The second triple-header of the season concludes at another classic Formula 1 track, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit that has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991. It’s an eagerly awaited event as the track is one of the most complete in offering a full range of technical challenges. That’s why it was one of the most popular tracks for testing, on the basis that if a car works well here it does so everywhere.

This weekend a new FIA technical directive comes into play, concerning the flexibility of the wings, which some experts reckon could have an effect on car performance. Furthermore, Barcelona has traditionally been the track where teams bring significant updates, specifically to test them on what is a demanding circuit.

The drivers on the podium of the Spanish Grand Prix will wear a special edition of the classic Pirelli Podium Cap, designed by Denis Dekovic, and featuring an orange colour inspired by the sunny landscape of the Catalan region. It’s the sixth version of the Podium Cap introduced this year by Pirelli Design and it is already on sale on the dedicated e-commerce platform (https://store.pirelli.com/).

The compounds
Not only is the track challenging for the cars, it also places high demands on the tyres. After two consecutive rounds featuring the softest trio in the 2025 range, as usual Pirelli has chosen the hardest, namely the C1 as Hard, the C2 as Medium and the C3 as Soft. The three compounds have been revised since last year, especially the C2, making the performance gaps between them more equidistant. That could lead to the Medium and Soft being favoured for the race.

The forces exerted on the tyres are medium to high, because of the many fast corners, such as turn 3 and the final two, both of them righthanders. The corner of the car subjected to the greatest stress is the front left, as right hand turns are in the majority.

Even if the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit is no longer much used for testing by the teams, because of the virtual elimination of in-season testing and a reduction in pre-season work, it is still a very important test bench. That’s why Pirelli has chosen to test here for a third time, following on from September 2024 and this January, working on development of tyres for next season. The test takes place on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 June, with the help of Mercedes drivers on both days, Racing Bulls on Tuesday and Red Bull on Wednesday.

In 2024
For years now a two-stop strategy has been pretty much a given at Montmelò and last year’s race was no exception. All drivers, with the exception of Alex Albon starting from pit lane on the Medium, lined up on the grid on the Soft for the first stint. 12 drivers used all three available compounds, leaving the Hard for the final stint, while the top three finishers, winner Max Verstappen followed by Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, were on a second set of Softs when they took the chequered flag.

The track
Since the inaugural race in 1991, the track has undergone several modifications, especially in the final part, with various attempts made to create overtaking opportunities. For example, in 2007, a very slow chicane was created before the final corner, which led to a significant increase in lap time of the order of over four seconds. In 2023, the original configuration was restored, with the final two corners linked so as to make for a much faster entry onto the pit straight, one of the longest on the calendar. In the race, drivers tackle 66 laps of the 4.657 kilometre track with its 14 corners (eight to the right and six to the left). The highest downforce corners are turns 3 and 9, both right handers.

Keyword: track surface
Measuring the grip level of the tyres on a Formula 1 car and indeed on racing cars in general, is a key factor when preparing for an event, not only for the teams, but also for the tyre supplier, when considering performance and degradation.

At the beginning of every race week, Pirelli takes readings to assess the track surface which are fed into the simulation model, thus helping to develop it and make it even more accurate. The engineers acquire 3D photos of the most representative points at each track, something they do every year to build up a historical picture, which allows them to analyse the state of the track surface including its micro and macro-roughness.

Micro-roughness is the measure of how rough are the single components of the stone granule aggregate that makes up the surface layer: if the number is high it means the granules are very rough, and if it’s low it indicates they are very smooth.

Macro-roughness describes the overall irregularities that can be seen or felt on the track surface, such as small bumps, depressions and undulations, generally of the order of millimetres or centimetres. High macro-roughness indicates there are significant gaps between the stone granules, which affects the tyre’s ability to stick to the ground, while a low figure indicates a particularly smooth surface.

Statistics Corner
This year’s event is the 55th Spanish Grand Prix. Before making the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit its home, four other tracks have hosted this race, including two street circuits within the Catalan city: Pedralbes which staged it in 1951 and 1954 and Montjuic Park, where the race was held on the odd-numbered years from 1969 to 1975. The event was also held at the Jarama circuit on the outskirts of Madrid in 1968, 1970, 1972, from 1976 to 1979 and 1981 and in Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia from 1986 to 1990. Spain also hosted seven European Grands Prix: two in Jerez (1994 and 1997) and five on the Valencia street circuit from 2008 to 2012.

Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton both have the most number of wins on six apiece in the Spanish Grand Prix and with a further European GP win in Jerez in 1994, the German has the most wins on Spanish soil. Schumacher has the most poles (7) followed by Hamilton on 6 and they both top the list of podium finishes with 12. Of the teams, Ferrari has 12 Spanish GP wins to its name, as well as two European victories in Valencia. The Maranello team also has the most pole positions and podium finishes, 14 and 38 respectively. Four drivers took their maiden win at the Spanish Grand Prix: Niki Lauda (1974), Jochen Mass (1975), Pastor Maldonado (2012) and Max Verstappen 2016).