European Grand Prix Preview

Circuit: Valencia Street Circuit

Laps: 56

Length: 3.40 miles/ 5.473 kns

Website: http://www.valenciastreetcircuit.com/index_eng.html

2007 Pole: /NA

2007 Winner: N/A

2007 Fastest Lap: N/A

The first of the two new venues on this season's calendar, the European Grand Prix moves away from the Nurburgring for the first time since 1997 and is being held on a brand new circuit in Valencia, Spain. It becomes the second Spanish circuit, after Jerez, to hold the European GP title and will be held at a brand new circuit around the Port of Valencia.

A second race in Spain had been mooted as early as 2003 when Fernando Alonso came to prominence with Renault. He scored a fantastic second place at that season's Spanish GP and ever since then the Spanish race at Barcelona has been a sell-out. The demand for ticket increased when Fernando became world champion in 2005, and increased even further when he took a second title a year later. By that time the wheels were in motion for a second race in Spain, and after the local government elections in April 2007 it was confirmed that the European Grand Prix would once again return to Spain for a five-year stint beginning in 2008.

The only surprise to the announcement was the venue. Since 1999 Formula 1 teams have been testing at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, better known as the Circuit de Valencia. It had been designed to meet FIA standards for F1, and had even been mooted for a circuit re-design in 2005 to accomodate an F1 race. However in late 2006 Bernie Ecclestone annouced plans to run a race around a street circuit in Valenica, and rubber-stamped these plans in April 2007. This left the Circuit de Valencia to continue to hold testing, with GP2 the closest the circuit has come to hosting an F1 grand prix.

As for the circuit itself, not much is known so far. The layout was revealed on the 19th July 2007 by the Valencian government, and has been designed by well-known F1 architect Herman Tilke. The circuit has 25 corners - 11 right-handers and 14 left-handers - and will be run to a clockwise direction. The start-finish straight also has a cruve in it just after the end of pit buildings which will be flat out during a normal lap, but which could cause chaos at the start of the race. It will also be alot faster than the standard F1 street circuit at Monaco, with the circuit being wider and having an expected top speed of 200mph. The teams are expecting a lap time of around 1min 37secs, meaning that with 25 turns being fitted into that time frame the drivers' concentration should be tested to the maximum.

So how do the teams approach this race? They don't have the standard giveaways that they do at other circuits such as previous lap times and telementary, or even computer simulation, so the best the drivers and teams can do is walk, cycle or even ride around the circuit on a scooter days before the action is due to start. And with this being a street race, finding the limit will take longer as usual as there will be little run-off areas for the drivers to explore should they make a mistake - especially important this year with the banning of spare cars. So although there is no previous data or experience, the circuit will develop as the weekend goes on, and a clear racing line will have been established within minutes of the first practice session beginning.

Going into the new round and the championship is once again wide open. Last time out in Hungary Felipe Massa out-drove Lewis Hamilton and was all set for victory before his engine failed only a handful of laps from the flag. Hamilton also suffered misfortune with a puncture, but before that he was simply out-performed by Massa. The driver who benefited from this misfortune was Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who took his maiden F1 win and should receive a major confidence boost for the rest of the season. He finished ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who once again was well off the pace of both Massa and Hamilton. If he is to have any chance of taking a second title this year then he needs to show the flashes of speed that everyone knows he is capable of.

The fourth title contender looks like he is now out of it. Robert Kubica and BMW have dropped off the pace of the front two and look set to finish as best of the rest. Heidfeld's indifferent qualifying form has stopped the team making progress to a point, but his race pace suggests that it is not a big a hinderence as first thought. Their priority is now third place before another big push in 2009. Behind BMW is currently Toyota, who have hit competitive levels in recent races. After Jarno Trulli scored this team's first podium in 2 years at France, Glock then scored his first F1 podium last time out in Hungary. They are now faster than Red Bull who looked good for fourth until recently. Williams and Renault have dropped off the pace of these two teams and will be glad to see the chequered flag in Brazil. While STR and Force India will be hoping that the lack of track information at Valencia gives them a better chance to take adavtange of circumstances and possibly take a point or two.

So for the first time since 1997 we have a brand new venue in Europe, and without a doubt it is one of the most keenly anticipated races in years. Who will win - who knows?!

Previous Winners:

2007: Fernando Alonso (ESP) McLaren Mercedes

2006: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari

2005: Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault

2004: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari

2003: Ralf Schumacher (GER) BMW Williams

2002: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari

2001: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari

2000: Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari

All at the Nurburgring