The track is demanding of a car's aerodynamic qualities. The wind direction at the circuit can change drastically during the day, a significant factor given the importance of
aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars. It is then difficult to find a good setup since cars can have massive aerodynamic drag and understeer on one part of the circuit in the morning, but suffer oversteer at the same part of the circuit in the afternoon. A given tyre compound can work well when tested, but not so well a couple of months later. These changeable conditions can make for unexpected performances from some teams during the race. The changeable wind conditions have also caused accidents at the circuit, with
Fernando Alonso's testing accident in 2015 partly blamed on the severity of the wind. Through 2015, the
MotoGP layout used the 1995–2003 version of the Grand Prix circuit. This was originally the same layout as Formula One, but in 2004 a new, slower La Caixa turn was built; the motorcycles continued to use the old version, and they also ignored the shorter Europcar turn and RACC chicane. The F1 layout was implemented for MotoGP originally in 2016 following the fatal accident of
Luis Salom in Europcar corner on
3 June 2016. Race control switched to the
F1 circuit for qualifying and the race on 5 June 2016. On 15 December 2016, the FIM announced the change was permanent by announcing plans for a chicane ahead of the current car chicane. However, during the 2017 race, the new chicane was deemed dangerous by riders because of a surface change, and the car chicane was used during that event. After changes to the track in the off-season including removing grandstands in Turn 12, creating additional runoff and a complete repaving of the circuit, the F1 layout from 2004 to 2006, including the new La Caixa hairpin instead of the long sweeper, was used, eliminating the chicane. For 2021, the La Caixa hairpin was remodelled again, slower than the original one but faster than the F1 one. The alterations were done to improve safety for the drivers. The
World RX of Catalunya used parts of the track near turns 11–15, with two additional gravel sections. From the
2023 Spanish Grand Prix, Formula One will use the layout used by MotoGP since 2021 removing the chicane in the last sector of the lap that Formula One had used every year since it was introduced in 2007 reverting the final corners for Formula One cars to a sweeping fast configuration that Formula One last used in 2006.
A lap in a Formula One car A long pit straight leads them into turn 1 which is the main overtaking point at Catalunya, as it is a braking zone at the end of a long
DRS straight. The inside and outside are equally difficult for overtaking; drivers who can hold the line around the outside of turn one, can get the inside line for turn two. The corners themselves make up a medium-speed chicane – drivers brake rather late for turn one (Elf) and shift down to gear two, and turn two is almost full throttle as they try to gain as much exit speed as possible. Turn 3 (Renault) is a long, flat-out (in most cars) right-hander that has a
g-force of about four, and it leads to a short straight before turn 4, the Repsol curve. Another right-hander, turn four is similar to
Monza's Curva Parabolica – drivers brake and take an early apex (in third gear), carrying great speed out of the exit. Turn 5 (Seat) comes immediately after and is a slow left-hander taken in second gear which drops rapidly downhill towards the left kink of turn 6 which is ignored by
F1 cars. Turns 7 and 8 make up a medium-speed, uphill, left-right chicane. Drivers brake and shift down to gear three, and must not run too wide as turn eight has a large kerb on its apex which could potentially damage cars' suspensions. Turn 9, Campsa Corner, is a very fast, sixth-gear right-hander which is made incredibly difficult by being completely blind (drivers cannot see the apex on approach). It is initially quite steep uphill but the exit is then downhill, so it is quite easy to run wide onto the astroturf. The long back straight leads into turn 10 (La Caixa), a third-gear, left-hand corner, then turns 11 and 12, a left kink before a long, slow, third-gear right. Turn 13 and 14, a very fast, sixth-gear double right-hander which takes cars across the start/finish line. ==Layout history==