Why is Barcelona a F1 testing venue?

[Terden]

Can anyone tell me why?
This testweek Hamilton alone allready run 5 complete race distances on the Catalunya track.
With next weeks test scheduled on this track I'm not looking forward to a surprising Barcelona grand prix: It's going to be a boring parade.
Barcelona has been tested to death!
Why not exclude testing on tracks wich are on the F1 calander?
There are lots of great alternatives nearby without ruining the grand prix:
- the reletivly new Portimoa circuit
- Jerez
- the revamped Imola

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Barcelona's pros

• Homologated circuit
• Great weather
• Awesome city nearby to entertain sponsors & VIPS
• Airport nearby for logistics

 

[Andy_J]

Because Bernie probably gets offered more cash by the owners of that track.........probably. In my opinion of course.
My opinion is trade marked.

 

[Ejike Wodu]

In addition to the two good replies above. I think that Catalunya also offers a bit of most of the other tracks in the F1 season. So the teams can test as many aspect of their set up as possible. Monza for example wouldn't be of much use in testing except for perhaps the speed of the car.

 

[Chris]

Whilst it often doesn't make for great racing, it's chosen mostly due to it's characteristics catering to almost every facet that an F1 car will face over the course of a calendar, allowing teams to test many different areas of their cars' strengths and weaknesses.

• High deg (good for testing a tyre's limit)
• High, medium and low speed corners
• Massive pitlane straight.

 

[Alberto Casado]

The long turns make it one of the best circuits to test high speed turning (aerodynamic testing). Monza for example would be useless for that (and Imola just barely better).

 

[Ghoults]

- good location geographically
- good connections to hotels, not too far away
- predictable weather and temperatures (which means no rain out days). But also windy.
- track also hosts a gp so testing there are the benefits of people knowing the place
- fia grade 1 lisence
- the track is a good track for testing and highlighting issues with aerodynamics. Since the most important aspect of modern f1 car is the engine and the aero the track suits well for that.

 

[rubaru]

All of your points are well thought out, but there is no need for BOTH tests to be held at Catalunya. Testing last year was split with Bahrain I believe, and Jarama has been used in the past. With its proximity to most F1 teams, Silverstone could be used, but it's probably too cold for preseason tests.

 

[Philip Heck]

And you think the teams would want to ship everything around half the world just for another 4 days of testing? You already got everything set up in Barcelona, you can stay there.