A satellite image of the Circuit de Catalunya in 2018, before the tenth turn was altered.
The race was the fourth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, the 61st edition of the Spanish Grand Prix, the 51st time it featured as a round of the World Championship, and the 31st time the Spanish Grand Prix took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This was the first Formula One race held on this layout of the circuit, with turn 10 having been remodelled from a tight hairpin into a faster curve, to improve safety for drivers.[4]
As usual, the event had three practice sessions, each lasting one hour. The first practice session started at 11:30 local time (UTC+02:00) on 7 May and ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest in his Mercedes ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Bottas' teammate Lewis Hamilton; Nikita Mazepin and Kubica both briefly lost control in minor incidents.[10] The second practice session started at 15:00 local time and ended with Hamilton fastest ahead of Bottas and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc.[11] The third practice session, which started at 12:00 local time the following day, ended with Verstappen top, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.[12][13]
Qualifying
Qualifying started at 15:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on 8 May.[14] Lewis Hamilton set provisional pole position in his Q3 first flying lap. Hamilton was followed by Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. None of the three drivers were able to improve their times in their subsequent laps, and Hamilton earned his 100th pole position.[15]
^1 – Nikita Mazepin received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris in Q1. The penalty was not in force as he started the race from the last position.[19]
Race
The race started at 15:00 local time (UTC+02:00) and was held over 66 laps.[14]
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