2016 Spanish Grand Prix preview

The Spanish GP is a race where many teams bring new updates for their cars so anything can still happen.

The most interesting thing is Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen switching teams but let's talk about the previews races in the last few years.

Remember what happened in 2012? Pastor Maldonado was fighting against Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen and won the race in the end.

Pastor Maldonado won in 2012.

In 2013 Alonso won, Kimi was second and Felipe Massa was third. Are these drivers going to be good this year at Catalonia? Massa is showing some new motivation at Williams and Kimi has a better car than last year. Alonso seems to get more speed every time he is driving in front of his biggest fans but the McLaren hasn't been that good yet. I wish them all three well because beating the Mercs is almost impossible.

2013's podium finishers.

The year after that (in 2013) Kimi actually drove better than Alonso but lost his position because of poor pitstop strategy. 

2014 was a bit different than the years before.

In 2014 and 2015 it was the Mercedes boys at the top. 2014 was Hamilton's year and last year Rosberg won just like he has won in every race the season. Maybe he will win again this time? I have a feeling his luck is about to change.


Then it's time for my predictions.

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Surprise: Sebastian Vettel will have a surprisingly bad race again.


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The history of the Spanish Grand Prix

Force India to look 'quite different' in Spain

Force India will introduce a number of upgrades to their VJM09 this weekend in Spain as they bid to overhaul both their car and their 2016 fortunes.

According to team principal Vijay Mallya, the updates - which should be ready for both Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in time for FP1 on Friday morning - will make their machine look 'quite different' as a result.

"Despite not realising our potential in Sochi, we took encouragement from our qualifying and race pace: the car is improving and we’ve got a good base on which to build," Mallya said.

"[The Barcelona upgrade] is on schedule to be fitted to both cars ahead of Friday practice. It's pretty comprehensive and the car will look quite different.

"There are 17 races to go and I’m confident the best is yet to come. It’s a marathon, not a sprint."

While Force India have scored just eight points so far this year - leaving them eighth in the constructors' standings - Mallya feels the picture has been clouded by misfortune for both drivers.

"In Sochi we were the innocent victims of the first lap chaos – as was the case in Bahrain too," he explained.

"It’s frustrating because, even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to see what we could have done differently. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time with both cars, which caused a puncture for Sergio and ended Nico’s race.

"To see Sergio recover from the back of the pack and score points was a tremendous effort [but] we’ve yet to see how we perform in a clean, trouble-free race without safety cars, red flags or accidents. I hope we’ve used up all of our bad luck already!"

(source: f1.com)

Top 5: The youngest ever F1 World Champions

Top five overtakes of 2015: Max Verstappen

Grill the Grid - Max Verstappen

Red Bull replace Kvyat with Verstappen

The man who just stood on the podium two races ago had to leave his team. Daniil Kvyat on the right.

Max Verstappen will replace Daniil Kvyat at Red Bull from the forthcoming Grand Prix in Spain onwards, with Kvyat moving back to sister team Toro Rosso.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the switch would allow Verstappen to showcase his ‘outstanding' talent, and also help Kvyat ‘regain his form'.

The move comes just days after Kvyat was heavily criticised - by Horner included - after twice coming together with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in Russia.

"Max has proven to be an outstanding young talent. His performance at Toro Rosso has been impressive so far and we are pleased to give him the opportunity to drive for Red Bull Racing," Horner said.

"We are in the unique position to have all four drivers across Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso under long term contracts with Red Bull, so we have the flexibility to move them between the two teams.

"Dany will be able to continue his development at Toro Rosso, in a team that he is familiar with, giving him the chance to regain his form and show his potential."

Kvyat was promoted to Red Bull ahead of the 2015 season, in place of the departing Vettel. He out-scored team mate Daniel Ricciardo in his maiden season with the team, by 95 points to 92. This year the Russian secured the second podium of his F1 career in China, but then cost the team a chance to score points with his double-collision with Vettel.

Verstappen, meanwhile, is widely regarded as one of the best talents on the grid. The youngest driver to compete in the sport, and the youngest points-scorer, he twice came close to scoring a podium during a superb debut campaign with Toro Rosso last year.

(source: f1.com)