5 Top Moments from Spanish Grands Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya

The 2015 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix will be the 25th to be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Built and first raced on in 1991, over the years, the circuit has become notorious for producing processional, occasionally dull racing. Great for testing, not so good for racing. Overtaking is very difficult and a lot of the action in recent years has taken place in the pit lane.

But it has also been host to some truly exceptional moments of drama and excitement. There have been more than a few shocks, plenty of great driving displays and even a drop or two of heartbreak.

Here we look back at five famous moments in the history of the circuit.

Michael Schumacher's Brilliant First Win for Ferrari

Michael Schumacher won 72 races for Ferrari—this may have been the greatest of them all.

The German had ended his relationship with Benetton at the end of the 1995 season to move to Ferrari. The once-mighty Scuderia were in the doldrums, with just two wins in the previous five years and no drivers' title since 1979.

Williams were dominating, and the 1996 FW18 was again the class of the field. Schumacher's Ferrari F310 was no match for the Adrian Newey-designed, Renault-engined cars of Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

At least, not in the dry.

Schumacher qualified third for the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix, almost a full second shy of Hill's pole time. Race day brought with it appalling wet conditions—the sort in which Schumacher thrived—but a terrible start saw him down to 10th after the first corner and with a lot of work to do.

He quickly set about recovering, rapidly slicing through the field, and when he passed Jean Alesi on Lap 9 he was up to second. Three laps later, he overtook Villeneuve for the lead and began to pull away by up to four seconds per lap.

The heavy rain continued throughout the race and Schumacher dominated, finishing 45 seconds clear of runner-up Alesi.

It was one of six wins for Schumacher at the Circuit de Catalunya.

UK readers can access BBC Sport's limited highlights here.

Ayrton Senna vs. Nigel Mansell: The Duel

Whenever a video montage celebrating the careers of Ayrton Senna or Nigel Mansell is created, one scene in particular always manages to find its way in. Lasting just a few seconds, it says all that needs to be known about the bravery, commitment and aggression of two men who helped define their era.

The first Spanish Grand Prix at the new Circuit de Catalunya was held in 1991. Gerhard Berger qualified on pole for McLaren, with team-mate Ayrton Senna third. Nigel Mansell was second, Riccardo Patrese fourth and rising star Michael Schumacher fifth.

On a slippery track, Senna and Schumacher jumped ahead of Mansell at the start. The Williams man repassed the German on the second lap and, while Berger pulled away ahead, began to challenge Senna.

At the end of Lap 4, Mansell got a better exit out of the final corner and pulled alongside Senna on the pit straight.

Without the slipstream, the two cars had equal speed in a straight line and were side-by-side as they headed toward the first corner. With sparks flying behind both, Senna gently veered in Mansell's direction and Mansell edged over to Senna.

The result was the two cars separated by mere inches as they entered the braking zone. Mansell had the line, took the position and went on to win. Senna, who didn't have his best race, ended up fifth.

A slightly longer portion of the race, including the overtake, is available here on YouTube. Sadly, it has appalling sound quality.

Mika Hakkinen Nears the End of His Tether

Mika Hakkinen was crowned world champion in 1998 and 1999. But in 2000 he lost out to Michael Schumacher and in 2001 endured a horrendous start to the year.

In Australia he crashed heavily out of second place following a suspension failure, while in Malaysia he simply lacked pace and finished sixth. He then stalled on the grid in Brazil, and could only manage fourth in San Marino.

His poor run appeared to be over as the grid lined up for the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix. The race marked the return of (legal) traction control, but Hakkinen turned his off in qualifying and ended the session a fine second, just 0.085 seconds down on pole-sitter Schumacher.

The Finn spent the first part of the race behind his greatest rival, but at the final round of stops Schumacher came in several laps earlier. In those days the "overcut" gave an advantage, and Hakkinen exploited it brilliantly with a series of blistering laps to emerge in the lead.

With Schumacher slowed by a vibration, Hakkinen was all set to cruise to a well-earned first win of the year. But as he entered Turn 3 on the final lap, he began to slow.

Sparks flew from the rear of his stricken McLaren, followed by a plume of smoke; Hakkinen desperately tried to get the car home, but he had to park it just five corners from the end. Schumacher, over 50 seconds behind the McLaren at the start of the final lap, drove by for the luckiest win of his career.

Hakkinen's car failed again on the starting grid of the next race, and when he arrived in Monaco—where his car broke down again—he'd had enough. Per Autoweek, he decided then that he would be taking a break for 2002.

This temporary break became permanent, and we never saw the Flying Finn in F1 again.

Pastor Maldonado and Williams Stun the Formula 1 World

There have been some surprise results in F1 over the last few decades, but it could be argued that none came close to what happened on 13 May 2012.

The season had started with four different winners from the first four races as everyone struggled to work out the new Pirelli tyres. The fifth round was the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton had qualified on pole by half-a-second, but he was sent to the back of the grid after it emerged his car had insufficient fuel on board. Pastor Maldonado therefore took the first pole of his F1 career, 0.017 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso.

The Williams was good over a single lap (as is Maldonado), so this in itself, while surprising, didn't have jaws on the floor. Pole or not, it was Pastor Maldonado—he had no chance of actually winning the race.

Right?

Alonso took the lead at the start, but against expectations, Maldonado hung on. Tyres were playing a major part in the race, and Williams chose to bring their man in early for his second stop; when Alonso emerged from his own stop, Maldonado, having banged in a series of very quick laps on fresh rubber, was ahead.

Ahead is where he stayed. Though Alonso attacked in the final stint and Kimi Raikkonen came close to challenging both, the Venezuelan drove a beautifully calm, controlled race to take a famous and stunning first F1 win.

Michael Schumacher's 5th-Gear Genius

Michael Schumacher dominated F1 for a long time and has a prominent place in the history of the Circuit de Catalunya, so it's no surprise he appears again on this list—only this time, it's for a race he didn't win.

The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix took place under a dark cloud. Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger had died less than a month earlier at the San Marino round; as a result, F1 had entered a long-overdue era in which safety would be the top priority.

Schumacher qualified on pole by almost six-10ths of a second clear of new Williams team leader Damon Hill. When the race started, he maintained the lead and pulled away at first—then a problem occurred.

His Benetton developed a gearbox problem before the first pit stop round, leaving Schumacher stuck in fifth gear. Though he inevitably slowed and was forced to surrender the lead, he experimented with his lines and somehow managed to keep going at a respectable pace.

The on-board footage above shows how he was able to do this.

As Hill pulled steadily away to win the race, the German nursed his car home quickly enough to secure second. BBC Sport's Andrew Benson described it as "a quite brilliant drive, one of the best of Schumacher's career."

The six points he gained would eventually prove crucial—Schumacher won the 1994 drivers' championship by just a single point.