This will be the third race hosted by Valencia of a Grand Prix that has moved throughout Europe since its inaugural race in 1983 at Brands Hatch. In 1997, as the final race of the season, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve went to Jerez fighting it out for the world title. During the race Schumacher famously attempted to win the title by turning into Villeneuve, this time though Schumacher came off worst and his Canadian rival finished the race behind the McLarens and took his sole championship. That race also saw future double world champion Mika Hakkinen take his first victory after David Coultard pulled aside for his teammate.
Donnington Park in 1993 saw Ayrton Senna win for McLaren in what has long been called one of the Brazilians best races. In exceptionally wet conditions Senna leapt to the front of the field on the first lap and was not seen again by the field. The conditions were so difficult that Alain Prost stopped on no less than seven occasions. The Nurburgring has played host to the most European Grand Prix with 1984 its first race. The German circuit had to wait until 95 for another race but it was worth the wait with local hero Schumacher taking the win. He had to battle it out with Ferrari’s Jean Alesi after the Frenchman started the race on slick tyres in the wet, the track dried quite quickly and he was best placed and led the race comfortably until three laps from the end when he was passed by Schumacher.
2003 saw then McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen robbed of the win by his only mechanical failure of the year while leading comfortably. The Finn ended up losing the title to Michael Schumacher at the last race of the season and cursing his luck at this race. Raikkonen also missed out on victory in 2005 as a tyre failure on the last lap cost him victory. A regulation of that season was that drivers had to use the same tyre for the duration of the race and as a result Raikkonen felt that he needed to stay on track, the Finn cruised at the front of the field until the failure but was left disconsolate after being so close to another win that was cruelly taken from his crasp.
Neither of the two races at Valencia has provided classics with the first race exceptionally poor. Last year’s edition though was a marked improvement and was won by Rubens Barrichello for Brawn after the Brazilian craftily used fuel strategy to his advantage to beat the then reigning world champion to the flag. Barrichello used this result as a springboard for his title tilt but he had already begun talks with his current team, Williams, that weekend and with the poor performance of the car this will be a very difficult race for the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history.
This is Formula 1’s second visit to Spain this season and Red Bull will be looking to repeat their success of Barcelona where Mark Webber emerged victorious. The Milton Keynes based team though has lost the advantage that it held at that point in the season and the gap to their rivals has shrunk to the point that the team that has dominated qualifying all season do not start the weekend as favourites. The changes that the FIA mandated to the exhaust system of the Red Bull has clearly taken away some of its advantage but McLaren’s rate of development has clearly outpaced the Adrian Newey led technical staff of Red Bull.
This weekend’s race should be illuminating as to how the rest of the season will unfold. Red Bull know that it crucial for them to reassert themselves at the front of the field but McLaren, with a fully optimised ‘f-duct’ system, will be able to run a higher downforce configuration on this street circuit and thus should theoretically have greater grip as a result. The Woking squad struggled for grip on slow speed corners at the start of the season and their recent successes in Turkey and Canada have both been on circuits where top speed can give a significant advantage. If the silver cars are faster than Red Bull this weekend it will have been clear that McLaren has become the pace setters, and that is before their significant upgrade package arrives at Silverstone.
Ferrari bring their own significant upgrade to Valencia and with the performance of the Prancing Horse on low grip circuits such as Bahrain and Canada this season home town favourite Fernando Alonso will be very confident of battling it out at the front of the field. The upgrade of the Ferrari is quite extensive with the use of a Red Bull style exhaust is central to the teams hopes of success. The system sees the exhaust gases exit through the diffuser and significantly improves the available downforce for the driver. The team has also changed its blown rear wing and are confident that the system now will show a much greater performance benefit. The team admitted that it had lost its way with their attempt to copy McLaren’s F-duct and overestimated the benefit of the system, even so it is clear that there are straight line speed advantages of the system so Ferrari know it is imperative to have the system working satisfactory for the remainder of the season.
The Valencia Street Circuit
Utilising roads around the port of Valencia this weekend’s race will be run on the 5.419 km Valencia Street Circuit which features 25 corners. Unlike most street circuits top speed is important here with cars reaching speeds in excess of 320 km p/h on the back straight. As a result of this speed requirement teams with an effective blown rear wing will have an advantage so during practice sessions it should be expected for Red Bull to once more test their version of the system.
The first race held here in 2008 was notable for the fact that it featured no overtaking moves on the track, with only pitstops allowing drivers to overtake one another. Last year’s race featured a tactical battle at the front and was an improvement on the inaugural race but if this year’s edition is to provide excitement it is likely to rest on the performance of the Bridgestone tyres.
Bridgestone will take the same compounds to Valencia that led to such an exciting Canadian race. The Montreal circuit features some similar characteristics to Valencia with low grip surface and a lack of running throughout the season. This could lead to issues arising with tyre life once more this weekend but with high temperature expected it is likely that the chemical makeup of the tyre should be able to operate sufficiently and it would be surprising to see any more than a single pit stop this weekend for the leaders.
Weather for this weekend’s Grand Prix
This weekend should see clear skies and high temperatures with only Saturday expected to see any cloud cover. Temperatures are forecast to be in the region of 30C during the race.
What can we expect from this weekend?
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have led McLaren to the top of both championships in recent races with the Woking based team winning three of the last five races. Hamilton has finished second in both races at Valencia but with the McLaren expected to set the pace this weekend the former title holder knows that there is an opportunity to go one better this weekend. Button was thoroughly outperformed by Hamilton in Canada and knows that this weekend he has to reassert himself in terms of his place within the team otherwise he could face a long summer, especially if the McLaren Silverstone upgrade is more suited to his teammate.
Only a month ago Mark Webber was the form man of Formula 1 after back to back wins. His chances of a victory in Canada were hampered by a pre race gear box change and after clashing with teammate Sebastian Vettel in Turkey the Australian knows that he needs another strong showing this weekend if he is to continue his run of strong performances since the first Spanish race of the season. Vettel knows that the focus of the media is still on the team and the rivalry that has developed between the teams drivers since the Turkey clash and the young German knows that he needs a win to draw a line underneath the clash. He has driven well here in the past, most notably qualifying inside the top eight for Tora Rosso in 2008.
Mercedes are expected to bring an upgrade to Valencia that includes a blown exhaust system and the team know that it is crucial for them to gain some momentum as Renault and Robert Kubica challenge the team for fourth in the title chase. The team struggled in Canada with Michael Schumacher criticised for his driving standards after clashing with both Kubica and former teammate Massa. The German races in Valencia for the first after his hopes of a comeback for Ferrari were scuppered after Massa’s Hungarian crash.
Massa won the first race held at Valencia and will race knowing that he has the comfort of a contract extension. The Brazilian needs to challenge his teammate Alonso this weekend and with the major upgrade expected to bring the red cars to the front of the field the expectation is that the Brazilian could challenge for a podium. This though is dependent on Massa being able to maximise the Bridgestone tyres. He has been unable to do so this season but with the blown diffuser and greater levels of downforce he could challenge at the sharp end.
The past races in Valencia mean that a classic cannot be expected but this season is shaping to be one to be long remembered so hopefully Valencia can provide another thrilling Grand Prix.
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