Spanish Grand Prix 2018 Tour Report

With the excitement of how the first four races had finished, we were all looking forward to the first European race of the season and heading to Barcelona!

Our flights departed from Manchester and London Gatwick on Friday morning to get our clients into Barcelona early afternoon, allowing everyone to settle in for the weekend ahead. In the evening, we held our welcome drinks at each of our three hotels - a great chance for everyone to get together and talk about their predictions for the weekend ahead.

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was only a short transfer from the three hotels we were using, which meant everyone could enjoy a full day of racing at the circuit. With FP3 being topped by Mercedes, was that a sign of what was to come in Qualifying? Coming into Q1, it was time to see who would come out on top. It was a battle between Mercedes and Ferrari, which for the first time this season Mercedes won to take the front row. Regardless of who you support, there was also a lot of delight around the circuit to see the two home drivers of Alonso and Sainz qualifying in the top 10.

On Saturday evening some of our clients attended the Gala Dinner at the Hilton Diagonal Mar hotel, a great opportunity to hear from Fernando Alonso as well as getting the insights of how McLaren work from CEO Zak Brown - a truly unique perspective.

With heavy rain overnight on Saturday, it was uncertain as to whether the rain would stay away for the race. There were a few drops early in the day, but regardless of the reports of 80% chance of rain it did stay clear for the race and everyone was in good spirits. Lewis managed to maintain his lead at the start, and after a few laps of the safety car following the Grosjean crash on lap one, Lewis started to pull away. Hamilton was able to hold on to the lead and after Vettel finished in 4th place, he managed to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers Championship.

After a great race, Sunday evening was a chance for everyone to enjoy themselves. We had a relaxing team dinner down at Port Olímpic, watching the sunset and discussing the day’s events before the flight home on Monday. As normal with the Grand Prix weekends, there is not too much time to recover before the excitement starts to build towards the next race, the seasons' glamour event in Monaco in just a couple of week's time!

- Sarah B