Spanish Grand Prix: Start time, how to watch, weather and more

When is the Spanish Grand Prix?

The tenth round of the 2024 Formula 1 season is the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.  

• Date: Sunday 23 June 2024 
• Start time: 1pm GMT / 2pm BST / 3pm CEST / 7pm ET / 11pm AEST 

The Spanish Grand Prix will take place between 21-23 of June, with Sunday’s race starting at 2pm BST – 3pm local time.  

What are the timings for the Spanish Grand Prix?

Here are the full timings for the Spanish Grand Prix: 

Friday 21 June:  

• FP1 – 12:30pm BST / 7:30am ET / 9:30pm AEST 
• FP2 – 4pm BST / 11am ET / 1am AEST 

Saturday 22 June:  

• FP3 – 11:30am BST / 6:30am ET / 8:30pm AEST 
• Qualifying - 3pm BST / 8am ET / 12am AEST 

Sunday 23 June: 

• Race – 2pm BST / 9am ET / 11pm AEST 

What is the weather forecast for the Spanish Grand Prix?

It is expected to be a warm and sunny weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix with high temperatures of 25°C/77 Fahrenheit and lows of 17°C/62.6 Fahrenheit. 
 
Friday 21 June:  
 
Friday is expected to be relatively humid with a gentle south-westerly breeze. There is a zero per cent chance of rain across both sessions. Temperatures should be around 23°C/73.4 Fahrenheit for both FP1 and FP2, with the BBC stating that the air temperature will feel around 27°C/80.6 Fahrenheit.  
 
Saturday 22 June: 
 
Temperatures will feel slightly warmer for Saturday’s FP3 and qualifying sessions, reaching temperatures of around 24°C/75.2 Fahrenheit and feeling about 30°C/86 Fahrenheit, with humidity around 70-72%. A gentle southern breeze for FP3 will move south-westerly again for qualifying and there is no forecasted rain. 
 
Sunday 23 June: 
 
Sunday’s race is expected to be the hottest day of the weekend with a forecast of 25°C/77 Fahrenheit, although the humidity will be slightly reduced at 66%. There will be a gentle southern breeze and there is 0% chance of rain.  

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What are the Pirelli tyre compounds for the Spanish Grand Prix? 

Pirelli has announced that the tyre compounds available to the teams for the Spanish Grand Prix will be three of the hardest in their catalogue due to the hotter and more abrasive track.  
 
The chosen compounds are: 

• Hard - C1 
• Medium - C2  
• Soft - C3 

The C1 was introduced in 2023 to offer a mid-range hard tyre between the previous C1 and C2, to fill the performance gap between the two compounds. The old C1 is now C0, and is the hardest compound offered by Pirelli.  
 
The C2 is now the third hardest compound available to the teams and is best suited to faster and hotter tracks. Both the C1 and C2 will be the preferred choice of tyre by the teams as they should last a significant proportion of the 66 laps.  
 
The softer C3s could potentially be used during the race but are more likely to be seen during Saturday’s qualifying session. This is the third time this season that the selection has been used – the first being at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and the second at the Japanese Grand Prix. 

Where is the Spanish Grand Prix being held?

The Spanish Grand Prix is held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which has hosted the event since 1991. The 2.894-mile track has several straights and a mix of both high and low speed corners, which makes the circuit a perfect all-rounder. 

The track was built as part of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics development programme and its inaugural race was the 1991 Spanish Touring Car Championship. Just weeks later it hosted its first Formula 1 grand prix – the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix - which saw a dramatic fight between Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell down the main straight as both cars went wheel to wheel. The Williams of Mansell emerged from the corner first, and took the lead before bringing home the thrilling win. 
 
The following year the track also hosted its first MotoGP race, and has remained on the series’ calendar since.  
 
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has seen two drivers take debut wins in Formula 1. The first was Pastor Maldonado, who took the sole victory and podium of his four-year career at the track in 2012 while driving for Williams. The second, and arguably more celebrated, was when Max Verstappen took his first grand prix victory in 2016. It was his first race with the Red Bull team (having been promoted from Toro Rosso), and secured him the record of youngest driver to win an F1 race - at 18 years and 228 – a record he took from Sebastian Vettel, who had set the record with Toro Rosso at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix at 21 years and 74 days old. 
 
Verstappen holds both speed records for the circuit, setting the fastest time on the chicane track in 2021 with a time of 1:18.149 and two years later set the record on the circuit without the penultimate chicane, setting a time of 1:16.330. 

2023 Spanish Grand Prix results

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

The 2023 Spanish Grand Prix was dominated by Max Verstappen in his Red Bull. The Dutchman qualified on pole position and led every lap of the grand prix, as well as claiming the point for the fastest lap.  
 
His team-mate Sergio Perez - who was second in the drivers’ championship - started from P11 after a string of poor qualifying runs from the Mexican where he was unable to reach the top 10. Despite his disappointing qualifying, he was able to make quick work of overtaking the drivers ahead of him, finishing the race in fourth. 
 
Mercedes brought an upgrade package for the Mercedes W14 to the previous race in Monaco and further upgrades saw an impressive performance from both drivers. Lewis Hamilton qualified in fifth and George Russell in 12th. Hamilton came together with Lando Norris during the first few corners, resulting in floor damage to the Mercedes, however, both the team’s drivers were able to work their way up through the grid to bring home a double podium for the team, with Hamilton and Russell claiming second and third respectively. 
 
Norris’ contact with the Mercedes at Turn 2 damaged the front wing of the McLaren, forcing him to pit for a replacement and dropping him down to last place - although he was able to make it up to 17th during the 66 laps.  

History of the Spanish Grand Prix

The race is one of the oldest on the calendar, with the first event being hosted in 1913. The grand prix started as a race for touring cars and although it did not follow the Grand Prix format of other events, it was considered a grand prix race. 
 
The first permanent track in Sitges – near Barcelona – hosted the first official Spanish Grand Prix in 1923, but was moved to the Circuito Lasarte in 1926 after the original track fell into financial difficulties. The track near Bilbao had previously hosted the San Sebastian Grand Prix in the early 1920s before taking on the Spanish GP, although this was not held in 1930 due to the Wall Street crash the previous year and in 1931 and 1932 due to political and economic difficulties.  
 
Events were held between 1933 to 1935, before the civil war stopped racing until it returned in 1946. The Penya Rhin Grand Prix was the first Spanish event held after the civil war but did not return to the international calendar until 1951.  
 
The first Spanish event in the F1 championship was hosted at the Pedralbes street circuit in Barcelona and was won by Juan Manuel Fangio, who also took his first world championship at the event.  
 
The event did not take place in 1952 and 1953 due to financial reasons and was then cancelled again in 1955 for two more years, after an accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans that killed over 80 people. The accident resulted in regulations that governed spectator safety and the Pedralbes track – which had pedestrian-lined streets – was never used for a race again. 
 
A non-championship grand prix was hosted in Jarama near Madrid in 1967, which was won by Jim Clark. The following year the track then hosted the Spanish Grand Prix and it was agreed that the event would alternate between Jarama and Montjuic.  
 
In 1975, the Montjuic race saw concerns from the teams and drivers about track safety, after the practice races showed that the Armco barriers had not been secured down properly. A number of drivers refused to race, but eventually agreed after the organisers threatened to lock the cars inside the stadium where they were being held ahead of the event. On lap 26, Rolf Stommelen crashed his Hill GH1 after his rear wing failed, resulting in his car flying into the crowd and killing five spectators. 
 
The crash saw the end of racing at Montjuic, and Jarama hosted the event until it was dropped in 1982 after a difficult few years for the race. The Spanish Grand Prix was not counted as a championship race in 1980 after an announcement made by the FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre due to a dispute between the FISA and the FOCA as they battled for control. 

In 1982, the race was dropped due to extremely hot conditions and a previously small crowd. The Circuito de Jerez - now used for MotoGP - was finished in time for the 1986 Spanish Grand Prix and hosted the event until 1990 but was then moved to its permanent home at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1991. 

Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton hold the joint record for most wins at the Spanish Grand Prix, with both taking six wins at the event. Hamilton equalled the German’s record in 2021, after taking five consecutive wins since 2017.