SPAIN: The Formula One Spanish Grand Prix will begin on May 7 at The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the final race day on May 9. The 66 Lap and 4.655-kilometer circuit will host one of the finest Formula One races for three days starting from tomorrow.
The highlight of the Spanish Grand Prix will be the Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, who will be playing on his home turf. Along with this, the return of two-time world champion, The Alpine driver, Fernando Alonso will also be in the limelight. Moreover, the HAAS F1 team driver, Mick Schumacher will be racing his first F1 Spanish Grand Prix.
The Spanish Grand Prix is expected to allow 1,000 circuit members to watch the race from Grandstand after local COVID-19 regulations are said to be eased.
The track history
Built around Barcelona Olympics, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted the first car race with the 1991 Spanish Touring Car Championship. This was soon followed by the first Grand Prix that saw Nigel Mansell winning the race driving a Williams-Renault in a nail-biting finish with Ayrton Senna.
An aerodynamic track
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is an interesting mixture of very high-speed corners and a few low-speed corners too. While, ‘Turn 3’ will test the downforce capabilities of the cars, on the other hand, the completely remodeled ‘Turn10’ will treat the Formula 1 driver with more run-off area this time giving additional safety. The track surface gives good grip and is an aerodynamically demanding track.
Current champion standings
Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton leads the standings with 69 Pts followed by Red Bull’s, Max Verstappen racing at 61 Pts. McLaren’s, Lando Norris is in the third position with 37 Pts.
The Britons promise of superb performance on the race day
Hamilton’s expertise in tyre management along with his understanding of a racing track fetched him his 97th Grand Prix win in Portimao. He now leads Verstappen by eight points in the championship. McLaren’s Lando Norris has been very consistent in his performance this season. We hope to witness a superb show by the Briton along with his countryman Hamilton on the race day.
A new aerodynamic car by Red bull
The Red Bull brought in a new car to Portimao. This is an aerodynamically upgraded version of the previous one with an all-new diffuser. Everything else is modified accordingly to suit the new diffuser. This will allow a greater volume of air to be fed through the underfloor. The 23-year-old Verstappen sitting second in the current championship standings is looking forward to making the optimum use of this marvelous aerodynamic design of the car to better his record in the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix.
There is a significant chance of rain predicted on the race day, so getting everything right during the practice sessions followed by the qualifying session during the weekend will be significant enough to decide who will clinch the title.
To catch hold of the latest and related sports news please visit the sports section of Transcontinental times.