Grand Prix 2011 European Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Got your breath back yet?

After an exhilarating grand prix which lasted for record time, it seems as if there is renewed optimism that Sebastian Vettel can be caught after a last lap slip in the moist conditions in Canada allowing Jenson Button to take his first win for over a year despite a turbulent race which included crashes with Alonso and team-mate Hamilton, a puncture and a drive through.

However, a candidate for most improved driver since the season started is a certain Michael Schumacher. Ridiculed early on after a poor start, he seems to have found the groove again and if it hadn't have been for the last safety car, he arguably would have gotten his first podium since returning to the sport, indeed he was closing the gap to Vettel and could even have taken the win at one of his favourite circuits. Now that he has overtaken Rosberg in the standings, is it time for him to push on and show that he is worth the 7 world championships to his name?

Another name that has been bandied about the press recently is Lewis Hamilton, after a disappointing race in Monaco, he followed it with a worse showing at one of his most successful circuits. During the race he hit everything that moved, and seemed to take the blame for most if not all of the incidents, whether he deserves the current criticism is another thing entirely. He knows he needs a strong showing in Valencia where he has finished 2nd on every single visit so far to the Spanish circuit.

It is the second home race of the year for Fernando Alonso, but it looks like he is going to need more than home support to beat the Red Bulls here, however an improved showing in Canada was masked by a clumsy incident with Button which punted him out of the grand prix. Felipe Massa had an overall strong race and recovered form an impact in the wall to finish 6th after beating Kobayashi in a drag race to the line.

Williams claimed their first points of the year finally with Barrichello claiming a handful of points while Toro Rosso managed to get both drivers into the points which will go some way into relieving the pressure on the two embattled drivers who will no doubt be looking over his shoulder.

Looking ahead to Valencia, it is easy for people not to get their hopes up about any exciting racing as the European Grand Prix here hasn't been known for frantic racing, particularly as the 2009 race didn't have any overtaking whatsoever, yes, there were 0 overtakes. But with a combination of two long straights and the new dual DRS zones, we should be seeing tons of overtaking into the hairpin, remember Kobayashi's overtake on Alonso late on last year.

No doubt Mark Webber will want to eradicate last years memories where he found that Red Bull literally did give him wings when he flew 360 degrees in the air after tagging Kovalainens lotus at high speed, seeing as this happened in what will probably be a DRS zone this year, I sincerely hope we do not see a repeat, while Webber walked away unharmed, it is never nice to see that happen in any kind of motorsport.

For Galahads superb circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/valencia-street-circuit/
 
I have a sneaky suspicion that we are going to be in for a classic this weekend, which would be a first, in more than one way.....
 
Let's hope that suspicion becomes true, as this track in it's first two years only had 4 overtakes I have been told...
 
Four in 2008, zero in 2009, 15 last year.

http://cliptheapex.com/pages/formula-one-overtaking/
I remember 2009 being possibly the most boring race I ever saw. For all the flak we give Charlie, you have to say they are trying to give us more exciting races and give credit for the progress they have made. I guess if you think about it too hard, you can see it is artificial, but I for one will be suspending that line of thought come 1pm on Sunday. Bring it on!
 
I absolutely hate this circuit. And just so there's no doubt, I utterly, totally, 150% percent, hate this circuit.

I can't believe we have to suffer this poorly designed, comedy circuit when there isn't a race in France which was one of the founding fathers of Motorsport.

Sigh, and Breath !!!

No but seriously, Come on !!!! Do we have to go here every year ??? With the number of countries that want to bid for a race, do we really need a European GP anyway.

Arrrrrrghhhhh I hate this track.

Please, Please, Please let this race be a classic and prove me wrong !!

Sadly though, I fear we are going to follow up one of F1's all time greatest races with a snoozefest of gigantic proportions.

Curse you Mr Tilke and curse you Mr Ecclestone.

The new Monaco ha ha ha ha.

Breath Breath, Calm Calm. Phew.

And another thing .............. LOL
 
It is not the best circuit motorsport has ever produced, thats for sure.

Overtaking summary - European Grand Prix

Total overtakes: 0!

What I have not included:
Lap 5 - 14 Webber passed 22 Button for 8th - allowed past on the instruction of the team to avoid penalty

Lap 5 - 5 Kubica passed 6 Heidfeld for 10th - appeared to be a result of team orders (Heidfeld slowed on the straight)

There was Badoer/Grosjean in the pit lane, but I don't think any of us want to see "Total overtakes: 0!" ever again!
 
The amount of run off on this track is ridiculous, it can never be the new monaco if you have acres of run off to prevent mistakes being punished. Bring the European GP back to Brands Hatch. Or bring back the Austrian GP.

But with the new Pirellis we might get an exciting race due to strategy where someone will catch the leader at a vast rate of knots and then the rest will be history. It will also be interesting to see how much the ban on changing engine maps between Quali and Race will affect each team.
 
In response to CaT's rant don't forget that one F. Briatore esq. owns the rights to TV coverage in Spain not CVC so any cash Spanish TV coughs up goes straight into Flavio's bank. I think this (partly) helps to explain why there are two races in Spain, as there were in Germany when Schumie was at his peak (weren't there?)
 
This is what my Spanish friend wrote to me when we were discussing the Valencia circuit, I told her the track was horrendous and then she e-mails me saying this. Can't but help to chuckle :snigger:

"The track is really horrendous. Not even the GP2 kamikazes can do anything there.

The worst thing is that Valencia has a real racing track that is ready for F1, the Ricardo Tormo, where they do the tests in winter. But of course those corrupt polititians had to spend the money of all Spaniards to do that thing and pay Mr. Ecclestone an absurd amount of money to hold the worst GP of the year.

Oh, and the kerbs in Valencia are blue, red and orange so they remember the colours of the flag of the Valencian Comunity ------> more glory to the polititians, hurra!

Rant over.

I have only watched motorbikes and WTCC races in the Ricardo Tormo. But the circuit seems to be good enough for F1 since the teams do there many winter tests. Once thing is clear, it can never be as bad as the street one and, at least, it was already built, why spending more money?

There have been corruption scandals related to the Valencia street circuit. The whole story is absolutely absurd. Why on earth do we have to have 2 GPs, why do the both of them have to be in the North-East coast and with such a little time difference?"

Now she brings up a great point about the "Ricardo Tormo" why not use that track? Instead spend millions on a track which has produced zero overtakes in a grand prix (by the way is that a record?).
 
I'm not a fan of the Ricardo Tormo track either. Here's an idea, why doesn't f1 only have one round in Spain and ditch Valencia???
 
I absolutely hate this circuit. And just so there's no doubt, I utterly, totally, 150% percent, hate this circuit.

I can't believe we have to suffer this poorly designed, comedy circuit when there isn't a race in France which was one of the founding fathers of Motorsport.

Sigh, and Breath !!!

No but seriously, Come on !!!! Do we have to go here every year ??? With the number of countries that want to bid for a race, do we really need a European GP anyway.

Arrrrrrghhhhh I hate this track.

A European GP could be a good idea, if circuits like Imola, A1 ring or the Bugatti course at Le Mans would be included in the mix, on a rotating basis. Spain should have only one Grand prix and not two, because there isn't a history of strong support for F1 racing, say as a country like England.

The French GP should be on the F1 calendar on a permanent basis!
 
Sorry that I didn't include include Brands Hatch on my list of possible venues for an European GP, and their looks like portugal may have an interesting track
 
Sorry that I didn't include include Brands Hatch on my list of possible venues for an European GP, and their looks like portugal may have an interesting track

The problem with Brands is that it is not up to F1 standard now. It would cost a lot of money (and countless planning arguments) to get up to standard. Would it be worth spending all that money for one race every eight years or so?
 
Now she brings up a great point about the "Ricardo Tormo" why not use that track?

I'd presume they want to keep it as a winter test track and if I recall correctly a track that is used for the championship cannot also be used for testing.
 
Ahhh, my bad - having read up on the regs it states that you can't test a reserve/replacement driver on a championship track from that year.

If a team declares that one of its current race drivers is to be substituted by a driver who has not participated in an F1 race in the two previous calendar years, one day of track testing will be permitted between the start of the week preceding second Event and the last Event of the Championship. The following must be observed - Any such day may only be carried out by the new driver and may not take place on a circuit hosting a race in the current Championship year
 
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