In recent times, the common denominator for the Spanish Grand Prix has been its venue, the Montmelo track.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has hosted the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix since 1991.
The facility can be found just over 20 kilometres to the north of Barcelona and the track itself is 4.66 kilometres in length. There have been 52 Spanish GPs to date, going back to 1951 and five venues have hosted it: Pedralbes, Montjuic, Jarama, Jerez and the current Barcelona track.
“Barcelona is always a track where everyone brings updates, so I think it’s going to be a really competitive weekend. Let’s see what everyone brings. I’m excited to drive it with the faster last sector that they changed for last year. I’m looking forward to getting back on that track. Normally, it’s quite familiar but we didn’t do any testing there this year, so should be fun. I’m looking forward to keeping this run going, trying to get some more Q3 appearances and points finishes. I’ve been waiting a while, but I like to think it’s the start of where my season continues to progress and show performances like I did in Montreal. Really looking forward to it and excited to get the European leg started!”
I’m looking forward to keeping this run going
Daniel Ricciardo “Even though the race in Montreal didn’t go the way I wanted, and the weekend as a whole was a bit up and down, it was positive that we managed to turn things around from Free Practice to qualifying, from one extreme to another. It showed that, as a team, we know how to adapt, and we came back well to get to Q3 once again. This definitely gives me lots of confidence that we know how to turn things around and make them work! Now it’s time for Barcelona, which is a tough test for the car, but so far this season the VCARB 01 seems to perform well at all tracks, so I have no concerns on the performance side. As for the track itself, Sector 1 and Sector 3 are different animals and you can’t really have a car that is well-balanced in both of them, so you need to compromise, but we are not worried about that. The key will be to get a good understanding of how our package is working at this track as soon as possible during Free Practice and then get the most out of it. It’s another track where overtaking is difficult so qualifying will again be very important. I seem to be performing quite well in quali in recent races, maybe it’s the way I build up to it over Free Practice and it’s also linked to controlling my emotions, managing myself better and doing it consistently. That makes your driving and feedback better and gives me extra confidence, so I’m looking forward to it.”
I seem to be performing quite well in Quali in recent races
Yuki Tsunoda