2024 Spanish Grand Prix 
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | Barcelona | Spain | Sunday, 23 June
2024 F1 Season - Round 10 (Grand Prix 10 of 24)
The F1 community returns to Europe for the first of five races running over the next six weeks leading up to the mid-season break. The Spain-Austria-Great Britain triple-header is followed after a weeks’ break by the Hungary-Belgium double header. The final two European races in Netherlands and Italy run towards the end of August, after the break.
Seven of the ten teams will have updates in Spain. All of the teams and drivers are very familiar with the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Many are expecting an announcement about his future from Carlos Sainz in front of his home crowd. Some are even suggesting that the other home boy, Fernando Alonso, will make Spanish hearts swell with a strong performance in the upgraded Aston Martin. Rain might arrive over the circuit on race day. All-in-all, an exciting and interesting weekend down España way.
Add to the F1 action this weekend all the running of both the F2 and F3 feeder series’ and the next round of the F1 Academy series, and the Catalunya Circuit will be muy, muy ocupado.
Just the Facts
- First Grand Prix – 1951 (Pedralbes)
- Track Length – 4.657km
- Laps – 66
- Lap Record – 1:16.330s, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, 2023
- Most Poles – Michael Schumacher (7)
- Most Wins – Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton (6)
- Most Wins – Ferrari (12)
- Pole to Turn 1 Braking Point – 595 metres
- Overtakes Completed in 2023 – 107
- Safety Car Probability – 50%
- Virtual Safety Car Probability – 25%
- Pit Stop Time Loss – 22.3 seconds (includes 2.5s stop)
Last Race (2023)
- Pole Position: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, 1:12.272
- Fastest Race Lap: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, 1:16.330
2022 Podium
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, 1:27:57.940
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +24.090
- George Russell, Mercedes, +32.389
Last Five Pole-sitters
2023 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2022 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2021 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2020 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2019 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
Last 5 Winners
2023 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2022 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2021 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2020 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2019 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
Trivia
- Fernando Alonso’s most recent F1 win came at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2013.
The Schedule
The jam-packed European races return us to reasonably sensible F1 viewing times for the next few months.
The Circuit
When was the track built?
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was built as part of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics development programme. The foundation stone was laid in 1989, while the first car race was a round of the 1991 Spanish Touring Car Championship.
When was its first Grand Prix?
Two weeks after the touring cars raced at Barcelona, it was Formula 1’s turn. The track enjoyed a sensational debut, with Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna’s famous eyeball-to-eyeball drag race down the straight, before Mansell took the lead and drove on to victory.
What’s the circuit like?
The drivers love the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which is just as well, as they have traditionally spent huge amounts of time pounding around it during winter testing. The track is a good mix of high- and low-speed corners, with the challenging Turn 3 right-hander a great chance to evaluate the balance of the car your team’s designers have given you to fight with for the season.
Jolyon Palmer, former Renault F1 Driver
Barcelona is a nice circuit, but everyone knows it like the back of their hand, which kind of makes it feel like home, because it’s the one that we have historically spent a lot of time driving at.It’s really flowing and tough on the neck and the body because of the long corners coming through Turns 3 to 4 and Turn 9. It’s also tough on the front-left tyre, with tyre wear generally high in Barcelona thanks to abrasive tarmac.
Overtaking is pretty tricky, with Turn 1 pretty much the only spot you can pass at – it’s also the trickiest corner. Turn 4 to 5 is a nasty, downhill braking zone, which again can sucker you into braking a little bit late, but because there’s a bit of camber on it, you can miss the apex slightly and not lose a heap of time.
The previous final sector was not a pleasure to drive. You had to balance your tyre performance in the first and final sector, it felt really slow, and you squirmed your way around the final chicane trying to compete the lap. But that’s all gone since 2023.
The Weather Forecast
Worth keeping an eye on the gusty wind bursts expected at 30-35 kph. There is rain around Spain as well, peaking at a 40% chance on Sunday.
Friday – FP1 and FP2
Mostly sunny at first then becoming slightly unsettled on the hills around with a slight chance of one shower from late morning until mid-afternoon. Light southeasterly wind with gusts up to 30 kph during FP2.
FP1: 26°C // FP2: 24°C
Chance of rain: 20%
Saturday – FP3 and Qualifying
Sunny at first becoming cloudy with high level clouds from midday. Slight chance of one shower spreading from the hills around in the afternoon. Light southerly breeze with gusts up to 35 kph.
FP3: 27°C // Q: 26°C
Chance of rain: 20%
Sunday - Race
Mostly cloudy with a moderate chance of showers in the morning. Improvement expected for race hours. Light southerly breeze with gusts up to 30 kph during the race.
RACE: 24°C
Chance of rain: 40%
The Tyres
The tenth round of the season is a “hard” event for Formula 1. As usual, the Spanish Grand Prix takes place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, which is one of the most technically demanding tracks for the cars and also for the tyres. Therefore, it’s no surprise that once again for this event, Pirelli has chosen its three hardest 2024 dry tyre compounds – C1 as Hard, C2 as Medium and C3 as Soft, the same three selected for the opening round of the year in Bahrain.
The track is one of the most complete of any circuit in the world, not just those on the Formula 1 calendar, in terms of the challenges it presents. Apart from its straights, it boasts every possible type of corner, with some of them, such as turn 3 and the combination of 13 and 14 which lead onto the main straight, taken at very high speeds. The lateral forces exerted on the tyres, especially on the lefthand side of the car are particularly high, partly because nine of the 14 turns are to the right.
In terms of strategy, a two-stop should be the quickest option with all compounds possibly coming into play. If degradation is higher, then even a three-stop might be feasible, especially as last year’s race proved that overtaking is easier than in the past.
Another consideration at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is the importance of qualifying. In no fewer than 24 races here, the pole sitter has gone on to be first past the chequered flag and adding to the importance of this statistic is that on four other occasions the driver who was quickest in qualifying retired from the race.
After the Miami Grand Prix, this weekend is the second of the year in which all four championships for which Pirelli is the sole tyre supplier will be on track. Apart from Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3, Barcelona hosts the third round of the all-women F1 Academy series, now in its second season.
This year’s race is the 54th edition of the Spanish Grand Prix, the 34th to be held at the current venue. It first appeared on the calendar in 1951, becoming a permanent fixture in 1986. The Montmelo track is the fifth to host this Grand Prix: previously it was held at two street circuits in the capital of Catalunya, twice at Pedralbes and four times at Montjuic. It was also run at the permanent venues of Jarama on the outskirts of Madrid (nine times) and at Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia (five times). Spain has also hosted a further seven rounds of the world championship, all of them going by the name of the European Grand Prix: in 1994 and 1997 at Jerez and from 2008 to 2012 on the Valencia street circuit.
More News and Info
Stay on top of all the live blogs, news, results, and info over on the official F1 site: Spanish Grand Prix 2024 - F1 Race
We also have the F1 Digital Programme back for the European races.
Check out the all-new digital race programme for the Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio de Espana 2024 in Barcelona, including features on local heroes Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, the return of F1 Academy, and Madrid’s 2026 F1 arrival – plus stats on all 10 F1 teams…
Experience the free race programme with animation, sound and video in the Official F1 Race Programme app, available in your App Store. Get every edition, every race weekend on your phone.
Alternatively, you can try the Online browser viewer, but again, go with a mobile phone option if you’re able - desktop isn’t even loading for me any more.
whoop whoop race weekend has started 
Chance of rain overnight is quite high though, which might provide a green track come race time.
Ffs, Ferrari always seems to be going backwards throughout the season, McLaren and Merc gains and suddenly Ferrari is 4th fastest. That being said though, it’s good for racing that the top 4 teams are quite close together for more spicy racing.
That second Lando win is coming soon though
LETS GO LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Shocker… 
2024 Austrian Grand Prix 
Red Bull Ring | Spielberg | Austria | Sunday, 30 June
2024 F1 Season - Round 11 (Grand Prix 11 of 24 / Sprint Race 3 of 6)
The Styrian hills have been Formula 1’s only home in Austria, with 37 races held on the circuit now known as the Red Bull Ring and one, in 1964, on a track laid out at Zeltweg’s military airfield, the two venues separated by just a few hundred metres as the crow flies. This Sunday’s race will be the 37th Austrian Grand Prix and the races have been held in three periods of time. Following the first race at Zeltweg, the next ones were run at what was then known as the Österreichring from 1970 to 1987, followed by the A1-Ring from 1997 to 2003 and finally with its Red Bull Ring nomenclature from 2014 onwards. In the years 2020 and 2021, the track also hosted the Styrian Grand Prix.
Last year in Austria was significant for the huge number of track limits infringements that had to be investigated during and after the race. There were more than 1 200 alleged track infringements during the 71-lap race. Only two drivers on the grid escaped some kind of track limit violation: Norris and Russell. The final race result was only declared almost five hours after the race finished. This was partly due to Aston Martin lodging a protest about apparent violations that had not been punished. These then had to be reinvestigated after the fact. In all, 14 of the 20 drivers had their positions changed after crossing the finishing line. Albon, de Vries, Gasly, Hamilton, Ocon, Sainz, Sargeant, and Tsunoda all received extra post-race penalties that changed the race finish results.
The Stats
- First Grand Prix – 1964 (Zeltweg)
- Track Length – 4.318km
- Lap Record – 1m 05.619s, Carlos Sainz, McLaren, 2020
- Most Poles – Niki Lauda, Rene Arnoux, Nelson Piquet, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen (3)
- Most Wins – Max Verstappen (4)
- Pole to Turn 1 – 233 metres
- Overtakes Completed in 2023 – 105
- Safety Car Probability – 50%
- Virtual Safety Car Probability – 30%
- Pit Stop Time Loss – 20.4 seconds (includes 2.5s stop)
Last 5 Austrian GP Pole Sitters
- 2023 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2022 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2021 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2020 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- 2019 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Last 5 Austrian GP Winners
- 2023 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2022 – Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 2021 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2020 – Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- 2019 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Trivia
- The Red Bull Ring has the fewest corners on the F1 calendar, with just 10 turns making up the layout.
The Schedule
“Check it out!”
Davide Valsecchi - in every session
The Circuit
In an effort to reduce the huge number of track limits issues, some small changes to the troublesome Turns 9 and 10 for this year with the addition of a small gravel trap in the runoff area of each. They should be enough of a deterrent for the drivers who will need to adjust their lines and speed through the last two corners to avoid the gravel.
When was the track built?
The fearsome, original Osterreichring was originated in 1969 as a replacement for the Zeltweg airfield circuit. The track known today as the Red Bull Ring was more or less created over the winter of 1995-6, when Hermann Tilke was engaged to turn the Osterreichring into a shorter, more modern race track.
When was its first Grand Prix?
The A1-Ring, as it was then called, was opened in 1996, with Formula 1 arriving at the circuit a year later. Jacques Villeneuve won the race, while Jean Alesi had a spectacular crash when his Benetton climbed up the Ferrari of Eddie Irvine. Alesi’s team mate Gerhard Berger, meanwhile, used his home Grand Prix to announce his F1 retirement.
What’s the circuit like?
It’s only wee, bless it, but the Red Bull Ring packs a lot into a short lap. The first half rewards power, as the cars blast along three straights separated by a pair of uphill right-handers. But then as the drivers work their way downhill, the circuit becomes a regular toboggan ride, as the cars canyon through a series of quick corners, including the exhilarating Rindt right-hander, named for Austria’s first F1 champion.
The Weather
An outside chance of some rain on Sunday, but it should only arrive well after the end of the race. Otherwise, weather looks good for the weekend:
Friday – FP1 and Sprint Qualifying
Conditions: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower or two in the late afternoon. Hot conditions with a high of around 28°C. Light easterly wind. FP1: 25°C // SQ: 27°C
Chance of rain: 20%
Saturday – Sprint Race and GP Qualifying
Conditions: Mostly sunny and dry conditions likely all day. Hottest day of the week with up to 30°C. Light southerly wind. SPRINT: 26°C // QS: 29°C
Chance of rain: less than 20%
Sunday - Grand Prix
Conditions: Fair conditions in the morning. Showers possible in the afternoon and evening. Chance of rain is decreasing with the latest simulations. Remaining hot with up to 28°C. Gusty westerly wind during the day. RACE: 27°C.
Chance of rain: 40%
The Tyres
The second leg of the first triple-header of the season, the Austrian Grand Prix, takes place at Spielberg. Several unusual features make this a unique track on the championship calendar. First of all, it boasts the lowest number of corners (10) and the shortest lap time, even if its 4.318 kilometre length make it the fifth shortest track. The circuit owned by Red Bull is second on the list of tracks with the biggest change in altitude, with a difference of 63.5 metres between its highest and lowest points, second only to the 102.2 metre change at Spa-Francorchamps.
As usual for this event, Pirelli has chosen the three softest compounds from the 2024 range, namely the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft. The Spielberg track surface is quite old and therefore is highly abrasive, but the lateral forces exerted on the tyres are decidedly lower than the average for the season, resulting in very limited wear overall. Traction out of the slow corners and stability under braking are key contributors to being competitive at this track. It is important to manage the tyres in such a way as to avoid overheating, especially if they run at high temperatures: those drivers who don’t manage to keep them cool enough could end up finding it difficult to fend off attacks from other cars, especially in the first and last sectors. Therefore, another important factor will be the ambient temperature at a venue where the weather is often rather variable. For the past two editions of this race, the two-stop strategy proved quickest, running the Medium and Hard tyres and last year, no driver gambled on the Softs.
The Programme & News
Check out the all-new digital race programme for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Austrian Grand Prix 2024, including features on the enduring legacy of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, and on this weekend’s F2 and F3 showdowns – plus stats on all 10 F1 teams…
Experience the free race programme with animation, sound and video in the Official F1 Race Programme app, available in your App Store. Get every edition, every race weekend on your phone.
Download now at linktr.ee/F1raceprogramme.
Get all the results, the live blogs, and updates throughout the weekend from Formula1.com:
So, do we get to hear the Austrian national anthem at the start of the race and again at the end? Again?
Well… that was something…
what a way for George to get his first win 
lucky podium for Sainz too. Le Clerc shit outta luck after getting sandwhiched. Season getting interesting, Ferrari still slow though.
Second. His maiden win was in Brazil 2022, (which I think was Mercs last win before yesterday?)
Pretty decent weekend of racing. Loving that Max is being put under so much pressure by Lando. It showed yesterday. Of course Max and Red Bull are going to stick to the “there was plenty space, racing line, no fault of ours” line. But like Strella said:
The two of them having to do post race press standing right next to each other must have been a little awkward! 
Chuck LC can’t catch a break at the moment. It’s like he shifted his Monaco curse onto the next three races. Hopefully the kak luck is done now and he can get back into top form in Silverstone. Solid showing by Carlos again. I think he has proven his point to the other teams that he is still super capable and deserves a 2025 seat, but he needs to get on with making a decision soon. Teams aren’t going to wait forever for him and then land up blind-sided without any other decent options left to consider.
Really good weekend for the McLaren boys. And the Mercs too. Nice to have four strong teams all vying for top honours. Well, three and half teams I guess. Checo Perez seems like he has taken a two month sabbatical after signing his new contract. I wonder what his performance clauses look like and just how soon Marco swaps Yuki into the Red Bull seat for a few races to give Perez a bit of a wake-up call.
On to jolly old England then. Forza Ferrari! (And the others too, I guess. But not George. All the homies hate George.)
oops. My bad sorry
His main goal this year will be outscoring Hamilton in every race
Shower thought this morning… Toto was seen with Kimi Antonelli in the Merc hospitality suite over the weekend, having a serious chat. Merc haven’t officially confirmed Antonelli in the seat for next year, have they? Maybe, maybe, maybe… Merc have offered Sainz a one year deal for the Hamilton seat? And he’s holding out, pushing for a two year deal?
The youngster going straight into a seat at a top tier team like Merc has never made sense to me, regardless of how good his record is, or how much he is talked up by people. I wonder if Toto is pitching the idea of getting Williams to take Antonelli for a guaranteed minimum of two years so that he can offer Carlos the Merc seat for 2025-2026?
Antonelli to Williams, (with calm Alex Albon as a mentor) and Sainz to Merc makes much more sense to me.
DC said almost exactly this somewhere in the race broadcast, inbetween all the wheel clashing and wing breaking. Sainz apparently told them to forget a 1 year contract, and if I were Toto, I’d certainly consider a two year deal… unless Kimi’s sponsors are expecting him in a Merc by 2026.
Surprise! *
Multi year deal for Bearman. Ocon and Bottas potentials for the second seat, but if I were Haas, after losing Hulk, I’d keep KMag on for at least 2025 with a one year extension to his contract. That way, there’s at least one experienced driver on the team. He’s scoring points for them this year, so why not.
* Not.
Lesh go Ollie!
Lets hope he doesn’t get a shitty car and have his career ended early. But then current Haas seems ok. Or was experience really the answer.
The name most frequently mentioned in talk over the driver market is that of Carlos Sainz, with the current Ferrari driver still undecided on where his future lies.
While the Spaniard has not been as closely linked with Mercedes as with other teams on the grid, it appears that the possibility of a move to the Silver Arrows has not been completely ruled out.
Quizzed on whether he would welcome Sainz as his team mate next year, Russell answered: “Yeah, I’d welcome anybody, to be honest. I’ve been lucky having Lewis [as my team mate] for the last three years and we’ve had some great battles in the last couple of years."