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The GP2 Series moves to Europe with Stoffel Vandoorne as the championship leader. The Belgian began the new season in the same way as he ended the last: An almost flawless weekend in Bahrain with pole position, Feature race win, sprint race podium, and a fastest lap brought his points tally to 43, ten points clear of Rio Haryanto. The Indonesian had a remarkable weekend in the desert as well, scoring his maiden GP2 victory in the Sprint race. Third in the championship is Alex Rossi with 23 points after third and fourth place finishes.
Circuit de Catalunya Track & Race Info
- Length: 4.655 km
- Turns: 16
- Direction: Clockwise
- Race 1: 37 Laps
- Race 2: 26 laps
- Tyres: Hard (Orange) & Soft (Yellow)
Key Factors
- The wind. The circuit is known for frequent changes of wind direction during the, which messes with the aerodynamics of the cars and makes it hard to find a good set-up. Even though the drivers and engineers know the track well from testing, the usefulness of their experience is limited by the changeable conditions. Finding the right set-up requires a bit of luck as well, and there might be a few unexpected performances (both the good and the bad sort) from some teams.
- Turn 1, the braking zone after the start/finish-straight, is the main overtaking point. Turn 9 is a very tricky corner: a very fast right-hander that is quite steep uphill at first but goes back downhill towards the exit, making it blind to the drivers and therefore very difficult, the risk of running wide is considerably high. The last chicane with turns 14 and 15, is extremely slow and requires good traction to take some speed into the last corner and the start/finish-straight.
- Tyre degradation is high at this track. The abrasive surface as well as the high temperatures of Catalonia increase tyre wear, and the timetable with both midday and evening sessions will make it difficult to get a reliable prediction for how the tyres will react. Turn 3 with its constant acceleration the biggest challenge for the tyres.
Timetable
- Friday: Practice at 12:00 CEST, Qualifying at 15:55 CEST
- Saturday: Feature Race at 15:40 CEST
- Sunday: Sprint Race at 10:35 CEST
Penalties
MP Motorsports Sergio Canamasas received a penalty after the Bahrain Sprint race for causing a collision with Jordan King. The stewards found that the Spaniard did not leave enough room for King and was therefore handed a three place grid penalty for the Feature race in Barcelona.
Driver changes
Hilmer Motrosports returns to the series after not being able to compete in the first round: Johnny Cecotto Jr. and Nick Yelloly will drive for the German team this weekend.
