Spanish F1 Grand Prix 2015: Start Time, Drivers, TV Schedule and More
Formula One’s European season gets underway with the Spanish Grand Prix, and Lewis Hamilton is aiming to make it four wins from five races in 2015.
Hamilton was successful at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona in 2014 after starting from pole position, and his win in Bahrain three weeks ago stretched his lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to 27 points in the driver standings.
Rosberg is just a point ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who won at the track in 2011. Fernando Alonso is a two-time winner of the Spanish GP and will be hoping his McLaren car continues to make improvements toward being competitive.
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Kimi Raikkonen has also won twice in Barcelona and was second in Bahrain, ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Vettel.
Read on for full viewing information and a preview ahead of Sunday’s race
Date: Sunday, May 10
Time: 1 p.m. BST, 8 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local
TV Info: Live on Sky Sports F1 (UK), NBCSN (U.S.)
Live Stream: Sky Go, NBC Sports Live Extra
| Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton | Nico Rosberg |
| Red Bull | Daniel Ricciardo | Daniil Kvyat |
| Ferrari | Sebastian Vettel | Kimi Raikkonen |
| Lotus | Pastor Maldonado | Romain Grosjean |
| McLaren | Fernando Alonso | Jenson Button |
| Force India | Nico Hulkenberg | Sergio Perez |
| Sauber | Marcus Ericsson | Felipe Nasr |
| Toro Rosso | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz Jr |
| Williams | Valtteri Bottas | Felipe Massa |
| Marussia | Will Stevens | Roberto Merhi |
New colours, new start for McLaren?
Following a slow start to the 2015 season, McLaren have made several upgrades to their car in the three weeks since Bahrain. Perhaps most visibly for McLaren is the change in livery, with the car now sporting a darker grey colour, per Formula1.com. There have also been upgrades in the power, aerodynamic and mechanical departments.
"Mega on-track shot of JB. The car is one mean looking machine. #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/3GGVZnFKpH
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 8, 2015"
McLaren boss Eric Boullier is now looking to extract the potential out of the car’s V6 engine, telling Rachel Brookes of Sky Sports (via This is F1):
"They have been working very hard on bringing a reliability package, we have to fine-tune still the engine performance. Obviously, chassis wise we brought a lot of new parts, so a lot of upgrades for this weekend, but I guess it is the same for everyone. There is a lot of potential to this engine, but we had to run it very, very downgraded. But there is still a lot of potential just by using and functioning and working on the reliability which will unlock some potential.
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McLaren will be hoping that the upgrades will bring about the team’s first points of 2015 now that the season has moved to Europe.
Drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button both know what it takes to win at the Circuit de Catalunya. Alonso won at the track in 2006 and 2013, while Button was successful in 2009.
Getting in the points will be a sign of McLaren’s continued progress this year. After starting the season on the back row in Australia, Alonso was only one place outside the points in Bahrain last time.
Simply finishing in the points is clearly not the long-term goal for McLaren but a promising showing in qualifying will give hope that the upward curve of progress is continuing.
Kimi back on song
Kimi Raikkonen endured a miserable return to Ferrari in 2014, but 2015 is looking much more promising for the Finn.
Raikkonen finished 12th in the standings last season, per James Galloway of Sky Sports, but this year has been much more positive for the 35-year-old, who is now racing alongside Vettel after being Alonso’s team-mate in 2014.
He finished second behind Hamilton in Bahrain in the last GP for his first podium finish since 2013. Raikkonen again demonstrated his strength in race conditions by finishing just over three seconds behind Hamilton.
Andrew Benson of BBC Sport believes the reason for Raikkonen’s improved form for Ferrari this year is due to the changes which have been made to the car. Benson wrote:
"While the ultra-adaptable Alonso managed to drive around some of the car’s problems last year, Raikkonen could not. With the new Ferrari’s more benign behaviour, both the team’s current drivers can access more of their own potential and therefore the car’s as well.
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Now the European season is here, Raikkonen will be determined to continue his progress, especially at a track where he has enjoyed success previously. Raikkonen won around the Circuit de Catalunya in both 2005 and 2008.
Raikkonen has already shown that he can improve considerably from qualifying to the race this season to ensure he is competitive with the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Rosberg.
He is unlikely to start from pole position, but given his current confidence in both himself and the team, Raikkonen has a strong chance of gaining his first GP win since returning to Ferrari.
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