2016 Pirelli Spanish Grand Prix

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Russia brought up quite an interesting race two weeks ago, quite a bit of action on the track which left a hell of a lot of questions to be asked. Hamilton's unreliability issues continued and Rosberg continued his winning streak unchallenged. Now the circus heads back to where it all started in February with the main talking point being the Kvyat/Verstappen swap. We continue the European section of the season in Barcelona. Here comes the Spanish Grand Prix.

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2015 Race Highlights



Circuit Length: 4.665km (2.892 Miles)
Race Length: 307.104km (190.825 Miles)
Laps: 66
Lap Record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 2008)
Tyres: Soft, Medium & Hard


Sky Sports Classic Race Schedule:
Tuesday - Spain 1994
Wednesday - Spain 1996
Thursday - Spain 1986
Sunday - Spain 1981


2015 Result:
1st: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2nd: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3rd: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
 
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Is that really the best we can do for an onboard??? Last one was ass too.

And how is Catalunya the worst track on the calander?????? People complain non stop about the Tilke circuits and all their angular corners. Now we go to a classic european circuit with massive sweeping corners, and it's "the worst track on the calander". Catalunya is an AWESOME track!!! I'll admit the chicane is garbage, but every other corner is great 👍


That aside, I'm stoked to see how the Kvyat/Verstappen saga plays out. Let's see how Ocon goes as well.
 
I always put up an onboard of the previous years pole lap, however I am now thinking of posting up race highlights instead.
Oh it's the pole lap. Ya that might be tough to find. Just my suggestion, but I would say a clear, high quality onboard from any recent year does more service to the thread than a janky video of last year's pole.

Highlights sound great if you can find them....I nice refresher of what happened last year (what did happen last year at Catalunya??)
 
Pretty much the worst circuit on the calendar. Roll on Monaco.

Roll on the absolute worst circuit on the calendar? Catalunya can be boring but at least you have some sort of chance of a good dry race, Monaco needs either rain or crashes to ever be interesting.
 
Oh it's the pole lap. Ya that might be tough to find. Just my suggestion, but I would say a clear, high quality onboard from any recent year does more service to the thread than a janky video of last year's pole.

Highlights sound great if you can find them....I nice refresher of what happened last year (what did happen last year at Catalunya??)

That Vimeo one was the only one I could find, it is good quality, just needs to be watched on the vimeo site itself.
 
Roll on the absolute worst circuit on the calendar? Catalunya can be boring but at least you have some sort of chance of a good dry race, Monaco needs either rain or crashes to ever be interesting.
I never said Monaco wasn't also dull. How is this track supposed to be good when the only classic races Sky can find for it are over 20 years old?
 
I used to think that until I got that track in Assetto corsa. The Moto version is brilliant. The F1 not so much.
Turn 9 and the final 2 turns of the moto layout are decent. Everything else is just boring, and there's no chance of overtaking either. Apparently the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix included only two overtakes. 2!
 
Admittedly I'd love to see Nico finish ahead of Lewis again this weekend, although I'd prefer to see a fight of it on this occasion. Mind you, I'd always rather see it hard fought. The less reason for the minority of militants in Hamilton's fan base to discredit Rosberg's title should he win it, the better.
 
Is that really the best we can do for an onboard??? Last one was ass too.

And how is Catalunya the worst track on the calander?????? People complain non stop about the Tilke circuits and all their angular corners. Now we go to a classic european circuit with massive sweeping corners, and it's "the worst track on the calander". Catalunya is an AWESOME track!!! I'll admit the chicane is garbage, but every other corner is great 👍


That aside, I'm stoked to see how the Kvyat/Verstappen saga plays out. Let's see how Ocon goes as well.
Usually it doesn't provide good racing imho. Let's hope this year it's different
 
I never said Monaco wasn't also dull. How is this track supposed to be good when the only classic races Sky can find for it are over 20 years old?
I'd bet that if it weren't for extenuating circumstances like weather, mechanical failures, or crashes, you'd have a tough time finding a good race from the last 20 years on many other tracks as well.

It's good because it's a classic circuit, features nice elevation change, high speed sweeping corners, a long straight, great sight lines for the spectators, a passionate crowd.

Catalunya is one of those tracks were victory is in the details, in the preperation.
 
Admittedly I'd love to see Nico finish ahead of Lewis again this weekend, although I'd prefer to see a fight of it on this occasion. Mind you, I'd always rather see it hard fought. The less reason for the minority of militants in Hamilton's fan base to discredit Rosberg's title should he win it, the better.
I'd much rather see Hamilton beaten properly on track than how it has panned out so far this season, I think Hamilton is the better driver of the 2 which is why I think he would be a more deserving champion but if Rosberg can have a few races where he pulls a few seconds ahead of Hamilton and stays there for a whole race without being pushed around every corner it would be much easier to take than watching Rosberg breeze Q3 because his team-mate isn't there.
 
Pretty much the worst circuit on the calendar. Roll on Monaco.

I would say worst as in most boring based on history but in terms of layout it's OK. I'm looking forward to Monaco, it's one of my favourites purely because of the setting.
 
I'd bet that if it weren't for extenuating circumstances like weather, mechanical failures, or crashes, you'd have a tough time finding a good race from the last 20 years on many other tracks as well.

It's good because it's a classic circuit, features nice elevation change, high speed sweeping corners, a long straight, great sight lines for the spectators, a passionate crowd.

Catalunya is one of those tracks were victory is in the details, in the preperation.

Probably not so good for the fans at home on their TV. Good for the drivers, the fans at the track, and the engineers who know this track inside and out, but he called it a terrible track because of how historically boring it is, not just compared to races this year or in this modern era of more frequent overtaking, it was boring even compared to other races back when overtaking was less common than now.

It's the one track where things tend to always go to plan. The drivers and engineers know it too well for any big surprises. Retirements, and overtakes are rare and polesitters rarely lose (even the surprise Maldonado win, he did it from pole). It's a good circuit, no doubt, but it almost never produces good races. Personally do not like the fact that we wait two weeks for this race.
 
Roll on the absolute worst circuit on the calendar? Catalunya can be boring but at least you have some sort of chance of a good dry race, Monaco needs either rain or crashes to ever be interesting.

Well, its never short of the latter.

I used to think that until I got that track in Assetto corsa. The Moto version is brilliant. The F1 not so much.

Really hate the chicanes on the F1 layout. Hate them for the same reason as I hate the redesign of Fuji: Too many tight corners (all to "Create" overtaking). Really wish they would go back to the original fast corners, see some fast driving through that section again instead of this tip toeing cars now have to do.
 
It's good because it's a classic circuit, features nice elevation change, high speed sweeping corners, a long straight, great sight lines for the spectators, a passionate crowd.
And it's bad because teams know it so well from winter testing. It's the preferred winter testing venue because the prevailing weather conditions are stable, and because the configuration of the circuit requires a balanced set-up; it's about as neutral as it gets.
 
Really hate the chicanes on the F1 layout. Hate them for the same reason as I hate the redesign of Fuji: Too many tight corners (all to "Create" overtaking). Really wish they would go back to the original fast corners, see some fast driving through that section again instead of this tip toeing cars now have to do.
Plural??? There's only one chicane at Catalunya.

Probably not so good for the fans at home on their TV. Good for the drivers, the fans at the track, and the engineers who know this track inside and out, but he called it a terrible track because of how historically boring it is, not just compared to races this year or in this modern era of more frequent overtaking, it was boring even compared to other races back when overtaking was less common than now.

It's the one track where things tend to always go to plan. The drivers and engineers know it too well for any big surprises. Retirements, and overtakes are rare and polesitters rarely lose (even the surprise Maldonado win, he did it from pole). It's a good circuit, no doubt, but it almost never produces good races. Personally do not like the fact that we wait two weeks for this race.
More boring than other tracks, even in previous eras? Really? It's more boring than the old Silverstone when it doesn't rain? More boring than Nurb GP before the Mercedes Arena? More boring than Monza, which people love to say is very boring? More boring than Hungaroring, which is too tight to overtake (until very recent)?

Not to have a go at you personally, but how does one win with the F1 crowd when it comes to tracks?

The Tilke tracks are all garbage, terrible tracks. Never mind that Malaysia, China, Bahrain tend to produce really great racing, "the tracks suck!!"

Silverstone is overrated, boring, and has recently been "ruined".

Spa is "ruined", and actually tends to produce rather tame races unless it rains.

Suzuka is overrated and produces boring races because it's difficult to overtake.

Fuji has been ruined, the new Tilke section is garbage (even though without it, LMP1 cars would lap the old version in less than a minute and would touch the brakes all of 3 maybe 4 times per lap....no braking, no overtaking)

Osterichring was the best most glorious track in the world (yet had nothing but high speed corners and hardly any braking...again, terrible for overtaking), and the new Redbull Ring is trash and boring.

Catalunya, pretty much the opposite of a Tilke track, but is boring (high speed corners....seeing the trend with no overtaking).

Monza is boring and wouldn't be missed from the calander....yet everyone wishes to have the old Hockenheim back....which is basically the exact same thing as Monza. Only difference is the straights are a bit longer, so the cars spend longer sitting at terminal velocity.

Monaco is boring because it's too tight and no overtaking.

So basically, any of the new tracks are boring because they have no character and too much runoff, despite the fact that they are designed to promote overtaking in a modern F1 car. The old tracks are boring because modern F1 cars can't follow each other through high and medium speed corners.

About the only tracks people don't really complain about are Canada and Australia.....which are both flat as a pancake, and are nothing more than a series of various speed chicanes.

I love Montreal, love the crowd, love the location of the circuit....but back when I went in 2004, I remember reading several articles where various drivers expressed that they found the circuit to be rather boring as it's just one chicane after another followed by a hairpin, then a long straight.


And as far as the testing at Catalunya making the racing boring.....isn't there a whole group of people out there who think it would be better if the ban on testing was lifted, so that teams and drivers could get more accustomed to their cars? You know, so they can understand things better, because that would make for better racing....oh but wait, when we go to the track everyone tests on, where there are few unknowns, that makes for boring racing.


Again, not directed at you Peter, I'm talking about fans in general, and the repetative negative opinions I read on here and other sites regarding the tracks.

I'll also throw this out there....anyone who has said they support the Halo, Aero Screen, or any type of closed cockpit solution...in my opinion, those people are not allowed to have an opinion on any of the modern tracks and any of the old tracks which have been updated. Safety is why we are where we are with the tracks....so just soak in that nice medium temperature, safe bath water :P
 
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Plural??? There's only one chicane at Catalunya.


More boring than other tracks, even in previous eras? Really? It's more boring than the old Silverstone when it doesn't rain? More boring than Nurb GP before the Mercedes Arena? More boring than Monza, which people love to say is very boring? More boring than Hungaroring, which is too tight to overtake (until very recent)?

Not to have a go at you personally, but how does one win with the F1 crowd when it comes to tracks?

The Tilke tracks are all garbage, terrible tracks. Never mind that Malaysia, China, Bahrain tend to produce really great racing, "the tracks suck!!"

Silverstone is overrated, boring, and has recently been "ruined".

Spa is "ruined", and actually tends to produce rather tame races unless it rains.

Suzuka is overrated and produces boring races because it's difficult to overtake.

Fuji has been ruined, the new Tilke section is garbage (even though without it, LMP1 cars would lap the old version in less than a minute and would touch the brakes all of 3 maybe 4 times per lap....no braking, no overtaking)

Osterichring was the best most glorious track in the world (yet had nothing but high speed corners and hardly any braking...again, terrible for overtaking), and the new Redbull Ring is trash and boring.

Catalunya, pretty much the opposite of a Tilke track, but is boring (high speed corners....seeing the trend with no overtaking).

Monza is boring and wouldn't be missed from the calander....yet everyone wishes to have the old Hockenheim back....which is basically the exact same thing as Monza. Only difference is the straights are a bit longer, so the cars spend longer sitting at terminal velocity.

Monaco is boring because it's too tight and no overtaking.

So basically, any of the new tracks are boring because they have no character and too much runoff, despite the fact that they are designed to promote overtaking in a modern F1 car. The old tracks are boring because modern F1 cars can't follow each other through high and medium speed corners.

About the only tracks people don't really complain about are Canada and Australia.....which are both flat as a pancake, and are nothing more than a series of various speed chicanes.

I love Montreal, love the crowd, love the location of the circuit....but back when I went in 2004, I remember reading several articles where various drivers expressed that they found the circuit to be rather boring as it's just one chicane after another followed by a hairpin, then a long straight.


And as far as the testing at Catalunya making the racing boring.....isn't there a whole group of people out there who think it would be better if the ban on testing was lifted, so that teams and drivers could get more accustomed to their cars? You know, so they can understand things better, because that would make for better racing....oh but wait, when we go to the track everyone tests on, where there are few unknowns, that makes for boring racing.


Again, not directed at you Peter, I'm talking about fans in general, and the repetative negative opinions I read on here and other sites regarding the tracks.

I'll also throw this out there....anyone who has said they support the Halo, Aero Screen, or any type of closed cockpit solution...in my opinion, those people are not allowed to have an opinion on any of the modern tracks and any of the old tracks which have been updated. Safety is why we are where we are with the tracks....so just soak in that nice medium temperature, safe bath water :P
What tracks would be left if we ommitted ones with no elevation, chicanes, tight corners, no overtaking, etc? None.
 

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