Round 5 - Circuit de Catalunya
Summary
This year sees the twentieth running of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, often generously described as being near Barcelona. This is the fifth circuit to have hosted the event, following two street circuits actually in Barcelona (Pedralbes and Montjuïc), Jarama near Madrid, and Jerez de la Frontera.
The circuit is well-known to the teams and drivers due to its popularity as a winter testing venue, and Catalunya was the only current race circuit used for pre-season testing this year. The layout features a long, undulating main straight, and a series of medium- and high-speed curves, a severe test of a car's aerodynamics. Since the loss of Imola from the calendar, the Spanish race has opened the European season, and teams often have substantial packages for this race to boost the performance of their cars. As such it represents perhaps the best form guide for the remainder of the season - though only 13 of the 19 previous winners went on to become world champion, real surprises have been rare.
The first race in 1991 provided an iconic image as Senna's McLaren and Mansell's Williams went wheel-to-wheel down the length of the main straight. Probably the best-remembered event was held in 1996, however, as Michael Schumacher scored an extraordinary dominant first victory for Ferrari in torrential rain that claimed all but six of the starters.
The overall finishing rate at Catalunya is lower than the average for most circuits.
The likelihood of a driver-related retirement is higher than average.
Mechnical failures in the Spanish GP are more common than at any other current track.
Finally, the circuit ranks third for first-lap retirements in the past five years.
The Last Five Years
[td]Year[/td][td]Starters[/td][td]Finishers[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Lap 1 retirements[/td][td]Most places gained[/td]
Circuit Ranking (of all 18 circuits)
Finishing Rate
...
15th Singapore 73%
16th Catalunya 68%
17th Melbourne 68%
...
Mechanical Failures
1st Catalunya 19%
2nd Singapore 18%
3rd Sakhir 17%
...
Driver-related Retirements
...
4th Spa 15%
5th Catalunya 14%
6th Interlagos 13%
...
First lap Retirements
...
2nd Interlagos 7.7%
3rd Catalunya 5.8%
4th Sakhir 5.7%
...
This season's grid can claim a total of nine previous Spanish Grand Prix victories, though Michael Schumacher on his own accounts for two-thirds of those. The German is the only current driver to have taken part in the first Grand Prix held at Catalunya. Several of this season's likely title challengers have yet to taste victory in this event, including Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Felipe Massa has qualified in the top four for the last four Spanish Grands Prix, winning from pole in 2007.
Ferrari have an outstanding record at the track, and their cars have both qualified in the top five on the grid for every event since 2000, save 2005 when tyre issues relegated them to the midfield. With Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard at the wheel, McLaren dominated at Catalunya, but since Mika's last-lap retirement in 2001 the team have only won once - Kimi Raikkonen leading every lap in 2005. Jenson Button's Mercedes-powered Brawn took victory in 2009, a two-stop strategy moving him ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who had led from the start. The Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber were trapped behind Massa's fast-starting KERS-equipped Ferrari for a large part of the race and were unable to take the fight to the Brawns.
Current Drivers' Records at Catalunya
[td]Driver[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]
Chassis Records at Catalunya (since 2000)
[td]Chassis[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]Results for Renault include Benetton
Results for Mercedes GP include BAR, Honda and Brawn
Results for BMW Sauber include Sauber
Results for Red Bull include Jaguar
Results for Force India include Jordan, Midland and Spyker
Results for Toro Rosso include Minardi
Engine Records at Catalunya (since 2000)
[td]Engine[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]Results for Ferrari include Petronas and Acer
Results for Cosworth include Ford
All ranking figures are expressed as a % of total starts.
"Retirements-Acc" are retirements where the reason has been listed as Collision, Accident or Spun Off.
Summary
This year sees the twentieth running of the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, often generously described as being near Barcelona. This is the fifth circuit to have hosted the event, following two street circuits actually in Barcelona (Pedralbes and Montjuïc), Jarama near Madrid, and Jerez de la Frontera.
The circuit is well-known to the teams and drivers due to its popularity as a winter testing venue, and Catalunya was the only current race circuit used for pre-season testing this year. The layout features a long, undulating main straight, and a series of medium- and high-speed curves, a severe test of a car's aerodynamics. Since the loss of Imola from the calendar, the Spanish race has opened the European season, and teams often have substantial packages for this race to boost the performance of their cars. As such it represents perhaps the best form guide for the remainder of the season - though only 13 of the 19 previous winners went on to become world champion, real surprises have been rare.
The first race in 1991 provided an iconic image as Senna's McLaren and Mansell's Williams went wheel-to-wheel down the length of the main straight. Probably the best-remembered event was held in 1996, however, as Michael Schumacher scored an extraordinary dominant first victory for Ferrari in torrential rain that claimed all but six of the starters.
The overall finishing rate at Catalunya is lower than the average for most circuits.
The likelihood of a driver-related retirement is higher than average.
Mechnical failures in the Spanish GP are more common than at any other current track.
Finally, the circuit ranks third for first-lap retirements in the past five years.
The Last Five Years
2005 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 - Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) & Nick Heidfeld (Williams) |
2006 | 22 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 - Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) |
2007 | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 7 - Adrian Sutil (Spyker) & Christijan Albers (Spyker) |
2008 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 9 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) & Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) |
2009 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) & Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India) |
Overall | 104 | 71 | 20 | 15 | 6 |
Circuit Ranking (of all 18 circuits)
Finishing Rate
...
15th Singapore 73%
16th Catalunya 68%
17th Melbourne 68%
...
Mechanical Failures
1st Catalunya 19%
2nd Singapore 18%
3rd Sakhir 17%
...
Driver-related Retirements
...
4th Spa 15%
5th Catalunya 14%
6th Interlagos 13%
...
First lap Retirements
...
2nd Interlagos 7.7%
3rd Catalunya 5.8%
4th Sakhir 5.7%
...
This season's grid can claim a total of nine previous Spanish Grand Prix victories, though Michael Schumacher on his own accounts for two-thirds of those. The German is the only current driver to have taken part in the first Grand Prix held at Catalunya. Several of this season's likely title challengers have yet to taste victory in this event, including Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Felipe Massa has qualified in the top four for the last four Spanish Grands Prix, winning from pole in 2007.
Ferrari have an outstanding record at the track, and their cars have both qualified in the top five on the grid for every event since 2000, save 2005 when tyre issues relegated them to the midfield. With Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard at the wheel, McLaren dominated at Catalunya, but since Mika's last-lap retirement in 2001 the team have only won once - Kimi Raikkonen leading every lap in 2005. Jenson Button's Mercedes-powered Brawn took victory in 2009, a two-stop strategy moving him ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who had led from the start. The Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber were trapped behind Massa's fast-starting KERS-equipped Ferrari for a large part of the race and were unable to take the fight to the Brawns.
Current Drivers' Records at Catalunya
Michael Schumacher | 16 | 15 | 1st (6) | 98 | 1 | 0 | 2.88 |
Fernando Alonso | 8 | 7 | 1st (1) | 41 | 1 | 0 | 5.63 |
Felipe Massa | 7 | 7 | 1st (1) | 28 | 1 | 0 | 7.14 |
Rubens Barrichello | 16 | 11 | 2nd (2) | 28 | 3 | 2 | 7.82 |
Jenson Button | 9 | 7 | 1st (1) | 17 | 2 | 0 | 10.22 |
Jarno Trulli | 13 | 10 | 3rd (2) | 17 | 2 | 2 | 8.15 |
Mark Webber | 7 | 6 | 3rd (1) | 15 | 1 | 0 | 10.63 |
Lewis Hamilton | 3 | 3 | 2nd (1) | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7.67 |
Robert Kubica | 3 | 3 | 4th (2) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6.33 |
Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 1 | 4th (1) | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
Nico Rosberg | 4 | 3 | 6th (1) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
Heikki Kovalainen | 3 | 1 | 7th (1) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10.67 |
Timo Glock | 2 | 2 | 10th (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Pedro de la Rosa | 4 | 1 | 11th (1) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19.25 |
Adrian Sutil | 3 | 1 | 13th (1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19.67 |
Vitantonio Liuzzi | 3 | 1 | 15th (1) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
Sebastien Buemi | 1 | 0 | RET | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
Jaime Alguersuari | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Karun Chandhok | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Lucas di Grassi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Nico Hulkenberg | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Kamui Kobayashi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Vitaly Petrov | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Bruno Senna | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Chassis Records at Catalunya (since 2000)
Ferrari | 19 | 15 | 1st (6) | 104 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
McLaren | 20 | 14 | 1st (2) | 58 | 4 | 3 | 7.6 |
Renault | 20 | 17 | 1st (1) | 53 | 3 | 2 | 8.35 |
Williams | 20 | 16 | 2nd (2) | 36 | 5 | 1 | 9.1 |
Mercedes GP | 18 | 14 | 1st (1) | 35 | 3 | 1 | 9.33 |
Red Bull | 20 | 12 | 3rd (1) | 22 | 4 | 4 | 13.05 |
BMW Sauber | 20 | 16 | 4th (3) | 21 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
Force India | 20 | 11 | 4th (1) | 5 | 5 | 4 | 15.5 |
Toro Rosso | 18 | 7 | 11th (1) | 0 | 6 | 6 | 18.05 |
Hispania | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Lotus | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Virgin | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Results for Mercedes GP include BAR, Honda and Brawn
Results for BMW Sauber include Sauber
Results for Red Bull include Jaguar
Results for Force India include Jordan, Midland and Spyker
Results for Toro Rosso include Minardi
Engine Records at Catalunya (since 2000)
Ferrari | 45 | 31 | 1st (6) | 112 | 9 | 6 | 10.17 |
Mercedes-Benz | 24 | 17 | 1st (3) | 76 | 4 | 4 | 8.13 |
Renault | 24 | 20 | 1st (1) | 72 | 4 | 2 | 8.13 |
Cosworth | 28 | 12 | 6th (1) | 5 | 11 | 6 | 14.86 |
Results for Cosworth include Ford
All ranking figures are expressed as a % of total starts.
"Retirements-Acc" are retirements where the reason has been listed as Collision, Accident or Spun Off.