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Event Information:
The
Spanish Grand Prix (Spanish: Gran
Premio de España, Catalan: Gran
Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One
race currently held at the Circuit
de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, as
part of the annual Formula One
championship season. Since 2003 the
race has been well attended thanks
to success of Fernando Alonso.
Alonso finished second in 2003 and
2005 before taking victory in 2006.
The
Circuit de Catalunya aka Circuit de
Barcelona is a racetrack in Montmeló,
to the north of Barcelona,
Catalonia, Spain. With long
straights and a variety of corners,
the Circuit de Catalunya is seen as
an all-rounder circuit. The Circuit
de Catalunya was built in 1991 and
began hosting the Spanish Grand Prix
that same year. Construction also
coincided with the Olympic Games
scheduled to take place in
Barcelona, the next year, where the
circuit acted as the start and
finish line for the road team time
trial cycling event. The Circuit de
Catalunya should not be confused
with the Montjuïc circuit, which
hosted the Spanish Grand Prix four
times between 1969 and 1975 and,
unlike the Circuit de Catalunya, is
actually located within the city of
Barcelona.
Because so much testing is done at
this circuit, Formula One drivers
and mechanics are extremely familiar
with it. This has led to criticism
that drivers and mechanics are too
familiar with Catalunya, reducing
the amount of on-track action. The
wind direction at the circuit can
change drastically during the day, a
significant factor given the
importance of aerodynamics to modern
Formula One cars. It is then hard to
find a good setup since cars can
have massive aerodynamic drag and
understeer on one part of the
circuit in the morning, but suffer
oversteer at the same part of the
circuit in the afternoon. A given
tyre compound can work well when
tested, but not so well a couple of
months later. These changeable
conditions can make for an
unexpected performances from some
teams during the race.
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