Preview of the Spanish Grand Prix F1 2022: scheduled round of updates

This weekend on the Spanish track Barcelona-Catalonia is the sixth round of the 2022 Formula One World Championship.

The Spanish Grand Prix is ​​one of the classic games in the Formula One calendar, and as has often been the case in previous seasons, this year several teams will introduce an update based on their findings in previous rounds.

The Barcelona-Catalonia race is a well-known track for teams and racers, as it has been on the calendar since 1991, and it is also the place where the first winter tests take place. Last year, the 2.9-mile track underwent minor changes and it includes high, medium and low speed turns, direction changes, wavy and long start-finish lines. There’s just a bit of it here, making it the perfect place for testing.

There are two DRS zones, one on the main straight line leading to the first chicane and the other after nine turns, on the rear straight line leading to the 10th turn. As always on this track, drivers will have to deal with wind direction changes that have a significant impact on the balance of the cars, which explains the medium and high levels of downforce used here. Looking at the weather, we should have excellent conditions both during Saturday’s qualifiers and in Sunday’s race. Pirelli has highlighted its hardest compounds: C1 as white hard, C2 as yellow medium and C3 as red soft.

It will be interesting to see how the redesigned cars of 2022 will behave in Spain, especially due to changes in the rules that provide for the return of ground effects. The changes are aimed at creating closer races and more opportunities for overtaking, although the Barcelona-Catalonia route is not the easiest place to pass successfully.

At the weekend, the leader in the 2022 racing championship is Charles Leclerc of Ferrari with 104 points. Max Ferstappen of Red Bull Racing is in second place with 85 points, and Red Bull co-driver Sergio Perez is third with 66 points. In the championship of designers Ferrari is in the lead with 157 points, against 151 in Red Bull and 95 in Mercedes-Benz AMG. Last year’s winner in Spain was Lewis Hamilton, who drove Mercedes.