Liuzzi wants to repeat Canada performance

Vitantonio Liuzzi wants to demonstrate the improved pace he showed in the Canadian Grand Prix again at Valencia this weekend.

The Force India driver says changing chassis before Montreal was the key to his stronger race:

I feel that Canada was another start for me and for sure I will be pushing like crazy to keep that level of performance going. I will stick with the chassis I used in Canada from now on because it is working well in the corners.

I have always believed that we had the potential to finish in the points and I have always believed in myself and the team has really supported me so it’s not like we’ve done anything new – we’ve just really focussed on getting the whole package together.
Vitantonio Liuzzi

This will be his first visit to the Valencia street track:

I have never driven in Valencia as it came onto the calendar in 2008 when I was the test and reserve driver at Force India, but I’ve been working hard in the simulator this week and I think we can have a good pace there. I like street circuits and I can go well on them as I showed in Monaco and Canada. I’ve also got a bit of a head start there as well as I’ve been at the last two events and have had access to all of the last years’ data, which helps with the preparation.
Vitantonio Liuzzi

But team mate Adrian Sutil is no fan of the Valencia circuit:

Valencia is not my favourite circuit as there’s not so much of a challenge for the driver. Even though it’s classed as a street circuit, it doesn’t really feel like it as there’s no challenging corners: it’s just braking into hairpins, then flat out. You just don’t get the thrill you have on a standard street circuit like Monaco or Singapore.

The last complex is a little bit more challenging as there’s a left-right chicane taken at high speed followed by another right hander. Then it’s just flat out with a few corners into the last turn, which is actually one of the trickiest as we’re braking while turning in so it’s easy to overshoot the corner and lose it in the exit. Grip levels can be quite low, particularly off line, so you have to judge any overtaking manoeuvre pretty carefully.

That said, the track is also very wide with a lot of run off areas so you’re not worried about touching a barrier. Over one lap it’s not a classic but the racing there can be quite tight and with the cars being so close this year it could produce a good race.
Adrian Sutil

Reserve driver Paul di Resta will be driving the car in the first practice session on Friday once again:

I’m really looking forward to getting back in the car again in Valencia, particularly as it’s been a few months since I was last out in practice in Spain. Valencia is quite a good circuit to get back on track as it’s fast and smooth and looks pretty easy to learn as a layout.

I’m preparing myself for it with the usual simulator work and then we’ll walk the track on the Thursday to pick up the smaller details like the kerbing, bumps and any changes from last year that might affect the baseline set-up we run on Friday.

Tonio and I will be in pretty similar positions in that we’ve never raced on the circuit before so we’ll work together to get as much information as possible for the rest of the weekend. I’ve also had a weekend off since Canada – which is pretty unusual this year! – so I feel rested and relaxed ahead of the event.
Paul di Resta

2010 European Grand Prix