Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a racing venue that hosts one of the Formula One World Championship races - the Spanish Grand Prix.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a dedicated racing track. It is situated in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It has a FIA Grade 1 license, which means that the circuit meets the highest standard of safety, infrastructure, layout, and other facilities.

With a capacity of 140 700 people, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya fills up every year to the last seat with international, but mainly local Spanish fans who come to support their home drivers - Fernando Alonso driving for Aston Martin and Carlos Sainz driving for Scuderia Ferrari.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was opened in 1991. That same year, the Spanish Grand Prix moved to this circuit and has been hosted at this circuit ever since. Prior to the opening of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Spanish Grand Prix was held at Circuito Permanente de Jerez from 1986 to 1990.

In its history, the circuit has had a few alterations. One of the most famous and recent examples is the removal of the last two sweeping right-hand corners heading onto the main straight.

Turbulent air behind cars made it almost impossible for drivers to follow each other closely to prepare and overtake on the main start/finish straight. The decision came to replace the two sweepers with a new, slower chicane.

However, the new last chicane failed to achieve its aim as the cars were still not able to follow each other closely enough to make an overtake in the majority of instances. In 2023, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya returned to its previous layout, bringing back the original two right-hand sweepers.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is one of the most popular circuits in the world and besides Formula One, the venue hosts countless other series such as European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Barcelona, Le Mans Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup France, Superbike World Championship, Supersport World Championship and others.