Track name: Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya
Times the race has been held here: 12
First GP: 1991, won by Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
Total number of race laps: 66
Complete race distance: 104 kilometers (190.826 miles)
Pit lane speed limit: 80 kph (50 mph)
Pitlane length: 420m/0.261 miles, estimated time loss 21s
2016 winner: Max Verstappen, 66 laps, 1:41:40.017
2016 pole position: Lewis Hamilton 1:22.000
2016 fastest lap: Daniil Kvyat, 1:26.948 on lap 53.
Most wins (driver): Michael Schumacher - 6
Most wins (team): Ferrari - 8
Lap record: Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari – 2008 – 1:21.670
Smallest winning margin: 085, in 2014
Circuit Length: 4.655km/2.892 miles
Direction: Clockwise
Turns: 16
Distance to Turn 1 : 730m/0.454 miles (longest of the season)
Longest straight: 1.047km/0.651 miles, on the approach to Turn One
Fastest corner: 265km/h (165mph), Turn Nine
Slowest corner: 75km/h (47mph), Turn 10
Top Speed: 345km/h/214mph, on the approach to Turn One
Full throttle: 63%
DRS Zones: Two, on the approaches to Turns One and 10
Key Corner: Turn Three, an uphill right-hander, through which the cars accelerate from 180km/h (112mph) to 260km/h (162mph)
Fuel consumption: 1.7kg per lap, making it fairly average
ERS Demands: Medium
Brake wear: Medium. There are eight braking events around the lap, but only two big stops, into Turns One and 10
Gear changes: 44 per lap/2904 per race
Safety car likelihood: 35 per cent. If there is a Safety Car, the history of this race would suggest that it’ll come on the opening lap.
Tyre choices: Hard, Medium, Soft
Weather: Warm
Chance of rain: 35%
Grip levels: High. The asphalt is old and abrasive
Run off: Medium
A lap around Barcelona.
Barcelona is probably the track you know best in the world. You can name every part of the layout. There’s a long straight, then the first two corners right and left. You carry quite a good speed into them, and then there’s the famous turn three, which you try to take as flat out as possible. Turn four, there’s usually some front-locking.
The hairpin into turn five, going down you don’t see the apex until late, so it’s a tricky corner. Turns seven and eight going up the hill lead to the very high-speed turn nine, which has a new curb on exit. Then you get to the hairpin at turn 10, which is very tricky under braking. Turns 11-15 are almost one corner – as a complex, it’s difficult to get a good flow around those corners. You need to get a good balance there.
Turn 16 is the last corner and you want to try to stay as flat-out to prepare for the straight and get a good lap time.
