Barcelona
THE CIRCUIT
CIRCUIT DE BARCELONA-CATALUNYA
If race tracks issued loyalty cards for number of visits by Formula 1, then the teams’ cards would surely be full of Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya’s stamps, as along with hosting the Spanish Grand Prix more than 30 times it has been a venue of choice for conducting pre-season testing many times over the years.
Barcelona
CIRCUIT LENGTH
4.657 km
NUMBER OF LAPS
66
RACE DISTANCE
307.236 km
You don’t need us to tell you that Barcelona is one of the world’s great cities, even if we just sort of did. Food, culture, beaches – it’s all there, making a Spanish Grand Prix holiday a properly attractive proposition.
What’s the circuit like?
The drivers love the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which for many years was Formula 1's pre-season testing venue of choice. 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 year.
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.
