Optimism abounds as Formula 1 heads back to Europe

Formula 1 returns after a three week break this weekend, with the Circuit de Catalonya hosting the Spanish Grand Prix.

Traditionally this race has tended to be pivotal to the outcome of the world championship as teams debut major developments on their cars. Ross Brawn, team manager for Mercedes, illustrates the optimism of the teams. “The start of the European season is the first opportunity to make significant changes to the car and the Spanish Grand Prix will see the first step in our development programme. We look forward to evaluating the impact on our pace whilst remaining conscious that this is very much a first step in improving our competitiveness.”

Each team will have major aerodynamic upgrades on their cars and a true picture of the form for the remainder of the season will begin to take shape. Red Bull has dominated qualifying this season with its one lap pace leading to pole position at every race thus far. The team however has struggled in races to turn their low fuel speed advantage into victories. Speculation has been rife as to the reasons for their low fuel pace, most linking the team to ride height control systems, but it will be interesting to see if they can maintain the advantage now that their opposition will bring new development parts to each race weekend.

The Circuit

As a result of the new packages this has the potential to be a very telling race as to what to expect for the rest of the year. No circuit places a greater level of importance in aerodynamics than Barcelona. With a mixture of fast corners, slow corners and a 1km straight where cars can reach speeds of 200mph teams face great challenges to achieve the required balance in their cars. Drivers need to have as little aerodynamic drag as possible; drag is the limiting factor in the top speed achievable by a car. However they also need to allow the driver to have sufficient grip in the corners to have the confidence to push the car as hard as possible.

Weather for the Spanish Grand Prix:

The other factor that teams need to concern themselves with is the weather. While the conditions are generally very pleasant in Spain at this time of year with clear skies and high temperatures making this a great race for spectators it can create issues for the team with their cars. The high temperatures make tyre degradation an issue for the drivers. Barcelona loads up the left front tyre for prolonged period of the lap and also has quite an abrasive surface. When this is mixed with high temperatures drivers can have problems nursing their tyres to the finish and require additional pitstops to the one stop race expected. For each stop a driver will need a window of 20 seconds to their rival.

This season the Red Bull has had a tendency to wear their tyres out faster than rival teams and this could be the chink in the armour for Ferrari and McLaren to exploit. The Ferrari’s have been very kind on its tyres and with Fernando Alonso racing in front of his home fans he should be supremely motivated to add to his season opening victory in Bahrain. Championship leader Jenson Button has also shown the ability to nurse his tyres efficiently and this could set him in good stead for this weekend.

Statistics for this race:

Qualifying is even more crucial here than at other venues, the driver on pole position has gone on to win 15 times since 1991 and has been the victor for each of the last nine years. Only Michael Schumacher in the wet of 1996 has won from off the front of the grid, and even then he qualified third on the grid. As a result it is pivotal for a driver to qualify at the sharp end of the field if they are to challenge for victory.

What to expect:

The expectation will be for Red Bull to once more have the fastest car over a single qualifying lap but with the team possibly marginal on tyre wear an intriguing fight for victory could ensue if a Ferrari or McLaren can qualify alongside one of the Red Bulls on the front row of the grid. This race will tell us exactly where each team stands, and also what work they will need to do over the summer.