Formula One Preview: Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- Jun 10
- 6 min read
Kimi Antonelli arrives in Spain with a five-race win streak, but can anybody challenge him for victory this weekend?
Circuit Guide
Host of the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991, and a usual site of pre-season testing, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a familiar destination on the F1 calendar.
However, the circuit’s position is slightly different this year, hosting the renamed ‘Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix’ for the first time.
With the official ‘Spanish Grand Prix’ heading to a new street circuit in Madrid, this weekend marks the start of a gradual winding down of F1 activity in Barcelona, with the track contracted to host races every two years until 2032.
The track itself is an ideal pre-season testing venue for a reason: its mixture of high, medium and slow-speed corners tests the drivers at a little bit of everything, whilst rewarding teams with a good all-round package.
After the heavy braking point at Turn 1, the first half of the lap comprises a series of fast, sweeping corners, with the exception of the technical downhill Turn 5.
The back straight between Turns 9 and 10 provides a rare moment of respite for the drivers before they arrive in the final sector, which was heavily re-profiled in 2021.
The fiddly, stop-start nature of the final sector (which was first implemented in 2007) had long been criticised for negatively impacting the quality of racing, with the final chicane in particular accused of stringing cars out before the pit straight.
Now drivers face a sweeping left-right section up the hill, before a high-speed wall of death around the double-right hander of Turns 13 and 14 to complete the lap.
Weather Forecast
The weather forecast looks consistent across the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix weekend, with bright sunshine and highs of 27 degrees Celsius expected across Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Major Talking Points
Title is “Antonelli’s to lose”: George Russell arrived in Monaco trying to play mind games with his young teammate, suggesting the title was already the championship leader’s to lose.
While that may not have been completely true with Antonelli’s 43-point advantage, it most certainly is now. The Italian now leads Lewis Hamilton by 66 points, with pre-season favourite Russell a further two back. No driver has ever failed to win the title having held such a lead.
Gasly and Alpine appeal: Alpine have requested a Right of Review from F1’s governing body the FIA, after Pierre Gasly was “heartbroken” to find he had been denied a podium in Monaco.
The Frenchman crossed the line third but had not been told about his two five-second penalties for speeding in the pitlane, which demoted him to seventh.
The result would have been a just reward for both team and driver, with Gasly having scored points every weekend so far this season for an Alpine outfit that finished last in 2025.
Red Bull engine upgrades forbidden: In a surprising development across the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, the FIA announced that Red Bull will be denied further engine upgrades in 2026.
As part of the Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system introduced this season, the Milton Keynes team will now pay the price for being found to have the best engine on the grid.
For context, ADUO only considers the performance of the internal combustion engine (ICE), a part of the V6 hybrids F1 uses - not the whole engine.
By contrast, Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi and Honda will all now have the opportunity to close the gap as F1’s governing body looks to maintain parity across the teams in the new era of regulations.
The Silver Arrows will be afforded one upgrade for being deemed 2% down on Red Bull, while the other three engine suppliers have been granted to upgrade tokens for being more than 4% behind.
The FIA’s findings are a surprise given that Red Bull are producing their own engine for the first time in 2026, and Mercedes have enjoyed a clear performance advantage this season.
Hamilton’s first Ferrari win pending? Lewis Hamilton continued his gradual progress towards the top step with a second consecutive second place for Ferrari in Monaco.
The seven-time world champion now leads the intra-team race and qualifying head-to-head battles against Charles Leclerc and sits as high as second in the drivers’ standings, for the first time since his infamous 2021 title battle with Max Verstappen.
After a wretched debut season with Ferrari in 2025, the Brit now has three podiums to his name this year - only Antonelli has more (six) - and may benefit from the downforce-oriented nature of the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit in his pursuit of a maiden win in red.
Alonso and Sainz’s home race: This weekend marks the first of two Grands Prix in front of a home crowd for F1’s Spanish contingent.
Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz come to Barcelona on the back of contrasting weekends in Monaco, with Alonso achieving a vital first point of the season for Aston Martin. Meanwhile, Sainz slammed “borderline unacceptable” mistakes by Franco Colapinto and Nico Hülkenberg which cost him a points finish of his own.
Past Spanish Grands Prix
Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton are the kings of F1 in Spain, with six victories apiece. Verstappen has seen the chequered flag four times in Barcelona, including three victories in a row between 2022 and 2024.
This weekend also marks the ten-year anniversary of the Dutchman’s first career victory at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, a race remembered for the first lap crash between Mercedes teammates and title rivals Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Barcelona saw 11 different race winners in 13 years between 2004 and 2016, but last year Oscar Piastri became the first driver other than Hamilton, Verstappen or Rosberg to win at the circuit since 2013.
That race 13 years ago still holds a place in Fernando Alonso’s heart, the home hero standing on the top step for a 32nd and, to date, last career victory.
Alonso went close in 2012, too, but was pipped to the chequered flag by Pastor Maldonado, who claimed a shock maiden and only ever F1 victory. It was a day of mixed feeling for the Venezuelan’s Williams team, though, whose garage went up in flames during the post-race celebrations.
Piastri won in Barcelona last year, although the race is best remembered for Max Verstappen’s red mist moment when he drove into the side of George Russell on Lap 64. The Dutchman received a ten-second penalty for the incident, which cost him nine points; he eventually lost the championship to Lando Norris by just two.
Drivers to Watch
George Russell: With two consecutive pointless weekends and a failed attempt at mind games in Monte Carlo, if George Russell has any chance of re-inserting himself into the title fight he has to start now.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff is “not stressed” about his performance, and is confident he will return to winning ways. Is it already too late?
Arvid Lindblad: The British rookie has made an impressive start to life in F1 and already has history at Catalunya. Lindblad won the F3 feature race here in 2024 and followed that up with victory in the F2 feature race last year.
In 2025, his Racing Bulls predecessor Isack Hadjar also claimed a then career best result of sixth in Monaco, before finishing seventh in Barcelona a week later, so all the omens are pointing to a strong points finish for Lindblad this weekend.
Max Verstappen: This weekend marks a full decade since Max Verstappen’s Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, which of course also produced his maiden victory.
While the Dutchman is not among the favourites ten years on, it is a track he always runs well at. Prior to his moment of madness with George Russell in last year’s race, after which he finished down in tenth, he reached the podium in seven consecutive Spanish Grands Prix.
Session Times (BST)
Practice 1: Fri 12:30-13:30
Practice 2: Fri 16:00-17:00
Practice 3: Sat 11:30-12:30
Qualifying: Sat 15:00-16:00
Race: Sun 14:00
Edited by Rohan Brown
Comments