Valencia Street Circuit: First Impressions and Practice Report

After a three-week break, Formula One finally bounced back into action on Friday at 0900 BST.

The Valencia Street Circuit has been receiving much attention over the past week, mainly because it's a new circuit.

I was expecting a low-speed, tight-corner track, but I was surprised when I tuned into First Practice to see that the circuit looked very similar to Albert Park (Australia) and the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit (Canada).

This came as a little shock to me, as I expected a track like Monte Carlo, just a little wider.

Another surprise that occurred was at the start of practice.

I noticed that the fastest time was a 1:45.484, set by Sebastien Vettel. I understood that Toro Rosso weren't at the sharp end of the grid, but surely they weren't that slow?!

Then it occurred to me.

It's a new circuit, it needs some time to "rubber in."

This was evident when the top spot changed hands 13 times throughout the whole session.

World Champion Kimi Raikkonen lowered the benchmark to 1:43 until the Silver Arrows emerged from the garage.

Current championship leader Lewis Hamilton took another two seconds out of Raikkonen's time recording a 1.41.

Eventually, the fastest time after first practice was set by the German young gun, Vettel.

A few people had a spin in the first session: Lewis Hamilton, Nelson Piquet and Felipe Massa to name a few. Unfortunately, David Coulthard put his RB4 into the barrier.

After a surprise result in the first session (Vettel first, Bourdais fourth) I went for a cool down and some lunch.

Hamilton came out looking strong in FP2, setting a time in the 1:40 range.

And then came the Scuderia.

Brazilian Massa was the first person to set a time less than 1:40. Both he and Finn Raikkonen dominated the session.

Hamilton managed to climb up to third after spending most of his time in the pits. Then along came Alonso and Button to snatch the top two spots away from the Ferrari's.

But along came Raikkonen again to spoil the party, he ended the session on top.

So, in conclusion, I would like to say that I like the look of the new street circuit. And my prediction for the grid still stays the same... no matter how well Raikkonen performed today, he will struggle in qualifying.

What's that? You want proof?

It took him three flying laps to beat Hamilton's time...and usually in the top 10 shootout, drivers only do two flying laps!