Fernando Alonso has the records for entering the most Grand Prix and starting the most races following a Formula 1 career that has taken him to 37 different circuits.
The 43-year-old got his F1 debut at Albert Park as Alonso finished the 2001 Australian Grand Prix in P11 for Minardi. Yet Melbourne only ranks seventh on the Spaniard’s list of race starts by circuit, having made 20 trips to the state of Victoria which have returned one win to date.
Alonso won the Australian GP for Renault in 2006, but he did not enter the 2015 edition with McLaren after crashing during pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Spanish Grand Prix venue is one of six circuits Alonso has raced at 21 times yet in Formula 1.
Aston Martin will see Alonso move his tally of starts at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to 22 in this Sunday’s Spanish GP. It is even likely to be the final time the race takes place at the track, as Barcelona is losing the Spanish GP to Madrid in 2026 despite still having a contract.
Fernando Alonso feels F1 would be ‘crippled’ without the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Alonso has also won his home race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya twice, making the Spanish GP venue one of his most successful F1 tracks behind sealing three wins at Sepang, Sakhir and Hockenheim. The Oviedo native also thinks Formula 1 owes the Montmelo track.
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| CIRCUIT | RACES | WINS | PODIUMS | POLES |
| Interlagos | 21 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| Barcelona | 21 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| Monaco | 21 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Silverstone | 21 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| Hungaroring | 21 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Monza | 21 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
F1 moved the Spanish GP to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1991 and Alonso believes the venue helped Formula 1 to become what it is after frequently staging pre-season testing over the years. F1 teams also view the track as a benchmark for their upgrades each season.
Alonso has told Mundo Deportivo: “For drivers, having facilities that you can use 365 days a year, where you can go and train, where you can learn your set-up [and] where you can have everything under your belt, is important, and it’s something that has always happened at the Circuit with the winter tests and everything that was done there.
“I think Formula 1 and the Circuit go hand in hand. The Circuit wouldn’t exist if there hadn’t been so many Formula 1 tests and so many anecdotes that happened there.
“And Formula 1, too, without the Circuit over the last two decades, would be crippled because we’ve done more laps there than anywhere else in the world.”
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya faces an uncertain future with F1 moving the Spanish GP to Madrid in 2026
Barcelona still has a contract to host an F1 race in 2026, despite losing the rights to host the Spanish GP to a new street track near the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport on a 10-year contract. The Madring will be the 38th different circuit that Alonso will race at in F1, as well.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has not always been a fan-favourite venue since holding its first Spanish GP in 1991, with the track generally viewed as a better venue for motorcycle racing than Formula 1 with overtaking chances at a premium largely at Turns 1, 4, 5 and 10.
But it has been a pivotal venue for pre-season testing down the years, which also made it an important circuit for Formula 1 teams to confirm their upgrades come the Spanish GP due to the masses of data they have at the track, which will also be the case in the 2025 F1 season.
The FIA will enforce stricter front wing load tests at the 2025 Spanish GP to rule out flexible wings, which forced all 10 teams to modify the designs that they created before the season. Ferrari, in particular, hope the FIA’s new flexi-wing tests helps them to be more competitive.
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