Spanish GP 2010 - Barcelona

[WhiteBlue]

Spanish Grand Prix - Transport

The Circuit de Catalunya is 20km north of Barcelona. The best way of getting there by public transport from Barcelona is to take a local train (cercanias) from any of the following three stations: Sants, Passeig de Gràcia or El Clot. The train will be going to Macanet-Massanes but you must get off at Montmeló. Montmeló is on the green number 2 line, 5 stops after El Clot.

There are trains every 30 minutes and the journey takes about 40 minutes. A transfer will be usually available from the Montmeló train station to the Circuit de Catalunya. If not the walk is 2.5 km or about 30 minutes from Montmelo train station to one of the gates of the circuit. Pay attention to your gate as the walk is twice as long one if you go for the wrong gate.





If you're coming from Girona you should take take a RENFE train on line 2 heading for Barcelona and get off at Montmeló. The journey takes about one hour.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsp ... 629477.stm?

Some bold predictions about tyre utilization in Spain.

Red Bull were soundly beaten by the weather at the Chinese Grand Prix after dominating qualifying. Yet there was evidence they would not have won even if the Shanghai race had been dry.
When both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber pitted prematurely for a rain shower that quickly passed, Red Bull's chances on Sunday were scuppered.
That set the stage for Jenson Button's victory. In a dry race, the chances are it would have been Fernando Alonso's Ferrari that beat the Red Bulls - and the reasons why make the Spaniard a strong contender for victory at the next race in Spain.

[raceman]

aah

three weeks to go now to start European season!

looking forward to the upgrades teams will bring to their respective cars and hoping to tweak the pecking order.

[raymondu999]

Yes it'll be interesting to see. I wonder how the teams would look like in terms of pace for that track. Anyone have weather forecasts? I'd like a dry race for once lol. I like overtaking, but I'm not too crazy of artificial order-jumbling. lol

[Paul]

Still can't get over how they destroyed two flowing right handers with that chicken(c). If they wanted to improve overtaking, should've tinkered with the first corner.

[donskar]

Yes it'll be interesting to see. I wonder how the teams would look like in terms of pace for that track. Anyone have weather forecasts? I'd like a dry race for once lol. I like overtaking, but I'm not too crazy of artificial order-jumbling. lol

+1

My feelings exactly. I want to see the best car-driver combination win -- not the one that just happens to choose the right tire at the right time.

[raymondu999]

Yes it'll be interesting to see. I wonder how the teams would look like in terms of pace for that track. Anyone have weather forecasts? I'd like a dry race for once lol. I like overtaking, but I'm not too crazy of artificial order-jumbling. lol

+1

My feelings exactly. I want to see the best car-driver combination win -- not the one that just happens to choose the right tire at the right time.

LOL!! You took the words right from the tip of my tongue. I was just about to post that.

Still can't get over how they destroyed two flowing right handers with that chicken(c). If they wanted to improve overtaking, should've tinkered with the first corner.

Well I guess Alonso's happy that he's got a new chicken. I can see where you're coming from, this would be a silverstone-like super flowing track with the old layout, but it does make for a better testing track though doesn't it, to be fair? Not only is your aero tested but your mechanical gets tested as well. You need good mechanical grip for a fast chicane, and you need a great confident suspension setting which allows the driver to line up the apexes nicely. You need great traction too to launch from the second corner. (from the chicane that is, not Turn 2)

I guess as it stands right now (barring any upgrades they have on the cars later on in Spain) I think that Red Bull just has the best traction, stability and grip to navigate the fast turns, doesn't it? Making it a clear favorite for a front-row lockout. However we've heard how they're the hardest on the tyres (of the top 4 teams) and how Ferrari are the lightest of the top 4 teams, so I think *maybe* Ferrari might have a better race pace. No?

[WhiteBlue]

What is looking strange in this table? Right it is Williams and Sauber. Sauber to be pointless at this time after four races would have been a very brave bet in February and Williams with six of the new devalued points is also not where the traditional master team expected to be at this time. Anybody offering explanations? In both cases they are running with a new engine and had to learn the integration. But is that sufficient explanation in comparison how Toro Rosso does?

[gibells]

I actually think Williams are dong well based on their last few years. Looking at it now though, I'd have definitely stuck a Renault in the back. And with the fact Renault are going to get a free upgrade.

Anyway, I'm sure Ruby and the Hulk will start pulling back to the top of the mid-fielders pretty soon.

[manchild]

A friend of mine will find himself in Spain during GP, so despite being unplanned, he might squeeze just enough money for Sunday only ticket. Has anyone got the idea how much are the cheapest ones?

EDIT: Been looking, they don't sell individual daily tickets, but only Friday to Sunday?

Now that's great way to rip off people who can't spend whole weekend.

[WhiteBlue]

I actually think Williams are dong well based on their last few years. Looking at it now though, I'd have definitely stuck a Renault in the back. And with the fact Renault are going to get a free upgrade.

Anyway, I'm sure Ruby and the Hulk will start pulling back to the top of the mid-fielders pretty soon.

Another explanation for the Williams lack of results may be Nico Rosberg is not driving for them any more. Last year he got all their points. This year he almost got all the Merc points. Perhaps he is better than people have believed so far.

[marcush.]

last year at this time Ferari only had 1 points finish(Raikkonen ),BMW only 1 points finish(Heidfeld),Force India zero points..Toro Rosso were in front of Williams thanks to Bourdais(!)

to me williams looked better then they really were ,considering they had DDD difusser ,as Toyota and Brawn already on their car...

so to me the real disappointment is Sauber ,Red Bull and Mercedes with their results

Red Bull not capitalising on the strongest car ,Mercedes with a car not quick enough for wins and Sauber diclining instead of reversing last years failure

[raymondu999]

I thought Buemi constantly outperformed Bourdais last year?

Not sure if this is the right place to discuss this too, but I think it's the pressure of having a championship-winning car. Sure the car's fast, and the team of engineers can manage it, but I think Horner, the team managers, the engineers (track) are cracking under the pressure of needing to perform. Sure the car's fast, and they had a title charge last year, but that was more of just keeping on pushing to catch up to the Brawns. I think that the Red Bull team are probably suffering because they have such a fast car, which is (barring reliability issues) quite capable of dominating the season (a la 2002 Ferrari), and so they're not willing to take chances with anything, and sometimes taking gambles when they shouldn't be.

[marcush.]

Bourdais was outperformed by Buemi,yes, but still bagged a point ,which was lifting them ahead of Williams ...that was my point..

Red Bull is underperforming ,end of story .this is not the cars ,nor the drivers(at least not Vettels) fault but the team is not performing as needed.

[TheRMVR]

What is looking strange in this table? Right it is Williams and Sauber. Sauber to be pointless at this time after four races would have been a very brave bet in February and Williams with six of the new devalued points is also not where the traditional master team expected to be at this time. Anybody offering explanations? In both cases they are running with a new engine and had to learn the integration. But is that sufficient explanation in comparison how Toro Rosso does?

I sadly think that Williams is at the end of their existence. We all share a strange sympathy with the team somewhere in the back of our heads I guess. You can't really hate Williams only admire the love of sport Frank, Patrick and Sam have. But at the same time we have to conclude that they're not doing a good job and haven't been doing one for a long time. Some people say that once there is a budgetcap they will be back on track but I doubt that.

If you look at Force India who take over a team with a car that has been at the back of the field for a decade and turn it into an almost race-winning car that is a frequent point taker with a budget no greater than Williams' within two seasons, then I really fear for Williams' existence.
(Besides that Mallya deserves huge credit for his leadership)


I would love to see Williams win again, but now that Rosberg has gone and Barrichello has arrived I don't think they will. And as long as teams like Force India and Renault are on the up, things could get only worse for Williams.

I always thought a merger with Toyota F1 would be a great idea for Williams, but now they're gone I guess maybe Peter Sauber should talk to Frank Williams about creating a privateer strong enough to win some points/races.


Something has to change there, it's not just the money they are lacking but it's the innovative, initiative-taking people that made Williams great that should return.

[marcush.]

Force India and possibly Toro Rosso show Peter Sauber and Patrick Head the way ,no question about that.
With Lotus and Virgin already two new teams are on the rise and williams needs to adapt quickly to the new area to survive.
I´d think Barrichello was a good move for them though ...sauber showed less insight by taking PDR ...he´s not convincing me.