Barcelona circuit to undergo circuit changes

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will have a new configuration of its layout for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. The circuit will not have the chicane in the last two corners of its layout. 

Stuart Robertson, Head of Circuit and Rally Safety at the FIA, and Niels Wittich, FIA Formula 1 Race Director and Safety Delegate, oversaw the changes.

The change is set to also improve the safety of the track. The total length of the circuit following the change will be 4,657 metres.

The chicane was introduced in 2007, ahead of the final corner, which currently are Turns 14 and 15. This year, however, it will be removed to revert the circuit back to its original layout. The circuit also will have new TECPRO barriers in the two two high-speed corners.

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One of the other changes that the track will undergo is the widening of the run-off area in Turn 1, including 70 metres of gravel plus a 5% slope and also a new fence at Turns 1 and 2 for driver safety. The scoreboard at the pit lane exit will be remodelled, along with addition of a more modern signalling toward and re-painting and replacing the kerbs and tyre barriers. The hospitality and corporate areas, along the long pit building, will also be enlarged and modernised, with permanent toilets in fan areas also set to be refurbished.

Formula One first came to the Barcelona circuit in 1991. The 2023 race will be held on June 4.