Grand Prix 2016 Spanish Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

And so, the F1 Circus returns to its traditional European opener in the outskirts of Barcelona for the 48th running of the Gran Prix de Espana, with 25 editions having previously been held at the Circuit de Catalunya. The track has remained relatively unchanged, barring the addition of a chicane before its speedy final turn in 2007, and is home to one of the sports most iconic images as Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna battled just inches from each other down the pit straight during the inaugural race there. More recently it was the scene of the magically bizarre saga of Williams ending its victory drought in 2012 only to have their garage erupt into an electrical fire shortly after the champagne was popped.

Mercedes remains the dominant force in Formula One with Nico Rosberg riding high and putting himself in legendary territory on his current win-streak. The tides have well and truly turned since the Austin meeting last year and the man seems destined to follow in his father's footsteps once again in his quest to capture the World Driver's Championship. Several other outfits have reason to be pleased as the cars return to base. Haas (Grosjean) overcame a dismal showing in Shanghai to once again find their way solidly into the points. Renault have shown themselves capable of putting points on the board as well, and McLaren finally seem poised to make themselves relevant again.

Others may not be so thrilled with recent developments. Although Kimi Raikkonen found his way onto the podium in daylight for the first time since 2013, Ferrari seemed closer than ever in China, only to be further back from the Silver Arrows again in Russia. Sauber continue to look hopeless and it's hard to see how morale is going to pick up in that camp anytime soon. Esteban Gutierrez again showed himself to be unfit for the position of Grand Prix driver. And its hard to ignore the trials and tribulations of Car 44.

Will we finally see a Lewis Hamilton resurgence in Spain? There's a long haul to go in 2016 yet, with this race marking the (nearly) quarter-mark in the campaign. One has to believe that things will come good for Lewis at some point and though his opening four races have been messy, 57 points is a respectable tally considering the dramas involved. Barcelona is by no-means a Hamilton favorite, although he has managed 5 podiums with a win in 2014. At the very least, he'll be hoping to have a clean weekend with regards to reliability.

Truth be told, Formula One could use a non-Merc victory, and this track has given us 9 different winners in the past 9 years, so who knows? Why not watch and see?

barcatemplate.jpg
 
Think you only have been watching since this year Il_leone. If you have traction in that last corner than their is no way they can pass you. This is a bike track, and shouldn't be on the calender to begin with.

Nice of Max to only have the Dutch flag. :thinking:
 
What a refreshing Grand Prix this was in my opinion. Congrats to Mad Max, I feel lucky to have witnessed such a historic win.

Kimi now ahead of Hamilton in the championship, will be an interesting battle the rest of the way, 16 races left!
 
It just seems the faster cars at the front they can't get a tow to make the overtake even though the straight is 1km long
 
Dont think this has been mentioned but Ioved the irony that the last time German national anthem wasn't heard. Was the 2014 belgian gp. When Ricciardio won & you guessed it rosberg & Hamilton came together
 
With the Mercedes drama and the spectacular RB debut for Verstappen I missed some of the other battles in the race.

Ambitious, but overly aggressive last lap lunge by Magnussen on his teammate Palmer, taking them both off the track and resulting in a 10 second time penalty and 2 points on his licence.


Another teammate battle at Haas with Gutierrez diving down the inside of Grosjean.

 
LIked this analysis

At 1:22 you can see that Hamilton's front wheel is on the white line and there is not a full overlap of Rosberg's rear wheels and the gap is closing. Personally I would say that there is not enough overlap to count as the leading driver should give way.

The speed difference between the two cars is a red herring, a driver does not have to give way purely because the following driver is faster. This is a situation that happens many times in every race, see Vettel and Ricciardo towards the end if the same race.
 
Does somebody understand why red bull stopped as early as they did (lap 12 and 13) on their first stint? Considering that supposedly they were planning on doing a 2-stop strategy this seems awfully early. This short first stint meant that it became rather borderline if they would be able to reach the finish on their third set of tyres. Since they spent the first three laps behind the safety car, you would think they should be able to push for a longer stint (like Vettel did).
 
Back
Top Bottom