Valencia Street Track was a brand new addition to the Formula 1 calendar and from what was seen and said and written it promised to be an exciting new venue. I was lucky enough to be able to fit European GP into my annual summer trip to Europe and see this new Grand Prix live.

The venue and organization

As it is the case with the street or park or city tracks, the biggest plus from a spectator point of view is the convenience. In Shanghai the trip from city to or from track may take anywhere from one to two hours, depending on how bad or very bad the traffic is. In Valencia the taxi ride took about 10 minutes. It then took about the same time for me to walk to my seat.

Some people think that the reace should have taken place somewhere around the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències - a new modern part of Valencia near the harbour rather than in the dockyard. Well, perhpas it would provide better backdrop if those parts still under construction could be somehow be avoided. But the race track was build a bit closer to the sea, near that dockyard. Yes, once you sit there you can’t miss the sights of cranes and containers. But the views from grandstands also offer this:

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Felipe Massa, Valencia 2008

It was not the most exciting race of the season but still, it was a great weekend in Spain. I am really glad that it was this race that this year coincided with my annual summer trip to Europe. Spain is definitely a great place to enjoy Formula 1 weekend and the setting in Valencia is simply great. And perhaps next year the Formula 1 cars will also be able to show us the kind of racing GP2 offers .

Already on Friday it was becoming obvious that Ferrari will be the team to beat in Valencia. And at the end that also was the case. Felipe Massa claimed the pole and was well set for the victory. His first pit stop (a lap earlier than Hamilton) and the smiles on face of Martin Whitmarsh made the commentators on the track to hand the victory to Lewis Hamilton, but when Hamilton emerged from his own pit stop behind both Massa and Raikkonen, the speculations about possible superior McLaren tactics ended. From then it was pretty about Massa not making any errors and his car giving him no Hungary like shocks. The scare came during his second pit stop. His crew released him straight into the path of Adrian Sutil (who was a lap down). These two almost collided and the incident was under investigation. Massa himself blamed Sutil for it, not understanding why Sutil needed to rush ahead of Massa in the pitlane when he would still have to let him pass on the track. From the outside it looked more like an error of Massa’s crew. In GP2 race Karun Chandhok received drive through penalty for similar error, in F1 it was to be investigated after the race. It is hard to say what approach is better but … should not the officials apply the same penalties (or procedures) for the same violations (or incidents) ? I am not questioning the fact that Massa escaped without penalty (I do not think he deserved one) but the FIA’s inconsistency that naturally leads to debates about certain teams escaping lightly.

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Felipa Massa wins 2008 European GP

It was nice hot and sunny Sunday here in Valencia. The F1 race unfortunately turned out to be a procession, at least at the front. If not for Ferrari mess ups there would hardly be any excitement. Felipe Massa pulled away after the start of the race and Lewis Hamilton (to the delight of local fans here) was no match for him. Massa had a bit of a scare after his second pit stops, but he managed to keep clear from Sutil and went on to win the race. Hamilton settled for second. Kubica’s 3rd place was never threatened by the other Ferrari and McLaren.

Kimi Raikkonen provided the excitement today. First he ran away with the refueling hose still attached to his car and ran over one of his crew members after his second pit stop. Then a while later his engine let go and the smoke covered the start finish line.

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Felipe Massa

It was great day at the track with awesome free practice, great F1 qualifying and exciting GP2 race. Unfortunately the Holiday Inn hotel I am staying at forgot that this is 21st century and so, no internet connection. (Unless I consider getting one page open after an hour of trying as a working internet …)

Perhaps tomorrow it will work better and I will be able to post some of the pictures…

The home fans were left disapointed after Fernando Alonso failed to make it to Q3 but they (and me with them) still cheered Massa when he claimed the pole (as I predicted ). Not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that Massa pole meant Hamilton’s relegation to P2. Alonso however did not sound too disapointed on the radio - he expects some Safety Car action tomorrow and then anything can happen …

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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.

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This race preview will be different than usual. One reason is, 2008 European GP will be held on brand new track in Valencia. The second reason is, I am on sort of working holiday at the moment.

This Valencia track has no F1 history, but that is not the case of European GP. You can the check the European GP minihistory series of posts on this blog to refresh the memories of modern time European GP F1 races.

Track technical info (ING Renault data):

Situated in the marina area of Valencia, this brand new street course promises to be one of the most exciting additions to the Formula 1 calendar in recent years. Hemmed in by concrete walls (hm, I smell safety car here ), the 25-turn circuit combines a mix of high and low-speed sections and is wide enough in places to offer genuine overtaking opportunities. Good straight-line speed and stability under braking are therefore paramount, as is good mechanical grip through the mix of low and medium-speed corners.

Aerodynamics

The track layout means that the teams will run with relatively low levels of downforce, similar to those used in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. This is possible as there are no high-speed corners and good straight-line speed is important down the long back straight. However, it won’t be until free practice begins on Friday that the teams will be able to finalise aero levels, which can depend on the grip offered by the tarmac.

Brakes

The circuit is expected to be particularly demanding on the brakes and on a par with somewhere like Bahrain. There are frequent large stops from over 300kph, such as turns 12 and 17, leading into tight second gear corners which will put high energy through the braking systems. Brake cooling will also need special attention with teams likely to use reasonably large cooling ducts.

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Several current as well as hopeful Formula 1 tracks made the news these few days, here is a recap:

Bahrain - The organizers rubbished the reports they are planning to stage the GP as a night race in the future. One wonders where these reports came from. Why would they need to run the race in the night with only 2 (or 3? ) hours time difference from most of the European tracks ?

Sepang - The Malaysian organizers however confirmed they are considering night race - Dato Mokhzani Mahatir, chairman of the Sepang circuit:

“We have actually been talking aboug a night race with Bernie Ecclestone since September 2006. Since then he has spoken with Singapore and Melbourne as he’d like to see the F1 broadcast from here in Europe at a more decent hour. Having a race in Asia at night makes sense for that. Singapore and Melbourne are temporary street circuits whereas we are a permanent facility. Putting up lighting systems would allow us to hire the circuit out more.”

Melbourne - Here it looks unlikely the night race will happen, although Mark Webber has been quoted saying this to Adelaide’s Sunday Mail:

“We should try to make night work. It could be exactly what the event needs — who knows? We should fight to have a night race.”

and on Bernie Ecclestone hard line attitude:

“You can’t constantly keep having the same toys in the sand pit. He’s (Ecclestone) certainly got his head screwed on and he will do what is best for the sport.”

In the meantime there has been slight change in the time schedule for the 2008 Australian GP - The race in Melbourne will start at 3:30pm local time.

Silverstone - This is a week old news already… Although the development plans seem to be on the right track, the negotiations over new contract with CVC and Bernie Ecclestone will not be easy. Ecclestone (in his own words) will not hesitate to cut the British GP off the F1 calendar …

St. Petersburg - While slamming Melbourne (and Sydney) and Silverstone, Bernie Ecclestone is on his way to Russia to yet again discuss possible Russian Grand Prix, this time in St. Petersburg.

Algarve - Meanwhile in Portugal … A new F1 style track is nearing completion in the south of the country. The reports say that one team has already booked the facility for testing next January. The ultimate goal however is to return Formula 1 race back to Portugal. The last one was held in Estoril back in 1996 and won by Jacques Villeneuve.

Alcaniz - Amid all the bad publicity Spain received in past week or so, there are reports about another Spanish F1 venue springing up. Barcelona (Montmelo) and Valencia (street track) will host the F1 races this year. The permanent circuits in Valencia and Jerez are popular venues for F1 test. “La Ciudad del Motor de Alcaniz” is to become yet another test facility. It is designed by Hermann Tilke with advice from Pedro de la Rosa and due for completion in 2009.

A1 Ring - The attempts to revive former F1 track in Austria seem to have come to end. The track held its last GP in 2003. It was later bought by Red Bull and set for major redevelopment. The protests from ever present Austrian enviromentalists and failed talks with local authorities lead Dietrich Mateschitz to stop the project aimed at winning back the Austrian GP.

Williams - No, this is not another city but the Williams F1 team … Williams have announced plans to establish a permanent base for its test team in Spain. This is where all the Spanish (and Portuguese) test tracks may come handy .

Continue below to see La Ciudad del Motor de Alcaniz video.

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Two quotes from Bernie Ecclestone appeared in the news this weekend and after reading I began to wonder what did the Australians do to him …

Quote 1 - On the reports that Sydney may fill the gap if Melbourne looses the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix (in the interview for the Herald Sun)

“There is nothing in Sydney - they haven’t even got a circuit. “

Quote 2 - On his planned trip to St. Petersburg and discussions about staging Formula 1 race in Russia (reported by Daily Mirror):

“Nothing is done yet. But this could be an interesting development for the sport. We’d like to get it in the calendar as soon as we can but that depends on them. It’s down to how long it takes them to get the circuit ready.”

I am not saying that Sydney is a feasible option. It may or may not be, it is not upon me to say. I do not even know whether the city would be interested. But that is not the point … What strikes me is The Formula 1 Supremo dismissing the possibility of the race in Sydney outright with such an argument. All the new races (current and future) - Singapore, Valencia, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, India only began to build the race tracks after Bernie signed them up. Russia, as it is obvious from his remarks, would be the same case.

Sydney would stand no chance though, because like all the others who got the new races it does not have a race track …

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Yesterday was the final day of the four day test at Circuito Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. The teams are in very different stages of their 2008 car development so no conclusions should be made yet, but there are already some signs of what may come.

Ferrari seems to be ready to mount another title challenge. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa had good runs in the new Ferrari. Massa was fastest on Tuesday, Raikkonen on Thursday. It can be said that Ferrari is the fastest car at the moment.

McLaren did not do too bad either. Heikki Kovalainen is settling in the car pretty well and he even managed to set the new lap record on this F1 test track. He later disclosed it was on very low fuel, but nevertheless the combination of Heikki Kovalainen and McLaren car looks impressive. Lewis Hamilton was in the car on Wednesday and Thursday only, both time outpaced by his team mate. It may mean that Heikki will be formidable opponent, it may also mean each of the McLaren drivers had different test duties.

Williams, the pleasant surprise. At this stage of the testing season clearly the third fastest car, no matter whether driven by Rosberg or Nakajima. They however have to keep up their job, because there are several teams right behind them … Considering that they only came out with the new car this week in Valencia, the performance of Williams is very impressive.

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The most popular posts on F1Wolf drawing thousands of views were my picture reports from the Singapore street track. You can see here the Part 1 and here the Part 2.

I am glad to see I am not the only one walking around the Formula 1 street track to be with a camera. There is also a fellow blogger in Spain filling up his blog with lot’s of photos of the Valencia’s European GP track. And although my Spanish is limited to Hola ! and cerveza it is not that difficult to navigate the page and discover what the street track for the 2008 Euroean GP may look like.

There are lots of photos, some with English commentary, and the latest update shows the photos of the track just about a week ago. There are few remarks mentioning the European GP as a night race - that I do not think that is a correct assumption. First of all I do not remember that being announced. Second - Singapore GP is widely promoted as a 1st Formula 1 night race and as it takes part few weeks after the European GP there can’t be any other night race before that

In any case, if anyone is interested to follow the progress of the construction of the European GP street track in Valencia, or anyone plans to go to the race, the gpeuropa.net is a good address to visit.

Photo courtesy of gpeuropa.net

F1Wolf

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