Montmeló, Catalonia · ES
Spain's premier racing venue and the benchmark for F1 pre-season testing. The 2.89-mile circuit near Barcelona combines high-speed straights with a variety of corner types that test every aspect of car and driver.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a permanent racing circuit in Montmeló, Catalonia. The lap measures 4.657 km (2.894 miles) across 14 corners, run clockwise.
It opened in 1991 and holds FIA Grade 1 licensing. Series racing here include Formula 1 and MotoGP. Capacity is around 140,700 spectators.
The circuit was part of Barcelona's preparation for the 1992 Olympics, one of a group of projects meant to remake the city's standing. Construction began in early 1989 at Montmeló, just north of the city, and the track opened on 10 September 1991 with a Spanish touring car race. The Spanish Grand Prix followed nineteen days later.
Its second life is as the sport's default test track. The combination of long corners, a hard final sector and reliably dry weather made it the place teams learned their cars, to the point that lap times here became the reference for the whole grid. A chicane was added before the final corner in 2007 to slow cars into the pit straight; it also removed the run-up drivers had used to overtake, and the layout has been argued about ever since.
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