Preview - Spanish Grand Prix 2007.

After the season's three opening 'flyaway' races, a definite pattern is emerging, but nothing to suggest how the world championship is going to work out.

Three races, three different winners, and the one remaining frontrunner without a victory to his name share a three-way lead in the championship. Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have all topped the podium, leaving Lewis Hamilton to complete the quartet, and the Briton's performances so far suggest that it won't be long. Surprisingly, Hamilton did not test in Spain in the run-up to the opening grand prix of the European season, but that does not mean he will not be a factor this weekend.

The Circuit de Catalunya is well-known to all who will race there this week, having been a vital part of Formula One's testing schedule for many a year. As a result, there could be less time spent on track in practice, a pretty predictable qualifying line-up, and teams putting both their cars in close proximity on the grid. However, the battle for supremacy between McLaren and Ferrari will enliven the scrap for pole, while the closely-fought midfield will be out to prove just who came up with the best developments since Bahrain.

FIA F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP NEWS:

Four weeks between races - unprecedented in 'modern Formula One' - has allowed for the news and rumour mills to work overtime on several fronts.

Lewis Hamilton kicked things off back in Bahrain, with his third podium in as many starts extending his reputation as a record breaker. The Briton claimed his second straight runners-up spot, this time behind Felipe Massa, to take a share of the championship lead heading back to Europe

Perhaps prompted by the success of Hamilton and co, the various team bosses opened discussions about bringing on the drivers of tomorrow by opening at least one seat in Friday's practice sessions to rookie candidates. Unhappy with the current regulations governing the two 90-minute sessions, they also talked about doing away with the need to run in race spec. Although nothing was decided, it was ironic to then find that BMW Sauber intended to dispense with the services of teenager Sebastian Vettel so that its two race drivers could get more running on a race weekend!

One of the more outspoken team bosses, Flavio Briatore had more than a few things to say between races. As well as proposing that grands prix weekends feature two races in the style of GP2, he also put the boot in to classic tracks such as Silverstone, claiming that the sport should not be afraid to expand into new territories, even if it was at the expense of its historic venues.

Talks on the legality of so-called 'customer cars' were ongoing during and beyond the Bahrain weekend, but the idea received an extra support from FIA president Max Mosley, who claimed that the concept would 'safeguard the future' of F1.

Spyker is still waiting to hear a verdict following its protests of Super Aguri and Toro Rosso, but future 'customer' team Prodrive revealed that it had secured a title sponsor for its debut in 2008, and was in talks with three potential suppliers with regard to chassis and engine. McLaren remains most people's favourites to supply David Richards' outfit, with test drivers Gary Paffett and Pedro de la Rosa tipped to drive.

Ross Brawn's future also made the headlines, although the technical director/strategy guru insisted that he would be talking to Ferrari before making any other decisions. Should he not find what he is looking for at Maranello, the rumour mill continues to suggest that alternative employment awaits at either Honda or McLaren - although few teams would dismiss the chance to acquire someone with Brawn's record.

Talking technical, rear view mirrors, brake lights and the increasingly controversial floortrays all came in for scrutiny. Already small enough to seemingly preclude any clear sight of what may be behind, mirrors - and particularly the sidepod-mounted variation - came in for extra testing in Bahrain, with further checks rumoured in future. Brake lights, suggested as a future addition to the modern F1 car, have been put on the backburner for the time being, but the flexible floor debate rumbled on, with the FIA introducing yet another load test, this time featuring a four-fold increase to 200kg.

Elsewhere, the leaking of technical information made the news, as two former Ferrari employees were found guilty of passing secrets to Toyota. Mauro Iacconi got nine months and Angelo Santini 16. Whether such a fate awaits whoever passed Red Bull drawing to Spyker, providing the basis for the latter's 'customer car' protest against Scuderia Toro Rosso, remains to be seen.

Finally, Formula One returned to the Nordschleife, as Nick Heidfeld took a 2006-spec BMW Sauber F1.06 for a spin around the 'Green Hell'. Running on hard demonstration-spec tyres, the German did not threaten the track record, but the circuit won an instant place at the top of his favourites list.

NEWS FROM THE TEAMS:

McLaren - Fernando Alonso (#1), Lewis Hamilton (#2):

McLaren heads into the opening European round of the season as the strongest team on the grid - on paper at least. While Ferrari may have double the number of wins of its Woking rival, McLaren heads the constructors' championship and has both its drivers in P1 in the individual standings. While that may not have been unexpected of double world champion Fernando Alonso, the fact that rookie Lewis Hamilton is a co-leader speaks volumes for both the team and its newcomer.

The Spanish Grand Prix is, of course, a high point in the season for Alonso, and he can expect a huge turn-out to welcome him to the Circuit de Catalunya. Although disappointed by his Bahrain result, the Spaniard will have been buoyed by recent test developments and is determined to give the home crowd what it wants - a second win in as many years. The only downside this season is that his car colours do not match the Asturias flags that the majority of his fans will bring...

"As my home race, the Spanish Grand Prix is massively important to me," Alonso said, "The support I receive from the crowd all weekend is immense and it really does give me extra motivation to have a great race for them. However, there is no more pressure on me or more focus from me - when I am in the car, it is the same as any track, but it is my home and it is only natural to want to win.

"The race in Bahrain was not great for me, but I have arrived in Spain leading the world championship and that is a good position to be in going into the European season. We had a strong test at this track earlier this week and we got to understand more about how the car performs at the Circuit de Catalunya."

Hamilton, meanwhile, continues to ride the crest of the wave that has borne him aloft since Melbourne, with just a race win waiting to complete the scene. The Briton, however, is keeping his feet firmly planted on terra firma, preferring to focus on each event as it comes.

"It seems to have been a very long time since we last raced, and I cannot wait to get back in my car and back to the action," he insisted, "There has not been any relaxing on our part as, when I returned to the UK, I only had a couple of days before returning to the McLaren Technology Centre to work with the team on the development programme. We have had a couple of weeks where we can really focus on improvements in performance and I am looking forward to fighting for more points."

McLaren created one of the main talking points at the Barcelona group test in the run-up to the grand prix, when Pedro de la Rosa emerged from the garage with a radically different front wing. Instead of joining the side of the nose, the new top element clears it completely. The team naturally remained quiet on its development and it will be interesting to see whether it runs in Barcelona this weekend.

Renault - Giancarlo Fisichella (#3), Heikki Kovalainen (#4):

After disappointing results in Australia and Malaysia, Renault continued to struggle in Bahrain, with only Giancarlo Fisichella making the points - and then only after both cars had missed the Q3 cut in qualifying. In line with its rivals, the Enstone team has been hard at work in the four-week break, working on various improvements to the R27 in a bid to close the gap not just to Ferrari and McLaren, but also to BMW Sauber.

"Leaving Bahrain, we knew that the break to the next race would be one in name only," director of engineering Pat Symonds admitted, "There has been a huge amount of research and analysis conducted, as we work on finding the solutions to our current problems. In parallel with that, however, we have been pushing forward with our usual performance development, testing new parts for the coming races. The work has been above and beyond the call of duty for all of our staff and the response to our current situation has been exemplary.

"We have said that the road back to our normal level of competitiveness will be a long one, and that is still true. We have made good progress in our analysis and understanding of the R27, but we are not expecting a leap forward in our competitiveness relative to our rivals this weekend. It will be a tough race weekend where we have to fight for every point, but we have aerodynamic and mechanical updates to the car for Barcelona and, of course, we have been working hard to ensure we maintain our record of reliable race finishes."

Neither Fisichella or Heikki Kovalainen deviate from the belief that Barcelona is going to be another hard weekend, but both insist that they remain positive in spirit.

"The test last week gave us the opportunity to find a good set-up with the car and to work with some new parts," the Italian commented, "We are going in the right direction, and everybody in the team is very motivated, but our competitors are clearly working hard too and moving forward. The competition is very close at the moment, and we will need to be ready to battle again this weekend."

Ferrari - Felipe Massa (#5), Kimi Raikkonen (#6):

Like unexpected title rival Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen has been counting the days between Bahrain and Barcelona, eager to get his season underway again after having to settle for third place in the desert. Team-mate Felipe Massa, meanwhile, has been happy to bask in his Bahrain win, but remains determined to continue his battle for supremacy, both within the team and in F1 in general.

"More than ever, I can't wait to get back on the track, especially because the test session at the Catalunya was really positive," Raikkonen said, "We were able to improve the F2007 considerably, because the new components work really well and the car is now much closer to my style of driving. I'm much more optimistic now. It's true that you never know how competitive you really are compared to the other teams during the test sessions - and, obviously, for that we have to wait for the qualifying and the race - but the lap times [from testing] give us some hints.

"As I already said over the last weeks, we have to improve the performance in qualifying. It was not really easy for me to get all the potential out of the car on a single lap, because we never managed to prepare it to the best, but now I'm really happy about the steps forward."

Massa agrees that the Barcelona test was a success, with Ferrari topping the times on three of the four days.

"We have definitely made some improvements to the car, which was always planned for this first session after the opening three races outside Europe," he revealed, "The team has worked very hard and the reward is a good step forward, especially on the aerodynamic side. Apart from the new aero package, which includes a new engine cover, front wing and modified side pods, we have also come up with some changes to the mechanical side of the car, and that led to us seeing improvements in the set-up. The result of these changes is that the car is not only quick, but also more consistent.

"I think I can be optimistic about the Spanish Grand Prix. I won the last race, we had a good test at the same circuit and, even though it is never easy to win races, I can be confident. Within the team, we just want to keep the momentum going forward and everyone is working very hard in every area to achieve that."

Honda - Jenson Button (#7), Rubens Barrichello (#8):

More than anyone else on the grid, Honda will be hoping that the four-week gap between races has enabled it to make moves in the right direction with its RA107. The flyaway races were something of a nightmare for the Brackley outfit, with neither Jenson Button or Rubens Barrichello looking likely to score points and customer team Super Aguri continuing to cause it embarrassment on track.

The four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya allowed the team to try a number of solutions to its instability problem and, while optimistic, no-one is getting to excited until the results can be seen in competition.

"We used the test session in Barcelona to evaluate various specifications, particularly the latest aerodynamic parts," senior technical director Shuhei Nakamoto commented, "We gathered a great deal of data and believe that we have found a good set-up combination and made progress with the aerodynamics. The car seems to
be working better with the tyres now and our pace and reliability is steady. It's a small step forward, but there is much work still to do."

BMW Sauber - Nick Heidfeld (#9), Robert Kubica (#10):

BMW Sauber team boss, Mario Theissen has that the aim for them this weekend in Barcelona will be to maintain their position as the third-best team on the grid.

Thus far this season, BMW have done really well and in total they have notched up 18 points, thanks to three fourth places in succession from Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica's sixth place in Bahrain. Theissen is now hoping for more of the same in Spain.

"Our performances in the first three rounds of the World Championship have given us a very good start to the season and we have used the time since the Bahrain Grand Prix to fit in some intensive development work," he noted. "Our rivals will certainly have been doing much the same, though, and the burning question is whether the balance of power has shifted as a result. Our aim is very clear - to maintain our position as the third-best team on the grid."

BMW Sauber technical director, Willy Rampf meanwhile added that while testing was productive last week, it doesn't mean they won't have to do any set-up work in practice on Friday.

"Barcelona is one of the most popular testing venues for the teams, which might lead you to think that all the cars will automatically have a good set-up as a result. The fact is, however, that this course reacts very strongly to fluctuations in temperature, and often the wind also has a big impact," he explained. "All of which means that the track can present a different challenge time after time."

As for the progress they made during the recent test, Rampf reckons the work done will stand them in good stead: "In testing we tried out various new aerodynamics and chassis components, as well as modifications to the car's electronics - and these have yielded very promising results. I'm, therefore, approaching the race in confident mood," he added.

In a separate development meanwhile BMW has revealed that race regulars Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica will run the whole of Friday's two 90-minute practice sessions 'until further notice', ruling Sebastien Vettel and Timo Glock out of any participation for the time being.

Toyota - Ralf Schumacher (#11), Jarno Trulli (#12):

Toyota has been something of an enigma through the first three races of the year, showing decent qualifying pace by making the top ten on a consistent basis, but not really being a factor for serious points on race day. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher have combined to score at every round - with the Italian putting in a feisty drive in Bahrain, but one suspects that there is more to come from the TF107.

Trulli's drive to seventh place in Bahrain has the team in upbeat mood ahead of round four, and the TF107 has undergone an upgrade, with several aerodynamic changes including improved turning vanes, gearbox cladding and cooling chimneys, which were tested successfully in Barcelona last week.

"We will have a significant upgrade of our aerodynamic package for the Spanish Grand Prix, including a new engine cover, a new floor and new rear crash structure," senior general manager Pascal Vasselon expanded, "We are confident it will bring better performance in Barcelona, and the Circuit de Catalunya is usually a good judge of whether a car is competitive - if you are quick at Barcelona, you should go well at most places. We have finished in the points in every race so far this season, so clearly that is again the expectation."

While Schumacher admits that he needs to raise his game after two disappointing showing in Malaysia and Bahrain, team-mate Trulli is hoping to continue his scoring streak at a circuit where he has visited the podium in seasons past.

"I had a great race in Bahrain to finish seventh, so I am going to the Spanish Grand Prix in a good mood," the Italian commented, "It was a difficult race for me but I was very pleased with my performance. However, we saw in Bahrain that we need to work on a few things if we are to compete with the fastest cars. We will have an updated car for this race and, in testing, that seemed to be a good step forward. Obviously, everyone else is likely to have improvements on the car, but I hope we can make a performance gain. My most recent podium finish was in Spain two years ago - I don't know if we can repeat that result but I am certainly hoping for more points."

Red Bull Racing - David Coulthard (#14), Mark Webber (#15):

Bahrain would have provided optimism if nothing else for the Red Bull Racing team, with both Mark Webber and David Coulthard enjoying strong showings before retirement.

The Australian maintained his perfect record of making the top ten in qualifying, while DC overcame a reliability-afflicted Saturday session by rising rapidly through the field on Sunday after adopting an aggressive raceplan.

Since then, the team has been working hard on developments for Spain and beyond. No surprise there, of course, as all eleven teams will have been following similar programmes, but RBR will bring more than just aero developments to Barcelona.

"Our plans always included an extensive bodywork update to arrive in time for this race, but we also planned to introduce a step forward in transmission performance for Spain," technical director Mark Smith confirmed.

"The relatively late confirmation of the switch to Renault power meant we were not up to speed earlier in some areas so, right from the beginning, we decided, for logistical reasons, to target the Barcelona test for the introduction of our transmission development and happily the testing was successful in this respect.

"The aero package involves the front wing, bargeboards and rear bodywork, including the appropriate cooling exits. Why do we need these updates? Why did the car not start the year with them if they were always planned? Because of ongoing aero work in the wind tunnel, every week produces something that will improve performance on the car. A Formula One car is essentially in a state of continuous development and the difficult decision is choosing the moment to freeze this work and turn it into a package that is put on the car. You have to assess how much you have moved forward with your development, and what are the logistical implications.

"On top of that, the first three races have thrown up some reliability issues and the Barcelona test last week means that, hopefully, we have addressed those too, notably the problem we had with the fuel flap.

Williams - Nico Rosberg (#16), Alex Wurz (#17):

Having featured in and around the top ten throughout the Bahrain weekend, despite not having tested at the desert circuit, Williams will naturally be hoping for more in Barcelona - despite its pre-race test being interrupted by two sizeable accidents for Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg, which prompted it to pack up early.

Mishaps aside, the team is confident that its revised aero package, combined with mechanical upgrades and the experience of its driver line-up will still deliver key performance advantages - and points finishes - this weekend.

"We have an aerodynamic and mechanical package upgrade for the FW29 for the Spanish Grand Prix, which will give the cars some more performance to help close the gap to the frontrunners," technical director Sam Michael commented, "However, although we spend quite a bit of time testing at Barcelona, circuit conditions over the grand prix weekend are usually quite different with respect to grip level and wind."

Rosberg, now in his second season in F1, is looking forward to the first European race of the year, particularly as it takes place in Barcelona.

"It is always a great place to race because of the amazing atmosphere there," he noted, "I'm looking forward to fighting hard again to get us to the top of the middle pack and get some points for the team."

Although Rosberg has twice made the top ten in qualifying, veteran team-mate Alex Wurz has still to better eleventh, and knows that an improvement will be key this weekend.

"Barcelona will be a very interesting race for everyone in the paddock because it will show which of the teams' aero upgrades are the most efficient" the Austrian said, "Even though I have done so many tests at Barcelona over the years, it is always challenging to get it right over the race weekend, and this year particularly so because of the new chicane in the last sector. Qualifying will be very important because overtaking is almost impossible on the track."

Scuderia Toro Rosso - Vitantonio Liuzzi (#18), Scott Speed (#19):

Just like its rivals, Scuderia Toro Rosso has made the most of the four-week gap between the third and fourth rounds of the Formula One world championship to develop its car, but admits that it had more work to do than most.

The late arrival of the contentious STR2 left the Faenza team with precious little time to complete its preparations before it was thrust into the 'flyaway' sequence of events in Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain, and the break since round three has allowed for detailed examination of key parts of the package.

"Like most teams, after the first three grands prix, we have a significant upgrade to our aerodynamic package, including the major element of a new rear wing," chief engineer Laurent Mekies, "The aero package update also includes new side pod wings, which are the two elements easy to see from the grandstands.

"In addition, however, the main aspect of our aero update is one that is harder to spot, but one that we believe is as important as the more obvious items. We have paid very close attention to the quality of all components that affect the aerodynamics on the car. As everyone knows, we really had to rush simply to get parts ready for the first three races and the price we paid for rushing was that the quality level was not up to the standard we wanted.

"Now, we have worked on the aero quality of the parts, which involves ensuring that there is a better fit between all the bodywork components. There are a large number of bodywork components and the quality of the fit between them can have a significant effect on their aero efficiency.

"Furthermore, the flexibility - or rather the stiffness - of these parts, to ensure they do not flex in the wind, is also important, as is the actual smoothness of each piece of bodywork. We have worked hard on the quality of the surface of our aero parts to get more performance out of them and, to this end, we have now removed all the stickers from the bodywork and replaced them with paint. This not only makes for a smoother less resistant surface, it also brings with it a weight saving benefit. And, from an aesthetic point of view, the car also looks much nicer!

"We believe this pursuit of efficiency is just as important as getting something like new bargeboards or wing endplates. We are paying attention to detail and going for a quality product, optimising what we have. This is an ongoing task in an area where you are constantly striving to improve. The result of our efforts is that we should be in better shape for Barcelona than we were at the first three races."

While the aerodynamic modifications are the most obvious changes on the Toro Rosso cars, Mekies reveals that work has also been carried out in other areas.

"We will also have some new mechanical parts that increase our flexibility when it comes to working on the car, giving us more set-up options," he confirmed, "Over the first three grands prix, we had two reliability failures in the races. When you start the year with three flyaway races, you have to come up with interim solutions to fix reliability issues, while now we believe we have worked out proper solutions for the faults that caused the two retirements we have suffered to date."

Apart from the fact the Spanish Grand Prix is the first event after a short break in the calendar, it is also a logical choice for introducing aero changes on the car, because of the nature of the track at the Circuit de Catalunya.

"It is a tricky track in terms of downforce level choices," Mekies explained, "The layout demands as much downforce as possible, but it also has one of the longest straights of the year, made even more complicated since the recent change to the track layout. It is a difficult choice opting for as much downforce for pure lap time speed and yet having a car capable of overtaking. We have back-to-back tested the different set-ups, but we won't know how we stand in terms of top speed compared to the
others until the race weekend."

Spyker F1 - Christijan Albers (#20), Adrian Sutil (#21):

If Red Bull Racing reckons nothing will come close to the amount of development parts being introduced for this weekend's Spanish GP, Spyker may lay claim to the greatest amount of work that has gone on since the start of the year.

Admittedly, the F8-VII probably needed the most attention after debuting disappointingly in Australia, but chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne is confident that the programme being followed back at Silverstone will begin to show results now that the circus is back in Europe.

"The start of the season was difficult for us as we only had very limited pre-season testing, then we didn't do the two tests in Malaysia and Bahrain," he confirmed, "We also introduced updates in Malaysia that were hard to do in the field, so it was always going to be tough. Barcelona, however, will be a much more representative demonstration of what we can do compared to the teams in front.

"I think, certainly for Barcelona, the amount of testing we've done will be an advantage. We did a pre-season test there when other teams went to Bahrain, which we've now followed up with a further three-day test. Although the running was limited by the weather, we still got a couple of days of decent running and had more time to work with the new parts we introduced for Malaysia. On the last with Christijan especially, we made some progress with the set-up of the car that I think that will translate into a far more competitive weekend for us.

"Obviously, other teams have more mileage than us but, specifically for Barcelona, we're on a par with the others now. We're certainly not at the disadvantage we were in the last two races where the other teams had tested at the circuits and we hadn't."

Adrian Sutil will be heading to a circuit he knows, unlike the opening three rounds, while Christijan Albers has been buoyed by a strong day of testing in Barcelona last week.

"It's been a tough start, but it has been quite hard for everybody in the pit-lane," the Dutchman commented, "We're just doing as best as we can. Adrian, myself and the team are all pushing really hard but, as you've seen, it's not easy. We've had some bad luck, but now it's time to draw a line under that and really look forward to the rest of the year. I think we will grow through the season - we missed some testing at the start and now we're getting closer and closer everyday. One day we will be competitive with the other cars and finally get that fighting spirit."

Super Aguri F1 - Takuma Sato (#22), Anthony Davidson (#23):

After a low-key Malaysian Grand Prix, Super Aguri returned to Melbourne form in Bahrain, with Anthony Davidson making it through to Q2 and then running as high as sixth owing to his strategy.

The only downside to the performance was a lack of reliability that saw both drivers retire in a cloud of engine smoke - Davidson dramatically so - but the team is confident (spot a recurring theme here?) that work done between races will allow both drivers to keep up the pressure on the midfield.

"I am pleased that we have been able to continue our rate of performance increase from last year to this," chief designer Peter McCool said, "This season we are most definitely not last. That vindicates our determined approach to improve performance.

"In true SAF1 style, we bit off more than we should have done [at the latest Barcelona test], but we have introduced a new carbon gearbox and a comprehensive aero package that includes a revised floor, a new chicken, chimney, T-wing and a whole new rear wing package. It was a shame that the bad weather precluded us from fully optimising this package for the forthcoming race, but I am confident that the hard work of the aero and design departments will be repaid with a good race result."

TYRES:

The fourth round of the season - officially the Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica - will see Bridgestone bring similar compounds of Potenza tyre to those used in Malaysia and Bahrain, namely hard and medium. The softer compound will feature the painted white groove to distinguish it as the option tyre.

"From the test last week, it was clear that the medium compound was, on the whole, the more competitive," head of track engineering Kees van der Grint revealed, "However, we should keep in mind that track temperatures last week and in February were on the low side and we also had rain, which meant we had quite a green track at times.

"Should we experience higher temperatures during the race weekend, the hard compound tyre could well come into play. Last week's test also enabled the teams to run both the wet and extreme wet weather tyres and, in our opinion, both performed well in their respective windows."

A circuit where aerodynamics are crucial, Barcelona has also undergone changes ahead of this season's grand prix, but van der Grint does not foresee any major problems on the tyre front.

"In the past, the nature of this circuit has resulted in high degradation and graining, particularly on the front left tyres," he noted, "However, this has become less of an issue now as the construction of the 2007 tyres provides a good balance for the cars and that, in combination with the track layout changes and the introduction of the chicane, which make speeds lower through the final turns, has resulted in a less severe circuit from a tyre manufacturer's point of view."

THE TRACK:

Race distance: 66 laps - Circuit length: 2.875 miles (4.627 km)

Built as part of Barcelona's Olympic development programme, the Circuit de Catalunya is located 20kms north of the Calatan capital on land purchased by the Real Autom?vil Club de Catalunya. It was the RACC's wish to bring F1 back to Spain's spiritual home of motorsport on a permanent basis and the Circuit de Catalunya has hosted every Spanish GP since it was completed in 1991.

Former Minardi driver Luis Perez Sala advised on the layout of the track and it follows the principles of many modern circuits with a long straight and a number of high-speed corners, making the aerodynamic efficiency of cars particularly important. The nature of the track is such that it 'loads' the left front corner of a car particularly heavily, causing understeer problems.

Changes made since the 2006 event, however, have removed two of the faster corners at the end of the lap, reducing speeds onto the main straight with the introduction of a tight left-right chicane. The tarmac in the revised section is reportedly slippery, and the new chicane has yet to receive the backing of the drivers, who feel it spoils the flow of the circuit. Elsewhere, the wall at turn three has been moved back to improve safety.

The Circuit de Catalunya hosts many pre-season tests so it is one of the most familiar venues on the F1 calendar. However, its high-speed nature makes it a physically tough challenge for drivers, although by this stage of the season, they will have reached a good level of race fitness. For the huge amount of spectators who flock to the circuit on race day, it is a well laid-out circuit, with easy access and good viewing positions that give a stadium-style ambience.

THE WINNER?

Once again, current form makes it difficult to look beyond McLaren and Ferrari when it comes to picking potential winners. Ferrari topped three of the four days in Barcelona testing last week - with Red Bull claiming the other - suggesting Kimi Raikkonen or Felipe Massa may be favourite, but McLaren arrived at the test with a radical aero package - and with both its drivers topping the championship table. If 'people power' comes into the equation, the Silver Arrows may move ahead in the favourite stakes, with Alonso able to call on the vocal Spanish crowd and Lewis Hamilton carrying the backing of his new British fanbase as he chases a first F1 win. Beyond this quartet, the rest are chasing scraps from the podium.

LAST SEASON:

Fernando Alonso made a little bit of history as he continued his early season march by taking the first home win for a Spanish driver. Unable to live with the local favourite, Michael Schumacher settled for splitting the Renaults, with Felipe Massa following Giancarlo Fisichella home in fourth for formation finish. Kimi Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld and both Hondas scored - a situation the latter would like to repeat this season. There was no joy for Juan Pablo Montoya, however, as the Colombian spun out early on...

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 66 laps 1hr 26m 21.759s
2. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari-Ferrari +18.502
3. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault-Renault +23.951
4. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari +29.859
5. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +56.875
6. Jenson Button Britain Honda-Honda +58.347
7. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda-Honda +1 lap
8. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber +1 lap