	Barcelona Tours 2008: Walking Tours, Bike Tours, Tourist Bus, Barcelona FC Stadium

2008 Spanish Grand Prix - Runners and Riders

By Paul Yates

Grand Prix Race Barcelona 2008 Get this date in your diary: Sunday April 27th and note it as "Barcelona, Spain". Practise and qualifying sessions will take place on the Friday 25th and Saturday 26th before the big race on Sunday 27th April. The European Formula One season kicks off in anger two weeks earlier than last year and I'd hate for you to miss what promises to be one of the most competitive seasons - well, at least since last year!

Who'd have thought that the F1 driver's championship would go right down to the wire with three drivers capable of winning it in the last race and finally it being won by a single point? It might just happen again this year but I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to who those three drivers will be.

Grand Prix Barcelona 2008 Alonso The first opportunity to see the runners and riders in Europe will be at the Circuit De Catalunya just north of Barcelona and it promises to be an incredible occasion, I can't wait. In addition to getting my first fix of high octane fuel, smoking tyres and serious engine decibels I'll be checking out the slow corners to see how each driver manages without traction control.

For F1 2008 every car will be fitted with a standard ECU box that controls the electronic driver aids and it's the introduction of these units that allows things such as traction control to be eliminated. This means driver skill will be at the forefront of the racing and any mistake will be penalised with rivals overtaking, something that arguably has not been in abundance in Barcelona in the past.

grand prix 2008 Barcelona So who's going to be up there when it really counts? Fernando Alonso? This depends on what car he's driving and for sure his options are limited but being a Spanish two times world champion on home soil anything could happen. Whether he's in the most competitive car or not, the blue flags of Asturias will be waving for him encouraging him to dig deep and spur him on to great things. But can he win it? I'm not so sure.

Ferrari and McLaren are going to be once again the class of the 2008, Ferrari leading the way with an unchanged driver line up of newly crowned world champion Kimi Raikonen and Latin blooded firecracker Felippe Massa. Continuity is very important in formula one because it really is a team event and team work is a Ferrari speciality and after Ferrari, why not take a look at the team that came second (remember McLaren were disqualified) in the constructors championship, BMW Sauber. They will probably race entirely under the BMW banner in 2008 but other than that, everything else remains unchanged including the super quick driver line up of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

F1 Barcelona 2008 The competition for third spot in the constructors championship is going to be supremely fierce, Williams will want to get back to the top flight with Nico Rosberg at the wheel, so will Honda with Jenson Button and don't rule out Red Bull with David Coulthard and Mark Webber or Renault who may secure the services of the aforementioned Fernando Alonso.

Who am I going to plump for? It's got to be the cool customer himself, Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren. Given his amazing rookie season that included pole position in Spain, I for one will be cheering him all the way to the chequered flag in 2008. It's already in my diary: Sunday April 27th - Spanish Grand Prix, Barcelona. Is it in yours yet?