After back to back races at the home of motorsport that is Silverstone, Formula One have ventured onto another stalwart of the motorsport scene, Barcelona. Following his win last week, Max Verstappen and the Red Bull will be looking to capitalize on what could be another exceedingly hot weekend for Formula One.
Given the issues Mercedes had last time out, they will be relieved to hear that a slightly harder compound of tyre will be used this weekend. Following two weekends of tyres degradation, Mercedes, and the rest of the grid, will be hoping for a lot more of a predictable race in that department.
Track Profile
Barcelona as a track is very similar track to Silverstone, a combination of fast and slow corners along with heavy breaking zones. Being on the calendar since 1991, it is a track that both drivers and fans are very familiar with. The iconic long,fast right-hander making up turns three and four are some of the most action packed corner on the calendar. This was highlighted by Romain Grosjean in 2018, when he spun the car mid way through the corner, sparking a domino effect of chaos.
The addition of the final chicane in the 2000's added a bit more time to the final sector before reaching the back straight. it offers a more technical aspect of the track, in comparison to the first two sectors which are much more straightforward. An area where the Mercedes cars will no doubt excel.
Ferrari Power
One man who will be wanting a change of fortunes will be Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. The Dane failed to finish in both of the racing in Great Britain, following an accident with Alex Albon in race one of the first lap. The second race was little better. Magnussen completed most of the race, however retired late on, following being towards the back of the pack, and copping a penalty after being deemed to have come back onto the track dangerously.
He will be one of the six Ferrari powered drivers who will be wanting a fresh start this weekend. The Dane spent the most time in the top three of any Ferrari driver so far this year, spelling just how bad Ferrari's season has been so far. Charles Leclerc has been going above and beyond with the car he has, however teammate Sebastian Vettel, seems to be buckling under the pressure.
The whole race weekend will be shown live on Sky Sports F1, with highlights being uploaded to YouTube of each session.
Session Timings
Friday 14th August 2020
FP1: 10:00am -11:30am
FP2: 2:00pm -3:30pm
Saturday 15th August 2020
FP3: 11:00 am -12:00pm
Qualifying: 2:00pm -3:00pm
Sunday 16th August 2020
Race: 2:10pm