Thrills & Triumphs: Spanish Grand Prix Showdown

The upcoming Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya promises excitement as top drivers like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton compete. The circuit is hosting its 54th championship race, with notable teams like Ferrari and Red Bull battling for supremacy. Verstappen leads the championship, continuing his remarkable form.

Formula One statistics for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, round 10 of the 24 race season: Lap distance: 4.657 km. Total distance: 307.236 km (66 laps)

2023 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull One minute 12.272 seconds 2023 race winner: Verstappen

Start time: 1300 GMT (1500 local) Race lap record: Verstappen 1:16.330 (2023)

SPAIN The 14-turn Circuit de Catalunya is hosting what will be the 54th world championship Spanish GP.

Lewis Hamilton has won the Spanish GP six times (2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021), a record he shares with Michael Schumacher. Other past winners on Sunday's grid are Fernando Alonso (2006, 2013) and Verstappen (2016, 2022, 2023).

Verstappen took his first F1 win in Spain. The winner at the Circuit de Catalunya, which has a mix of fast and slow corners with two long straights, has started on pole 24 times in 33 races.

The only drivers to win in Barcelona and not start on the front row were Schumacher (third on the grid in 1996), Alonso (from fifth in 2013) and Verstappen (fourth in 2016). Alonso and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz are the only Spanish drivers in the race.

Ferrari are the most successful team at the Circuit de Catalunya with eight wins. Since 1951, the Italian team have won 12 times in Spain. CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD

Verstappen has led the championship for a record 48 successive races dating back to Spain in May 2022 and arrives in Montreal 56 points clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after nine rounds. Red Bull are 49 points clear of Ferrari.

WINS Verstappen has won six of nine races this season, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz triumphant in Melbourne, McLaren's Lando Norris in Miami and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in Monaco.

Ferrari are the only team to have had two winning drivers this season. Hamilton has a record 103 career victories from 341 starts. He has now gone 54 races without a win, a run dating back to 2021.

Red Bull won 21 of 22 races last year, with Verstappen victorious in a record 19, and have won 37 of the last 42. The team have won 119 races and are fourth in the all-time list of winners. Ferrari lead with 245, McLaren have 184 and Mercedes 125.

Verstappen has won 60 grands prix and is third on the all-time list. Michael Schumacher is second on 91. POLE POSITION

Hamilton has a record 104 career poles, his most recent in Hungary last year. Verstappen took the first seven poles of the season, equalling Alain Prost's 1993 record, and eight in a row including the last race of 2023 -- equalling Ayrton Senna's 1988-89 record.

Leclerc ended that run with pole in Monaco and George Russell was on pole for Mercedes in Canada. PODIUMS

Verstappen has 105 career podiums, Hamilton 197. The Red Bull driver set a record of 21 podiums in a season last year but Michael Schumacher remains the only driver to have stood on the podium in every race of a season (2002).

Verstappen has been on the podium seven times this season. MILESTONE

The race will be Sainz's last outing with Ferrari in front of his home crowd. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso will be starting his 21st home grand prix.

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