Talking points ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix

There's only 650 kilometres between Monaco and Montmelo, but the site of this week's Formula 1® Spanish Grand Prix (June 2-4) couldn't be more different to the twisty ribbon of tarmac around Monte Carlo that played host to round six of 2023 last Sunday.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hasn't been used for pre-season testing since pre-pandemic times in 2020, but there's a reason the layout on the outskirts of one of Spain's signature cities was utilised to put the cars through their paces for so many years; typically dry weather and a challenging layout that features every type of corner imaginable means teams quickly get a read if their cars really work – or not.

This season has been all about Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, the team coming to Spain with a perfect six-for-six winning record so far. But make no mistake, this weekend's race is all about home hero Fernando Alonso, who sits a remarkable third in the drivers' standings after his best result in nine years when he finished second in Monaco last Sunday.

Here's three more talking points we're watching this weekend.

What's old is new again

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is one of just four circuits where both F1® and MotoGP™ race (the others, for the record, are the Circuit of the Americas, Silverstone and Qatar), but one of the great frustrations about watching F1® cars in Spain since 2006 was the use of a clumsy chicane that neutered the fearsome, tyre-torturing double right-hander to end the lap at Turns 13-14, which slingshots the MotoGP™ bikes onto the start-finish straight.

F1® has decided to revert back to the old layout for 2023, which removes two corners and 18 metres from the track length; it doesn't sound like much, but watching modern-day F1® machinery fully loaded aerodynamically into the final two turns provides a true picture of the g-forces that enable them to carry such crazy corner speed at work.

The other signature section comes earlier in the lap at Turn 3, a long and loaded right-hander with a radius of over 150 degrees that is hell on tyres – and the necks of the drivers. Driving that section of track 66 times on Sunday means a trip to the physio after the race is a given…

Mercedes to measure progress

In Mercedes' heyday – from the advent of the V6 turbo hybrid era until 2021, to be more accurate – Barcelona was the happiest of hunting grounds, Lewis Hamilton taking all of his circuit record-equalling six victories in an eight-year span, including five in a row from 2017-21.

Those glory days are a distant memory given Mercedes has won one Grand Prix (Brazil 2022) in the past 28 races, but step one of a possible revival came in Monaco, where a heavily-revised W14 machine featuring a new front suspension and more conventional sidepods propelled Hamilton and teammate George Russell to fourth and fifth respectively.

Barcelona – for the track-specific reasons outlined above – will give Mercedes a greater understanding of the progress made and the problems yet to solve, and team principal Toto Wolff was cautiously optimistic that the new direction is the right one.

"We've got to go to Barcelona and collect more data, it's a new baseline," Wolff said after Monaco. "The car was awful (in Monaco) last year, and this time around the drivers said it's not good. So there's a step in description …".

Stroll in the spotlight

On the face of it, Lance Stroll is doing an acceptable job for Aston Martin in 2023 by sitting eighth in the drivers' standings after six races; staying there would be a career-best return for a driver who has never cracked the top 10 in six seasons. But Aston Martin's advantage for second place in the constructors' standings over Mercedes shrunk to one point after Stroll's second straight non-score in Monaco, and the Silver Arrows are pointing upwards …

Few expected Aston Martin to be Red Bull's nearest challenger in 2023, relative as that term is. Alonso's podium heroics were a nice anomaly earlier this season; now, they're almost expected. For Stroll to be behind both Mercedes drivers in the standings, plus Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, in a car that has taken more than double the number of podiums (five) as Mercedes and Ferrari combined (two) hasn't got much attention until now, but will if one of Aston's drivers continues to carry such a hefty load.

Stroll is hardly likely to be under any pressure to keep his job given his after Lawrence owns the team, but trailing a teammate 17 years your senior by 66 points after just six races – even if that teammate is a two-time world champion and one of the feistiest F1® drivers ever – isn't a good look.

The Formula 1® Spanish Grand Prix 2023 will be available to watch live on Foxtel and Kayo. See our What time does the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix start in Australia article for timings.