Subscribe with RSSSpanish GP Flyby
The short video previews, which go live on the site on the Tuesday prior to every Grand Prix weekend, will guide you around the 18 circuits that feature on this year's calendar. Seen from within the cockpit, the flybys offer an insight into how an F1 driver navigates his way round some of the fastest and most challenging tracks in the world.
Formula One’s European season opens this weekend with the 37th Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, located to the north of Barcelona in Montmeló. Regarded as one of the most technically challenging circuits on the calendar, it is perhaps fortunate that the teams spend the majority of their allocated test days collecting valuable data at Montmeló ahead of the race. Unfortunately, however, track and weather conditions are invariably disparate between testing and the Grand Prix weekend leaving the drivers and their engineers with a relatively green track to contend with from the outset.
Barcelona is a high speed, high downforce circuit, with fast, sweeping corners connected by even faster straights and will see the drivers reach speeds of 305kph along the start/finish straight and fly into corners such as Seat at 240kph. The engines will spend each lap of the 66 lap race at 57% full throttle, so top end speeds are important, most crucially on the start/finish straight which will see the drivers flat out for over a kilometre.
Barcelona’s erratic weather conditions, particularly the prevailing winds, can de-stabilise the car’s aero balance, so the teams are continually chasing the perfect set-up. With so many variables, the outcome of the Spanish Grand Prix should never be predicted.
Podcasts
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27 November 2011
Rubens' Brazilian Pod
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26 November 2011
The Engineering Pod: Brazil
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14 November 2011
Pastor's Pod: Abu Dhabi
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