The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (known as the Circuit de Catalunya until 2013) is a race circuit in Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain (outside of Barcelona) that was built in 1991.
It is known for hosting the Spanish Grand Prix, and for its use in off-season testing; this is down to the variety of types of corners and straights on the track and for the warm and sunny Spanish weather, which means dry running can be expected.
Contents
Circuit History
Plans for the circuit originated in the mid 1980s, when Catalan officials decided to wrest the Spanish Grand Prix from the Circuito de Jerez, and return the race to it's 'home'. Catalunya had not hosted the race since the ill-fated 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. Construction started in early 1989, and the track opened with a Spanish touring car series race on September 10, 1991. The Spanish Grand Prix was run two weeks later, and soon after it hosted a motorcycle GP. The track remains one of the busiest in Europe, and is capable of seating up to 140,000 spectators.
Circuit Layouts
Previous Layouts
1991-1993
1991-1994 layout
The main straight is 1,047 meters long, with the timing line about 40% of the way along, followed a complicated three turn complex. The first turn, known as Elf, is a flat an moderately tight 90° right, which is almost guaranteed to have some spins and the occasional collision at the start of a race. The trigger for this is often drivers who try to take the outside line at Elf, to gain the inside line at the second corner, an unnamed lefthander that turns 70° in a wider arc than Elf. This leads to the third corner, a 160° right with a wide and increasing radius, where the cars can generate up to 4Gs. This corner has been named Renault.
After a straight of roughly 100 meters (where Nico Rosberg knocked Lewis Hamilton off of the track in 2016), the track makes a 180° right with an increasing radius, named Repsol. Another short straight leads to a very tight, 150° left called Seat. A 200 meter straight, with a flat-out 45° left in the middle, ends at a moderate 90° left known as Wurth. This is followed immediately by a wide 30° right, taken under acceleration, then after another short straight, the track made a wider 70° right, called Campsa. Following an even shorter straight, the cars made a fast right-left chicane (Nissan) which put them on a 200 meter long straight that ran just behind the paddock.
This ended at a double-apex left called La Caixa. The first, tighter section arced about 135°, with the wider second section close to 90°. La Caixa was immediately followed by a sweeping 180° right named Banc Sabadell. A 100 meter straight took the cars into a wide and tricky 70° right (Europcar) which was critical for the final corner before the straight. This corner is New Holland, and comes after another 100 meter straight. New Holland is a sweeping 90° right that exits onto the front straight. Many a driver has botched the exit in the quest for extra speed down the straight. The track was measured at 4.747 km in this configuration.
1994
In the aftermath of the events at Imola, a hastily prepared chicane made of stacks of tires lashed together was added just before the fast Nissan chicane. While it was universally unpopular, it prevented the race from being canceled for safety reasons. Strangley, when the track was re-measured with the new chicane, it was found to have lost two meters, to 4.745 km.
1995-2003
1995-2003 layout
After the circuit management had a chance to study the issue of the Nissan chicane, they came up with the sensible idea of simply getting rid of it. What they actually did was bypass it, turning the Campsa corner into an almost 90° right, with the now 400 meter straight shooting to La Caixa. The track also sported a much longer pit lane, with the entrance just before New Holland. The circuit now measured 4.730 km.
2004-2006
2004-2006 layout
Current
Current layout since 2007
Event history
The following is a list of Formula One World Championship events held at the Circuit de Catalunya:
Notes
| V T E |  Spanish Grand Prix
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Circuits | Pedralbes (1951, 1954), Jarama (1967-1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976-1981), Montjuïc (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975), Jerez (1986-1990), Catalunya (1991-Present) | |
| Races | 1951 • 1952–1953 • 1954 • 1955–1967 • 1968 • 1969 • 1970 • 1971 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1975 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982–1987 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 | |
| Non-Championship Races | 1923 • 1924–1925 • 1926 • 1927 • 1928–1929 • 1930 • 1931–1932 • 1933 • 1934 • 1935 • 1936–1966 • 1967 • 1968–1979 • 1980 |
| v·d·e | Nominate this page for Featured Article |
