Barcelona by numbers
Circuit length: 2.892 miles
Type of circuit: Purpose-built permanent track
Number of laps: 66
Lap record: 1m21.670s (Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 2008)
Last year's pole time: 1m21.421s (Felipe Massa, Ferrari)
Overtaking opportunities: Low. While Catalunya is now one of the best attended races thanks to Fernando Alonso's rise, the track continues to provide one of the more sterile GPs of the season. While teams' over familiarity with the venue through winter testing is one factor in the annual procession, difficulties in following cars closely enough to even attempt a pass make any potential overtaking spots virtually redundant - even under the new rules.
Usual weather: The rain in Spain mainly stays away from the race track when the grand prix is in town. The last rain-hit, indeed monsoon-hit, Barcelona race was back in 1996.
Chances of a first corner crash: Average. The long run down to the tight first turn means there is always plenty of jostling for position into turn one. Alonso found this out to his cost in 2007...Spanish Grand Prix history
Venues: Pedralbes (1951 & '54), Jarama (1968, '70, '72, '74, '76-'79, '81) Montjuich (1969, '71, '73, '75), Jerez (1986-1990), Catalunya (1991-present)Recent winners:
2008 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)2007 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari)2006 - Fernando Alonso (Renault)2005 - Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren)2004 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)2003 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)2002 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)2001 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)2000 - Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)1999 - Mika Hakkinen (McLaren)Memorable Barca moments:
1991 - The very first race at Catalunya provided a moment of breathtaking action that remains one of the iconic F1 images. On a damp track, Nigel Mansell (Williams) jinked out to pass his great McLaren rival Ayrton Senna half way down the long main straight. The pair went wheel-to-wheel, with sparks flying off both cars, all the way into the braking zone for the first corner. Mansell was on the inside, took the position and went on to seal the race win.
1992 - Young Benetton star Michael Schumacher gave the world a first glimpse of the wet weather mastery that he would go on to show in the decade to come. In increasingly tricky conditions, the German, in just his 10th F1 race, kept the pressure up on the dominant Williams of Mansell to finish a career-best second.
1994 - Another sensational Schumacher performance. Despite his Benetton becoming stuck in fifth gear 20 laps into the race, the German still managed to complete two pit stops and finish the race in second place behind title rival Damon Hill.
1996 - Schumi genius part three. In treacherously wet conditions, the reigning two-time champion obliterated the rest of the field to take his maiden Ferrari victory and one of his most astonishing ever. After botching the start, he overtook Berger, Alesi and Villeneuve to lead by lap 12 and then simply stormed away into the distance. His fastest race lap was 2.2s quicker than anyone else's.
2001 - Mika Hakkinen had been unbeatable at Barcelona since 1998 and was cruising to a fourth successive win there. But then suddenly on his final lap his McLaren started crawling around the circuit and ground to a halt with a clutch problem. It gave Schumacher the most fortunate win of his career and ironically the first of what would be his own quadruple Spanish success.
2007 - The memorable moment came at the very first corner when home hero Alonso tangled with Ferrari's Felipe Massa. While Massa emerged unscathed from the clash and went on to win, his rival damaged his McLaren bounding over the gravel and had to settle for third.Drivers with reason to love Barcelona...
Fernando Alonso - His nightmare 2007 race aside, Alonso has generally saved some of his best performances for his home event. He pushed Schumacher's much faster Ferrari all the way to victory with a brilliant second place in 2003 and won the race in his own right three years later, before hurling his off-the-pace Renault to the front row last season.
Kimi Raikkonen - The Iceman has had some rough times at Catalunya - but he also took a commanding win there in 2008 (incredibly, that was the last time he won a race), and was dominant in 2005.Jarno Trulli - Fastest in 'first qualifying' during the shortlived aggregate system of 2005, he has twice finish on the podium in Spain, beating his then-Renault-team-mate Alonso on home turf in 2004.Drivers with reason to hate Barcelona...
Heikki Kovalainen - He took a respectable seventh on his Barcelona F1 race debut in 2007, but was lucky to escape unhurt from a terrifying accident there last year.Nelson Piquet - Piquet has a lot of unhappy memories from his first F1 season, but Catalunya provided one of the most frustrating moments. He appeared to be on the cusp of a breakthrough when he reached Q3 for the first time, but in the race he threw it off the road early on and then broke his suspension in a needless tangle with Bourdais.
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