#1 ·
Back in 1990, the Spanish Grand Prix was actually held at Jerez... though they did head back there for the 1994 European Grand Prix and again in '97.
By 1991, the race moved over to the Circuit of the Americas in Barcelona, which is where it’s stayed ever since.
In 1992, they marketed the whole thing as the Grand Prix during the Olympic Games in the same city. Since then, the race usually kicks off the season around late April or early May.
In the early days, Williams pretty much owned the place, sweeping up wins all the way through 1994. Michael Schumacher took six wins total, including that wild rainy one in 1996—his first big win for Ferrari.
Mika Häkkinen grabbed three wins here, too. He was actually cruising toward a fourth in 2001, but his engine just blew up on the final lap... talk about bad luck.
Ever since 2003, the crowds have been huge, mostly thanks to everything Fernando Alonso has done.
Alonso snagged second place in both 2003 and 2005 before finally grabbing the Victory in 2006 while driving for Renault.
Last year was basically a Brawn GP masterclass. They walked away with Pole Position (Jenson Button), the Victory (Jenson Button), and even the Fastest Lap (Rubens Barrichello).
Since drivers and crews spend so much time testing out here, everyone knows this track's little secrets inside and out. It’s led to plenty of gripes, though, mainly because the races can get pretty "boring" sometimes.
When they first started using this circuit, overtaking used to happen all the time. But as aerodynamics became everything, those overtakes dried up because the dirty air behind the cars makes it so hard to follow.
So even though this track has one of the longest straights in Formula 1, the turbulence means if you're chasing someone through that last corner before the straight, you just can't get close enough to make a move.
It doesn't help that teams set the cars up with massive downforce just to nail the twisty sections.
They actually redesigned the last chicane in 2007 to try and help passing on the straight, but honestly? It didn't really change much.
