2011 Spanish Grand Prix programme

Have all the important information for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at your fingertips with the F1 Fanatic race programme:

The race weekend

2011 Spanish Grand Prix preview – F1?óÔé¼??s formula for entertainment gets its biggest test in Spain

2011 F1 championship points – Full drivers and teams points standings heading into this weekend’s race.

2011 Spanish Grand Prix – More race weekend information including the support races.

Reserve drivers

The following changes to the usual driver line-up will be made for first practice only:

Nico Hulkenberg will drive Paul di Resta’s car at Force India.

Toro Rosso have not confirmed whether Daniel Ricciardo will be driving for them. He has in every first practice session so far this year.

Tyres

Pirelli’s tyre choices will once again be the hard (silver coloured) and soft (yellow coloured) tyres.

However the compound of the hard tyre has been changed. They will use a harder compound they have been developing in practice during previous race weekends:

• Pirelli to introduce ‘super hard’ tyre in Barcelona

Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery explains how the tyres have changed in this video:

Stewards

Former F1 driver Mark Blundell will be the drivers’ advisor to the stewards for the first time this weekend.

Blundell raced in F1 between 1991 and 1995 for Brabham, Ligier, Tyrrell and McLaren.

He joins Paul Gutjahr, president of Auto Sport Suisse, and world motor sport council member Radovan Novak.

The track

Williams preview of the Circuit de Catalunya:

The Circuit de Catalunya was first used in 1991, taking over from Jerez as the home of the Spanish Grand Prix.

The first race was a memorable affair, which saw Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell racing wheel-to-wheel, almost touching as they hurtled down its long straight.

But as F1 cars became more aerodynamically efficient, Catalunya’s long, sweeping corners increasingly mitigated against overtaking. Some of these corners were cut back for safety reasons in 1994 and again in 2007.

The circuit is also a popular testing destination – even with today’s strict limits on testing the teams have already been there twice this year.

The crowd may have been thin in the early days but the rise of Fernando Alonso has fixed that and the circuit owners had to increase capacity to meet demand.

Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona – circuit information – Track data, fastest laps, strategy information and more

Changing tracks: Circuit de Catalunya – How the circuit has changed since it was first used 20 years ago

The weather

Typically sunny weather is expected in Barcelona this weekend:

2011 Spanish Grand Prix weather forecast – F1 set for dry and warm weekend in Barcelona

Following the race live

F1 Fanatic Live will be open for your comments during every session.

Join us for every lap of the race, qualifying and practice at these times:

Friday 20th May 2011

Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice 1: 10:00-11:30 (UK time: 9:00-10:30)
Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice 2: 14:00-15:30 (UK time: 13:00-14:30)

Saturday 21st May 2011

Spanish Grand Prix Free Practice 3: 11:00-12:00 (UK time: 10:00-11:00)
Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying: 14:00 (UK time: 13:00)

Sunday 22nd May 2011

Spanish Grand Prix: 14:00 (UK time: 13:00)

More session times and live coverage details here: 2011 Spanish Grand Prix TV Times

You can follow F1 Fanatic on Twitter for updates throughout the race weekend:

• Follow F1 Fanatic on Twitter for news, comment and more
• Follow F1 Fanatic Live for updates during every session
• Follow F1 Fanatic Update so you never miss an article

And you can use the F1 Fanatic Live Twitter app to get updates from the drivers, teams and media at the circuit:

• F1 Fanatic Live Twitter app

2010 Spanish Grand Prix highlights

Mark Webber stormed to victory from pole position in Barcelona last year.

Team mate Sebastian Vettel fell behind Lewis Hamilton during the first round of pit stops and was further delayed by a brake problem later in the race.

Hamilton looked set for second until a broken wheel rim caused a tyre failure which sent him into the barriers. That promoted Fernando Alonso to second place ahead of Vettel.

2010 Spanish Grand Prix review – Webber dominates Spanish Grand Prix as Hamilton crashes out of second place

2010 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying – Webber beats Vettel to pole

Previous Spanish Grands Prix

2009 Spanish Grand Prix – Button wins again with the old two-stop
2008 Spanish Grand Prix – Raikkonen leads crushing Ferrari 1-2
2007 Spanish Grand Prix – Massa wins, Hamilton leads championship
2006 Spanish Grand Prix – Alonso first Spaniard to win at home
2005 Spanish Grand Prix – Raikkonen takes comfortable win
1994 Spanish Grand Prix – Hill wins as Schumacher clings to second
1986 Spanish Grand Prix – Senna beats Mansell by 0.01 seconds

Join in the 2011 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship

There’s F1 races tickets DVDs and more to be won. Play for free by guessing the top five in each race.

You can enter and edit your predictions up to the start of qualifying on Saturday:

• F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship

Image design by PJ Tierney