All but three of the F1 races held in Barcelona have been won from the front row and no wins have been taken from further back than fifth on the grid. Here’s everything you need to know about the history of each grid slot at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya!
SPANISH GRAND PRIX GRID STATS IN BRIEF
- 31 wins from the front row
- Only six wins not from pole since 2001
- 7th and 19th have not retired since 2009
- All 20 cars finished in 2023 and 2024
SPANISH GRAND PRIX RESULTS: GRID OVERVIEW
There have been 31 wins from the front row of the grid at this circuit, and no driver has ever won from further back than fifth on the grid. There have been seven races here in which all of the top three on the grid have gone on to finish on the podium, with four of those occasions seeing all three finish in the order in which they started.
2013 and 2016 are the only years so far in which none of the top three qualifiers have gone on to finish on the podium. 2023 was the first time since 2013 that a podium finish came from further back than sixth on the grid and, since 2003, only two podium finishes (Felipe Massa, from 9th in 2013 and George Russell, from 12th in 2023) have come from lower than sixth on the grid.
| Grid Slot | Last Win | Last Podium | Last Points | Last Non Finish | Best Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | 2024 | 2024 | 2022 | 1st |
| 2 | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 | 2016 | 1st |
| 3 | 1996 | 2024 | 2024 | 2017 | 1st |
| 4 | 2016 | 2023 | 2024 | 2018 | 1st |
| 5 | 2013 | 2022 | 2024 | 2017 | 1st |
| 6 | - | 2017 | 2024 | 2013 | 2nd |
| 7 | - | 2002 | 2024 | 2009 | 2nd |
| 8 | - | 1992 | 2024 | 2012 | 3rd |
| 9 | - | 2013 | 2024 | 2020 | 3rd |
| 10 | - | - | 2023 | 2019 | 5th |
| 11 | - | 1994 | 2024 | 2018 | 3rd |
| 12 | - | 2023 | 2023 | 2018 | 2nd |
| 13 | - | - | 2023 | 2018 | 6th |
| 14 | - | - | 2017 | 2018 | 8th |
| 15 | - | - | 2018 | 2022 | 4th |
| 16 | - | - | 1992 | 2021 | 5th |
| 17 | - | - | 2010 | 2012 | 6th |
| 18 | - | - | 2016 | 2018 | 5th |
| 19 | - | - | 2017 | 2009 | 7th |
| 20 | - | - | 2022 | 2017 | 8th |
- Pole has won 24 of the 34 races here
- 6 non-wins since 2001
- 4 DNFs in total
In 34 races at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, there have only been ten occasions on which the polesitter has failed to go on to win the Spanish Grand Prix.
Since 2001, there have been just six occasions on which the polesitter hasn’t won the race. The polesitter has retired from the Grand Prix four times, with Charles Leclerc’s retirement while leading the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix being the first for the polesitter here since Lewis Hamilton’s first lap crash with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in 2016. Hamilton’s 2016 DNF was the first for the Spanish Grand Prix polesitter since Damon Hill’s retirement 20 years previously.
Pole has had fewer non-finishes than any other grid slot at the Catalunya circuit. In 2019, Valtteri Bottas became the first polesitter to finish on the podium without winning at Catalunya since Michael Schumacher back in 1994. The only other positions the polesitter has finished in are fourth (2011), fifth (2000) and sixth (2013), and each of these have only occurred once.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM POLE POSITION AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 1 | 1 | DNF | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | DNF | 1 |
- Seven wins in total
- Two wins in last three years
- 7 DNFs in total
In 2022, Max Verstappen took only the sixth victory for the driver starting second at Catalunya, and only the third win for the grid slot in the last 23 years. The grid slot has now won twice in the last three years, thanks to Verstappen taking a second win having started second in the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix.
In the last 11 years, second on the grid has supplied three wins, one retirement, five second place finishes, a third place finish and a fifth place finish. With seven retirements in total, it has had more failures to finish than both pole and third on the grid.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 2ND ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 2 | 2 | DNF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
- 17 podium results
- Only 3 DNFs
Only three DNFs have come from third on the grid at the Catalunya circuit since F1 first visited in 1991. Only Finnish drivers – Mika Hakkinen in 1994, Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and Valtteri Bottas in 2017 – have recorded a DNF from third on the grid, while Ayrton Senna, Ralf Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in 1992, 2002, 2010 and 2023 respectively also failed to score.
Those hiccups aside, in every other race here, the driver starting third has never failed to finish outside of the top six, and has finished on the podium 17 times. Bottas’ third place in 2020 was the first time the driver starting third finished on the podium here since 2015.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 3RD ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 3 | 3 | 4 | DNF | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 17 |
- Only win in 2016
- Podium finishes in two of the last three seasons
- Last DNF in 2018
The driver starting fourth has had mixed fortunes at the Spanish Grand Prix in the last decade. Max Verstappen took his maiden F1 victory from fourth on the grid in 2016, then two years of retirements for Kimi Raikkonen followed, before Verstappen finished on the podium again in 2019.
The grid slot has scored in every year since then, with two further podium finishes: third for George Russell in 2022 and second for Lewis Hamilton in 2023. Raikkonen’s 2018 DNF remains the last time that the driver starting here did not finish in the top five.
Verstappen’s 2016 victory is the only win from this position. Meanwhile, Raikkonen’s retirement in 2017 marked the end of a 13-year scoring streak from fourth on the grid.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 4TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | DNF | DNF | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
- Furthest back grid slot to win
- Seven DNFs
- Top ten finishes on every other occasion
Fifth on the grid holds the record for the furthest back win at the track. Fernando Alonso started from fifth and won the Spanish Grand Prix in 2013, recording his most recent F1 victory. Michael Schumacher’s win from third in 1996 and Max Verstappen’s victory from fourth in 2016 are the only other times the win has come from behind the front row.
Aside from the seven DNFs from fifth on the grid, the position has always gone on to finish in the top ten, and has supplied two podium finishes in the past seven seasons.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 5TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 8 | 9 | 2 | DNF | 3 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 6 |
- 18 points finishes in total
- No DNFs since 2013
- Three podium results – latest in 2017
From the 34 Spanish Grands Prix held at Catalunya, the driver starting from sixth has scored points only 18 times; a pretty low hit rate considering the top six finishers have always been awarded points.
It’s the fewest number of points-scoring races from any grid slot in the top ten. While no one has retired from here since Romain Grosjean in 2013, the grid slot has the most DNFs of any in the top ten, with 11 in total.
Just three podium finishes have come from sixth on the grid – Alain Prost in 1991, Sebastian Vettel in 2016 and Daniel Ricciardo in 2017.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 6TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 7 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 |
- Three podium finishes
- No DNFs since 2009
In the last 15 years, Fernando Alonso’s 12th place finish in 2017 and Nico Hulkenberg’s 15th place in 2023 are the only times that the driver starting from seventh has failed to score at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Seventh on the grid has not recorded a retirement at Catalunya since 2009 – the longest time since a non-finish for a grid slot at the circuit; a record shared with 19th.
Seventh has had three podium finishes – a best ever result of second for Johnny Herbert in 1995, and two third places, for Jacques Villeneueve and David Coulthard in 2001 and 2002 respectively.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 7TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 15 |
- Points in 9 of last 10 races
- Only podium finish in 1992
In 2022, Kevin Magnussen became the only driver to start eighth at the Spanish Grand Prix and fail to score since 2014.
While the driver starting from eighth has scored points in nine out of the last ten Spanish Grands Prix, in the past 17 years the driver starting here has moved up the order only six times.
Points can be regularly scored from eighth, but don’t expect any stand out results. The only podium finish from here was for Jean Alesi, who finished third back in 1992.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 8TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 11 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 7 |
- Just one DNF since 1997
- Single podium finish, in 2013
Grid position nine got off to a rather unlucky start in Catalunya’s history. The driver starting from ninth retired in all five seasons between 1993 and 1997, yet Ralf Schumacher’s exit from the 1997 Spanish Grand Prix was the last time a driver starting here failed to be classified until Charles Leclerc’s retirement in 2020.
Since 1998, the position has scored points more often than not, and there have been just eight races where the driver starting here has finished in a position lower than where they started – including twice in the last three years.
Felipe Massa is the only driver to have finished on the podium having started ninth. He did so in 2013 with Ferrari. Ninth on the grid has given five further top five finishes.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 9TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 13 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 9 | DNF | 8 | 12 | 13 |
- Only scored three times since 2016
- Three DNFs in last nine races
- Only top 12 grid slot to never finish on the podium
The driver starting from tenth has not enjoyed much luck in recent seasons, scoring only three times since 2016. Esteban Ocon finished fifth in 2017, Pierre Gasly finished ninth in 2020 and Gasly (again) finished tenth in 2023.
Three of the last nine races here have resulted in retirements for the driver starting tenth – along with three non-scores in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Tenth on the grid is the only grid position from the top 12 to have never scored a podium finish at Catalunya. Fifth is the best result recorded from this grid slot. Aside from Ocon in 2017, three drivers finished fifth having started tenth in the 1990s.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 10TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 10 | 7 | DNF | 5 | DNF | DNF | 9 | 17 | 14 | 10 |
- Points in all of the last 3 races
- Best result of 3rd, in 1994
- Only 2 DNFs in last 15 years
With seventh place in 2020, Sebastian Vettel became the first driver to score at the Spanish Grand Prix having started 11th on the grid since Romain Grosjean in 2015. Lando Norris added to the points haul from this grid slot in 2022, finishing eighth, while Sergio Perez recorded the grid slot’s best finish in almost 30 years with fourth place in 2023.
The best result for the driver lining up 11th on the grid was back in 1994, when Mark Blundell finished on the podium in third place.
11th on the grid has had only two DNFs at the Spanish Grand Prix in the last 16 years.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 11TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 9 | 8 | DNF | 14 | DNF | 11 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 4 |
- Points in 6 of the last 9 races
- Best result of 2nd
- 2 DNFs in the last 9 seasons
In six of the last nine seasons, the driver starting from 12th has scored points at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The best result for a driver starting here is second, which Olivier Panis and Juan Pablo Montoya recorded in 1997 and 2001 respectively. George Russell recorded the third podium result from 12th on the grid at Catalunya with third place in the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix.
While points have been frequent in recent years, 12th on the grid has also retired twice in the last nine seasons.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 12TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 14 | DNF | 9 | 7 | DNF | 8 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 3 |
- No top five finishes
- 16 top ten results
- Points in 2022 and 2023
The driver starting 13th has never finished above sixth at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – a position which it has secured five times in total.
With 16 top ten finishes, chances of finishing in the points from 13th are relatively high when compared to the grid slots around it.
In 2022, Yuki Tsunoda finished in tenth place. It made him the first driver to score points from 13th on the grid at Catalunya since Nico Hulkenberg in 2017, who equalled the grid slot’s best-ever finish with sixth place.
Zhou Guanyu finished ninth having started here in 2023. The driver starting 13th has not lost a place from where they started in all of the last six Spanish Grands Prix.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 13TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 16 | DNF | 10 | 6 | DNF | 12 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 9 |
- 4 points finishes since 2004
- Last points in 2017
- Most recent DNFs in 2016 & 2018
None of the first 13 Spanish Grands Prix held at Catalunya resulted in points for the driver starting 14th. Since 2004, the grid slot has scored four times, with a best result of eighth for Jenson Button in both 2004 and 2013.
In the last nine years, the driver starting 14th has retired twice and picked up one point, with a tenth place finish for Romain Grosjean in 2017.
In four of the last six seasons, the driver starting 14th has gone on to finish 14th.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 14TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 12 | 16 | DNF | 10 | DNF | 14 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 14 |
- 2022 was first DNF since 2011
- 3 points finishes in last 11 seasons
- Last points in 2018
In 2022, Zhou Guanyu recorded the first retirement from 15th on the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix since 2011.
The grid slot recorded 13 DNFs in 20 seasons between 1992 and 2011, but since then has supplied points on three occasions, including a best result of fourth for Sebastian Vettel in 2014.
The driver starting here last scored a point in 2018, when Sergio Perez finished ninth.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 15TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 4 | 12 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 13 | 14 | DNF | 12 |
- Most non-finishes of any grid slot
- Only points finish in 1992
Grid position 16 is the most unlucky at Catalunya, having recorded the most non-finishes, with 14 retirements – including three in the last seven seasons.
You have to go all the way back to 1992 for the only points-scoring race for a driver starting from 16th. That was for Michele Alboreto, who finished fifth in a Footwork.
Between 2001 and 2010, the driver starting 16th failed to finish all but one race here, while Rubens Barrichello’s ninth place finish in 2005 is the most recent time a driver has finished in the top ten from this grid slot.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 16TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 17 | 14 | 11 | 11 | DNF | DNF | 15 | DNF | 11 | 19 |
- Last points in 2010
- 1996 is only other points-scoring race
- One DNF in the last 15 years
In the last 28 years, the driver starting 17th at the Spanish Grand Prix has scored points only once. That was Rubens Barrichello in 2010, who crossed the line in ninth place.
Pedro Diniz, in 1996, is the only other driver to have scored from this grid slot, with sixth place, while the position has supplied only three further top ten finishes.
In the last 15 seasons, Bruno Senna is the only driver to retire from 17th on the grid at Catalunya, doing so in 2012.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 17TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 19 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 18 |
- 2016 is only points-scoring race since 1994
- No top 14 finishes since 2016
Felipe Massa’s eighth place in the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix marked the first time that a driver starting 18th at Catalunya had scored since Pierluigi Martini’s fifth place in 1994.
In the last eight years, the driver starting here has not finished above 15th. There have been only two retirements from this grid slot in the last 15 years, in 2013 and 2018.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 18TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 18 | 13 | 8 | 16 | DNF | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 16 |
- Only four DNFs, last in 2009
- 2017 is only points finish
The driver starting from 19th on the grid has recorded a DNF at Catalunya on only four occasions, the most recent to do so being Adrian Sutil in 2009. It is one of two grid slots, along with seventh, which has gone the longest without recording a non finish at Catalunya.
Although a finish is highly likely from the grid slot, points are not. Daniil Kvyat’s ninth place here in 2017 is the only time a driver starting from 19th has scored at the circuit, while 2002 and 2008 are the only other occasions on which the grid slot has provided a top ten finish.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 19TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| 20 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 16 | – |
- 2022 was first points-scoring race
- Best result of 8th, in 1993 and 1994
Until 2022, the driver starting 20th at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya had never scored a point. Fernando Alonso finally gave this position its first points finish in 2022 with ninth place.
Alonso’s ninth place is not the best result recorded form here, however. Two drivers have finished in the top eight from 20th on the grid at Catalunya, with eighth places for Christian Fittpaldi in 1993 and Éric Bernard in 1994 – before finishing eighth awarded any points.
There have only been three occasions on which a driver starting lower than 19th has scored points at Catalunya. In addition to Alonso’s ninth place from 20th on the grid in 2022, it happened in 2011 and 2012, when both Nick Heidfeld and Lewis Hamilton started from 24th on the grid and finished in eighth place.
LAST 10 RESULTS FROM 20TH ON THE GRID AT THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| DNF | 18 | 14 | DNF | 12 | – | 16 | 19 | 9 | – |
In 2019, Nico Hulkenberg became the first driver to start the Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya from the pit lane. He finished the race in 13th position.
Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant became the second and third drivers to start a Catalunya race from the pit lane at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, finishing 11th and 20th respectively.
Alex Albon started from the pit lane in 2024 after making changes to his power unit under parc ferme conditions. He finished 18th.
