#Formula1 @Pirelli #SpanishGrandPrix 2022 Preview. #F1 #SpanishGP
Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio De Espana 2021 Race Start, Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain. Image credit to Lluis Gene/AFP via Getty Images. 2022 Spanish GP Preview, Spanish Grand Prix Preview, F1 Spanish GP Preview.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – After Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fended off championship leader Charles Leclerc to victory at the inaugural Miami Grand Prix, round six of the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season returns to the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain for the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio De Espana 2022. This will be the 32nd time that the Spanish Grand Prix will be held at the Montmelo circuit.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – A look at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a permanent racing circuit in Barcelona, Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was built in 1991 and began hosting the Spanish Grand Prix that same year and has been running there ever since. This year also marks the 50th running of the Spanish Grand Prix as part of the Formula One World Championship. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is also used for the FIM MotoGP World Championship.
The Barcelona circuit is famed as a bellwether circuit as the cars that race well here are expected to race well in any and all conditions. The logic behind this is that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya provides a well-rounded examination of every aspect of car design, requiring maximum downforce, stronger delivery of power, excellent traction and handling. The Spanish Grand Prix also traditionally is where teams bring their first major upgrades of the season and could see the potential for movement around the field.
The wind direction at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya can change at any-time during the day and can upset the balance of the car due to the major importance of aerodynamics that modern Formula One cars have. It is then a challenge to find a well-balanced setup since cars can suffer massive drag and understeer on one part of the track in the morning session but suffer oversteer at the same section in the afternoon. An allocated tyre compound can work well during testing, but not as well a few months later as changeable conditions can provide unexpected performances from some teams during the Grand Prix.
This year, turn ten has been remodelled with the corner being made less tight. The change was made to improve safety for the drivers.
The circuit runs in a clockwise direction and is 4.675km (2.904mi) in length with 16 corners.
The race distance is 308.424km (191.645mi) with 66 laps in total.
Max Verstappen holds the fastest lap record at the track with a 1:18.149 set in his Red Bull Racing Honda-powered RB16B at last year’s event.
Seven-time World Champion’s Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton hold the most victories at the circuit with six each to their respective names.
Scuderia Ferrari is the most successful constructor winning the Spanish Grand Prix 12 times with eight coming from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – Onboard Lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from last year’s event, set by Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 W12. The Briton posted a 1:16.741. You can watch the footage right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r89PNKDYY8
2022 Spanish GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2021: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2020: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, 2017: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing with them to Barcelona, the C1 white side-walled Hard compounds, the C2 yellow-marked Medium tyres and the C3 red-branded Soft rubber. F1’s sole tyre supplier will also take along the green-branded Intermediates and the blue-branded Wet tyres in case of rain.
All drivers will have eight sets of the C3 softs, three sets of the C2 mediums and two of the C1 hards.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – DRS Zones
As in 2021, there will be two DRS zones at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. The first detection point is 86 metres before turn nine and with the activation point 40 metres after. The second detection point is at the safety car line with second activation zone 157 metres after turn 16.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speeds will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Verstappen fends off Leclerc to clinch Miami GP victory
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to victory at the inaugural Miami GP, winning after passing the championship leader early on then withstanding pressure in the closing stages following a late safety car.
The other Ferrari F1-75 entry of Carlos Sainz completed the top three ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with Mercedes’ George Russell rounding out the top five in-front of team-mate Lewis Hamilton after gaining massively from the safety car than overtaking his fellow British-compatriot afterwards.
When the 57 lap Miami GP began, pole-sitter Leclerc got a solid run off the line keeping team-mate Sainz behind into the first corner, who did not have a great start.
This meant Verstappen squeezed his way past Sainz after braking late into turn one, keeping wheel-to-wheel with the Ferrari on the inside heading into turn two and snuck through into second place.
By the end of the opening tour Leclerc lead title-rival Verstappen by 0.8 seconds and quickly moved clear out of DRS range by the time they reached the third tour.
For the opening proceedings of the Grand Prix, Leclerc would gain three-four tenths each time through sector one before Verstappen’s strong top speed brought the Red Bull driver back into play towards the Ferrari along the long straights in the second two thirds of the Miami International Autodrome.
Leclerc reached a gap of 1.4 seconds at the beginning of lap six, but just as he posted the fastest lap in the high 1:33’s, a dark band of rubber appeared on his front-right tyre.
Verstappen, told by his team that Leclerc was struggling to preserve his C3 yellow side-walled medium compound all leaders started the race on, then began started charging towards the Ferrari.
At the end of the eighth tour, Leclerc slid exiting the turn 17 hairpin and Verstappen was right on the F1-75 racer’s gearbox – moving alongside as they ran down the main straight and the Dutchman took the lead with a simple overtake into the first corner, Leclerc choosing not to fight too hard.
On the following tour, Leclerc pushed hard to keep up through the opening sector that favour’s Ferrari high downforce package but dropped as Verstappen flew down every straight and was out of the threat of DRS after two tours.
The Red Bull was quickly able to establish a gap, aided by Leclerc suffering a lock-up deep into turn 17’s hairpin on lap 12, which costed the Monegasque driver a second and meant at the end of that lap, Verstappen’s lead hit 2.6 seconds.
This increased to 4.2 seconds on lap 21 – Leclerc being told by his Ferrari team, it was switching to “plan D” on it’s strategy, whilst Red Bull reported to Verstappen his front-right tyre management was making the difference.
Behind the leaders, Sainz soon dropped back, with Perez at first following the Spaniard closely before losing over five seconds as his Red Bull Power-Trains engine developed an issue, which Red Bull had to issue a steering wheel fix to solve it.
Leclerc was able to post competitive lap-times during this stage but could not keep it consistent and with race leader Verstappen able to cover the Ferrari driver off each time, so the Scuderia brought Leclerc in to switch to the C2 white-marked harder tyres at the end of the 24th tour – just after he reported his F1-75 was “too difficult to drive”.
Red Bull left Verstappen out for two laps longer before he swapped onto the hards, gaining another 0.8 seconds with a quicker stop from his pit-crew compared to Leclerc’s.
Verstappen lead by 7.5 seconds at the start of his second stint, which Leclerc at first cut down with a string of fastest laps in the high 1:32’s bracket, before the race leader responded with an even quicker effort and restored and kept the advantage.
Much like the start of the Grand Prix, Leclerc regularly gained several tenths through the twisty sector one before Verstappen clawed back time later in the tour – the duo switching fastest laps between each other than remaining stable.
Heading into the race’s final third, Verstappen had a gap of 7.8 seconds, with Red Bull concerned about the threat of rain, as clouds bubbled up around the Miami International Autodrome.
But a stable race to end had no chance to play out due to the deployment of a safety car following a collision between AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and McLaren’s Lando Norris on lap 41 – putting the latter out just past after the start of the long acceleration zone that follows the fake marina at the eighth corner.
Gasly was travelling slower having just had an earlier collision with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso at the opening corner as they battled in the lower half of the top ten and when the AlphaTauri ran wide through turn eight, Norris moved to overtake on its right-hand side.
But Gasly appeared to slide left, unaware the McLaren was coming by, reporting his AT03 “doesn’t turn” with an issue, and the contact spun Norris around and knocked off the MCL36’s right-rear, after which the race was stabilised for five tours, with Perez pitting from fourth place to go back onto the hards.
When the race went back to green, Verstappen easily moved clear from Leclerc, whilst Perez pressured Sainz hard on the main-straight but was brushed off on the outside line into the first corner.
There followed an entertaining 11-lap dash to the chequered flag, with Leclerc able to keep within DRS range for much of the remaining action and put Verstappen under intense pressure.
Leclerc came the closest to making a move with a look to the inside of the Red Bull into turn 11 at the end of the long, curving run from the marina, but was squeezed to the inside line and lost ground.
The Ferrari driver closed in again but clattered the kerbs hard at the chicane on lap 52, meaning he dropped from 0.5 to 0.8 seconds off and as Verstappen’s better top speed then came into play on the main-straight, Leclerc had to settle for second place.
On the following tour, Leclerc dropped out of DRS range on the back straight and never recovered from it – Verstappen eased clear to claim the inaugural Miami GP victory by 3.786 seconds.
Sainz completed the top three despite his tyres being much older than those on Perez’s RB18, who had closed in again after his restart charge did not pay off.
On the 52nd lap, Perez was still down on power after his earlier problem, made a big dive into turn one, but when Sainz swept right and both nearly tangled, the Mexican locked up and went deep, allowing the Ferrari back into third place, which he held on from there.
Mercedes’ Russell rounded out the top five after gaining massively from the safety car intervention – the Briton having started 12th on the grid on the durable C2 harder compound and ran a very long opening stint in the hope of a disruption during the race.
Russell got his wish and was able to put on the mediums whilst the rest were travelling slowly and restarted behind team-mate Hamilton, who recovered from a slow first tour when he jumped over the turn one kerbs and was slightly tapped by Alonso’s A522 at the next corner, costing the seven-time world champion momentum.
Hamilton recovered to sixth behind former team-mate Valtteri Bottas at the restart, with the Alfa driver handing the Mercedes pairing a place when he hit the wall exiting turn 17 – after which Russell came out on top of a wheel-to-wheel battle with his Mercedes team-mate going through the turns 11 and 12 sequence.
Russell had to re-pass Hamilton at the same spot with DRS assistance when his fellow British-compatriot had got back by late on, but Russell held on from there to cross the line in fifth.
Bottas came home seventh and in-front of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who benefitted from an opening corner collision between Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher.
The duo had both been running in the points when Ocon attacked Schumacher at the turn 17 hairpin on the 53rd lap, with Vettel passing both in one move but gave DRS assistance to Schumacher as they ran down the main-straight.
Then there was a collision between the Aston Martin and Haas at turn one, which spun Vettel around and broke Schumacher’s front wing – the former later retiring in the pits with damager and latter ended the Grand Prix in 15th having missed the chance to score his first points in Formula 1.
Alpine’s Alonso, who was hit with a five second-timed penalty for his clash with Gasly, finished ninth, as Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon completed the top ten.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo finished outside the points in 11th and ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who took 12th and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda who placed 13th.
The other Williams FW44 of Nicholas Latifi ended the race in 14th and in-front of the aforementioned Schumacher.
Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN’s Zhou Guanyu was forced to retire early due to a technical issue.
2022 Spanish GP Preview – The Situation
Charles Leclerc returns to Spain sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 104 points and a 19-point lead over title-rival Max Verstappen who is second on 85 points while Sergio Perez is a further 38 points behind the Ferrari driver in third place on 66 points.
Verstappen said he prefers being the hunter in this year’s championship quest against Leclerc as the Red Bull’s charge gains pace ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The Dutchman clinched his maiden world title in a dramatic end to the 2021 campaign after hanging on despite Sir Lewis Hamilton’s form in the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team F1 W12 that was quicker than Red Bull’s RB16B at the end of the season.
This year it appears to be Verstappen’s RB18 racer that looks to be the car to beat as he has won three of the five races so far, although two reliability-caused DNF’s have left the Red Bull driver trailing 19 points behind Leclerc in the World Driver’s Championship standings.
Verstappen’s was aided by Red Bull’s early upgrades in their new RB18 racer in his bid, however, Leclerc will be receiving a boost this weekend as Ferrari bring their first major upgrade package to the Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya.
Reigning World Champions Mercedes are comfortably the third quickest team in the field with their F1 W13 racer, debuted with promise at the second pre-season test in Bahrain, before falling flat.
The Silver Arrow’s lack of pace has lead to questions whether the Brackley-Brixworth based outfit should abandon their W13 design and revert back to their Barcelona-test spec, which appeared to be much more consistent. Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff has not ruled that out, despite suggesting that the Barcelona concept was “much slower on paper”, and this weekend gives them a crucial reference point as they contemplate their plans for the rest of the 2022 campaign and beyond.
Scuderia Ferrari heads to Barcelona leading the World Constructor’s Championship with 157 points and a six-point buffer over nearest rivals Oracle Red Bull Racing who are second on 151 points whilst Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team is third and a further 62 points behind the Prancing Horse on 95 points.
The Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio De Espana 2022 weekend begins Friday May 20 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday May 21 along with the 66 lap Race Sunday May 22.
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