European GP – Wolf’s Valencia Diary – Friday

Kimi Raikkonen - Valencia

I have been on the road for few days but now I am settled down in Valencia and what is even better – online !

It is a beautiful set up over here. Nice (but hot) weather, the beach right next to the track, lots of bars and restaurants 2 minutes from the track entrance, vino, cerveza, tapas, perfect. And if what was happening today is to be any indication of what to expect this weekend, we may also have an exciting race.

Sebastian Vettel - Valencia

My seat is near the bridge and it was interesting to watch how different drivers were taking different lines in that corner. But by the end of practice 2 they all used the same racing line . Some were getting too close to the wall and I saw at least one car (not sure who was it) touching the wall.

We shared a cab with Brazilian journo this morning. He told us that when he walked the track yesterday, there was a talk that some teams were concerned the gap between the track and the bridge may cause some tyre deflations. Let’s hope that is not the case as that would be a really dangerous place for a car getting out of control.

We are in Spain and if I were about to forget about that, the crowd reminds me every time Fernando Alonso passes by . The atmosphere is simply awesome here and this is still only Friday …

For the record, Sebastian Vettel was quickest in practice 1, Kimi Raikkonen in practice 2. Surprisingly Fernando Alonso was 2nd and Jenson Button 3rd in P2 … Overall, Ferraris seem to have an upper hand over McLarens so far but that may change tomorrow. The commentators here on track predict the lap times to drop further to 1:36s from top 1:39s today. A lot can still happen.

And here are some pictures of the beach from the race track:

Valencia

Valencia

I will be back tomorrow with brief Saturday report.

Stay tuned for my photo gallery – coming after the race weekend !