Race 2018 F1 Spanish Grand Prix Full Race Replay
Race 2018 F1 Spanish Grand Prix Full Race Replay
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Race Info
Date 13 May 2018
Official name Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Emirates 2018
Location Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Montmeló, Spain
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 4.655 km (2.892 miles)
Formula One Spanish Grand Prix 2018 What to Watch
This weekend, the teams travel to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth race of the 2018 Formula 1 season.
Many teams bring modifications to Spain for the race at Circuit de Catalunya, which is usually regarded as the beginning of the European season and a significant event for development.
After winning his first race of the season two weeks ago at the thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton enters the weekend as the leader of the championship.
Hamilton recovered with a victory in Spain a year after he and his then-teammate Nico Rosberg collided on the first lap in Barcelona. Sebastian Vettel passed the Mercedes driver, who had begun in pole position, in the opening corner. Until a virtual safety car allowed Hamilton to enter the pitlane for new tires while losing less time on the track, the German maintained his advantage. Vettel finished level with Hamilton after waiting until the very end of the VSC session to pit. Hamilton was on the fast tires and eventually passed Vettel on the forty-fourth lap of the race, but the Ferrari initially maintained its lead.
Stoffel Vandoorne started the race from the rear of the grid for exceeding his engine parts allotment, signaling the beginning of a season of grid penalties for McLaren. The Belgian driver had a memorable weekend because he collided with Felipe Massa and broke his suspension, earning him a grid penalty for the following race. Fernando Alonso, Vandoorne's teammate, did a little better, finishing 12th in 2017 and reaching the checquered flag for the first time.
Mercedes experienced a rare engine failure as Daniel Ricciardo was promoted to the podium by Valtteri Bottas losing power. The Australian finished 75 seconds behind the race winner, but the Red Bull was still well behind the front.
Max Verstappen, who won his first race at Barcelona in 2016, was unable to duplicate his prior achievement at the track when he and Kimi Raikkonen were forced to retire due to damage after a collision on the first lap.
After being penalized for not staying to the right on his way into the pitlane, Pascal Wehrlein, who finished the race in seventh place for Sauber, fell to eighth place in the final classification. However, Kevin Magnussen lost points for Haas because he punctured Daniil Kvyat after making contact with him late in the race. The only two teams with both drivers finishing in the points were Toro Rosso and Force India.
At the request of Moto GP, fresh asphalt was placed on Circuit de Catalunya earlier this year. In order to keep the track on the Moto GP calendar, the motorcycle series had protested that the surface was too uneven for bikes to compete on and had asked that it make adjustments. The teams have already ran on this surface, having conducted pre-season testing at the track, but new surfaces can be unpredictable, especially when it comes to tire wear and grip.
The run-off area at turn 12 has been altered with the inclusion of a second gravel bed and the relocation of a grandstand.
Following Moto 2 rider Luis Salom's death at the bend in 2016, Moto GP also sought these improvements. Drivers risk being beached at turn 12 if they have to put in more effort to keep the car on the track due to the additional gravel.
This year's start time for the race has also changed. The Spanish Grand Prix this year has been rescheduled from its start time of 2 p.m. local time last year to 3.10 p.m. Barcelona time. Liberty Media, the proprietors of Formula One, changed the start times this year in an effort to accommodate television viewers.
After using the soft, medium, and hard tyre compositions in 2017, Pirelli has introduced new ones for the Spanish Grand Prix this year. The hardest compound available this year will be the medium, however soft and supersoft will also be used. Since no driver used the hard tire during the race, the adjustment may be a reaction to last year's tactics as well as the new track surface.
The teams seem to have been divided by the addition of a distinct chemical. Mercedes is hedging their bets by providing Hamilton and Bottas with five sets of supersofts and five softs, while Williams and Renault appear to believe that the softest of the three possibilities will be the best tire for the weekend.
Last year, Wehrlein made a one-stop strategy work by nursing his soft tires to lap 33 before putting them in the mediums for the rest of the race, but most drivers required two stops to finish. The German went from 15th on the grid to seventh across the line thanks to the one-stop strategy, but a penalty dropped him to eighth.
Since the teams were unable to run on one of the days of the first test due to heavy snowfall, the weather at the Circuit de Catalunya was a major topic of conversation during pre-season testing. Thankfully, this weekend's weather outlook is more favorable.
According to the current forecast, temperatures will be about 20°C and conditions will be dry for most of the weekend. On Saturday, there is a chance of rain and possibly a thunderstorm, but it appears that there may still be time to finish qualifying before the weather. However, that can cause issues on Sunday since the cars might be moving to a green track, where the rubber that was put down during practice and qualifying will be washed away.
One of the more significant weather issues over the weekend may be strong winds. During P2, gusts of up to 30 km/h are predicted for tomorrow afternoon. At Circuit de Catalunya, winds have historically presented problems, especially with the shark fin design last year.
Although it shouldn't be a major problem this year, some drivers may still find themselves off line during practice as they develop a feel for the new track surface.
Expect the order of precedence to shift during the event because Barcelona is typically where track teams decide to make their first significant upgrades of the season. In Spain, some teams frequently make significant strides, while others fall behind. Force India took a significant leap in Barcelona last year, and McLaren might do the same this year. Eric Boullier recently disclosed that this is the first race for which the actual 2018 McLaren will be prepared.
In previous years, Mercedes has dominated Spanish qualifying.
Last year, Vettel qualified second at the Circuit de Catalunya, making him the first non-Mercedes driver to start from the first row since 2012. With 24 of the 27 previous champions starting from the front row, qualifying is more crucial in Spain than at any other track on the schedule. Vettel is still looking for his first pole position at the track, while Hamilton will try to be close to the front once more. Hamilton has a solid qualifying record in Barcelona and last missed out on a front row start in 2012 when he was fastest on Saturday but was disqualified for not having enough fuel.
Since Michael Schumacher won the race four times in a row in 2004, no driver has won back-to-back in Spain, indicating Hamilton won't be winning.
Hamilton's victory last year ended a streak of ten consecutive winners at the track, and there have been ten different winners in the 13 races since. Five previous winners are on this year's grid, but this weekend in Spain, the unbeaten Bottas and Ricciardo are among those who may win for the first time.
Last time out, Williams showed improvement, and both cars advanced to the second qualifying round for the first time this year, with Lance Stroll earning their first points of the season in Baku.
Due to a grid penalty for his accident with Alonso, Sergey Sirotkin is starting from a disadvantage, but the team will be expecting to perform well at a track that has favored them in previous years. The club did not score any points in Spain last year for the first time since 2013, and Pastor Maldonado gave them their most recent victory there in 2012.
Because of the fast turns, this is one of the events where drivers typically face greater physical demands. Even while this year's resurfacing may have made the track a little softer to drive on, the race is still expected to be extremely taxing.