Two weeks ago the return to Europe for the San Marino Grand Prix also marked the return to form for Ferrari. But will the new F2003-GA deliver? Or will McLaren and the rest of their rivals be able to keep the red cars at bay in Spain? Atlas F1's Craig Scarborough previews the Spanish Grand Prix and the teams that will take place in the fifth Grand Prix of the 2003 season

Imola led us to a result that reverses the form seen in the opening three races - Ferrari's weekend long dominance was only indicated at these races, but delivered in Imola. McLaren meanwhile had an off weekend; qualifying saw poor set up and driving push the cars back down the grid. Williams were nearer the front, but not quite there and faded away in the race. The formbook will take another twist when Ferrari debut their new car this weekend.

The Circuit de Catalunya is a short drive from Barcelona, Spain, and sits perched atop a dusty hillside. Barcelona is a classic European circuit; fast in places, slower and more challenging in others. Hence the circuit is a favourite with most people; the drivers like the challenging corners, the fans like the amphitheater layout, the press love the excellent facilities, and the technicians appreciate the technical challenge the circuit brings. As it is such a star among the F1 world it is no surprise it has been home for testing for most of the teams throughout the winter, favoured by the teams for the weather, facilities and layout despite the logistics in getting the British based teams over there in comparison to the cold, wet Silverstone circuit on their doorsteps. This familiarity with the circuit doesn't give the teams much of an advantage; the weather and the amount of rubber stuck to the track vary conditions tremendously. During the winter testing most teams can claim to have topped the time sheets here, but finding the set up, luck and strategy only counts on race day.

Four different drivers won the opening four Grand Prix, and most drivers saw at least one retirement. The championship is open and unpredictable; this should make the rule makers happy, but it doesn't necessarily reflect the true balance of competitiveness in the championship. Spain should see another benchmark performance from the teams, yet title favourites McLaren and Ferrari are unlikely to show their true 2003 potential for a few races yet.

Set-Up and Layout

Barcelona demands a lot from a car and its team; a perfect European circuit in being not too fast, and not broken up with silly chicanes. It carries a mix of corners, but the long straight and fast fifth gear curves dominate its layout. This mix makes for an excellent testing venue, particularly for aerodynamics, as the long corners test a cars balance of downforce for long periods; hence this is a circuit that will punish cars without aerodynamic efficiency. This aerodynamic efficiency as well as engine power is called into play on the long straight; the more power or aero efficiency the higher straight-line speed attained without compromising downforce in the corners. At the end of the straight there is right-left sequence, which tests a driver's neck muscles as his head is pulled one direction then the other. The entry to the sequence is fast, and precludes overtaking on the brakes on the way in, before powering out to the Renault curve the first of four fifth gear corners and ending Sector 1. Sector 2 is at the back of the pits, and the second and third gear corners are finished with the fifth gear Repsol Curve and a short straight. Sector 3 starts slowly with La Caixa and Sabadell before two closely following corners end the lap. Some riding of the kerbs is possible but it doesn't make up a lot of time. Neither does late braking; little braking is required here, and missing an apex will throw the car offline for the following corner. Precision and consistency is rewarded.

The weather is generally warm and sunny, but the circuit is placed on top of a hill in relatively flat surroundings, so wind speed and direction is a problem. This affects the car either by a head wind slowing the car on the straight, or a tail wind robbing the car of downforce in the corners. The wind speed and direction changes constantly, and this may impact the qualifying sessions; one drivers run may be calm while the next suffers a strong breeze. There is little that can be done to predict or pre-empt the gusts.

Race strategy will also impact Saturday qualifying when wing level and fuel loads need to be set in advance; less wing is preferred in the race for protection from overtaking, and the heavy acceleration demands less fuel for lap times; tyre wear will also be a critical factor. Barcelona has a heavily abrasive track surface; this prematurely wears the tyres, and causes heat build up problems too. Both tyre suppliers test here often enough to predict this wear, but their approach may vary; softer tyres wearing out despite faster lap times or more durable tyres lacking the grip but allowing longer stints. Pit stop strategy will alternate between two or three stops; some teams may make a shorter opening stint to assess race tyre wear and switch strategies.

A Lap of the Circuit de Catalunya with Pedro de la Rosa

Accelerating downhill along the start-finish straight you hit 190mph-310km/h in seventh gear before braking hard for the right-hander of Elf corner. You can hit up to 4.8G under braking as your speed reduces to 86mph-138km/h in second gear. The second corner is in third and flat out in qualifying.

The long, fast corner, Renault follows and is taken in fourth. A short straight takes you to Repsol, which you enter in third gear at 85mph-137km/h, carrying as much speed as possible as it allows you to brake very deep into the corner. A short burst of acceleration from 3rd to 5th takes you down to the Seat hairpin, the slowest corner of the circuit.

Hard on the brakes the track drops as you negotiate this tight left-hander at 60mph-97km/h in second gear. It is important to carry a lot of speed through Campsa, which negotiated at 135mph-217km/h in fourth gear, as this will give you extra speed onto the Nissan straight.

You arrive at 180mph-290km/h to La Caixa hairpin. This left hand hairpin is taken in second gear at 65mph-104km/h. The final two corners are the best and fastest of the circuit. First one is taken flat out in qualifying, and in the race you lift slightly to negotiate it at 150mph-241km/h in fourth gear.

You come out directly onto the last corner, New Holland, which is taken in fifth gear at 140mph-225km/h, with a small lift on entry. It is very important to come out quick out of this last corner as the pit straight that follows is very long.

Team by Team

Ferrari

Barcelona sees at last the debut of the shapely F2003GA, which was launched back in February and tested across Europe. Atlas F1 has already featured what a legendary car the outgoing F2002 was, so it has not been surprising that improving this package has been a tough task for Ferrari. Testing has seen the car expose its flaws, of which there have been many and serious. Initially the problems were engine failures and two front suspension failures, which lead to major accidents; the damage to the chassis hindered progress, and the suspension failures were not simple wishbone failures and were never fully explained by Ferrari. Meanwhile engine failures never went away, vibrational problems and recent cooling problems saw crankcases crack. These failures have been attributed to mismatches in a the advanced materials being employed, but I have been lead to believe the overheating is an aerodynamic problem, causing many sleepless nights and lost weekends at Maranello. This suggestion was reinforced when the Spanish specification car adopted extra cooling gills on the top edge of the sidepods.

If Ferrari's reliability is in doubt, then the F2003GA's pace cannot be. Now with its definitive wings and bargeboards replacing the launch versions, the car can be expected to be aerodynamically advanced, and powerful enough to match the pace of its rivals, if not extend it. Whether the package is reliable enough to complete the distance on Sunday remains to be seen.

Schumacher should not be distracted by the press hounding him as at earlier races. Barrichello has had less testing with the new car than Schumacher, but has been full of praise for its handling, so if Barrichello is as comfortable with the new car as the old one then he can again be expected to meet Schumacher's pace. Either driver should be happy with a podium, or at worst points, at the car's debut race.

Williams

For a team with a car weak in aerodynamics, Barcelona will not be a race to look forward to. But Williams have made impressive leaps with the car; the turnaround of major aerodynamic improvements have been quick, and whether the new floor and wings have transformed or plastered over the cars inherent problems will be demonstrated this weekend; until the end of the race the jury will be out. Recent testing saw a worrying number of failures from the new gearbox, and Montoya also had to hobble away from a major crash at Silverstone; while he will no doubt be fit for Barcelona, the car's performance will be a concern for him. Schumacher has turned around his season with a much better qualifying and race performance; his cause will be aided by durable Michelins in the race, and with Williams expected to run only two stops his better race craft over Montoya could see him on the podium. Should the new car be a match for the circuit Montoya can also look towards a top four result, but I doubt that will be the case if the car has not improved.

McLaren

A curiously poor opening two days in Imola was revitalized with a hard driving two-stop strategy in the race. McLaren have made the top of the Barcelona timesheets their own in winter testing; the onus on aerodynamics and engine power reflecting the gains made with the MP7/17D since last year. Michelin too have reason to feel confident over this weekend. With trust in the cars pace, reliability and team strategy McLaren must come out favourites this weekend while Ferrari gathers the F2003GA together. Between the drivers there is still little to choose. A career long criticism of Coulthard has been his inconsistency and reliance on a well set up car. This has arguably hindered his previous drivers championship hopes when matched to a reliable team mate like Hakkinen; now with Raikkonen gaining his first win and maturing fast Coulthard needs to pull his experience in and get solid results every time. Raikkonen has put in strong qualifying drives, and matched them with good race drives; his overtaking goes beyond committed, but has landed him in trouble. This weekend there is nothing to choose between the drivers; Coulthard could walk it if he gets the car matched to the conditions, and Raikkonen will be there regardless and may only be beaten by his teammate.

Renault

With Williams back on the rise Renault will need to match the improvements if they are to stay with their nearest rivals. Race by race aero developments are being turned out, such as the refined 'wavy-lipped' front wing endplate in Imola, but the package is still weak in outright race pace. Barcelona, like most circuits, will reward the car's aerodynamics, mechanical package and tyres, but penalise its weaker engine. Alonso continues to get the attention with his driving, but Trulli is not far behind. For Spain points are important and most likely as Renault have yet to post a retirement this year.

Sauber

They continue to be consistently around the edge of the top ten qualifiers and maintain that for the race, but somehow Sauber have yet to make an impression with a Ferrari engine that won most of the races last year. Both drivers are matched in pace and commitment, Frentzen somehow qualifying with a broken throttle pedal (thankfully not the brake pedal) in Imola. A break into the top ten in qualifying and points for two cars in the race will show some progress for the team.

Jordan

It feels strange to rank Jordan amongst the race winners this year, however well deserved at the time of the red flag. Despite the win the team are honest about the cars problems and their financial limitations. Aerodynamic and gearbox developments have arrived, with a notched rear wing endplate similar to Toyotas and a gearbox now clad in carbon fibre over the two piece metal/carbon version. For Barcelona there is a newly reinforced front wishbone to replace the interim one from Imola and the failed versions from earlier races. But the car still has a worrying propensity to catch fire as soon as it stops in the pits, forcing a mechanic to wait in the pitlane CO2 extinguisher in hand, and causing much hilarity amongst the other teams mechanics. Barcelona might be kind to Jordan if their aero set up can deliver on the curves. Engine reliability and power is marginal and the team may need a three-stop strategy to find the pace.

Jaguar

Jaguar's pace of late has been a conundrum; Webber is a fine driver, but his matching of the top three teams in qualifying is in stark contrast to his teammate's Minardi battling pace. Pizzonia's position is being very publicly debated, and it is not unusual for Jaguar to eject a driver (or any other member of staff for that matter) during the season. This uncertainty does not aid Pizzonia's concentration, or our analysis of the cars true pace. Outwardly the car has little to place it up with the top three, and this has been in the face of major technical problems with the car in the opening races. One strange development has been the use of qualifying bodywork, with the cooling outlets deleted from the cars sidepods only run in Friday's Q1 session. This set up compromises cooling for less drag, and they could not be run in Saturdays Q2 session as being unable to change the set up in Parc Ferme the set up would overheat the engine in the race. Reliability has been poor anyway, with a return of previously solved drive shaft failures in Imola.

This weekend will a true test of the cars speed in Webber's hands, and a strong race result will be needed to silence the non-believers of the teams' weekend strategy.

BAR

Another strong contender in winter testing at Barcelona, BAR have most of the ingredients to succeed this weekend. Aerodynamically strong and with a good straight-line speed, the major question mark will be their use of the Bridgestone tyres. With both drivers pushing each other and no clear winner in the fight, some of the initial friction seems to have diminished; either Button's matching pace has gained Villeneuve's respect, or their concentration in getting the team to develop the car has refocused their attention away from each other. Either way this weekend should see some of the potential in the package exposed.

Minardi

For any team a new front wing is a major technical development; for Minardi it's akin to a B version of the car. Since early last year Minardi ran a deeply stepped front wing; Imola saw a new gently curved wing appear and at last see them following the conventional wing profile, just as the top teams are eschewing it for an even flatter design. A dry Barcelona can hold no promises for Minardi; lacking power, tyre grip and aerodynamics only heavy race retirements from their rivals will see them get points, and that's only if the car can make it to race end.

Toyota

Imola proved that Toyota have not made the expected progress on the car's handling over bumps and kerbs. Barcelona will not provide the same problems, and perhaps it will give the initially promising chassis a chance to shows its better side on the testing curves and straights, which Toyota showed here in winter testing. Even with the handling deficiencies Imola saw Toyota put paid to their fuel pressure problems and put in a two car finish, with Panis following home a BAR. Da Matta's Imola weekend saw better qualifying runs and race finish. If da Matta is getting the hang of F1 then this weekend should see them starting to push each other and the car - points are long overdue for this package.