Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live sports extra Formula 1 commentator

It is very important to assert your authority at this time of year. I think that is what happened last year when there was the crash here between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. 

Rosberg was in front and Hamilton knew he had to get in front, not just for the race, but also because of the prospect of being the preferred driver on the team.

If you slip behind your rivals at this stage of the season, things can get away from you.

Tom Clarkson
BBC Radio 5 live commentator

I think that Valtteri Bottas has started stronger than anyone expected at Mercedes. He has outperformed Nico Rosberg in terms of being closer to Lewis Hamilton than the German was at this stage last year.

Just six minutes to go until lights out. That's enough time for you to have a watch of this interview with Esteban Ocon.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Barcelona

Strategy-wise, this race is between a two-stop and a three-stop. Three is marginally quicker, but most will aim for two because overtaking is so difficult and therefore track position is key. The medium tyre is more than two seconds a lap slower than the soft, so teams want to stay off it as much as possible, but the ball-park race is about 17 laps on the soft in the first stint, followed by 19 in the second and 30 on the medium at the end. Those numbers are flexible because the key strategy tool will be the ‘undercut’ - where a team stops early to gain position by benefiting from the extra pace of fresh tyres - so that could shorten the first stint, which pushes the later ones out in terms of lap count.

Alex Holland-Martin: Question do you think it will be a two stop race? Could the safety car play a part?

Williams' Felipe Massa: The race is quite hot and it will be quite tricky on the tyres and on the number of stops.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Barcelona

Image source, Getty Images

Stoffel Vandoorne arrived in Formula 1 this year with great expectations upon him - the Belgian’s record in the junior formulae demands respect and he is generally considered a great talent in the making. But the start of the season has not gone well. There have been flashes of pace, such as matching team-mate Fernando Alonso in the odd practice session when neither has had a problem. But generally he has lagged well behind the Spaniard, and so it was again here as he took 19th in Q1 - half a second down on Alonso - while the two-time champion went on to finish in seventh.

“I don’t think it’s a mystery,” Vandoorne said. “It is a combination of a few things, putting everything together at the right time. Obviously the start of the season has been very tricky from my side with quite a few problems and this was the first weekend where we ran smoothly in practice one and practice two. I felt very comfortable with the car and we performed very well. for some reason this morning was a bit more difficult and we carried that through to qualifying. Just need to understand why. I am confident to get on top of the things and once everything falls together I am sure we will be able to progress.”

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo speaking to 5 live sports extra about his music choice as he prepares for the off: This is a fun time. I have a look at my genres and I am going to go with a little bit of velocity and rhythm. I was listening to a bit of hip-hop for the installation lap, but I am going to switch it up a bit.

We will try and do something with strategy, I think that is our best bet.

There's all sorts going on as the drivers prepare for the start of the race. This is all part of F1's new owners fan initiatives that kick in from this race.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Barcelona

Image source, Rex Features

Ferrari undoubtedly had the quickest car around this track in pre-season testing, and the first four races have suggested the Italian team have an advantage in their use of tyres. 

The Ferrari has a wider working window and treats the tyres more kindly, both of which in theory should help around Barcelona, which has always been one of the tougher tracks for tyres. But Mercedes’ degradation was better than Ferrari’s in the race runs on Friday afternoon. One possible explanation is that the extensive upgrade brought here by the world champions has been part of a breakthrough. The race will provide further clues. 

Marcus Bridgland: My drawing of the best driver of all time, signed by the man himself!   

Image source, .

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Barcelona

Overtaking has always been difficult at the Circuit de Catalunya, and it is one of the circuits where statistically pole position is the most important. So the start becomes more important than ever. 

“It’s a long run down to Turn One,” Lewis Hamilton said, “so of course it’s going to be important to get a good start. But we’ve worked hard on them so I’m going to try to do the best job I can. Valtteri’s had some great starts so I’m going to try and follow in his footsteps there and then yeah, positioning can help a lot here and being on the clean side of the grid is an advantage generally. Usually it’s a little bit of an advantage and hopefully I’ll be able to utilise that – particularly compared to Sebastian – and then in the race it’s just about looking after those tyres.”

Image source, Getty Images

All but three of the last 16 Spanish Grands Prix have been won from pole position.

The only drivers to win in Barcelona without starting on the front row are Michael Schumacher (third on the grid in 1996), Fernando Alonso (from fifth in 2013) and Max Verstappen (fourth in 2016).

Actor Kelsey Grammer has just been talking to Jennie Gow on the grid.

This is fantastic," he says. "I have never been on a grid before. The Ferrari cars are so beautiful. This is just a magnificent experience. I am a bit of a gearhead so this is lots of fun for me."

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Barcelona

Can Fernando Alonso hang on to seventh by the end? Will the car even make it there? Despite four retirements in four races, Alonso said he was “pretty confident” of finishing. He said he wants to be in the top five in the first couple of laps - eminently do-able if he pulls off one of his trademark first laps - and see where he can go from there. 

“The points are the main target,” he said. “Maybe we are a little bit out of position because it seems too good and maybe we need to defend a bit. But we will try to take maximum points for the team. Once we qualify well, it would be nice to complete the job tomorrow.” 

His problem will be lack of power and lack of fuel efficiency - the way these engine regulations work, because of the fuel-flow limit, the less power a car has, the more fuel it uses. Honda is also struggling with energy deployment from the hybrid system. So Alonso is going to face a difficult race trying to defend his position.

Image source, Rex Features

McLaren's Fernando Alonso: The support here really helps. It was nice surprise for us to be competitive yesterday. I am looking forward to the Indy 500, I have practice tomorrow morning so I need to get on a plane fast.