Spanish Grand Prix

The Spanish Grand Prix has enjoyed a regular spot on the Formula 1 calendar since the 1951 season. It has also been held solely in Barcelona since 1991 but will move to Madrid in 2026.

A street race in the Pedralbes neighbourhood of Barcelona, close to Camp Nou, marked F1’s first visit to the nation. But Formula 1 would only return to the Catalan roads in 1954 before moving the race to Jarama outside Madrid. Yet the event would not establish its true home.

Barcelona welcomed Formula 1 back off-and-on until 1975 as Formula 1 switched back and forth between a street track in Montjuic and at Jarama. Jerez also took over hosting the race from 1986 to 1990 to see F1 return to Spain. Jarama had held its last Formula 1 race in 1981.

History of the F1 Spanish GP

Spain had held Grand Prix racing off-and-on since 1913 but only joined the Formula 1 world championship in 1951. Juan Manuel Fangio won the maiden event in Pedralbes driving with Alfa Romeo. It was the last race of the season as the Argentine secured his first of five titles.

Yet, despite Formula 1 taking its 1951 title decider to Spain, the race did not return until the 1954 season. The event also marked the final round as Mike Hawthorn won with Ferrari. But Fangio had already won a championship wherein he drove for both, Maserati and Mercedes.

Spain then had to wait until 1968 to host another world championship race, although F1 did visit Jarama in 1967. Formula 1 held a post-season event shared with Formula 2 to check the circuit. Graham Hill then won the first championship race at Jarama en route to the F1 title.

Despite Formula 1 then going back and forth between Jarama and Montjuic, Jackie Stewart won three Spanish Grand Prix in a row. The Briton even took each win driving for a different team. He won with Maltra en route to the 1969 title then with March and lastly with Tyrrell.

Emerson Fittipaldi then matched Stewart’s achievement by winning at Jarama and Montjuic in back-to-back visits in 1972 and 1973. The Brazilian was the last driver to win successive Spanish GP at different circuits. Canadian hero Gilles Villeneuve won the last race at Jarama.

Five years on from Villeneuve’s victory, Ayrton Senna then became the first Formula 1 driver to win a Spanish GP at Jerez. He and Alain Prost each won twice at the circuit through its five years on the calendar. F1 then found its Spanish home at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Lella Lombardi was the first woman to score points in Formula 1

Before the Spanish GP found a home at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the 1975 race in Montjuic saw Lella Lombardi make Formula 1 history. She finished sixth in the mountainous area of Barcelona. In doing so, Lombardi became the first female driver to score points in F1.

But the 1975 Spanish GP was also a dark day for Formula 1, as four spectators lost their lives after Rolf Stommelen lost control of his car and crashed into faulty safety barriers. F1 drivers had earlier protested to drop the race due to safety concerns with Fittipaldi refusing to race.

Formula 1 would never return to Montjuic afterward but controversy engulfed the 1976 race at Jarama. The stewards disqualified James Hunt after he won from pole position as the rear of his McLaren was too wide. But they appealed and Hunt kept the win en route to the title.

Jerez’s brief time on the Formula 1 calendar was far less controversial but was not adored by all fans. The circuit generated a reputation for producing processional races behind the lead battle. Its best Spanish GP came at its first in 1986 as Senna, Prost and Nigel Mansell fought.

Senna came out on top at Jerez in 1986. But it was Mansell who won the first Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1991. The Briton triumphed on a rain-soaked track for Williams and returned to win again in 1992 for a Grand Slam having led every lap from pole.  

No driver has won at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya more than Lewis Hamilton

Further victories with Prost in 1993 and Damon Hill in 1994 saw Williams triumph at the first four Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. But Michael Schumacher got the spotlight away with six wins from 1995 to 2004 interrupted by Mika Hakkinen’s hat-trick.

Schumacher’s second Spanish GP win was also his first with Ferrari after the Scuderia prised the future seven-time F1 champion away from Benetton. The German mesmerised in heavy rain with a developing car to win by 45 seconds and with only the top three on the lead lap.

Like father like son, Jacques Villeneuve then won a Spanish GP in 1997 before Hakkinen put McLaren on course for four in a row. Only a late clutch and engine failure saw the Finn fail to win in 2001, handing the win to Schumacher as the German began his own winning streak.

No F1 driver has won the Spanish GP at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya more than Lewis Hamilton, though. The Briton had to wait until 2014 before he would stand on the top step of the podium. But his run of five in a row with Mercedes from 2017 until 2021 edged him clear.

Pastor Maldonado and Max Verstappen won their first Formula 1 races in Barcelona

Even Pastor Maldonado won a Spanish GP for Williams at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya before Hamilton. The Venezuelan held off home hero Fernando Alonso to win the 2012 race. But 90 minutes after Maldonado won his only F1 race, a fire erupted in the Williams garage.

Maldonado had claimed pole for the 2012 Spanish GP but lost out to Alonso at the start. Yet Williams ran a perfect strategy to keep the Venezuelan in contention and ultimately jumped the Spaniard. Alonso could not then find a way back ahead with Kimi Raikkonen just behind.

The 2016 Spanish GP also yielded a first win in Formula 1 for Max Verstappen after replacing Daniil Kvyat at Red Bull. At only 18 years old, Verstappen took the Russian’s seat mid-season after Sebastian Vettel called Kvyat a ‘torpedo’ for his driving at the Russian and Chinese GP.

Verstappen benefited after Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed out at Turn 4 on the first lap. Rosberg started in the wrong engine mode and moved late to defend Hamilton. Verstappen held off Raikkonen to win after Daniel Ricciardo made a late pit stop.

Formula 1 will move the Spanish GP to Madrid in the 2026 season

But while the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been the exclusive home of the Spanish GP since 1991, Formula 1 announced in January 2024 that it had agreed a contract to move the round to a new semi-permanent circuit in Madrid from the 2026 season with a 10-year deal.

The IFEMA exhibition centre will use both street and non-street sections to design a 5.5km (3.4m) track boasting 20 corners. F1 expects qualifying lap times of around 1:32 and for the circuit to hold 110,000 fans a day. Plans are also in place to increase its capacity to 140,000.

Formula 1 agreed to move the Spanish GP from Barcelona to Madrid with the aspirations of it being one of the most accessible races on the calendar. The circuit will be just five minutes away from the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez airport and boast strong public transport links.

What is the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya like?

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has often hosted Formula 1 test sessions, as well as the Spanish GP, as it is a complete track. But the racing the circuit generates has not always put it atop most fans’ preference sheets. A slow final sector can negate the 1km (0.6m) straight.

Turn 1 is generally the best overtaking spot after the long pit straight, though. But T10 also generates passes after the high-speed right-hander of Turn 9. While Turn 3 puts F1 cars to the test through a long, right-hander where drivers require a planted car to build up speed.

Winners of the F1 Spanish GP