01
Memorable Moments
02
Through the years in Barcelona
Mark Webber celebrates after winning the Spanish Grand Prix in 2010
© Getty
Hugs all around after Mark Webber wins in Barcelona in 2010
© Getty
It's champagne for Sebastian Vettel after winning in Barcelona in 2011
© Getty
Max Verstappen celebrates after winning hsi debut race with the Team
© Getty
03
What makes the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya unique
The phrase most regularly trotted out to describe the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is ‘bellwether track’. If you’re now asking what the hell a ‘bellwether’ is, then you wouldn’t be alone. The Oxford English Dictionary’s website tells us that it’s a ‘very uncommon word’, with about 0.1 occurrences per million words in modern written English. This, however, is Formula 1, where people love anything uncommonly clever — and a little obtuse — so here we are, with ‘bellwether’.
It simply means ‘an indicator of trends’, and in relation to Barcelona it’s relevant in that the track has enough variety in its layout to provide a good indication of which car will work best at every type of circuit.
That makes it a popular test track and, indeed, almost all teams were here in January for a spell of private testing in the new 2026 cars ahead of the official pre-season tests. Back then, Max closed out the final day in P5, 1.2 seconds off the pace, but with six months of development on board, everyone will head to Barcelona this weekend with very different cars. And while, six races into the season, we have a fair idea of who’s done the best job, what we don’t know for certain is how well the recent spate of upgrade packages has worked across the grid. Barcelona will tell us.
04
Circuit characteristics
Long straights, high-speed corners and slower technical sections: Barcelona really is all things to all cars and creates a pretty demanding all-round challenge. Its sweeping turns place a premium on aerodynamic efficiency and balance, while the fast sequences generate sustained g-forces that make the lap physically intense for drivers. Tyre management is critical, especially in what might be even warmer conditions than usual thanks to the later race date, and through the long, heavily loaded corners.
Layout changes in recent years have also reshaped the lap. Turns 10 and 11 now form a longer hairpin, while the final chicane has been removed, restoring two rapid corners onto the main straight. Overtaking remains difficult, but the flow and spectacle have improved.
05
Key overtaking zones
Despite its variety of corners, it isn’t that easy to overtake in Barcelona, but there are a few places where opportunity knocks. The best place to attempt a passing move is into Turn 1, at the end of the kilometre-long main straight. Cars will brake to about 150 km/h and drop to third gear here, and if a driver makes the most of Straight Mode and the Overtaking Zone, then there’s a good chance to make a move.
The next opportunity comes at Turn 5, a deceptively slow left-hander taken at around 100 km/h. Finally, there’s a really good chance at Turn 10, a 110 km/h left-hander that comes at the end of the fourth SM zone.
06
Strategy watch
Strategy could be interesting this year. The compound choice this weekend is C2-C4, and that’s a step softer than in previous years. Pirelli says the aim is to encourage a greater number of pit stops and also the inclusion of the C2 Hard tyre in race strategies.
Last year, a Safety Car in the closing laps prompted an additional stop for every driver, with Max and Yuki Tsunoda eventually running a four-stop race in a less-than-competitive spell for the Team. Without that SC, it would likely have been a two-stop Soft-Medium-Soft race for most, and that was certainly the target of race winner Oscar Piastri.
The step softer could bring the Hard tyre into play this time out and may tempt some teams into trying for a one-stop Medium-Hard race. Otherwise, the option could be a Hard middle phase bookended by stints on Mediums. Friday’s practice sessions will give us a good indication of exactly how durable that C2 is on Barcelona’s notoriously abrasive surface.
It’s not only the abrasiveness that hurts tyres. Barcelona’s high-speed corners put plenty of lateral forces through the tyres, and that’s particularly the case on the left-hand side, which is more heavily stressed by the nine right-hand corners, especially long, fast Turn 3 and the final two corners.
07
What fans should look out for
At the track, if you can, head out to Turn 3 to see F1 cars pushed to the limit as drivers power through the huge, arcing right-hander at well over 220 km/h and under about 4G of load. If you want to see overtaking, try to get yourself to the grandstands at Turn 1 or Turn 10.
As far as off-track activities go, it’s tempting to try to stay as close to the track as possible — and there are certainly some good options on the coast in Mataró and in the inland areas around the track, such as Granollers, Mollet del Vallès and Cerdanyola — but that would mean missing out on staying in Barcelona itself. This is one of the great cities of the F1 calendar, with incredible sights, great culture, late, late nightlife and some genuinely great beaches right in the city.
It’s also possible to get a train from major stations in the city all the way to Montmeló station, which is about 30–40 minutes away from the track.
08
The Team's Recent Race Results
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Driver
Starting Position
Race Result
2021
Max Verstappen
2
2
Sergio Pérez
8
5
2022
Max Verstappen
2
1
Sergio Pérez
5
2
2023
Max Verstappen
1
1
Sergio Pérez
11
4
2024
Max Verstappen
2
1
Sergio Pérez
11
8
2025
Max Verstappen
3
10
Yuki Tsunoda
19
13