“Not the most interesting circuit” – what the drivers say about Valencia

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This picture makes last year's race look more exciting than it was

The Valencia Street Circuit has given us two forgettable races so far and as a result the track is not particularly well-liked.

But what do the drivers think of it? Read on to find out.

Having a race at Valencia back-to-back with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve makes the shortcomings of the second Spanish round of the world championship all the more apparent.

Valencia manages to combine all of the drawbacks of a temporary circuit with none of the advantages.

While Montreal is narrow, slippery, bumpy and bordered by barriers, Valencia is the opposite. It’s wider than some permanent race circuits in parts and the surface, once it’s been cleaned up by a couple of days’ running, offers decent grip.

There are but few places on the track where the drivers have to give the walls respect, which explains why we’ve never seen the safety car deployed at the circuit.

And it’s over a kilometre longer than Montreal, so the drivers will spend less time in traffic. Looking at the track diagram (below) it’s a pity the cars can’t simply head towards the start/finish straight after turn 12 – but I expect the FIA’s requirements on lap length made that an impossibility.

The inaugural race at the track was the lowest-rated ever on F1 Fanatic (yes, even lower than Bahrain 2010) and last year’s was rated only fractionally higher than the worst of the season.

But as we’ve seen before this year, you can’t just blame bad circuits for bad racing. Perhaps this year Valencia will give us a race worthy of its place on the F1 calendar.

The drivers have mixed views on the circuit:

What the drivers say about Valencia

Adrian Sutil is typically frank:

It’s not the most interesting circuit! It’s nice and smooth, so it grips up, and you don’t have too much trouble. The problem is there are no challenging corners. It’s just straight on, there’s a hairpin with a lot of run-off area, and then you turn around and go flat again. The last section is flat out, and quite easy. For a street circuit you expect exciting races, but it’s like a normal track.
Adrian Sutil

Having driven it in GP2, Kamui Kobayashi isn’t impressed:

From what I have seen so far the Valencia street circuit doesn’t seem to be the most exciting track, but I only know it from two GP2 races and racing there in Formula One will be different. I like driving over the bridge, which makes the track quite distinctive.
Kamui Kobayashi

Home driver Pedro de la Rosa struggles to find anything positive to say about it too:

A little bit of a downer for the spectators is the fact that on both Spanish circuits overtaking is very difficult. Usually you don’t see much overtaking in Barcelona or Valencia. Turn two should be the best option for overtaking, but I have not driven the Valencia street circuit yet so there might also be others.
Pedro de la Rosa

Lewis Hamilton takes a more pragmatic view:

I think it’s good for the championship to have a variety of circuits – we’ve just come from a fast, flowing road course in Canada, to a tight street track in Valencia. And, next month, we’ll be at Silverstone – one of the fastest tracks of the year, and a circuit with incredible history. As a driver, that sort of variety makes the racing exciting and unpredictable, which is all you can really ask for.

[Valencia] is not a circuit where we’ve seen too much passing in the past, but I think this year could be different – the grid is so tight, there were battles all through the field in Montreal last week, so I think we could have a close and exciting race this year.
Lewis Hamilton

And Felipe Massa likes it because he won there:

The street circuit there is not so different in terms of its characteristics to the Montreal track and on top of that, we expect to have some more updates for the F10 to make it even more competitive with those ahead of us in the championship. Valencia has not produced very exciting races so far, but I enjoy the track, as the only time I have raced there, in 2008 – it was one of the races I missed last year after my accident – I won.
Felipe Massa

In a survey of F1 drivers called Nico, 100% of them said they liked the circuit:

Valencia is a great track, I really like it. I know it well from racing there in GP2 last year and I’m very much looking forward to driving it in the FW32 because it’s a circuit I feel quite comfortable on. Like Monaco and Montreal, there are walls everywhere but the track’s a bit wider and I like the challenge.
Nico Hulkenberg

Valencia is a really good track and not what you would usually expect from a typical street circuit. There are a lot of corners but it’s quite fast and flowing which combined with the barriers that line the circuit means that you have to keep your concentration levels high.
Nico Rosberg

What do you think of the Valencia Street Circuit? Have your say in the comments.

Circuito Urbano Valencia - 2010 European Grand Prix (click to enlarge)

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    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...

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    98 comments on ““Not the most interesting circuit” – what the drivers say about Valencia”

    1. The last sector is alright. That’s about it. Everywhere else looks the same. No character, no anything.

      1. The major issue I have with it is not whether its got character – it just produces races that are repetitively dull!

      2. what a let down after Canada this weekend will be.. Thank god the world cup is on.

    2. even looking at the track design its hard to see where there might be an overtaking place. Perhaps turn 12 or turn 2 or at a stretch 17. But all of these are unlikely.

      Does make you wonder what the track designers were thinking

      Its like Monaco without the glitz, the glamour, the razor tight bends, the tunnel…oh wait. its just a terrible track then!

      1. When they first built canada it was a bit rubbish too though, quite simualr to Valencia in that there wasn’t really anywhere you could overtake, an although you always had to respect the walls, the whole place was abit sterile and boring. Now Canada is easily one of the best circuits on the calender, up there with Intergalos and Spa for the sheer quality of the racing an the changes wern’t that significant.

        Valenica produces boring racing but I don’t think it’ll be that hard to fix, get rid of a few of the flicks to get the cars closer, an iron out some of these bends on the long straights an sharpen the corners after these straights for better overtaking. Grip could be reduced by resurfacing the track but they’ll always be more than Canada because of the support races. Maybe plant a few trees? Narrow bits of the track?

        My biggest problem with the circuit is you may have guessed Tilke’s baffling decision to use any open space for a downforce dependent bend, on street tracks, as Canada prooves, less but harder corners is better, an if it drops lap times, then great! More laps, more times round said harder corners and less downforce to tackle them with.

        1. “Maybe plant a few trees? Narrow bits of the track?”

          Put them both together for truly exciting racing… Plant a few trees in the narrow bits of the track :)

          1. damonsmedley
            23rd June 2010, 5:33

            Valencia and Singapore are practically the same. OK Valencia is a bit more high speed but Singapore should only be on the calendar – not Valencia. Singapore adds diversity to the calendar as it is a night race and it is a street circuit.

            Maybe plant a few trees? Narrow bits of the track?

            – That is Singapore.

    3. “This picture makes last year’s race look more exciting than it was” with only one car to be seen. But you are right there, the people on the grandstand in the background there are making some fuss, which is more than we saw in the race.

      1. Prehaps Keith was being ironic.

        :p

    4. Sush Meerkat
      22nd June 2010, 10:19

      Well Bridgestone are bringing different grades of tyres this time round, so hopefully the jump on tyre types will contribute to “improving the show”…

      ..ARGGHHH *gouges own eyes out*

      1. DsammyrockerD
        23rd June 2010, 5:35

        ..ARGGHHH *gouges own eyes out*

        Pardon?

    5. If this race is as boring as the last two here. I think I am going to kidnap Bernie and torture him until he agrees to have the European Race at Brands Hatch and he personally will foot the bill to do the upgrades. Then there will be at least one race where I don’t have to travel far and can sleep in my own bed.

      1. I’m just very glad that I will be at glastonbury for the most boring race of the season, so I will really not be in a state to care…Bahrain at least had the excitement of being the first race of the season – still an absolute disaster, but valencia has nothing…having said that, since expectations are so low, we might still be surprised…the grid is very close at the moment after all.

        1. yep – i’m off to glasto too.. my friend has a stall which will be showing the race, but i am fully prepared to just iplayer the highlights when i get back.

          cider and sunshine anyone??? :P

          1. I thought sunshine was outlawed in Britain…

    6. I think Lewis Hamilton is dead on – you need to have a mix of circuits. You can’t just have a calendar populated by Sivlerstones and Monzas. You need the slower stuff in there, too.

      That said, I think there is room for improvement in Valencia. First of all, they need to make it a proper street circuit. There’s acres of run-off around the first corner, for instance. Bring the barriers in closer, like in Monaco and Singapore.

      Secondly, reprofile a few parts. Get rid of turns 2, 3, 4 and 5. Make turn 8 a sweeper. The effect would be to make it a high-speed blast from the start line to the brdige

      Next, scrap the switchback. Make the straight longer and just drop a giant hairpin in there. While we’re at it, we can make the final sector such that it is full of actual corners instead of a few gentle bends that barely reuqire ny effort. And lastly, move the final corner up and make it a blind double-apex.

      Something like this works for me:

      http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3826032

      1. I know this would require some serious demolition and infrastructure work. But I think this layout might just work:
        http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3826060

        1. Brilliant qwerty… brilliant.

        2. I see what you did there!
          Qwerty_uk, how’d you do that?
          Just time and artistic merit?

          Actually, I like Prisoner Monkeys track, it actually looks distinct now.
          As in, not just another track.
          For safety, Maybe they could make the turn before the Bridge tighter, This would also probably turn it into a passing opportunity.
          And maybe adjust the run in into the southern most corner.

          But, I do like it.

          1. Yeah, just had Gilles-Villeneuve layout open on another tab and roughly copied it bit-by-bit. Didn’t take long.

            Thanks for tweeting it, Keith!

      2. As you said Hamilton is right when it comes to the variety of the circuits but we already have Monaco and Singapore. We don’t need Valencia.

        Street circuits are meant to be special and Monaco and Singapore have something special about them, Valencia has nothing.

        Now with Rome GP entering the frame, street circuits may loose their unique charm. Although having said that, Valencia doesnt have any charm to lose.

    7. Whoa Keith, where do you find all these excerpts from?

    8. Maybe we can ask Bernie to hire some Chinese knowhow in the art of ‘rainmaking’ …

    9. I’ve said this before but Valencia got the euro gp because of alonso being double champion. The was 4 years ago now so maybe England should get it

      1. England can barely organise one race. Two would probably blow their minds.

        And given the state Donington Park is in, there isn’t actually a second circuit that could host a race – Brands Hatch is too narrow and there’s no room for redevelopment.

        1. I guess you’re right. Anyway there are so many races in Europe why do we need a euro gp??? Have an African gp or asian to represent other continents the have fewer races

        2. Brands Hatch is also subject to noise restrictions that make it very unlikely that F1 could return there.

        3. Go back to Adelaide? In fact, have one in every major Australian town. just name them after Iconic Australian references like, the Oceanic GP, or the Kangaroo GP, or the Beer and Pies GP.

          World Championship my a***.

          1. “Beer and Pies GP” LOL!

        4. Rockingham? Probaly has room for development.

          1. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3826635

            There’s my proposal. The hairpin which crosses the banking is through a tunnel, and the grandstand could be right in front of it but raised, so there is runoff below the grandstand which would be high enough to still view the banking.

            And preferably the centre of the oval would be excavated slightly to make a more natural looking bowl with plenty of gradient for the infield section.

            1. (run anti-clockwise)

            2. Thats a nice track the Matt, not sure how good the smaller hairpins would be for spacing the cars out.

              Rockingham could be good for F1, certainly not worse than Hockenheim.

      2. “Valencia got the euro gp because of alonso being double champion…”

        Sorry Oli, but Valencia got the Euro GP just because the city council pay the bill.

        Personally, I would like to see Portimao being part of the F1 Championship. It looks a great circuit.

        I think for Valencia, Bernie has (voluntarily) lost a good opportunity for mixing F1 with America’s Cup. Both competitions have similar spirit in the sense both are the pinnacle of their categories, and the ambience you could create just letting each sailing team to open their headquarters during the F1 weekend could give the race much better image raising the level of the circuit, if not on a technical point of view, at least in terms of glamour on the backstage of the race.

        Being there with all team headquarters closed (and all advertising of their sponsors eliminated) gives the harbor very poor looking, mainly when the rest of the circuit is surrounding an underdeveloped city area and an industrial area around a commercial harbor.

    10. The fast flowing corners at the end of the circuit is only the talking point of the whole track It is by far the worst track in my F1 career. I really want that the race is Valencia is swapped by France or even Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal in 2011.

      What is the FIA’s requirements on lap length in F1?

      1. As I recall, it works the other way round.
        The minimum length is 3 km I think, and there is then a fairly complicated sum involving the width of the circuit, length of the circuit, duration of the event and class of racing car etc to arrive at the maximum number of cars permitted to race on the track. But beneath that, there is a note that says that none of this applies to Formula 1 . . . So all the cars with valid entry to F1 races can race at any track in the FIA championship and the rules about numbers of cars, length of track are irrelevant. It’s the only way that they could justify the inclusion of Monaco, after all.

    11. It doesn’t matter what *we* like in a circuit, what matters is what bernie-the-tempest likes. He likes business and business is all about money. And as long as Bernie is at the helm, newer( or even existing ) circuits will all bear the impression of the most-boring F1 guy on earth(maybe in the entire universe too) – TILKE!!!

      Tilke seems more concerned about building tracks that ‘exemplify’ the local culture onto the race track, than ‘amplify’ overtaking on them. Seriously, does it even matter to have an overhead walkway( like China ) or have cars ‘cruise’ over a bridge( valencia )when none of them contribute to racing proper??? No wonder the circuits that *do* offer excitement to F1 fans are those that have not been ‘molested’ by Tilke & Co.

      The recipe for exciting races( for race circuits ) is simple – No run-off areas, more walls, narrow(er) roads, no sweeping corner BS, more hairpins, atleast 2 long straights, longer start-to-first-corner stretch, steeper declines at overtaking points.

      Add these to Valencia, and we wouldn’t need the gods to pour rain to inflame excitement.

      1. You do realise that in this case, Tilke was restricted by where the pre-existing roads actually run, right?

        1. Aha! but that is where the misconception lies.

          Now if I where at the helm, I’d have 62 barges lined up in order to create the first floating track!

          Yeah ok that’s a good point, When Tilke did it, he had to consider reality.

        2. http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3826032

          Are you sure about that? Underneath the track you suggested here seems to be what Valencia was like before the circuit, and the track seems to follow a couple of existing roads, but the last sector is all new.

          1. Is it just me or does that layout look like a duck?
            http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3826032

    12. I think Allianz were holding a shotgun to Nico’s head when he said that.
      (remember he used to be their b*tch when he was at williams)

      1. Well, if I remember rightly both the GP2 races held at Valencia were good. Certainly the first one was action packed, which is why I was looking forward to the F1 cars only to be disappointed.

    13. Marc Connell
      22nd June 2010, 11:41

      I think the track was rushed. They should use valencias race circuit instead of the road course.

      1. Two problems with that:

        1) The race circuit isn’t very good. It works well for MotoGP, but not for four wheels.

        2) The teams are intimately familiar with it given the amount of testing that takes place there. All a race would do is be a carbon copy of Barcelona with processional races.

        1. The road cource is not even good in racing GP2. Let them use it for testing, but not good for racing.

    14. I don’t think the road course is much better – for cars. For bike racing it’s nice and it’s great for spectators as it’s build in small area and crowd can see about everything on that circuit.

      Street circuit – well. Judging by the layout I actually expected it to be better of the two circuits brought into calendar in 2008, but after two races both in Valencia and Singapore I have to think otherwise.

      The track has too many corners. Of course by the location you can’t go everywhere (city and sea give restrictions). Turn 11 is too long, I think a sharper corner would be better at that point even if it would be fast one. Compare to Istanbul turn 11 for example.

      The final sector has some fast corners but at the same time they cause that there isn’t good straight for overtaking. Also thinking turns 18 and 19, I would change those to single medium-speed corner, taking last corner of Melbourne as an example.

      1. Yep the Valencia road course would be no better. Way too tight and twisty for F1. Even GP2 had poor races when they went there. Fine for testing, though.

    15. Everyone talks about Bahrain being the only boring race but Catalonia was also rather rubbish as usual. I think the Spanish races needed to be complained about on the same level as some of the other boring races but I guess seeing as it’s in “ze European homeland” it’s different.

      1. We did a poll on which tracks should be dropped from the calendar earlier this year and Valencia got almost as many votes as Bahrain:

        https://www.racefans.net/2010/04/09/which-races-should-ecclestone-cut-poll/

        Those were the two least well-liked circuits, the rest were quite a way behind.

        1. You have to wonder how much that result was effected by this years snoozer, if you’d had the pole last year, where the race was alright it might have been different.

          An to be honnest the race suffered a great deal from outside factors, all of which have been discussed. Most of all that ridiculous new section, without it I’d be upset if Bahrain lost it’s race, at least they try there.

          1. I think its the new section which has put people off, it ruined what was a previously Ok-ish track, the new one just doesn’t seem to flow properly.

            1. yeah it goes from, long sweeping corners, with a few medium speed corners and a couple of hairpins, to a wierd twisty section that does not seem to fit the character of the track at all.

    16. The last sector is the best part of the track, but it still isn’t great. It’s just so dull – nothing happens, and I don’t think anything will happen this year either. Yes, the field is all very close, but I think the only time that someone will get ahead of someone else will be in the pits, which is the most dull type of overtake…

    17. Dull. Concrete.

      How about a palm tree, or even an elevation change? Anything to break the monotomy.

      1. Compare an onboard lap of Montreal and Valencia. They’re almost exactly the same environment wise: just a road between two concrete barriers.

        1. Montreal has elevation change, and If can see the difference in the green stuff (grass and tress, not paint) then you must be blind.

    18. The thing about Valencia is it combines the worst points of purpose built circuits and street circuits, without retaining any good points:

      Because it’s a street circuit (of sorts) spectator views and facilities are limited, as was the actual route that the circuit could take.

      However because it was constructed on a regenerated industrial area, meaning that there is no scenery whatsoever to speak of, giving the place an all too farmiliar soulless feel.

      In addition to this its location meant there was enough room to surface make the circuit wide and grippy, as well as incorporating ludicrous amounts of runoff, defeating the object of a street circuit, as well as giving Tilke free reign to construct yet more hairpins, chicanes and heavy braking zones. As well as one token fast corner, but which was spoiled by having lots of runoff, as was the case with the rest of the circuit.

      Basically, they did everything wrong. Serious improvemets are required. D:

    19. Bad circuit. Alonso is going to win here.

    20. I apologise for the quite horrendous grammar in my previous comment. Total literary fail.

    21. I don’t have very high hopes that this years race will be any better than the previous two

      I remember before the first race at Valencia most people were predicting quite a few safety cars, and yet as the article pointed out we haven’t seen any yet.

    22. The Valencia track guide page has been updated with a video lap with Mark Webber:

      Circuito Urbano Valencia (street circuit) track information

    23. Those comments were all straight from the “Grand Prix Driver’s Association PR guide”. Ah, the ability to say so much while giving away so little.

    24. Kubica:

      “I know a lot of other drivers don’t think the same way, but I enjoy driving there. It’s quite an interesting circuit because it’s half-street circuit, half-modern circuit. The characteristics are quite similar to Canada, because most of the corners are slow speed, so you concentrate on braking stability and good traction – which should suit our car because we are strong in these areas. We run a higher level of downforce than in Canada, but you still need good aerodynamic efficiency because the speeds are high at four points of the lap.

      The main difference will be with the asphalt: in Montreal, the track surface was new and very slippery, whereas I think the grip levels will be better in Valencia – but that will be the same for everybody. It’s still a street circuit, so grip levels will be low on Friday morning, but they should improve quickly throughout the weekend, especially because we will have more categories racing and putting rubber down than we did in Canada.

      I enjoy the first sector, because it has two chicanes where you have to jump over the kerbs, and the walls are very close. The other fun section for the drivers is the final part of the lap: they are taken flat out, or with one small lift, but you really get into the flow from one corner to another and then, for the last corner, you have to brake while there is still a lot of lateral load on the car. It’s very tricky to find your braking point for that corner, which makes it even more challenging.”

    25. If you ask Mark Webber, you’ll probably need to censor it.

      “What do you think of the circuit, Mark?”
      Mark: “It’s #*%&.”

      1. HAHA :D

        Absolute Classic but its so true haha.
        Gotta love Mark and his bluntness

      2. He avoided talking about the track itself in his virtual lap of Valencia (see track data), just saying the public are great (for turning up at this event).

    26. The only thing exciting about this weekend is going to be the development race. Ferrari and Renault both intend to step up their game this weekend. If we dont get an exciting race, we will at least get some insight regarding Fernando’s chances for the WDC.

    27. I actually remember the 08 race in a good light. It was a pivotal race in the development battle between Ferrari and McLaren, and it was a great performance by Massa to try to stem Hamilton’s championship bid. Hamilton had some sort of neck injury and did an amazing performance as well. That said, the race is unwatchable on TV—it all looks the same. The corners look the same, the backdrop is one expanse of beige. The trip over the canal is a lame affectation. And there are too many of these carbon-copy corners—you have no idea where the cars are. It reminds me of the old Phoenix GP circuit. Hot and boring. And we have little chance of seeing someone like Alesi fight with someone like Senna, because there are no such drivers anymore.

      1. Phoenix circuit. Now THAT was boring, even with those amazing cars of that era. Gosh….

    28. I remember last year Lewis saying it was like driving round a giant car park. Not a ringing endorsement!

    29. Let’s hope McLaren don’t mess up Lewis’ pit stop again like they did last year costing him the win, and like they’ve done numerous times this year.

      1. As I pointed out at the time, the slow pit stop didn’t cost Hamilton the win – Barrichello was easily quick enough to get ahead of him. In fact, Brawn brought Barrichello in early:

        https://www.racefans.net/2009/08/24/barrichellos-win-and-badoers-struggle-examined-european-grand-prix-analysis/

        Hamilton’s pit stop was slow because they sent him a radio message during his in-lap telling him to stay out for one more lap as they calculated they had just saved enough fuel to get away with it. But he didn’t get the message clearly and came into the pits instead.

        But, as I say, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Barrichello’s advantage over Hamilton after the pit stop was over six seconds having been three behind – that’s a nine-second swing. Hamilton’s delay in the pits cost him five seconds at the very most. Give Barrichello his extra laps back and he’d have taken the lead easily.

        1. Thanks for that info.

    30. I truly hate this track. For some reason, F1 doesn’t work there. For me, that track can be treated with a bulldozer and use the land to plant grapes and make some good wine.
      Call me a nostalgic, if you want, but I consider that, given that F1 is the pinnacle of auto racing, the races must happen in the best tracks: Silvertone, Monza, Spa, the old Hockenheim, Suzuka and so on. Toys like Valencia, Barcelona, China, are a joke to F1.

    31. I like Valencia. It’s a great track…

    32. Spain twice a season is ridiculous… even more so because I could probably make the track at my local Tesco supermarket with a few cones and fencing. Spa would prove a lot trickier.

    33. valencia is almost too perfect. It provides grip, speed, slow corner, unique, new, modern, essence of old, close walls, pretty track (painted blue walls, kerb colour…its perfect…but it lacks character. It has no soul. Drivers therefore do not look forward to it, don’t race as well…lets be honest; ”i won the race in valencia!!” doesn’t sound as good as interlagos, suzuka, spa or even singapore!!

    34. i think id say Valencia is like a bankok ladyboy. at first glance you think maybe its ok then you realise its not ok at all and you shouldnt look at it anymore.

      Seriously though tracks come in and out of fashion dependant on the technology on the cars. Its only 10 years since eau rouge was a monster yet to be tamed, now drivers routinely take it flat out. Silverstone up to the changes has gone from a serious challenge to a serious bore..for the spectators anyway.

      Just as cars constantly evolve, so do or so should the tracks, cars are so safe now you could argue for zero run off areas except for the super high speed corners, asphalt shouldnt rubber in and a great deal of effort should be put in to allow drivers to take different lines. Why we think that a track designed for one era will suit the next is beyond me.

      1. How will you get asphalt to “not rubber in”?

    35. It’s Schumacher’s first time on this track, so it won’t be that boring!

      1. A little carnage in Valencia would definitely spice things up

    36. I love Valencia Circuit!!
      the main reason being……..I live there!!!

      1. Fair enough!

    37. We have a bit of a problem – the provider of last year’s only overtaking move, Luca Badoer, isn’t here! (In fact, the move happened on the way out of the pits, so some sources of overtaking move data don’t even count that among their total, giving Valencia 2009 the total of 0 overtaking moves).

    38. This picture makes last year’s race look more exciting than it was

      You should give yourself COTD for that one Keith!

      What makes Valencia boring is two things:
      1) The chicanes. They break up straights which are already disadvantaged by being curves, and offer zero overtaking opportunities.
      2) The run-off. What’s the point of having a street circuit, with all the disadvantages it brings, and then remove half of the challenge that weeds out the men from the boys?

    39. There´s a fairly simple way to make Valencia exciting. Just put Max and Bernie on the track with large targets attached to their backs. 10 points for Max, 5 for Bernie. Excitement guaranteed!

    40. It’s going to be a struggle to stay awake for this one. As far as I can tell, there is only one benefit to Valencia, which is that it makes all other raes look good in comparision.

    41. Looks like Long Beach…….around the container terminal.
      More appropriate for truck racing ?
      The place doesn’t exactly have a see the splendors of Spain look.
      Wonder if they sell post cards.

    42. Florida Mike
      23rd June 2010, 4:12

      I love the flow from turn 17 thru 23, especially from an in-car camera. It might not be great for wheel-to-wheel racing, but I think it highlights an F1 car’s potential for acceleration in high-G and F1 driver’s precision and control.

    43. Without doubt the most ill conceived racetrack to host an F1 event since the terrible spectacle of using the carpark at Ceasers Palace Casino in Las Vegas years ago.
      It just is so uninspiring to look at, so bland. I have no problem with Valencia hosting the grands prix, but the design of the circuit could have and should have been so much better.
      I do not believe that two of the most entertaining grands prix of 2010 so far, Montreal and Melbourne, were just accidents. As circuits, they both offer the fans great racing and a beautiful backdrop aswell. When a circuit is so bland, and so predictable that not even the drivers find it challenging, then I fear it just devalues the championship and that is a shame.

    44. I think when it rains it will make the race more better

    45. “Valencia manages to combine all of the drawbacks of a temporary circuit with none of the advantages.

      While Montreal is narrow, slippery, bumpy and bordered by barriers, Valencia is the opposite. It’s wider than some permanent race circuits in parts and the surface, once it’s been cleaned up by a couple of days’ running, offers decent grip.”

      Those are the advantages of a temporary circuit? I thought the advantages were improving the atmosphere, being closer to the fans and being able to provide much better infrastructure. Which the Valencia circuit does.

      A track being slippery isn’t what makes a good circuit. Imagine if Monaco had the grip of Silverstone (as an example). And the cars were to do 1:10s. That’d be an amazing sight.

      The reason its not a good circuit is because of the corner design. That’s it.

      “There are but few places on the track where the drivers have to give the walls respect, which explains why we’ve never seen the safety car deployed at the circuit.”

      No safety car in two whole races! If Montreal doesn’t have a safety car next year can we begin to say there are few places on the track where the drivers have to give the walls respect?

      1. How does Montreal improve the atmosphere? there is no atmosphere, that’s one of the main the problems!

        Canada was exciting because the track was slippery, the slippery track is exciting because there was no black and white in terms of strategy, the slippery track caused a massive grey area and that’s what made it good. Just as when rains about.

        How many times did drivers hit the grass at Montreal? How many times do they, wait, There is no grass at Valencia!

        1. I meant Valencia in the first paragraph.

    46. valencia did get the euro gp because of alonso, so the council foot the bill, so what. germany had 2 rounds when MS was any good and you never know the uk may get 2 when alonso retires.

      mike you can clean asphalt, thats how you prevent it from rubbering in. not rocket science that one!

      in the end drivers make a race, if they are prepared to attack and take risks then the race is a good one, if they just want to look for excuses then their mindset is wrong before they start. at the risk of repeating myself we saw jenson do many overtakes last year when he really had to. im going to stick my neck out and say valencia will be a good race, not montreal but not bahrain either.

    47. “In a survey of F1 drivers called Nico, 100% of them said they liked the circuit”

      Ha ha, nice one!!

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