formula 1

Free event gathers activities and F1 simulators at Catalan capital's Port Vell harbor

Four-time world champion took part in F1 Spanish Grand Prix on weekend

Traffic control measures will be put into place to mitigate impact on major roads

Three-day test held behind closed doors features all 10 teams and 20 drivers

The grand prix in Barcelona was scheduled to take place in June

With contract to hold event expiring this year, authorities give nod for Montmeló to host race in 2020 while preparing long-term plan for national track

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari Formula One Team Driver, together with the President of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, have set on Thursday the symbolic first stone of the company’s first theme park in Europe, which will be an expansion of PortAventura, the main amusement resort in Catalonia, located on the Costa Daurada and near Tarragona. Ferrari Land is expected to be ready by the end of 2016, after an initial investment of €100 million. It is likely to become PortAventura’s main attraction and is expected to make the Catalan holiday and amusement resort reach 5 million visitors per year. Once Ferrari Land is operational, it will employ about 150 people, in addition to PortAventura’s staff. The project also includes a 5-star hotel themed around the Ferrari brand, but this will be built during a second stage.

The 2015 Formula 1 World Championship is about to begin and the teams finalised their preparations at the Circuit de Catalunya. 20 racers will be in the spotlight in two weeks’ time for the start of the season, but Formula 1 is not just about the drivers themselves. Apart from the household names of Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, there is a little known world that every two weeks travels from one side of the world to the other. On the one hand, there are the people who work around the F1 team itself such as the press officers, who manage communication between the different parts of the team and also with the media. On the other, all the circuits mobilise an army of volunteers who sacrifice their day job to be "marshals" at the circuit to take care of the drivers’ safety.

German manufacturer Mercedes AMG Petronas have confirmed during the last Formula 1 tests at the Circuit de Catalunya that they are two steps ahead of the rest of the teams. Nico Rosberg notched on Friday the quickest time of the second week of tests, with a time of 1:22.792, with British driver Lewis Hamilton also dominating Saturday’s time trials. Williams seem to be the second-best team in the paddock according to these test days that have also confirmed problems with the McLaren. After two weeks of tests at the Circuit de Catalunya marked by the accident suffered by Fernando Alonso last week, the teams will now take a break until 13 March, when the first round of the F1 World Championship will be held at the Albert Park track in Melbourne (Australia).

Former two time Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso had to be kept in hospital last Sunday night after he was involved in a serious accident at the Circuit de Catalunya, in Greater Barcelona. The Spaniard suffered head injuries and concussion and had to be airlifted from the circuit to hospital via helicopter. Alonso was given the all clear after undergoing a series of scans and tests but was kept in hospital overnight for observation because of the nature of his injuries. The Spaniard was completing the 21st lap of the day for his new McLaren team when the accident happened at turn four on the fourth and final day of the test. According to his team, Alonso was “conscious” upon his arrival at the circuit’s medical centre and able to talk to doctors before being airlifted to hospital.

Between Friday 30th May and Sunday 1st June, Lleida-Alguaire Airport will play host to the first ever European race in the Air Race F1 competition , a long-established American flying competition. The event, called the Lleida Air Challenge, will also include a race of the Spanish aerobatic flying championship and other aeronautical activities. Practice started on Wednesday but the actual races will start on Friday and end on Sunday with the Air Race F1 event. 8 aircraft fly at 10-15 metres above ground level at 400km/h. The CEO of Air Race F1, Jeff Zaltman, said that he wants the competition to grow in Europe and Catalonia to act as its base for operations.

This weekend Lewis Hamilton won the F1 race in Barcelona followed by Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg. The two drivers fought hard for the victory and Hamilton finished only 0.6 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Daniel Ricciardo, from Red Bull, completed the podium. Sebastian Vettel ended in fourth position, after starting the race 15^th. Hamilton is now leader of the championship. More than 200,000 people went to the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit to watch the F1 Grand Prix over the three days, 60% of which came from abroad.