Spanish Grand Prix. Statistics and track
The year 1951 marked the start of Spain’s first Formula 1 race. And it was hosted by the 6km Pedralbes circuit. In the final of the season for the title fought – with Ferrari Alberto Ascari and Alfa Romeo Juan-Manuel Fangio, but because of errors with the rubber, the winner was the latter. Three years later the circuit hosted a new round again, but there was an accident, necessitating a review of safety requirements. Eventually the circuit was simply abandoned.
After 15 years in Catalonia, the old Monjuïc city circuit was rebuilt; it was an alternative to Haram. But it was at Haram in 1968 that another race was held where Graham Hill won, and a year later the race was held at Montjuïc. Only 5 of the 14 riders reached the finish line and the winner was Jackie Stewart.
The courses would change over the following years and in 1975 there was a scandal as the drivers simply did not want to take to the Montjuïc circuit. The reason was simple, it simply did not meet the safety standards of the safety barriers. Qualifying was shortened a day later and then on lap 30 the race was abandoned due to an accident that killed 4 people. Although originally planned for 75 laps. Of course, after that the circuit was no longer in Formula 1.
It was not until 12 years later that Catalonia worked to bring the prestigious race back to their land. Its own circuit building council was created. Not without problems, but they got their wish and the race took place next 4 years from 1986 to 1990.
It must be said that the Catalans had persevered and acquired a plot of land to the north of the city and the construction of the Circuit de Catalunya started in 1989. And in 1991 it was already inaugurated and the first body car race took place. It was won by Luis Pérez-Sala, a former Formula 1 driver. And after 16 years of waiting, Formula 1 has returned to Catalunya. And thanks to a favourable location, it was possible to get a comfortable, and quite warm in cold weather test track, located almost in the heart of Europe.
Main features of the circuit
This track has been rightly called by many the best for evaluating the performance of cars. First of all, it is demanding in terms of aerodynamics and has a variety of different types of corners. That is to say, if a car shows good results in Catalunya, there will be no problems elsewhere.
At the moment we are seeing some serious preparation for the championship, and we can say it is a real arms race. So the Grand Prix of Spain promises to be an interesting one.
Qualifying will be the main focus during the tuning of the car. The starting position is extremely important, and in the last 18 years there have only been 3 occasions when a driver who does not start from pole has won.
The track is fully equipped, so there is no problem to accommodate guests, access to the venue is easy, and teams can spend more time at the base, practising and practising different processes.
