F1 - Spanish Grand Prix -- Motor Sports Events -- Red Bull

F1 - Spanish Grand Prix

Location: Montmelo, Spain (Map this address )
Start: MAY 11, 2012 at 12:00 AM
End: MAY 13, 2012 at 11:59 PM
About: The fifth race of the Formula 1 season takes place at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo, Spain. Interestingly the track is often referred to as 'Barcelona' in the racing community, despite not actually being located within the city. This is due to the fact that it was constructed in 1991 to coincide with the Olympic Games which took place in there, and should not be confused with the Montjuic circuit, which is within the city of Barcelona and actually hosted the Spanish Grand Prix four times between the years of 1969 and 1975.

The circuit has come in for a fair degree of criticism of late, owing largely to the fact that so much testing takes place here that both mechanics and drivers have become extremely familiar with it, which in turn has significantly reduced the amount of on-track action. In its heyday overtaking was frequent because cars could follow closely through the last two corners and then slipstream down the long straight. Recent modifications in aerodynamics however have put a stop to this entirely, cars can no longer get so close due to turbulence created by the leading car. The 2007 season saw some modifications to the track in an attempt to improve overtaking, the redesign however is generally considered a failure as there was no noticeable increase.