Formula 1, Spanish Grand Prix preview, 23 June 2024

Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing will be expected to continue their dominance when the 10th round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, the Spanish Grand Prix, is held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the afternoon of Sunday 23 June.

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Verstappen claimed his sixth win of the season when he took the chequered flag at the previous round in Montreal, Canada, extending his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to 56 points over nearest chaser Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Lando Norris (McLaren), Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull) complete the top five.

Verstappen, however, has had to work incredibly hard to remain dominant in recent races, with the pace advantage of the Red Bull falling away – as rivals like Ferrari, McLaren and even Mercedes close the gap.

Yet a return to more 'traditional' tracks, such as the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, is expected to bring back the trend we saw earlier in the season when the Red Bulls were comfortably the quickest cars on the grid.

"We just need to work on our car, to be honest, to make it a bit easier to drive also, probably, to feel a bit more comfortable. And then I’m sure that we have both cars back up there like we had in the beginning of the season," said Verstappen, whose teammate Perez has struggled to find any pace in recent rounds.

By contrast, the McLaren pair of Norris and Oscar Piastri are both ultra competitive – something which could see them begin to close the gap in the Constructors' Championship, as they seek to overtake Ferrari and become Red Bull's closest competitors.

"We’ll keep pushing and I think that’s one of our biggest strengths at the minute,” said Norris. “We have two drivers as McLaren who are up there not making mistakes and getting pretty much everything out of the car every single weekend. Yeah, it’s rare that there’s not many other teams on the grid that have such a thing.

“So for us, it’s more out of what we can do against Ferrari. Again, we’ve been a more consistent team coming into this weekend. They’ve had some mistakes and just struggled a little bit more for whatever reason. But in the end of the day, I think two is going to be better than one, you know, in Max’s case.”

Mercedes also showed much improved pace at the previous round and team boss Toto Wolff believes there is light at the end of the tunnel after their struggles thus far in 2024.

“What's important is that we provided the drivers with a quick car,” said Wolff. “We need to take the positive because we have taken a real step forward, we're bringing bits, and the development direction is true.”

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Spanish Grand Prix broadcast details, 21-23 June 2024

All times CAT

Friday 21 June

13:30: Practice 1 – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1

17:00: Practice 2 – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1

Saturday 22 June

12:30: Practice 3 – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1

16:00: Qualifying – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1

Sunday 23 June

15:00: Grand Prix – LIVE on SuperSport Motorsport and SuperSport Maximo 1