Spanish Grand Prix 2016 Preview: Start Time, TV Info, Weather, Schedule, Odds
For anyone who enjoys the background politics in Formula One, the two weeks between the Russian and Spanish Grands Prix were pure heaven.
Red Bull demoted Daniil Kvyat to Toro Rosso, although it wasn't a demotion in Helmut Marko's Bizarro World, per Autobild (h/t ESPN F1's Nate Saunders). Swapping spots with the Russian is 18-year-old Max Verstappen, who will now face even more scrutiny and pressure, as if being the youngest driver in F1 history wasn't enough.
Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg is running away with the drivers' championship on the back of four straight victories. However, he has benefited so far from the poor luck and reliability of his Mercedes team-mate, Lewis Hamilton. Eventually the pendulum will have to swing in the other direction, right?
Hamilton does not sound worried yet, despite the problems with his car, which led to some ridiculous conspiracy theories. "The team has been on it 24/7 since returning from Russia so I'm confident they'll get to the bottom of the problems we've been having," he said, per a team press release. "I know I'm still quick. I've known that since day one in testing and, when I've had clean air and a damage-free car this season, I've shown it on track."
While Mercedes have dominated, everyone is still waiting for a much-anticipated challenge from Ferrari. The Scuderia have had a man on the podium at every race this year but have been unable to push the Mercs since a poor tyre choice cost them the race in Australia.
Keep reading for a full race weekend preview, including TV times, current championship standings, a circuit map and guide, tyre and DRS information, weather forecast, odds and session times.
Current Standings
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With his win in Russia, Rosberg extended his lead over Hamilton to 43 points. Kimi Raikkonen's third-place in Sochi vaulted him over his team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, both of whom failed to score.
Here are the top 10 drivers heading into the Spanish Grand Prix:
| Position | Driver | Points |
| 1. | Nico Rosberg | 100 |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | 57 |
| 3. | Kimi Raikkonen | 43 |
| 4. | Daniel Ricciardo | 36 |
| 5. | Sebastian Vettel | 33 |
| 6. | Felipe Massa | 32 |
| 7. | Romain Grosjean | 22 |
| 8. | Daniil Kvyat | 21 |
| 9. | Valtteri Bottas | 19 |
| 10. | Max Verstappen | 13 |
Mercedes now have more than double Ferrari's point total, while Williams took advantage of Red Bull's problems in Russia to close the gap to just six points for third place. Renault scored their first points of the season in Sochi, while McLaren had their first double-points finish since Hungary last summer.
Here are the current constructors' standings:
| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mercedes | 157 |
| 2. | Ferrari | 76 |
| 3. | Red Bull | 57 |
| 4. | Williams | 51 |
| 5. | Haas | 22 |
| 6. | Toro Rosso | 17 |
| 7. | McLaren | 10 |
| 8. | Force India | 8 |
| 9. | Renault | 6 |
| 10. | Sauber | 0 |
| 11. | Manor | 0 |
Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya
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The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was built as Barcelona prepared to host the 1992 Summer Olympics, and it actually formed part of the cycling course for the team time trial event. It has hosted the Spanish Grand Prix every year since 1991.
The teams and drivers are familiar with the 4.655-kilometre track, as it is one of the venues regularly used for pre-season testing (and it will also host this year's first in-season test after the race).
Turns 1, 2 and 3
Drivers will hit speeds of more than 330 km/h on the pit straight before braking down to 140 km/h for the right-hand Turn 1. Turn 2 follows immediately, and it is essential for drivers to be on the correct line through this section to set themselves up for the long, fifth-gear Turn 3.
On the first lap of the 2013 race, Fernando Alonso made an incredible pass on both Hamilton and Raikkonen around the outside of Turn 3 on his way to victory.
Turns 4 and 5
After a short straight, drivers brake to 150 km/h for Turn 4, another long right-hander. Accelerating through Turn 4, cars are spit almost directly into Turn 5, a sharp left-hander taken at just 110 km/h.
Turns 6, 7 and 8
Exiting Turn 5, the track slopes downhill into Turn 6, just a kink before the braking zone for Turns 7 and 8—a relatively nondescript chicane.
If drivers are trying to set up a pass, though, they must follow closely through these turns, as the DRS detection point is on the following short straight.
Turns 9 and 10
Turn 9 is a fast, sweeping right-hander, taken at approximately 200 km/h. As drivers exit the turn, they reach the DRS activation point and have an opportunity to overtake as they brake for the 100 km/h Turn 10, a sharp left-hand hairpin.
"For me the best parts of the track are Turn 3 and Turn 9, as they are both high-speed ones," Verstappen said in Red Bull's race preview. "The last sector is also interesting, as it's very technical and hard on tyres."
Turns 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15
This is the most technical (read: slow) part of the circuit. Turn 11 is a quick left-hander that feeds directly into Turn 12, a long right-hander where the drivers will slow to about 110 km/h. A short straight leads to Turn 13, a 90-degree right-hander taken at 135 km/h.
This leads to the slowest corner on the track: the chicane of Turns 14 and 15. Drivers brake to about 95 km/h, but it is critical to get these corners right, as they lead to the final turn and the long pit straight.
"Turns 11-15 are almost one corner—as a complex, it’s difficult to get a good flow around those corners," said Romain Grosjean in the Haas race preview. "You need to get a good balance there."
It is, "the most important and challenging part of the track because it’s where you can gain or lose a lot of time," added Grosjean's team-mate, Esteban Gutierrez.
Turn 16
From the exit of Turn 15, drivers pass the pit entrance on their right and the DRS detection point. Turn 16 is a fast right-hander, and the line is crucial through the corner to get a good run down the pit straight, completing a lap of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
All circuit data is taken from the official FIA website.
Tyres and DRS Zones
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Pirelli's hard compound tyres will make their first appearance of the season in Spain. The Italian company supplied medium, soft and supersoft tyres for the first four races, but the drivers will choose from hard, medium and soft compounds in Barcelona.
According to Pirelli's race preview, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's rough surface and high-speed corners, along with the high-downforce car setups preferred by the teams, necessitated the harder tyre choices.
Unlike in Russia, some teams—Renault, Toro Rosso and Haas—have varied their tyre choices between drivers. All drivers have just one or two sets of the hard tyres available, while only Sauber have chosen more medium sets than soft.
"We should see high wear and degradation leading to several pit stops, which of course opens up a very large number of strategic variables for the grand prix," said Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery, per the race preview.
DRS Zones
There will be two DRS zones for the Spanish Grand Prix. One is on the kilometre-long pit straight, with the detection point coming after Turn 15 as drivers accelerate toward the final corner of the lap. The activation point is about 150 metres after the exit of Turn 16, and the 140-km/h Turn 1, at the end of the pit straight, is the best overtaking opportunity at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The other DRS zone comes on the back straight, between Turns 9 and 10. It is much shorter, but the heavy braking for Turn 10, down to about 100 km/h from over 300 km/h, provides another chance to pass. The detection point is at the entrance to Turn 9 and the activation point is just after the exit.
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Spanish Grand Prix Weather Forecast
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The circuit is north-east of Barcelona, near the Mediterranean coast, and enjoys a moderate climate. Race weekend will be overcast, according to the BBC forecast at the time of publication, with rain possible all three days. The high temperature across the weekend is just 21 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
If it does rain on Sunday, it will be something of an anomaly. The last wet Spanish Grand Prix was in 1996, when Ferrari's Michael Schumacher came from third on the grid to win by 45 seconds over Benetton's Jean Alesi.
Spanish Grand Prix Odds
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Even with Rosberg's ongoing winning streak, the oddsmakers have the Spanish Grand Prix as a relative toss-up between the Merc drivers—and that is how it should be. Rosberg won't keep winning forever, although he did win from the pole in Spain last season.
Ferrari's odds keep lengthening from race to race as the team struggles to get their cars to the finish.
The top 10 favourites in Barcelona are:
| Driver | Odds |
|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 5-4 |
| Nico Rosberg | 11-8 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 7-1 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 20-1 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 66-1 |
| Max Verstappen | 66-1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 66-1 |
| Felipe Massa | 80-1 |
| Jenson Button | 380-1 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 400-1 |
Selected Others
Verstappen is 5-1 to grab his maiden F1 podium in his Red Bull debut. You can also get him at 5-2 to lead at least one lap of the race.
Ferrari have suffered the most retirements of any team this year (counting Vettel's engine failure on the formation lap in Bahrain), but both drivers are 25-1 to be the first retirement in Spain.
If you want to bet on Fernando Alonso, the hometown boy, how about 9-2 for him to finish in the top six for the second race in a row?
All odds are taken from Oddschecker and correct at the time of publication.
Spanish Grand Prix Session Times and TV Times
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Here are the times for the three free practice sessions, qualifying and the race:
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 10 a.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 2 p.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 11 a.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 2 p.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 2 p.m. |
The above times are in local Barcelona time (CEST, UTC+2). You can convert the times to your local time zone using the helpful tool on the official F1 website.
TV Times
In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4 will have live coverage of all the sessions. The programming start times are as follows (all times BST):
| Session | Day | Time (Sky Sports) | Time (Channel 4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 8:45 a.m. | 8:55 a.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 12:45 p.m. | 12:55 p.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 9:45 a.m. | 9:55 a.m. |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 12 p.m. | 12 p.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 11:30 a.m. | 12 p.m. |
In the United States, NBC has live coverage of all the sessions on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra, with programming start times as follows (all times ET):
| Session | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Practice 1 | Friday | 4 a.m. (Live Extra) |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 8 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 5 a.m. (Live Extra) |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 8 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Race | Sunday | 7 a.m. (NBCSN) |
Enjoy the race and the rest of the weekend!
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