Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Spain

  • Formula E dedicates pre-season test for women

    Formula E has announced a world-first for an FIA Championship in holding a dedicated test session for women racing drivers in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

    The test will be taking place on Thursday 7th November at Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.

    The first of its kind test in the all-electric championship provides elite women racing drivers the opportunity to driver the new for Season 11 Gen3 Evo car, which is capable 0-60mph in just 1.82 seconds.

    The car will also be tested during the same week by the 11 world-class race teams and 22 drivers currently competing in the series.

    Each of the race teams in the championship will be required to field at least one woman driver for the half-day test, but is encouraged to field two, who will all drive in the current-season cars.

    With all the women on track at the same time, the session creates a tangible platform for a wide pool of elite drivers who wouldn’t get otherwise an opportunity to drive machinery at this level.

    The test aims to provide the women not only with a destination but also a pathway to develop their careers and skills using current technology at its full potential.

    While at the Valencia track, drivers will take part in multiple media opportunities, including press conferences, briefings, interviews and capturing content for broadcast and social media on behalf of Formula E and their respective teams.

    We know there isn’t a simple solution for greater diversity in motorsport. If we’re going to truly give women equality, opportunity and visibility in our series, however, conditions for all need to be the same to aid their development and test themselves against those already on the starting grid. Unlike other series where women drivers have to use old or restricted machinery, they’ll be using the state-of-the-art GEN3 Evo car that accelerates 30% faster than an F1 car, just as our Championship drivers do. We also recognise that one test will not solve the longstanding issue, but we have to start somewhere, knowing there is a long way to go and making sure we’re making proactive, consistent steps that continue to make forward progress. As a motorsport with an almost-equal split of male and female fans, as well within Formula E including my Exec and Director teams, we believe it’s only right that our drivers and wider ecosystem is representative of those that follow and support the sport.
    Jeff Dodds, CEO at Formula E.

  • Madrid F1 race a step closer…

    A Formula 1 race in Madrid is a step closer to reality after the boss of the proposed venue insisted that he knows when a deal will be signed.

    The claim was made on Thursday the 13th by Jose Vicente de los Mozos, the president of the executive committee of the IFEMA fairgrounds and convention centre located to the northeast of the Spanish capital.

    Opened in 1991 IFEMA has become a major centre for conferences and conventions, and there is enough land in and around it to form the basis of a race circuit, with the existing buildings called into use.

    Since March it has been the host of the officially-sanctioned and well-received F1 Exhibition, which in effect has served to help the city to stake its claim for a race event.

    Barcelona currently has a deal to run the Spanish GP until 2026, and it’s not clear yet if the plan is for the new event to eventually take over the title, or if it will run as the Madrid GP.

    The Madrid area previously hosted F1 when the Spanish HP was held at Jarama, to the east of the city and not much further away from the centre than the new venue.

    The track first held the race in 1968, initially alternating with Montjuich Park in Barcelona, which co-incidentally like the proposed new venue was a street track adjacent to an exhibition facility.

    I know when we’re going to sign it and when we’re going to do it. We have followed the process indicated to us. The Spanish Automobile Federation has been informed from the first moment, we have signed exclusivity, and now we are advancing with the contract.

    De Los Mozos on a future race deal.

    It is true that Madrid wants to host a race in the future. And no decision has been taken so far. That’s another great sign of the state of the health of F1. And this is the right competition that will not involve at all any political discussion, only commercial and technical and sporting discussion we’ll be taking the next couple of months. And for the best of F1 we will take the right decision. I’m sure about it. But we need to remember that we still have years of contract with Barcelona, and we are really very, very happy with the way that Barcelona is handling the future because, of course, this has helped them to react, to push for the improvement that is needed at all levels, everywhere. And then this, of course, is in a moment where we have Fernando [Alonso] performing incredibly well, and we have Carlos Sainz in Ferrari. Both of them have a lot of fans. We see that the TV rating figure is growing incredibly well in Spain. So the market is very, very strong now. And so that’s great that we have these kinds of hopes for the future.

    Stefano Domencali speaking to F1’s own Beyond the Grid podcast.

  • Madrid interested in hosting F1 race

    Madrid, has officially expressed an interest in hosting a Formula One race, the city’s regional government announced last month.

    Although there are no Formula One-grade tracks in Madrid, and Spain already hosts a race in Barcelona which is contracted until 2026, the Spanish capital believes they can open talks with F1 organisers, Liberty Media about hosting a race.

    I would like to confirm our commitment to you and to this project, as well as our willingness to sign the appropriate agreements to promote the race and offer a great sporting and entertainment spectacle.

    Local government cabinet minister, Enrique Lopez.

    Madrid hosted F1 Grand Prix’s between 1968 and 1981 at the Jarama Circuit, which is our dated and would need a major upgrade to be able to host a race again.

    Last year, the local government of Morata de Tajuna, 36km south of Madrid, confirmed that it was seeking to build an FIA Grade 1 circuit with the ambition of hosting Formula 1 as well as Moto GP.

    My Opinion-

    Part of me would love a new track for Spain, but there is also a part of me that’s thinking we have a good track, and there’s probably other tracks which could do with updating before we go and get new ones when the one we have now is okay?

  • Barcelona tyre allocation

    We are back in Europe this week, as we head to Spain for Round 6 for the F1 season. We also have Formula 2 and 3, joining us this weekend to carry on their season.

    Pirelli has decided to bring the hardest tyres in the 2022 range, C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium), C3 (Soft). It’s a pretty straight forward choice, which is the same as last year albeit using a brand-new family of tyres.

    The teams were at Barcelona as recently as February, for pre-season testing, however there are three big differences to consider since last being there:

    • The teams concentrated on testing compounds in the middle of the range, rather than the hard.
    • The weather conditions were much cooler.
    • The new cars were in their most basic launch specification, the cars have since moved on considerably since then.

    With the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya being a very well-used circuit, there will not be much track evolution expected over the weekend, thanks to a busy schedule of support races also.

    Last years winning strategy was a two stopper, the traditional approach to Barcelona, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton triumphing a pole to a win using a soft-medium-medium strategy. Soft-medium-soft was used by all the finishers from P2 to P8.

    It’s hard to say much about Barcelona that hasn’t been said already, as it’s possibly the best-known circuit on the calendar for the drivers, with its wide-ranging layout making it a perfect testing venue. It has a bit of everything, with the very technical final sector being particularly important when it comes to looking after the tyres. As a result, the teams will have a good opportunity to assess the progress they have made with their cars since the start of the season, although the weather conditions will be much warmer and there will probably be a lot more running on the hard tyre than there was in testing, which will perhaps be the key to the race. In the past, Barcelona has traditionally been a two-stopper, so it will be interesting to see if the new generation of tyres this year leads anyone to target a one-stopper.

    Mario Isola, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2

    The Hard and Soft tyres have been nominated for Round 4 in Spain. This is the same nomination as the championship’s last raced at the circuit in 2020, and one which has already been seen this year at Bahrain and at the in-season test in Barcelona last month.

    Formula 3

    The Hard tyre is nominated for the third round of the season. Drivers will have three sets of the hard compound plus one set of Medium tyres which are carried over from the previous round in Imola, these are to be used in free practice only.

  • De Vries gets FP1 run with Williams

    Mercedes reserve driver, Nyck de Vries will be making his Formula 1 race weekend debut, this weekend in Spain as he carries out driving duties for Williams in the first practice session.

    The reigning Formula E World Champion, will be borrowing Alex Albon’s FW44 for the 60 minute session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

    De Vries, shares the Mercedes reserve role with Stoffel Vandoorne, who is also his teammate in Formula E for Mercedes EQ. The Dutchman previously tested F1 machinery when he drove the Silver Arrows in last year’s post-season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test.

    His appearance for Williams fulfils one of the British team’s two mandated young driver sessions, which is a new rule introduced for this season.

    We are looking forward to having Nyck de Vries in the car for FP1 as it is always good to work with a new driver and get a fresh opinion on the car’s strengths and weaknesses. Nyck’s experience and professionalism will be crucial on Friday as he will complete some of the key engineering tests in FP1 before he hands the car back to Alex for FP2.

    Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance at Williams.

    Firstly, I’d really like to thank Williams for the opportunity to run in FP1. It’s great for me to get to know the team and drive the FW44, and also to get myself out on track during a Formula 1 weekend. Preparation for the test is going well so far and the team have been incredibly supportive of me. I’m very much looking forward to the whole experience in Spain now.

    Nyck de Vries, on the FP1 session for Williams.

    My Opinion-

    Well, one of the teams had to take the bullet and go first… All jokes aside, I’m glad that Nyck is getting a chance, he definitely deserves a seat in F1 and maybe this is his chance to get out there and impress Williams or maybe some other teams?

    Nyck has been rumoured to the Williams seat, not just last year but also this year, all eyes onto Friday now to see how he does!

  • F3 Barcelona Testing

    The past few days, Formula 3 have been testing in Barcelona at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for their second and final in season test of the year. Formula 2 had spent three days laying down rubber in mostly cold conditions before F3 hit the track on Friday.

    Day 1-

    David Schumacher had arrived as a late replacement for Ayrton Simmons for Charouz, the German driver needed a seat fitting before getting out onto track, he managed eight laps towards the end of the session as he looked to get back up to speed with F3 machinery.

    When the laps started flowing, Zane Maloney set the benchmark at 1:33.926 before his teammate, Stanek broke the 1m 33s barrier with a 1:32.678. Isack Hadjar was one of two stoppages, with the driver coming to a stop at Turn 2 in the middle of the session. ART Grand Prix’s Matteo Nannini was the other, stopping at Turn 10.

    In between the two red flag, Nannini’s teammate Saucy set the quickest time of the morning, with a 1:32.247. Colapinto completed the most mileage in the morning with 49 laps in total.

    Onto the afternoon session, all 30 drivers made a swift exit from the pitlane when the light went green and got stuck into the long runs. MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet set the benchmark at 1:34.465, before it was replaced by Hadjar at the midway point.

    Smolyar dropped a 1:33.342 to steal the top spot of Collet again pushing him to second, Stanek put in a late lap of a 1:33.642. It was Franco Colapinto who completed the most laps in the afternoon session, adding 54 to his 49 he already done in the morning.

    Day 2-

    It was a busy final morning, as many of the drivers got stuck into some qualifying simulations. Gregoire Saucy set the marker at 1:32.109 for ART GP. Collet then drooped a 1:31.507 to put himself top of the standings.

    Coalpinto’s one lap speed was shown once again, as the Round 1 pole sitter made the top three for the second day in a row. The Argentine was the busiest man for the third session in a row adding a further 51 laps to his tally from Day 1.

    HiTech’s rookie, Isack Hadjar was another one impressing as his short run speed put him up to 4th and just over three tenths off P1. Tridents, Roman Stanek completed the top five.

    The field dedicated the afternoons running to race simulations, with Jenzer heading out as soon as the lights went green. Alatalo set the benchmark at 1:34.488 before they were joined by the ever-busy Van Amersfoort Racing trio. When the remainder of the grid left the pits to head out on track, Marti jumped to second for Campos.

    Villagomez, ended the afternoon session with the highest lap count, completing 58 tours of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He also spent the majority of the session in third but was bumped down to fourth by Ferrari junior Leclerc, who couldn’t quite beat the 1m 35s barrier.

    Formula 3 doesn’t have to wait long till there back on track, as Round 2 starts in Imola on Friday the 22nd of April.

  • F2 Testing Barcelona

    F2 Testing Barcelona

    Formula 2 was back on track this week for their in-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Let’s take a look at how it went.

    Day 1-

    The first session of testing, saw a sprinkling of rain and a track temp of just 14 degrees, running was reduced on a quiet opening morning of testing, with only two drivers posting more than 30 laps. Championship leader, Drugovich picked up from where he left off at Round 2, with the Brazilian jumping to the top of the time sheets.

    There were three stoppages during the morning, including Calan Williams who spun to a stop at Turn 2. Lawson’s Carlin came to a halt at Turn 10, before Cem Bolukbasi lost control of his Charouz at Turn 9 and went into the barrier.

    The track temperature marginally increased in the afternoon, and this meant the grid was able to offer up a few push laps on the back of their race runs. After a benchmark time of 1:29.897 from Armstrong during the long-running, Boschung fired to the top of the field, dropping a 1:27.929.

    There were two more Red Flags in the afternoon, firstly for Vips who clipped the barriers at Turn 3 and then later for Logan Sargeant whose Carlin came to a halt on the track at Turn 1. Despite the stoppages, there was significantly more running in the afternoon. Boschung and Williams completed the joint-most laps with 55 each.

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Ralph BoschungCampos Racing1:27.929
    2Marcus Armstrong HiTech Grand Prix1:28.170
    3Ayumu IwasaDams1:28.331
    4Marino SatoVirtuosi Racing1:28.436
    5Felipe DrugovichMP Motorsport1:29.131
    Top 5 Afternoon Session.

    Day 2-

    A drop of rain and dark clouds threatened a wet session on the morning of Day 2, but apart from a brief spitting the track would remain relatively dry throughout the third outing of the test. Trident’s Richard Verschoor set the benchmark time at the start, posting a 1:29.328.

    There were several interruptions throughout the morning session, beginning when Marino Sato’s stopped on the main straight in the opening hour. Iwasa lost control of his DAMS and clipped the wall at Turn 5. Turn 5 was proving tricky to master in the conditions as Hughes and Caldwell both ended up in the gravel shortly after. There were two further Red Flags as Vips spun to a stop at Turn 11 and before Caldwell came to a standstill at Turn 4.

    Roy Nissany set the fastest time of the morning session with a 1:28.812, Richard Verschoor was second with a 1:29.328 and Iwasa in third with a 1:29.596.

    After a stop-start morning session, rain proved to be the only real interrupting factor in the afternoon as a sprinkle lead to a spell stuck in the garages, with too little rain for wet tyres and too much for slicks. Vips set the benchmark at 1:30.148 in the opening half an hour, but the Red Bull reserve, was knocked down to third by his HiTech teammate as well as Felipe Drugovich.

    There was a brief stoppage as Calan Williams came to a halt at the final corner and brought out the session’s only Red Flag. There wasn’t much improvement in the final half an hour, PREMA’s Dennis Hauger managed to break into the top 10.

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Marcus ArmstrongHiTech Grand Prix1:29.752
    2Felipe DrugovichMP Motorsport1:29.960
    3Juri VipsHiTech Grand Prix1:30.148
    4Amaury CordeelVan Amersfoort Racing1:30.169
    5Dennis HaugerPREMA Racing1:30.169
    Top 5 Afternoon Session.

    Day 3-

    The sun made its appearance on the final day of the test, the teams wasted no time getting out on track for some representative qualifying simulations. Lawson put on a set of softs and set the baseline time of a 1:27.888, marking the quickest time of the test so far. The PREMAs had also gone on fresh softs but couldn’t quite match the Carlin’s pace, Hauger 0.057s off in second and Daruvala in 3rd a further 0.074s.

    Novalak stopped at Turn 2, which brought out a red flag. Doohan set the most laps in the three hour stint, with 50 to his name. The top 3 were P1: Drugovich, P2: Lawson and P3: Doohan.

    After a brief delay to the afternoon session due to track maintenance, the session began. The majority of the grid was focused on long runs and race simulations in the afternoon, with Vips setting the benchmark at 1:29.888.

    Vips was one of three stoppages during the final session, with the driver coming to a halt at Turn 3 in the final five minutes. Vesti and Hauger had also both stopped during the afternoon with the ART car coming to a stop at Turn 15 and PREMA pulling up at Turn 5.

    2021 podium finisher, David Beckmann subbed in for Cem Bolukbasi at Charouz on Thursday after the Turkish racer suffered a physical problem on the first day of testing.

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Juri VipsHiTech Grand Prix1:29.288
    2Jake HughesVan Amersfoort Racing1:30.802
    3Enzo FittipaldiCharouz Racing System1:31.541
    4David BeckmannCharouz Racing System1:31.633
    5Amaury CordeelVan Amersfoort Racing1:31.801
    Top 5 Afternoon Session.

    Formula 2 will be back on track next weekend, in Imola for Round 3!

  • F3 Jerez Testing

    F3 Jerez Testing

    Formula 3 was back for the past two days as they were testing in Jerez. Let’s take a look at how it went down.

    Day 1-

    A few drivers, braved the wet and windy conditions at Jerez when the lights went green, with the majority of the field just doing an installation lap. As the rain began to ease, the field headed out for some flying laps and HiTech Grand Prix’s Isack Hadjar set the baseline time.

    With the people below him chopping and changing times, Hadjar was the only red flag, with his car coming to a stop on the gravel. This allowed Collet to take his place at the top of the leaderboard, with the MP Motorsport driver dipping below 1m 42s. But it was PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc who finished on top at the end of the morning session.

    Moving onto the second session of Day 1, Arthur Leclerc dropped a 1:43.790 once things started up again. Collet didn’t get the chance to improve as he brought out a red flag at Turn 4.

    Martins, Stanek, Rasmussen, Leclerc and Bearman all shared P1 between them as the times started to drop once the track was drying out. But it was Bearman who come out on top in the afternnon!

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Oliver BearmanPREMA Racing1:33.009
    2Josep Maria MartiCampos Racing1:33.666
    3Zane MaloneyTrident1:33.736
    4Victor MartinsART Grand Prix1:33.751
    5Arthur LeclercPREMA Racing1:33.998
    Top 5 Afternoon Session.

    Day 2-

    The track remained damp on the final and second morning, Josep Maria Marti set the pace for Campos before the field switched to dry weather tyres.

    Martins broke the 1m 31s barrier for the first time, and several others joined him, he was bumped down to fourth with Leclerc replacing him at the top with a 1:30.628.

    Leclerc’s time was only marginally better than Carlin’s rookie O’Sullivan who dropped a 1:30.634.

    Onto the afternoon, the sun decided to make an appearance with a completely dry track, Caio Collet produced a benchmark time of 1:30.359.

    Yeany’s Campos caused a red flag and interrupted the action around the halfway point, but once it got underway the quickest time fell. Leclerc took the biggest chunk out of it, posting a 1:29.556 to go quickest for the third session out of four.

    The session came to a slightly premature end as Juan Manuel Correa stopped at Turn 6 and brought out a red flag in the final seconds. Ushijima posted the most laps of the afternoon stint, completing an impressive 65 laps of the Jerez Circuit.

    PositionDriverTeamLaptime
    1Arthur LeclercPREMA Racing1:29.366
    2Victor MartinsART Grand Prix1:29.380
    3Isack HadjarHiTech Grand Prix1:29.611
    4Franco ColapintoVan Amersfoort Racing1:29.614
    5Oliver RasmussenTrident1:29.634
    Top 5 Afternoon Session.

    Formula 3 will be back next week, on the 15th April for two more days of in-season testing at Barcelona.

  • Pre-Season Barcelona

    The F1 2022 cars have finally hit the track as pre-season running in Barcelona started on Wednesday lets take a look on what has happened across the 3 days.

    Day 1-

    Morning Session-

    Leclerc set the early benchmark and then later improved, the conditions warming up after a chilly start to set the quickest lap of 1m 20,165s, the Ferrari driver went on to tally up near 80 laps and ended up three-tenths ahead of Lando Norris- the McLaren driver having improved to P2.

    The Mercedes of George Russell was therefore bumped to P3 as the 1pm deadline approached but completed 75 laps, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in fourth. The reigning champ, enjoyed the highest lap count (8) as he finished sith behind Yuki Tsunoda in P5.

    Afternoon Session-

    Lando Norris set the fastest overall time in the opening pre-season session, Leclerc’s morning time of 1m 20.165s put him top before Norris improved to 1m 19.568s by the end of Day 1, that bumped Leclerc down to P2 and his teammate down to third.

    Every team bar Alfa Romeo and Haas completed a century of laps on the opening day.

    PositionDriverTimeLaps
    1Lando Norris1:19.951102
    2Charles Leclerc1:20.16580
    3Carlos Sainz1:20.41673
    4George Russell1:20.78477
    5Lewis Hamilton1:20.92950
    6Sebastian Vettel1:21.27652
    7Yuki Tsunoda1:21.638121
    8Fernando Alonso1:21.746127
    9Max Verstappen1:22.246147
    10Valtteri Bottas1:22.57223
    Top 10 from Day 1

    Day 2-

    Morning Session-

    Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest time of the morning on Day 2, with the benchmark being 1m 20.355s with 10 minutes remaining, eclipsing Carlos Sainz’s existing benchmark by two tenths of a second.

    Perez brought out the first red flag, having coasted to a halt at Turn 12, half an hour before lunch break, the stoppage was lifted with 15 minutes left, but Perez did not re-emerge to complete the morning session.

    Afternoon Session-

    Charles Leclerc topped the leader board on the afternoon session with a 1m 19.698s with Gasly taking P2 in which dropped McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo to P3.

    There was a second red flag of the day but first of the afternoon session, this time being Nikita Mazepin as he stopped with a damage fuel pump which caused a 15 minute stop. Sergio Perez’s afternoon was quite short as he didn’t emerge until late in the day.

    PositionDriverTimeLaps
    1Charles Leclerc1:19.68979
    2Pierre Gasly1:19.918147
    3Daniel Ricciardo1:20.288126
    4George Russell1:20.53766
    5Carlos Sainz1:20.54671
    6Sebastian Vettel1:20.78474
    7Sergio Perez1:21.43078
    8Nikita Mazepin1:21.51242
    9Alexander Albon1:21.53147
    10Guanyu Zhou1:21.88571
    Top 10 from Day 2

    Day 3-

    Morning Session-

    Mercedes topped the third morning session as George Russel led the leaderboard, with Max Verstappen in 2nd and Sebastian Vettel in 3rd, but five red flags, punctuated proceedings. All 10 cars emerged on a chilly Barcelona morning but the session was red-flagged before the hour mark when Alpine’s Alonso stopped with smoke emerging from the back of his car. Alpine then stated they would not be running again due to hydraulics issue.

    Gasly brought out the second pause when he crashed at Turn 5, causing front wing and suspension damage. Guanyu Zhou stopped in the gravel at Turn 10 after Gasly’s incident, but the session was once again stopped when he crawled to a halt on the main straight. The fifth red flag was when Vettel stopped with 5 minutes left

    Afternoon Session-

    Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the week with a 1m 19.138s as Pirelli conducted a wet weather tyre test. His team-mate then dropped with P2, with Sergio Perez jumped up the order to round of top 3.

    A few teams run into problem in which they was not able to run in the afternoon sessionWe are back in two weeks for the official pre-season test on March 10th to 12th, then set to return a week after that for the first round.

    PositionDriverTimeLaps
    1Lewis Hamilton1:19.13894
    2George Russell1:19.23366
    3Sergio Perez1:19.55674
    4Max Verstappen1:19.75659
    5Sebastian Vettel1:19.82448
    6Charles Leclerc1:19.83144
    7Carlos Sainz1:20.07292
    8Alex Albon1:20.31894
    9Nicholas Latifi1:20.69913
    10Daniel Ricciardo1:20.75086
    Top 10 from Day 3
  • F1 confirms testing dates

    F1 confirms testing dates

    Formula One has confirmed the dates for pre-season testing for 2022. The build up for the season has started already with teams announcing the car launches dates for February.

    Two sessions of three days each will be taking place ahead of the 23 race F1 campaign to enter a new era.

    Barcelona– February 23rd to 25th

    The first test of the year is more low-key than the official test. This test in Barcelona allows the team to shake down their all new 2022 cars for the first time.

    However, as is traditional with teams pre-testing-type events, the running at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya won’t feature live coverage.

    It will include content and the best lap times at the end of each day of running.

    Bahrain- March 10th to 12th

    The Bahrain testing will be the Official Pre-Season Test ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix on the weekend of March 18th to 20th.

    This testing will be shown live with fan attendance. It will be shown on TV with live timings.

    To keep up to date with all the coverage from both tests you can find on F1.com

  • F2, F3 chosen tracks for testing

    F2, F3 chosen tracks for testing

    The dates for testing for both Formula 2 and Formula 3 have been revealed.

    Before both of the series gets underway at Sakhir on March 18th to 20th, there is a 3 day pre-season test at the circuit on the 2nd to 4th March, both series will alternate across the 3 days for each session and test. This is the third time F2 has used the country for the first bit of on track action. F3 used the track for pre-season testing back in 2020.

    After the season opener, F3 will go to Spain’s Jerez circuit on the 5th to the 6th of April for the second lot of tests, even though this venue is not on the calendar it is said to be used for set-up work and improving tyre management as the layout holds similarities to the Hungaroring.

    Formula Two holds its second round in Jeddah in late March before its in-season test the next month at Barcelona on the 12th to 14th of April, where they will be going again for round 4 of the 2022 season.

    After F2 have finished their tests, many of the teams will stay put in the paddock as F3 visits Barcelona for their 3rd test from the 15th to 16th. Out of the 11 teams in which take part in F2 and the 10 in F3, Virtuosi Racing and DAMS are the only teams to solely do F2, and Jenzer Motorsport only takes part in F3.

    Having just one pre-season test for both Formula Two and Three followed by further in-season tests was something which had been planned for the 2020 season before the coronavirus pandemic took effect and cause further disruption to the schedule.

  • Spanish GP Renewed

    It has been announced that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Spanish Grand Prix is renewed until 2026!

    This will see improvements to the tracks and facilities, this will be ahead of the 2022 race in May.

    The track was first used by Formula 1 in 1991 which was ahead of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona!

    F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali said: “We are delighted to announce this deal with Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. I want to thank the promoter and the authorities for their enthusiasm and commitment to keeping Formula 1 in Barcelona, with improvements that will be made to the track and facilities, and continuing our long history together.
    The teams and drivers always look forward to racing at the circuit and visiting Barcelona, and the Spanish fans will continue to see their national heroes, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz up close.”

    My Opinion-

    I think this is good, especially with the improvements to come. We saw a good race here this year due to closer racing, so surely it can only get better? Also good news for Spanish drivers, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz as there home GP will be firmly on the calendar!

  • Round 4- Spain Race

    And what a race that was!! I didn’t expect too much to happen but wow😳

    Lewis Hamilton extends his lead in the championship after finishing first, Verstappen finished second after not being able to hold of Lewis after his second pit stop… Verstappen also ended up taking fastest lap too and then we have Bottas who ended up finishing 3rd.

    P4 goes to Leclerc and P5 to Perez who was followed by Daniel Ricciardo. Whatever Ricciardo has done this weekend is obviously working, the only way is up from here🤞🏻

    There was a yellow flag earlier on in the race due to Tsunoda stopping at Turn 10 making his race stop earlier than expected :(

    I definitely thought that the Aston Martins might pull something out of the bag this weekend as both drivers have now got the upgrades but maybe it wasn’t the track for them 🤷🏻‍♀️

    Next up we have Monte Carlo on the weekend off 20th to 23rd May, it’s the race that everyone wants to win, so tune in for more details across the race weekend🤩

  • Spanish Grand Prix

    We are now onto our fourth race out of twenty-one!! This weekend in we are in Barcelona, Spain. It is the home race of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.

    The McLaren boys will want to keep up their streak of being the only team which has finished in the points in all the races👀 Bottas will also want to show the world that he deserves the seat his currently in and stop the speculation too😬

    We have 66 laps on Sunday of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with 16 corners in total and a restructured turn 10 this year👏🏻

    Overtaking chances? Is there any or is it restricted? Well… at the end of the two DRS zones into tight corners are the best opportunity for the drivers, this would be at the end of the back straight and the pit straight.

    Predictions over the weekend: Well considering we’re only three races in it’s so tight already and not just for the Championship. I don’t think anyone has currently got the upper hand over anyone else, I’d say if anything we may see that happening in the next few races.

    This weekend will be more familiar and normal to the drivers including the newbies. Given the fact that the teams usually test here we should see a real indication to how the teams are shaping up and improvements etc.

    My top 5 predictions for tomorrow for qualifying is: P1- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Perez, P4- Norris and P5-Vertsappen