Spanish Grand Prix 2013, Barcelona - Race 5/19

Duke · 6 May 2013 at 15:35

Catalunya

The Formula One teams are no strangers to Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya; not only have they raced there every year since 1991, they also conduct extensive testing at the venue.

Familiarity does not, however, lessen the challenge for car or driver. Barcelona's mix of high and low-speed corners, plus its abrasive and rather bumpy track surface, makes for a physically and mechanically taxing race. Tyre wear is particularly high and the varying winds that cut across the circuit mean an optimum set-up can be hard to find.

For spectators Elf corner is among the best places to watch, as it is one of the track's few overtaking opportunities. For the drivers it is the final two turns, known collectively as New Holland, which provide one of the biggest challenges of the season. A fast exit is essential in order to maximise speed down the start-finish straight into Elf.

2012 marks the 22nd time Barcelona has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher has been the most successful driver at the circuit, with a total of six victories. Among the other current drivers, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa have all won there.

Session Times

Fri 10 May 2013
Practice 1 09:00 - 10:30
Practice 2 13:00 - 14:30

Sat 11 May 2013
Practice 3 10:00 - 11:00
Qualifying 13:00

Sun 12 May 2013
Race 13:00

All live on Sky Sports F1. For BBC times and info see here.

Track Diagram

Circuit Information

Circuit Name: Circuit de Catalunya
First Grand Prix: 1991
Number of Laps: 66
Circuit Length: 4.655 km
Race Distance: 307.104 km
Lap Record: 1:21.670 - K Raikkonen (2008)

Championship Standings

Code:

[b]Pos Driver                Team                   Time      Gap       Laps[/b]
 1. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m25.252s            20
 2. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m25.455s  + 0.203s  20
 3. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m25.667s  + 0.415s  25
 4. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m26.042s  + 0.790s  21
 5. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1m26.212s  + 0.960s  24
 6. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes               1m26.374s  + 1.122s  19
 7. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1m26.456s  + 1.204s  20
 8. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m26.614s  + 1.362s  21
 9. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m26.621s  + 1.369s  21
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m26.755s  + 1.503s  16
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m26.940s  + 1.688s  26
12. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari         1m27.061s  + 1.809s  24
13. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes       1m27.135s  + 1.883s   6
14. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari         1m27.250s  + 1.998s  26
15. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m27.576s  + 2.324s  24
16. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1m28.373s  + 3.121s  14
17. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault       1m28.600s  + 3.348s  19
18. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth      1m28.887s  + 3.635s  14
19. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m29.457s  + 4.205s  11
20. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m29.473s  + 4.221s  21
21. Rodolfo Gonzalez      Marussia-Cosworth      1m30.314s  + 5.062s  13
22. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       no time               6

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107297

Practice 2

Code:

[b]Pos Driver                Team                  Time      Gap       Laps[/b]
 1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m22.808s            34
 2. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m22.825s  + 0.017s  35
 3. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m22.891s  + 0.083s  36
 4. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m23.030s  + 0.222s  32
 5. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m23.110s  + 0.302s  37
 6. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m23.140s  + 0.332s  35
 7. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m23.398s  + 0.590s  45
 8. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m23.840s  + 1.032s  37
 9. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.058s  + 1.250s  31
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m24.104s  + 1.296s  25
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.175s  + 1.367s  32
12. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.306s  + 1.498s  35
13. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m24.854s  + 2.046s  31
14. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m24.888s  + 2.080s  38
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.167s  + 2.359s  38
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m25.321s  + 2.513s  32
17. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m25.441s  + 2.633s  37
18. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m25.851s  + 3.043s  35
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m25.963s  + 3.155s  30
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m26.078s  + 3.270s  31
21. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m26.930s  + 4.122s  35
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m26.970s  + 4.162s  25

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107304

Practice 3

Code:

[b]Pos  Driver               Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps[/b]
 1.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m21.901s            13
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m21.907s  + 0.006s  14
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m22.044s  + 0.143s  17
 4.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m22.069s  + 0.168s  13
 5.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m22.229s  + 0.328s  17
 6.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m22.254s  + 0.353s  15
 7.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m22.574s  + 0.673s  11
 8.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.729s  + 0.828s  17
 9.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m22.740s  + 0.839s  24
10.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.759s  + 0.858s  15
11.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m22.839s  + 0.938s  26
12.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.151s  + 1.250s  13
13.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m23.371s  + 1.470s  21
14.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.373s  + 1.472s  13
15.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m23.385s  + 1.484s  17
16.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m23.388s  + 1.487s  18
17.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m23.660s  + 1.759s  16
18.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.767s  + 1.866s  17
19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m24.775s  + 2.874s  18
20.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.793s  + 2.892s  16
21.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m25.135s  + 3.234s  17
22.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m25.250s  + 3.349s  18

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107335

Qualifying

Code:

[b]Pos Driver                Team/Car              Time      Gap[/b]
 1. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m20.718s
 2. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes              1m20.972s  + 0.254s
 3. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m21.054s  + 0.336s
 4. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m21.177s  + 0.459s
 5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m21.218s  + 0.500s
 6. Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m21.219s  + 0.501s
 7. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m21.308s  + 0.590s
 8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m21.570s  + 0.852s
 9. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes      1m22.069s  + 1.351s
10. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m22.233s  + 1.515s
Q2 cut-off time: 1m22.019s                                       Gap **
11. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.127s  + 1.126s
12. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m22.166s  + 1.165s
13. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes  1m22.346s  + 1.345s
14. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m23.166s  + 2.165s
15. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.389s  + 1.388s
16. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari        1m22.793s  + 1.792s
Q1 cut-off time: 1m23.218s                                       Gap *
17. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1m23.260s  + 1.532s
18. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m23.318s  + 1.590s
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1m24.661s  + 2.933s
20. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.713s  + 2.985s
21. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth     1m24.996s  + 3.268s
22. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault      1m25.070s  + 3.342s

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107337

Race

Code:

[b]Pos  Driver               Team/Car                  Time/Gap
 1.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1h39m16.596s
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault             + 9.338s
 3.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari                  + 26.049s
 4.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault         + 38.273s
 5.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault         + 47.963s
 6.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes               + 1m08.020s
 7.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes   + 1m08.988s
 8.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m19.506s
 9.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes       + 1m21.738s
10.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         + 1 lap
11.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap
12.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes                   + 1 lap
13.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       + 1 lap
14.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault           + 1 lap
15.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari             + 1 lap
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault           + 1 lap
17.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault           + 1 lap
18.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth         + 2 laps
19.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth         + 2 laps

Report - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107372

Glaucus · 6 May 2013 at 15:36

Yay, I'm off work fri,sat &sunday this week, wahoo.
Roll on, and for the love of god give us more races, three week breaks shouldn't exist.

Or at least shorten the season.

Also mercedes steering wheel with LH

Mr Men · 6 May 2013 at 15:50

Pirelli has finally confirmed that it will supply a new 'prototype' hard tyre to teams from this weekend in Barcelona.

The extra tyre set, which will not carry any distinguishing colour markings, will be allocated to each driver on Friday with the aim of spicing up the track action in practice.

It is a "specially-created compound with the emphasis on durability so that the teams run for as long as possible", Pirelli announced in a media statement.

F1's official supplier admitted the move is to discourage drivers who would otherwise opt to "conserve tyres for the rest of the race weekend".

"It's something we wanted to do to encourage all the teams to run as much as possible right from the start, especially with the rookie drivers, to give fans the spectacle they deserve to see," said motor sport director Paul Hembery.

However, although there were suggestions the tyre would only be available to rookie drivers, in fact every car in the field will be eligible to run the new unmarked tyre.

"The (rookie) idea failed," said German correspondent for Auto Motor und Sport, Tobias Gruner, "because of the resistance of top teams who only have experienced drivers in their ranks."

Duke · 6 May 2013 at 15:55

That is good to hear.

tummelv · 6 May 2013 at 15:57

Good good. All the teams will no doubt have new aero parts they want to verify so it's good they have a tyre they can do that with instead of worrying about using up other sets.

Skeeter · 6 May 2013 at 16:53

Being a lunch time race is actually a bit of a pain this weekend. Could do with it being early or late.

Can't wait though, 3 weeks is too long!

deuse · 6 May 2013 at 17:22

Thanks Duke

Lewis for a top five again in the race

~Mike~ · 6 May 2013 at 17:34

Nearly there, 3 weeks is too long!!!

Hoping for some improvement from McLaren, but doubt it will be much.

This one is live on the BBC also.

Guerrilla · 6 May 2013 at 18:01

Cheers Duke

These 3 week breaks are rubbish.

[TW]Taggart · 6 May 2013 at 22:55

Ill be trackside in grandstand L between turns 1 and 5.

do the secret signal if your near....

Witor · 7 May 2013 at 08:24

Main Grandstand myself. Can't wait, been a while since i've seen an F1 race up close and personal.

smr · 7 May 2013 at 12:15

Wooooohoooooooooooooo Formula 1 weekend

Formula 1 is back. Yay! Thanks Duke

smr · 7 May 2013 at 12:20

Interesting comments from Bob Fernley a few days ago, which I quite liked the sound of...

Force India's Bob Fernley does not expect to see any teams make any major steps forward in performance at the Spanish GP as the cars reach the limits of their development potential.

Traditionally, the first European race of the season sees the teams bring large upgrade packages to their cars and, if their calculations have been correct, gain a few extra tenths.

However, with this being the fifth year of the current rule cycle gains are becoming harder to find and with the exception of McLaren, the Deputy Team Principal does not expect to see any teams finding any significant pace.

"I'm not sure you are going to see the big upgrades we've seen in the past, and I'm not just talking about us, I'm talking about across the board," Fernley said.

"Apart from McLaren, who we know will come back and be as strong as always, for the rest of the teams there is not much left in these cars as they are today.

"We've been pretty stable for the last few years, so there are not big leaps. I think everybody is just going to be putting tiny bits on all the way through the season - I hope!"

Nismo · 7 May 2013 at 14:35

Did they have the first DRS zone last year? I've got a feeling it will be another pointless one as the straight is too short.

Skeeter · 7 May 2013 at 14:41

Nope, only 1 DRS zone last year. There are 2 DRS zones at every track except Monaco this year due to the new restriction on DRS usage in Qualifying.

Duke · 7 May 2013 at 14:45

smr, that's a good point and why McLaren went for a different approach this year rather than just continuing last years.

rubberduck · 7 May 2013 at 17:34

Duke said:
smr, that's a good point and why McLaren went for a different approach this year rather than just continuing last years.

But with the bigger regulation changes coming next year surely it would have been wise to just evolved the 2012 car rather than going for a different approach? If the 2013 to 2014 is also going to result in big car changes essentially they will be back to square 1 again and all the work they have done evolving the 2013 car to get it competitive will be for naught. They probably didn't expect the new car to be as poor as it has been but all the other teams went with evolution rather than revolution so they are looking a bit silly atm.

Witor · 7 May 2013 at 19:13

Potential rain on this one, 50/50 ATM.

Duke · 7 May 2013 at 20:56

Spanish GP preview - http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/...e-race-circuit-that-frustrates-the-engineers/

Skeeter · 7 May 2013 at 23:02

rubberduck said:
But with the bigger regulation changes coming next year surely it would have been wise to just evolved the 2012 car rather than going for a different approach? If the 2013 to 2014 is also going to result in big car changes essentially they will be back to square 1 again and all the work they have done evolving the 2013 car to get it competitive will be for naught. They probably didn't expect the new car to be as poor as it has been but all the other teams went with evolution rather than revolution so they are looking a bit silly atm.

The wonders of hindsight I'm afraid. Had there gamble paid off and this years car been quick, it would have been the evolution group feeling silly.

McLaren took a risk, and its not worked. But you don't become one of the most successful teams in the sport by playing it safe.