By Phil Huff
May 3 2005

The Circuit de Catalunya has had a firm place on the F1 calendar since 1991, and this year holds the 35th Spanish Grand Prix, fifteen of which were run here. Honda scored its first podium of its third generation in Formula One at the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix when Jacques Villeneuve finished third, while Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna scored consecutive Honda-powered victories from 1987 to 1989. The 2004 race saw both current BAR Honda drivers collect points.

The circuit is a mixture of long straights, medium-speed turns and high-speed corners. The fast, long corners promote understeer and produce high tyre wear, although a new track surface this year throws in a slight degree of unpredictability.

The long corners also make it a physically demanding track. The teams go for a medium-high downforce set-up configuration to enable good speed along the straights but sufficient grip for the tight and sweeping corners.

With significant gradient changes, and a very long straight, it's hard work for the engines and tyres. Around 58% of the lap is spent on full throttle, meaning the Honda engine will use around 3kg of fuel every single lap. The BAR Honda's of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato will therefore go through just over 200kgs of fuel each for qualifying and the race.

There's a very high fuel load penalty at this circuit, with each 10kg adding roughly 0.420s to the lap time.

Both drivers should have the engines run at San Marino fitted to their cars, so they'll be nearing the end of their designed lifespan after 66 laps. By contrast, both Ferrari's and both Renault's should be using fresh engines.