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This year's season of Formula One has been incredible so far, with the championship lead just recently changing hands to Lewis Hamilton.
With Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen all on Hamilton's tail, the championship really could go to anyone at this point.
Force India, Renault, McLaren, Haas, and others are all vying for points in the midfield, and Red Bull will be looking to bounce back from a devastating result in Baku.
Spain is a generally exciting race. There have been 10 different winners between 2007 to 2016, until Lewis Hamilton broke that streak and won for the second time in 4 years in 2017.
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However, this country has seen some great victories including the likes of Max Verstappen and Pastor Maldonado.
Will we see another first-time winner? Will Verstappen, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen or hometown favorite Fernando Alonso take a repeat victory? Who will leave Spain as the World title leader? We sure don't know but like always that won't stop us from guessing!
#1 Raikkonen Takes Pole from Vettel
The Ferraris have been blisteringly fast this season, and even with Mercedes infamous party mode, Hamilton and Bottas have for the most part been unable to pull it all together and take pole from Vettel since the first round in Australia.
Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen has been driving unbelievably well so far, and has just missed out on pole by the slimmest of margins in Bahrain and because of the smallest of mistakes in Baku.
This time round in Spain, we predict that the Finn will have it all together, and shoot that Ferrari straight onto the very front of the grid.
Raikkonen has driven well and has a lot of experience at Spain, and while Vettel is, of course, no stranger to the track either, we say that Raikkonen will be less prone to making mistakes at a track like Spain where he is so familiar.
#2 A Renault Teammate Rumble
In the last two Grands Prix, we have seen teammate clashes between Toro Rosso and Red Bull, that have led to race changing safety cars in China and Azerbaijan.
This season seems to have a knack for bringing teammates together and we believe that the next stable in line for a domestic scuffle will be the French outfit.
Hometown favorite Carlos Sainz will be looking to drive hard in his country of Spain, and being so closely matched with his teammate Nico Hulkenberg, it might be only a matter of time before the two come together.
The two got off to a terrific start in Baku, challenging the Red Bulls and looking on course for a fantastic finish before Hulkenberg hit the wall and Sainz fell into some tire degradation problems.
Both will be looking to make an impact in Spain, and like in Baku, hard racing between Renault powered cars might just lead to a run-in on the track.
#3 Perez makes 2 Podiums in a row
After a stunning resurgence of pace by Force India in Baku, Sergio Perez managed to get the best out of his newly galvanized car, drive a clean race and strike himself a position on the podium.
The Mexican star will feel right at home in Barcelona, and with the surge of confidence from having an undeniably faster car as of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, he and Force India will be looking to once again stay atop of the midfield and try and challenge for fourth place in the Championship race.
Sergio Perez solidified himself as the most successful Mexican driver of all time with an eighth career podium in Baku, and we believe that there will be no stopping him now. Anything can happen in Spain, and a bad pit stop, or flawed strategy by Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari could see another opportunity for the Pink Panther to land himself a spot on the podium.
#4 Vettel Pulls the Championship Lead back
While Lewis Hamilton may have won the race in Baku and subsequently taken the lead in the race for a 5th World Championship, Vettel is certainly not out of it. Only 4 points separate the pair of 4 time World Champions and Vettel is in blistering form.
With only a single mistake costing him the win in Baku, and with Hamilton essentially inheriting the win from Bottas, Raikkonen and Vettel himself, the momentum sits squarely with the German.
Lewis Hamilton himself has admitted, in concurrence with Nico Rosberg and others that when he loses the momentum in a Championship race, he tends to take a while to get it back.
His victory in Baku should, therefore, be seen as one of circumstance rather than signs of Mercedes making drastic improvements to their car, and Hamilton to his driving.
Spain doesn't promise chaos like Baku, and if Vettel is as flawless as he usually is, then he should be able to finish ahead of his Mercedes rivals and bring the Championship lead back to the Tifosi.
#5 Alonso wins at Home!
Fernando Alonso's career in Formula One has been a Rollercoaster of a Greek tragedy.
Having been stuck with sub-par machinery for a substantial amount of time, Alonso has only recently in this year's McLaren with a new Renault engine, been able to challenge even in the midfield.
However, it seems that as tragic as the Spaniard's career can be, sometimes it can be fittingly glorious.
With an almost poetic performance at the Indy 500 last year that was foiled by another engine failure, Alonso proved that he is still up there among the best.
Even more recently, Alonso won his debut race in WEC from pole for Toyota, putting himself in the lead in the WEC Super season.
The Spanish sensation did so with the greatest of ease, going wheel to wheel with the other Toyota driven by Kamui Kobayashi and still coming out on top, proving that with a proper chance, Alonso can excel on any sort of road in any sort of car.
With such a great performance, it might be a little premature to call for an Alonso victory now. However, the stage is set for Alonso to drive a brilliant race in Barcelona, benefit from that extra tenth of speed from the hometown crowd, and maybe just maybe return to his winning ways in Formula 1.
