First impressions of Valencia’s F1 track

Posted on

| Written by

Jarno Trulli learns the secrets of the Circuito Urbano Valencia

I’ve been surprised by some of the negative reactions to the new Valencia F1 track. Watching the practice sessions yesterday I found a lot to like about the circuit.

The setting is a bit more industrial than we expected but the parts where the circuit passes alongside the harbous look good and there are some interesting buildings around the track. Not least the pit building, which is an old warehouse which has been converted.

Here’s some of my thoughts on the circuit and an on board video lap with Robert Kubica.

A lot has been said about how far the track is a ‘real’ street circuit. The freshly-laid tamac is free of road makring and the usual other obstacles that litter street tracks – manhole covers for example.

Because it has largely been built from scratch the designer (Hermann Tilke) has been able to put in a lot of run-off at most of the heavy braking zones. Nico Rosberg tested the extent of one of them when he had a lurid slide at the final turn yesterday, only just missing Mark Webber’s Red Bull.

But this is still a street course which is mainly bordered by unyielding concrete barriers. Not only do these threaten to end a driver’s race if he strays just a fraction off-line, but they also make the entry into some sections unsighted, which adds to the challenge.

There were some concerns on Friday about the bridge section after Bridgestone raised concerns that the join between the bridge and the road, which differs in height by about 15mm, could cause punctures. But these fears have been allayed.

The bridge, between corners nine and ten, is one of a few truly distinctive parts of the track. The start/finish area with the sweeping turn one and the impressive pit building is another, and the blasts along the harbour front look good too.

But the later stage of the lap is stil a bit featureless – it’s all concrete walls and not much to help you identify it.

Despite that I like what I’ve seen of the track so far. It looks challenging and different. The close proximity of the barriers gives a far better impression of speed than you get at enormous venues like Istanbul, Shanghai and Bahrain.

Challenges for the drivers

The section from turns 17 to 25 (the final turn) is one of the most interesting. It’s taken flat out (see the video below) and the drivers are turning almost constantly from one bend into another.

It’s hard to think of another sequence on a current F1 track that’s quite like this. For the drivers it may pose quite a challenge in qualifying to make sure they have enough clear road ahead of them to make space for a timed lap, which is something Lewis Hamilton mentioned yesterday:

It’s very important to create a gap ahead if you want a clear lap – you can’t see ahead around the corners because they’re all blind.

Some drivers just back up into you. They take advantage of the fact they have a small gap behind them and don’t care about who’s following. They back up into you because they’re trying to create a gap for themselves, but that compromises your fast lap.

Another hazard for the drivers is the pit lane exit, which is very narrow, and entrance. Fernando Alonso was fined after taking the wrong route into the pits yesterday, cutting across part of the run-off area.

The othe challenge for the drivers is low grip levels, which won’t have been helped by the rain that fell at the track overnight, washing away yesterday’s build-up of rubber.

Onboard lap of the Circuito Urbano Valencia with Robert Kubica

The video starts with Kubica in the sweeping left-hander turn 11 shortly after the bridge. Here’s the track map:

Circuito Urbano Valencia street track map (click to enlarge)

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

5 comments on “First impressions of Valencia’s F1 track”

  1. I was looking forward to this race more than Singapore because Valencia is unique to the other street circuit (Monaco) because it is fast.

    And after looking at the Valencia circuit, I really like it. It reminds me of Adelaide, which I also really liked.

    Yes, the Singapore will be a night race so it will look really cool, but I’ve heard somewhere that the average lap speed of the Singapore circuit is slower than Monaco. I’m not too sure about that, but lets wait until September.

  2. I actually quite like this circuit. I was a little worried initially as people first said that it was like Monaco. Whilst I appreciate Monaco for its history, prestige and glamour, I’ve never really enjoyed the track or the race itself for that matter. Though I did enjoy this years race due to the rain therefore the unexpected action occurring.

    But Valencia is far more similar to Montreal and possibly Monza (two circuits I really like). They are both fast and there are at least a couple of potential overtaking areas. Plus with the barriers and very little run-off area, there’s very little margin of error. Mistakes will be punished and therefore this should be quite an exciting race!

  3. its a nice circuit but i expect many safetycar-laps tomorrow.

  4. Nice track, having done upwards of 50 laps in rfactor yesterday… Sill get confused sometimes between the hairpins though, as the entry/exits are very similar. The kink before the final turn is something else altogether. :)

  5. O’dear what a boring procession again, for a circuit which was supposed to be an overtaking circuit I was sorely disappointed.

Comments are closed.