Round 9 - Valencia Street Circuit
Summary
And so we move from one semi-permanent street circuit surrounded by water to another, with the third European Grand Prix to be held at the high-speed circuit on the Valencia quayside.
Conceived to take advantage of F1's new-found popularity in Spain, the circuit utilises port roads and buildings previously used for the city's hosting of the America's Cup yacht race. Hermann Tilke supervised the construction of the new sections of road required to complete the track.
Visually, Valencia is even more characterised by the concrete walls enclosing the drivers than Montreal. The circuit is similarly relatively high-speed, with three long straights linked by a combination of right-angled turns, comparatively high kerbing for a modern track, and reasonably generous run-off areas.
The first two events were roundly criticised for a lack of racing action, as the field spread out readily and few drivers tried their luck on the dusty marbles in the notional overtaking zones. Previous European races have lived long in the memory - Brands Hatch in 1985, Donington 1993, Nürburgring 1995, 1999 and 2007; and infamously Jerez in 1997 to name but a few. Perhaps this will be the year for Valencia to step up to the plate.
The overall finishing rate at Valencia is one of the highest of all this year's circuits.
The likelihood of a driver-related retirement is lower than average.
Mechnical failures here are also very much less common than at most current tracks.
Finally, the circuit ranks as about average for first-lap retirements in the past five years.
The Last Five Years
[td]Year[/td][td]Starters[/td][td]Finishers[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Lap 1 retirements[/td][td]Most places gained[/td]
Circuit Ranking (of all 18 circuits)
Finishing Rate
1st Yas Marina 90%
2nd Monza 88%
3rd Valencia 88%
4th Suzuka 85%
…
Mechanical Failures
...
16th Suzuka 8%
17th Valencia 8%
18th Silverstone 7%
Driver-related Retirements
…
14th Hockenheim 6%
15th Valencia 5%
16th Monza 4%
...
First lap Retirements
...
8th Hungaroring 2.9%
9th Valencia 2.5%
10th Montreal 2.4%
...
Both previous Grands Prix at Valencia have been won by Brazilian drivers, with Felipe Massa in 2008 and Rubens Barrichello last year receiving boosts to their ultimately unsuccessful championship challenges. For Bruno Senna to make it three different countrymen in three years will require something beyond miraculous. Lewis Hamilton was runner-up on both occasions. 2010 F1 returnees Michael Schumacher, Tonio Liuzzi and Pedro de la Rosa have never raced at the circuit before, while Cosworth will also need to adapt to a new venue for them. Also of note is Sebastian Vettel’s reasonably good qualifying record – 6th for Toro Rosso in 2008, and 4th last season. His current team-mate Mark Webber lined up 14th and 9th, by comparison.
Despite awaiting their first win in Valencia, McLaren have picked up more points here than any other team. Conversely, Red Bull have yet to manage a single points finish in four starts. The low retirement rate has generally meant few points on offer to the smaller teams.
Current Drivers' Records at Valencia
[td]Driver[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]
Chassis Records at Valencia
[td]Chassis[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]Results for Mercedes GP include Honda and Brawn
Results for Force India include Spyker
Engine Records at Valencia
[td]Engine[/td][td]Starts[/td][td]Finishes[/td][td]Best result[/td][td]Points[/td][td]Retirements - Mech[/td][td]Retirements - Acc[/td][td]Average grid pos.[/td]
All ranking figures are expressed as a % of total starts.
"Retirements-Acc" are retirements where the reason has been listed as Collision, Accident or Spun Off.
Summary
And so we move from one semi-permanent street circuit surrounded by water to another, with the third European Grand Prix to be held at the high-speed circuit on the Valencia quayside.
Conceived to take advantage of F1's new-found popularity in Spain, the circuit utilises port roads and buildings previously used for the city's hosting of the America's Cup yacht race. Hermann Tilke supervised the construction of the new sections of road required to complete the track.
Visually, Valencia is even more characterised by the concrete walls enclosing the drivers than Montreal. The circuit is similarly relatively high-speed, with three long straights linked by a combination of right-angled turns, comparatively high kerbing for a modern track, and reasonably generous run-off areas.
The first two events were roundly criticised for a lack of racing action, as the field spread out readily and few drivers tried their luck on the dusty marbles in the notional overtaking zones. Previous European races have lived long in the memory - Brands Hatch in 1985, Donington 1993, Nürburgring 1995, 1999 and 2007; and infamously Jerez in 1997 to name but a few. Perhaps this will be the year for Valencia to step up to the plate.
The overall finishing rate at Valencia is one of the highest of all this year's circuits.
The likelihood of a driver-related retirement is lower than average.
Mechnical failures here are also very much less common than at most current tracks.
Finally, the circuit ranks as about average for first-lap retirements in the past five years.
The Last Five Years
| 2005 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2006 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2007 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 - Timo Glock (Toyota) |
| 2009 | 20 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota) |
| Overall | 40 | 35 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Circuit Ranking (of all 18 circuits)
Finishing Rate
1st Yas Marina 90%
2nd Monza 88%
3rd Valencia 88%
4th Suzuka 85%
…
Mechanical Failures
...
16th Suzuka 8%
17th Valencia 8%
18th Silverstone 7%
Driver-related Retirements
…
14th Hockenheim 6%
15th Valencia 5%
16th Monza 4%
...
First lap Retirements
...
8th Hungaroring 2.9%
9th Valencia 2.5%
10th Montreal 2.4%
...
Both previous Grands Prix at Valencia have been won by Brazilian drivers, with Felipe Massa in 2008 and Rubens Barrichello last year receiving boosts to their ultimately unsuccessful championship challenges. For Bruno Senna to make it three different countrymen in three years will require something beyond miraculous. Lewis Hamilton was runner-up on both occasions. 2010 F1 returnees Michael Schumacher, Tonio Liuzzi and Pedro de la Rosa have never raced at the circuit before, while Cosworth will also need to adapt to a new venue for them. Also of note is Sebastian Vettel’s reasonably good qualifying record – 6th for Toro Rosso in 2008, and 4th last season. His current team-mate Mark Webber lined up 14th and 9th, by comparison.
Despite awaiting their first win in Valencia, McLaren have picked up more points here than any other team. Conversely, Red Bull have yet to manage a single points finish in four starts. The low retirement rate has generally meant few points on offer to the smaller teams.
Current Drivers' Records at Valencia
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 | 2 | 2nd (2) | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Felipe Massa | 1 | 1 | 1st (1) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Rubens Barrichello | 2 | 2 | 1st (1) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 8.5 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 2 | 2 | 4th (2) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 |
| Robert Kubica | 2 | 2 | 3rd (1) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 |
| Nico Rosberg | 2 | 2 | 5th (1) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Jarno Trulli | 2 | 2 | 5th (1) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12.5 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 2 | 1 | 6th (1) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Fernando Alonso | 2 | 1 | 6th (1) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Jenson Button | 2 | 2 | 7th (1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10.5 |
| Timo Glock | 2 | 2 | 7th (1) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Mark Webber | 2 | 2 | 9th (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.5 |
| Adrian Sutil | 2 | 1 | 10th (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Jaime Alguersuari | 1 | 1 | 16th (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Sebastien Buemi | 1 | 0 | RET | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| Karun Chandhok | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pedro de la Rosa | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lucas di Grassi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Kamui Kobayashi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Vitantonio Liuzzi | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Vitaly Petrov | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Michael Schumacher | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Bruno Senna | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Chassis Records at Valencia
| McLaren | 4 | 4 | 2nd (2) | 26 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Ferrari | 4 | 3 | 1st (1) | 16 | 1 | 0 | 7.75 |
| Mercedes GP | 4 | 4 | 1st (1) | 12 | 0 | 0 | 10.75 |
| BMW Sauber | 4 | 4 | 3rd (1) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Williams | 4 | 4 | 5th (1) | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Renault | 4 | 3 | 6th (1) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12.25 |
| Toro Rosso | 4 | 3 | 6th (1) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12.5 |
| Red Bull | 4 | 3 | 9th (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Force India | 4 | 3 | 10th (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16.5 |
| Hispania | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Lotus | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Virgin | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Results for Force India include Spyker
Engine Records at Valencia
| Mercedes-Benz | 8 | 8 | 1st (1) | 38 | 0 | 0 | 5.75 |
| Ferrari | 10 | 7 | 1st (1) | 19 | 2 | 1 | 11.9 |
| Renault | 8 | 6 | 6th (1) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11.63 |
| Cosworth | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
All ranking figures are expressed as a % of total starts.
"Retirements-Acc" are retirements where the reason has been listed as Collision, Accident or Spun Off.
