, former driver Martin Brundle is sure that the relationship between Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso has been strained
• Ferrari test F-duct and new aero at Vairano
  Ferrari test driver Giancarlo Fisichella shook down a new F10 chassis at the Vairano circuit yesterday – featuring the latest version of the team’s blown rear wing.
• Toro Rosso also conduct Vairano test
  Ferrari weren’t the only team testing in Viarano last week – Toro Rosso also conducted an aerodynamic test at the Italian circuit.
• Force India to introduce dazzling motorhome
  The arrival of the European season also heralds the return of the motorhomes, those structures used by teams as semi-permanent bases over the course of race weekends. The Turkish Grand Prix at the end of the month will bring a new treat for those associated with Force India, however, in the shape of an overhauled three-storey construction.
• Renault expect better showing in Barcelona
  Renault say they expect to perform better at the Circuit de Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend than they did in pre-season testing at the track three months ago.
• Glock to drive sole upgraded Virgin
  Virgin Racing has only been able to complete urgently needed modifications to one of the two cars it will bring to the forthcoming Spanish Grand Prix, owing to the disruption caused by last month’s Icelandic volcano eruption.
• Webber: One win will change season
  Mark Webber reckons he just needs one breakthrough result to get himself into championship contention.
• Sauber does not regret saving team
  Peter Sauber has insisted he has no regrets about returning to Formula 1 to save his eponymous team despite its disastrous start to the 2010 season.
• Sauber predicts Spanish turning point
  Sauber is optimistic that next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix will mark an end to its poor start to the season, with a much-needed upgrade package on the air and driver Kamui Kobayashi adamant that the team's poor reliability in behind it.
• Lotus hoping for 'significant' gains
  Mike Gascoyne is optimistic the major upgrade package Lotus will introduce at next week’s Spanish Grand Prix will prove “reasonably significant” as the team aims to start pulling away from the two other new teams.
• Williams targets full F-duct by summer
  Sam Michael is not expecting Williams’s F-duct system to be fully up and running on its car for “a couple of months”, following its initial tests during practice in China.

The track and TV coverage starts

Technical changes Spain

Inside F1 - Spain GP preview Not uploaded yet

FIA Thursday press conference - Spain


Practice 1

Highlights - Spanish GP first practice
Highlights of the the first practice session from the Circuit de Catalunya where McLaren's Lewis Hamilton posts the fastest time.


Practice 2

Highlights - Spanish GP second practice
Highlights of the the second practice session from the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona as the Red Bull's of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber lead the way.


Practice 3

Qaulifying

Highlights - Spanish GP qualifying
Red Bull's Mark Webber claims a stunning pole at the Circuit de Catalunya ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Spanish Grand Prix - qualifying top three
Red Bull's Mark Webber gives his reaction as he qualifies on pole ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso and Rosberg's near-miss in pit lane
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso nearly drives into the side of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes as the two drivers start the third qualifying session in Spain.

Sebastian Vettel surprised by Red Bull pace in Spain
Sebastian Vettel admits he is as surprised as the rest of the grid at the pace of his Red Bull team but says it is a dangerous situation to be in and they cannot get too carried away.

Race

Spanish Grand Prix in 90 seconds
Watch short highlights from the Spanish Grand Prix as Mark Webber claims a dominant win ahead of home favourite Fernando Alonso and team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Highlights - Spanish Grand Prix
Highlights of the Spanish Grand Prix as Mark Webber wins with a dominant performance for Red Bull but McLaren's Lewis Hamilton loses second place in a dramatic finish.

Spanish Grand Prix - top three news conference
Red Bull's Mark Webber gives his reaction to winning the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton crashes out on penultimate Barcelona lap
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton is "blown away" that a puncture on the penultimate lap denied him second in the Spanish Grand Prix, but remains upbeat about the rest of the F1 season.

Standings

 

[Glaucus]

3 weeks does suck, but looking forward to aero updates (always makes me sad when I say aero updates, rather than tech upgrades).

Weather depends what site you look at, it's anything from a summers day to full on rain.

 

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All I'm saying is that Alonso did nothing wrong. k.

This, I can't see what rule it breaks, although there are thousands of rules which I don't know anything about. However it might be something they will add in.

 

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Spanish GP: Preview - Ferrari

 

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Red Bull track video of Barcelona

http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite...it-021242842130722?p=1242807156063&quality=hq

Track:


Formula One at the Catalunya Circuit
Formula One touches down in Europe for the first time this season for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. The Red Bull Racing team with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber want to reap the benefits for their hard work during the three-week break. Join Mark on a virtual 3D animated trip around the Circuit de Catalunya in the team's simulator.

 

[Glaucus]

Forgot I'm away all weekend so no thread updates till sun, may or may not be back for race.

 

[Glaucus]

Brakes about to go, go on fail darn you fail.

 

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Nooooooo puncture

 

[Glaucus]

One thing that should be noted is that RedBull seem to be in a situation where they have the fastest car, but Vettel and Webber are sharing the points/wins. This could lead to a situation where the likes of Alonso/Hamilton/Button will win the title, in a slower car.

My feelling is that RedBull's decision to not back a single driver will cost them this year.

If they lose it'll be reliability not point sharing. Button and Hamilton are also point sharing.

 

[Glaucus]

Highlights - Spanish GP first practice
Highlights of the the first practice session from the Circuit de Catalunya where McLaren's Lewis Hamilton posts the fastest time.

Highlights - Spanish GP second practice
Highlights of the the second practice session from the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona as the Red Bull's of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber lead the way.

Highlights - Spanish GP qualifying
Red Bull's Mark Webber claims a stunning pole at the Circuit de Catalunya ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Spanish Grand Prix - qualifying top three
Red Bull's Mark Webber gives his reaction as he qualifies on pole ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso and Rosberg's near-miss in pit lane
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso nearly drives into the side of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes as the two drivers start the third qualifying session in Spain.

Sebastian Vettel surprised by Red Bull pace in Spain
Sebastian Vettel admits he is as surprised as the rest of the grid at the pace of his Red Bull team but says it is a dangerous situation to be in and they cannot get too carried away.

Highlights - Spanish Grand Prix
Highlights of the Spanish Grand Prix as Mark Webber wins with a dominant performance for Red Bull but McLaren's Lewis Hamilton loses second place in a dramatic finish.

Spanish Grand Prix - top three news conference
Red Bull's Mark Webber gives his reaction to winning the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton crashes out on penultimate Barcelona lap
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton is "blown away" that a puncture on the penultimate lap denied him second in the Spanish Grand Prix, but remains upbeat about the rest of the F1 season.

 

[Glaucus]

Has anyone else changed their opinion of Hamilton this year?

Yes in a negative way, still think he is an amazing driver. But he is no longer a rookie and should be making or tyre and strategy calls.
Not demanding to know why his team made him pit for tyres.
Yes it should be a two way thing, but ultimately it is the driver who knows how much grip there is and their own limits.

 

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Monacos only saving grace, is no run off areas and high potential of crashes.

 

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This year monaco will be even more challenging with the 6 new mobile chicanes aka back markers, todays race was sometimes just plain scary to watch when they were being lapped, all those blind corners at monaco is just gonna make the problem 10x worse, add to that the fact that there's really no where to go to get out the way.
I've a feeling it'll be a very clumsy incident filled race, no infact race weekend.

especially q1, I'm expecting lots of crashes in the whole weekend.

 

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Red Bull's qualifying advantage is way more than anything Brawn had last year.

yep 3 tenths compared to 5tenths to 1 second. Most of which was eroded by this point.

 

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Spanish Grand Prix in 90 seconds
Watch short highlights from the Spanish Grand Prix as Mark Webber claims a dominant win ahead of home favourite Fernando Alonso and team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

 

[Glaucus]

Drivers take their hands of the steering wheel 10's of times every lap to adjust break balance.
this is no different.