2015 Spanish Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton enters the European season with 93 of a possible 100 points from the first four rounds, a 27-point lead over Rosberg.

Previous race

Hamilton won in Bahrain from Räikkönen and Rosberg. Räikkönen returned to the podium for the first time since the 2013 Korean Grand Prix — 18 months earlier — with a charge on fresher tyres in the closing laps. Rosberg lost second place after overheating brakes caused him to run wide at turn one with three laps remaining. Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull suffered an engine failure on the final straight, leaving him on his last permitted power unit after only four races.

Entrants

McLaren arrive at Barcelona with a new dark grey livery, intended to “improve its visual impact for the floodlights increasingly used in twilight and night races.” Kimi Räikkönen is unhappy with the new parts Ferrari brought to this race and switches back to his earlier setup for the third practice session.

After introducing a new engine at the previous race in Canada, Renault brings a further modified version to Spain, aiming to address both reliability and drivability for the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams.

Tyres

Pirelli supplies the hard compound as the prime tyre and the medium compound as the option, the same selection as the 2014 race.

Practice

Rosberg sets the fastest time in the first session on Friday morning, outpacing Hamilton by 0.07 seconds. Mercedes lap almost a second faster than the next-quickest cars, the two Ferraris. Three test drivers participate: Jolyon Palmer replaces Grosjean at Lotus, Raffaele Marciello returns for Sauber, and Susie Wolff makes her 2015 Williams début, finishing eight-tenths behind regular driver Massa. Rosberg draws the attention of the stewards when he fails to stay to the left of the bollard at the pit entry.

Hamilton is quickest in the second session, with Vettel splitting the two Mercedes. Track temperatures rise above 50 °C by the end of the afternoon, causing widespread grip complaints. Ricciardo’s engine requires changing mid-session, leaving him only ten minutes of running time. A red flag is brought out when the engine cover of Grosjean’s Lotus shatters on the start-finish straight.

In the third session, Vettel closes to within two-tenths of Rosberg on the medium compound, while Hamilton spins in turn three and finishes third. Räikkönen, fifth fastest, can be heard on the radio telling his team “Excellent. How can we be in wrong settings?” after reverting to his old setup.