The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Catalan pronunciation: [siɾˈkujd də bəɾsəˈlonə kətəˈluɲə]) is a 4.657 km (2.894 mi) motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

Construction also coincided with the Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Barcelona[3] the next year, where the circuit acted as the start and finish line for the road team time trial cycling event.

Further changes were made to the circuit in December 2017 as grandstands were removed to add additional runoff that allowed the FIM to eliminate that chicane (although the Turn 10 hairpin was kept).

Since 2016, the racetrack hosts the 24h BiCircuit Festival, an ultra-distance cycling event featuring 24-hour, 12-hour and 6-hour races for soloists and relay teams up to 8 riders.

In 2001, Mika Häkkinen suffered a clutch failure while leading the race on the last lap, handing the win to Schumacher.

[16] On 3 June 2016, during Moto2 Free Practice for the 2016 Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, Luis Salom crashed in turn 12, resulting in the session being red-flagged.

After being transferred to the local Hospital General de Catalunya, Salom died of the injuries sustained in the crash.

After off-season discussions, the FIM announced that the track layout would be slightly modified in that the chicane would be moved up a few metres.

[17] The wind direction at the circuit can change drastically during the day, a significant factor given the importance[18][19] of aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars.

The F1 layout was implemented for MotoGP originally in 2016 following the fatal accident of Luis Salom in Europcar corner on 3 June 2016.

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.

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).

As of November 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya are listed as: The public attendance at the Spanish Grand Prix, and at the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, have fallen significantly since 2007, which has complicated the economic solvency of this circuit.

The economic survival of the circuit is only guaranteed by large volumes of public money, which both the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona and the Generalitat de Catalunya provide in the form of grants and rinsing of losses.

[107][108][109][110] Given these poor results, some senior officials of the Generalitat de Catalunya have considered eliminating Formula One from this Circuit.

[112] The circuit is located in an elevated area with respect to its environment, and without protective measures to minimize the noise pollution produced by cars, motorbikes and other vehicles.