2010 Spanish Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 19 in the 2010 Formula One season | |||
Circuit de Catalunya
|
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| Date | 9 May 2010 | ||
| Official name | LII Gran Premio de España | ||
| Location |
Circuit de Catalunya Barcelona, Spain |
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| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.655 km (2.892 mi) | ||
| Distance | 66 laps, 307.104 km (190.826 mi) | ||
| Weather | Mainly cloudy, dry | ||
| Attendance | 98,200 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Red Bull-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:19.995 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Lewis Hamilton
|
McLaren-Mercedes | |
| Time | 1:24.357 on lap 59 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Red Bull-Renault | ||
| Second | Ferrari | ||
| Third | Red Bull-Renault | ||
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The 2010 Spanish Grand Prix (formally the LII Gran Premio de España) was the fifth round of the 2010 Formula One season. It was held on 9 May 2010 at the Circuit de Catalunya. It was the first European race of the 2010 season, and was ultimately won by Red Bull's Mark Webber after the Australian qualified on pole and led every lap of the race.
The lead-up to the first practice session saw the media focus on several major upgrades various teams had introduced in time for the start of the European season. Mercedes abandoned the use of an airbox mounted atop the engine cowling, in favour of a rigid vertical rollbar and two pronounced air intakes directly behind the driver's cockpit. Virgin's solution to their problem of having a too-small fuel tank was to bring a longer chassis to accommodate a larger fuel tank and a brand-new fuel feed system that would allow them to run as light as possible during qualifying. The VR-01 was also given a "shark fin" engine cowling. However, owing to the volcanic eruptions in Iceland that had disrupted air travel across Europe at the time of the previous race, only one chassis was able to make it to Barcelona, to be used by Timo Glock. Following several dramatic engine problems that had affected both them and their customer teams, Ferrari were given permission by the FIA to modify their engines. In the wake of controversy that arose from accusations that their generic Marlboro "barcode" decal contained subliminal advertising, Ferrari removed all traces of it from their car for the weekend. Elsewhere, Hispania signed former Jaguar driver Christian Klien as a test driver, running him in the place of Karun Chandhok for the first practice session. Klien's FIA Super Licence – the licence that allows a driver to race in Formula One – was reported to have expired as he had not raced in over three years (his last appearance being at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix), which would have prevented him from leaving pit lane and taking to the circuit. Klien took part in the session, with reports claiming that his racing licence had been renewed just ten minutes before the session began.
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