Catalunya Circuit layout & records

Description

Catalunya circuit: three corners in detail

Catalunya circuit 1st and second corner

Turn 1 to 3
The first corner comes at the end of the 1km pit straight on which speeds will peak at well over 300km/h. The car and engine are therefore subject to heavy braking loads as the driver scrubs off 50% of that speed to take the first corner at approximately 140km/h.

Halfway through Turn 1, drivers start to accelerate into Turn 2 and Turn 3 (also known as Renault) but as the Catalunya circuit starts to climb a car will have a tendency towards 'snappy' oversteer. Having a delay in engine response or an overshoot in torque delivery will only confirm this trend, thus increasing tyre wear as the car tries to slide to one side and subject the tyres to lateral g-force.

Turn 10

Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Circuit de Catalunya turn 10

Once through Turn 9 the track begins to descend into Turn 10. The braking zone for this corner is the hardest one of the track, as the cars arrive at 300km/h and take the turn at just over 70km/h. To give the right stability engineers work very hard on the overrun settings, trying to give neutral engine braking when the driver is off the throttle.

In parallel engineers will try to make the downward gear shifts as smooth as possible so the torque gradient change is ironed out and not too aggressive. Giving smooth downshifts and the right level of overrun will result in a better balance, thus helping to control wheel lock and minimise tyre wear. By the end of the corner the driver is down in first gear but needs to accelerate back up the hill. This sends huge loads through the tyres so pedal maps are often designed with just this corner in mind.

Turn 14 to 16

Fernando Alonso in turn 15 Circuit de Catalunya

The chicane on this track is very slow and needs, again, the right amount of engine torque, not only at the entry of the corner but in the midpoint of the chicane. In fact the driver will just blip the throttle between the entry and the exit of the chicane as he changes direction.

Even if he is only on the power for a millisecond balancing the car on this knife edge is critical to keep the car balanced, minimize wheelspin and ultimately gain lap time.

Once the cars exit this chicane traction is very important as the speed will be carried through turn 16, with the driver ultimately going flat out using KERS onto the pit straight.

Podiums

F1 Podium Winners on Catalunya Circuit

Year	Race	Date	Top 3 Drivers	Teams	Laps
2024	2024 Spanish F1 GP	June 23	Max Verstappen Lando Norris Lewis Hamilton	Red Bull McLaren Mercedes	66
2023	2023 Spanish F1 GP	June 4	Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton George Russell	Red Bull Mercedes Mercedes	66
2022	2022 Spanish F1 GP	May 22	Max Verstappen Sergio Pérez George Russell	Red Bull Red Bull Mercedes	66
2021	2021 Spanish F1 GP	May 9	Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes Red Bull Mercedes	66
2020	2020 Spanish F1 GP	August 16	Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes Red Bull Mercedes	66
2019	2019 Spanish F1 GP	May 12	Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Max Verstappen	Mercedes Mercedes Red Bull	66
2018	2018 Spanish F1 GP	May 13	Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Max Verstappen	Mercedes Mercedes Red Bull	66
2017	2017 Spanish F1 GP	May 14	Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Daniel Ricciardo	Mercedes Ferrari Red Bull	66
2016	2016 Spanish F1 GP	May 15	Max Verstappen Kimi Räikkönen Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Ferrari Ferrari	66
2015	2015 Spanish F1 GP	May 10	Nico Rosberg Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel	Mercedes Mercedes Ferrari	66
2014	2014 Spanish F1 GP	May 11	Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Daniel Ricciardo	Mercedes Mercedes Red Bull	66
2013	2013 Spanish F1 GP	May 12	Fernando Alonso Kimi Räikkönen Felipe Massa	Ferrari Lotus F1 Ferrari	66
2012	2012 Spanish F1 GP	May 13	Pastor Maldonado Fernando Alonso Kimi Räikkönen	Williams Ferrari Lotus F1	66
2011	2011 Spanish F1 GP	May 22	Sebastian Vettel Lewis Hamilton Jenson Button	Red Bull McLaren McLaren	66
2010	2010 Spanish F1 GP	May 9	Mark Webber Fernando Alonso Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Ferrari Red Bull	66
2009	2009 Spanish F1 GP	May 10	Jenson Button Rubens Barrichello Mark Webber	Brawn Brawn Red Bull	66
2008	2008 Spanish F1 GP	April 27	Kimi Räikkönen Felipe Massa Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari Ferrari McLaren	66
2007	2007 Spanish F1 GP	May 13	Felipe Massa Lewis Hamilton Fernando Alonso	Ferrari McLaren McLaren	65
2006	2006 Spanish F1 GP	May 14	Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault Ferrari Renault	66
2005	2005 Spanish F1 GP	May 8	Kimi Räikkönen Fernando Alonso Jarno Trulli	McLaren Renault Toyota	66
2004	2004 Spanish F1 GP	May 9	Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Jarno Trulli	Ferrari Ferrari Renault	66
2003	2003 Spanish F1 GP	May 4	Michael Schumacher Fernando Alonso Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari Renault Ferrari	65
2002	2002 Spanish F1 GP	April 28	Michael Schumacher Juan Pablo Montoya David Coulthard	Ferrari Williams McLaren	65
2001	2001 Spanish F1 GP	April 29	Michael Schumacher Juan Pablo Montoya Jacques Villeneuve	Ferrari Williams BAR	65
2000	2000 Spanish F1 GP	May 7	Mika Häkkinen David Coulthard Rubens Barrichello	McLaren McLaren Ferrari	65
1999	1999 Spanish F1 GP	May 30	Mika Häkkinen David Coulthard Michael Schumacher	McLaren McLaren Ferrari	65
1998	1998 Spanish F1 GP	May 10	Mika Häkkinen David Coulthard Michael Schumacher	McLaren McLaren Ferrari	65
1997	1997 Spanish F1 GP	May 25	Jacques Villeneuve Olivier Panis Jean Alesi	Williams Prost Benetton	64
1996	1996 Spanish F1 GP	June 2	Michael Schumacher Jean Alesi Jacques Villeneuve	Ferrari Benetton Williams	65
1995	1995 Spanish F1 GP	May 14	Michael Schumacher Johnny Herbert Gerhard Berger	Benetton Benetton Ferrari	65
1994	1994 Spanish F1 GP	May 29	Damon Hill Michael Schumacher Mark Blundell	Williams Benetton Tyrrell	65
1993	1993 Spanish F1 GP	May 9	Alain Prost Ayrton Senna Michael Schumacher	Williams McLaren Benetton	65
1992	1992 Spanish F1 GP	May 3	Nigel Mansell Michael Schumacher Jean Alesi	Williams Benetton Ferrari	65
1991	1991 Spanish F1 GP	September 29	Nigel Mansell Alain Prost Riccardo Patrese	Williams Ferrari Williams	65

Driver Ranking

Driver Ranking Catalunya Circuit

	Driver	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	FL	Avg Grid	Avg Pos	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	18	6	4	2	12	6	5	4.3	4.9	248
2	Michael Schumacher	19	6	3	3	12	7	7	3.7	4.5	118
3	Max Verstappen	10	4	2	2	8	1	2	3.9	4.4	168
4	Mika Häkkinen	10	3	0	0	3	2	2	7.5	9.3	32
5	Fernando Alonso	21	2	4	1	7	1	0	7.6	7.9	132
6	Kimi Räikkönen	19	2	2	1	5	2	1	8.1	10.2	91
7	Nigel Mansell	3	2	0	0	2	1	1	4.3	8.7	20
8	Sebastian Vettel	15	1	1	3	5	0	1	6.7	6.1	155
9	Felipe Massa	15	1	1	1	3	1	2	8.9	8.3	63
10	Nico Rosberg	11	1	1	0	2	2	0	6.8	8.8	67
11	Alain Prost	2	1	1	0	2	1	0	3.5	1.5	16
12	Jacques Villeneuve	10	1	0	2	3	1	0	9.2	9.6	19
13	Mark Webber	11	1	0	1	2	2	0	7.7	7.6	62
14	Jenson Button	16	1	0	1	2	1	0	10.1	9.2	50
15	Pastor Maldonado	5	1	0	0	1	1	0	13.6	12.8	25
16	Damon Hill	7	1	0	0	1	1	1	6.3	11.7	13
17	David Coulthard	15	0	3	1	4	0	0	8.2	9.1	30
18	Valtteri Bottas	12	0	2	2	4	1	1	6.4	8.2	107
19	Rubens Barrichello	18	0	2	2	4	0	2	9.3	10.1	32
20	Juan Pablo Montoya	6	0	2	0	2	0	0	7.7	8.5	19
21	Jean Alesi	11	0	1	2	3	0	0	8.2	10.5	20
22	Sergio Pérez	14	0	1	0	1	1	1	8.9	8.5	81
23	Lando Norris	6	0	1	0	1	1	1	7.0	10.8	28
24	Ayrton Senna	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	3.0	5.3	8
25	Johnny Herbert	9	0	1	0	1	0	0	13.2	12.8	8
26	Olivier Panis	10	0	1	0	1	0	0	11.8	11.8	7
27	Daniel Ricciardo	12	0	0	2	2	0	1	9.3	8.4	67
28	George Russell	6	0	0	2	2	0	0	12.0	9.7	42
29	Jarno Trulli	15	0	0	2	2	0	0	9.5	11.3	17
30	Giancarlo Fisichella	14	0	0	1	1	0	2	12.4	11.1	12
31	Gerhard Berger	7	0	0	1	1	1	0	5.7	10.1	8
32	Riccardo Patrese	3	0	0	1	1	0	1	4.3	9.7	7
33	Mark Blundell	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	11.7	9.3	4
34	Carlos Sainz	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.4	6.5	70
35	Charles Leclerc	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	8.1	10.7	33
36	Esteban Ocon	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.9	9.7	23
37	Romain Grosjean	9	0	0	0	0	0	1	9.3	13.2	22
38	Lance Stroll	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	12.0	20
39	Ralf Schumacher	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.5	10.7	17
40	Robert Kubica	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	8.6	9.0	14
41	Pierre Gasly	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.1	10.9	14
42	Kevin Magnussen	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.6	13.4	14
43	Kamui Kobayashi	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.3	12.0	11
44	Nick Heidfeld	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.3	10.1	11
45	Nico Hülkenberg	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.4	13.5	10
46	Oscar Piastri	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	10.0	6
47	Paul di Resta	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.7	11.0	6
48	Daniil Kvyat	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	12.8	10.7	6
49	Adrian Sutil	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.6	14.9	6
50	Eddie Irvine	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.8	11.4	6
51	Takuma Sato	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	11.8	5
52	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.4	11.5	5
53	Pascal Wehrlein	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	12.0	4
54	Alex Albon	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.6	14.2	4
55	Cristiano da Matta	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.0	9.5	3
56	Alexander Wurz	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.8	11.5	3
57	Pierluigi Martini	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.3	9.5	3
58	Michael Andretti	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7.0	5.0	2
59	Kazuki Nakajima	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.5	10.0	2
60	Zhou Guanyu	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.3	13.7	2
61	Michele Alboreto	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	16.7	2
62	Heikki Kovalainen	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.2	15.8	2
63	Ralph Firman	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	8.0	1
64	Jaime Alguersuari	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	13.0	1
65	Yuki Tsunoda	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.3	15.3	1
66	Pedro Diniz	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.7	17.5	1
67	Olivier Grouillard	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	18.0	0
68	Roberto Merhi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	18.0	0
69	Derek Warwick	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	13.0	0
70	Nyck de Vries	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	14.0	0
71	Antônio Pizzonia	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	19.0	0
72	Stefano Modena	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	16.0	0
73	Patrick Friesacher	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15.0	17.0	0
74	Gastón Mazzacane	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	21.0	15.0	0
75	Franck Montagny	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	22.0	0
76	Ricardo Rosset	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	19.0	0
77	Nelson Piquet	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	11.0	0
78	Roberto Moreno	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	25.0	21.0	0
79	Rio Haryanto	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.0	17.0	0
80	Andrea Chiesa	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	21.0	0
81	Fabrizio Barbazza	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	25.0	21.0	0
82	Lucas di Grassi	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	23.0	19.0	0
83	David Brabham	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	24.0	10.0	0
84	Giorgio Pantano	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	14.0	0
85	Satoru Nakajima	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	17.0	0
86	Domenico Schiattarella	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.0	15.0	0
87	Esteban Tuero	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	15.0	0
88	Brendon Hartley	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	12.0	0
89	Pedro Lamy	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	20.0	0
90	Luciano Burti	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.0	11.0	0
91	Gianmaria Bruni	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	19.0	0
92	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	23.0	20.0	0
93	Justin Wilson	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.0	11.0	0
94	Allan McNish	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.0	8.0	0
95	Emanuele Pirro	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.0	15.0	0
96	Ricardo Zonta	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	8.0	0
97	Philippe Alliot	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.0	22.0	0
98	Karun Chandhok	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	24.0	21.0	0
99	Olivier Beretta	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	26.0	0
100	Will Stevens	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.0	17.0	0

Team Ranking

Team Ranking Catalunya Circuit

	Team	GP	1st	2nd	3rd	Pod	Pole	FL	Avg Grid	Avg Pos	Points
1	Ferrari	34	8	8	9	25	8	9	5.4	7.2	431
2	Mercedes	15	7	5	5	17	9	4	3.6	6.0	404
3	Red Bull	20	6	3	6	15	4	5	6.4	6.0	423
4	Williams	34	6	2	2	10	5	3	10.5	11.1	171
5	McLaren	34	4	7	4	15	5	5	7.9	9.5	221
6	Benetton	11	1	4	2	7	2	2	8.0	8.3	49
7	Renault	15	1	2	2	5	1	1	10.0	9.6	75
8	Brawn	1	1	1	0	2	1	1	2.0	1.5	18
9	Lotus F1	4	0	1	1	2	0	1	8.9	10.1	53
10	Prost	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	14.5	13.0	7
11	Toyota	8	0	0	1	1	0	0	9.6	11.6	15
12	BAR	6	0	0	1	1	0	0	10.3	9.8	9
13	Tyrrell	8	0	0	1	1	0	0	15.9	16.0	4
14	Force India	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.8	12.0	46
15	Sauber	22	0	0	0	0	0	1	12.5	11.7	31
16	Toro Rosso	14	0	0	0	0	0	1	14.3	14.3	23
17	Racing Point	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.0	10.8	22
18	Alpine	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	9.8	9.9	18
19	Haas	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.7	14.4	16
20	Aston Martin	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.8	11.1	14
21	BMW Sauber	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.2	10.4	13
22	Alfa Romeo	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.8	14.0	10
23	Honda	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.5	9.5	8
24	Jordan	15	0	0	0	0	0	1	12.3	12.4	8
25	AlphaTauri	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13.3	12.5	4
26	Stewart	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.5	14.3	2
27	Jaguar	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	14.7	15.0	2
28	Footwork	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.7	13.5	2
29	Ligier	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.3	13.9	2
30	Minardi	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.3	15.8	2
31	Dallara	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12.3	10.5	1
32	Super Aguri	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.3	14.8	1
33	Arrows	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.4	16.1	1
34	March	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.0	10.0	0
35	Midland	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	17.0	0
36	Spyker	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.5	13.5	0
37	Leyton House	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10.5	15.5	0
38	Racing Bulls	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17.5	17.0	0
39	Simtek	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.7	12.3	0
40	Virgin Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.0	19.0	0
41	Lola	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.5	20.5	0
42	Fondmetal	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	20.0	15.7	0
43	Forti	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	25.5	23.0	0
44	Pacific	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	25.0	21.0	0
45	Brabham	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	11.5	14.0	0
46	HRT	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	22.2	21.7	0
47	Larrousse	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	16.8	19.2	0
48	Team Lotus	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.7	17.6	0
49	Manor	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	19.5	18.1	0
50	Caterham	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	18.6	18.9	0