Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya plays host to the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend, with the team travelling across the border for the fourth round of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship. The circuit is very familiar amongst drivers, who are used to pounding around the 4.675km track for winter testing. However, a break from tradition means this will be our first visit of the year, and the recently remodelled Turn 10 will offer a new challenge to contend with. Roy Nissany, the team’s Test Driver, will complete his first FP1 session of the year in Spain, taking to the track in place of George Russell.

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
Having had a short winter testing period in Bahrain at the beginning of this year, this is our first trip to Barcelona since the race last August. Last summer it was very hot, and conditions were quite different to those that we normally experience in Barcelona. Returning to the traditional slot in May will be a good test for all the cars.

The Circuit De Barcelona-Catalunya offers a good mixture of corner speeds and some exciting elevation changes that combine to make it a useful test of a car’s all-round performance. The reprofiled T10 will provide a new challenge this year to an otherwise familiar circuit.

Roy Nissany will drive George’s car during FP1 this weekend and will complete some of our test work during that session. Roy has done a very good job each time he has driven the car and we are looking forward to getting his input this weekend. George will then take over driving duties for FP2.

Nicholas Latifi:
I’m looking forward to going again, especially after a tough weekend out in Portugal. I’m ready to reset and get stuck into the next race. I think Barcelona normally has more stable weather conditions than those we experienced in Portugal, so hopefully that will translate into better performance. On a personal side, I do want to try and understand what went wrong last weekend so we can rectify that and hit the ground running in Barcelona.

Roy Nissany:
I’m very keen to get back in the car. Barcelona was my first FP1 session last year and we have made a lot of progress since then, so I’m looking forward to demonstrating that on track. It feels great to experience the steps of development each time I jump in the car.

George Russell:
I have very mixed feelings from our weekend in Portugal. There were lots of positives to takeaway, but equally lots of lessons to learn from the performance on Sunday. We know the strengths and weaknesses of the car so hopefully we can work on that over the course of this week.

I’m looking forward to returning to Barcelona; the first two sectors are fast and flowing, which makes them great to drive. When you arrive at the final sector it’s quite slow and it does not offer any overtaking opportunities which can definitely hurt, but it will also be interesting to see how the change to Turn 10 impacts the driving and the racing.