Grand Prix 2012 European Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Valencia........ :bored:

Even Abu Dhabi and Bahrain are more exciting in comparison. Valencia is the only grand prix on the calendar that I genuinley do not look forward to. It's dull, boring and hasn't provided an interesting race at all since its inception on the F1 calendar in 2008. Thankfully it won't be a regular feature in the future as it will be alternating with Barcelona in the future.

Going into the Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton is back as the Championship leader after becoming the 7th driver to win in 7 races with victory in the Canadian Grand Prix. After missing out on the podium in recent races he was back with vengeance after fighting back from starting second and being third with 10 laps to go but thanks to fresher tyres he made easy work of Vettel and Alonso in the latter laps who fell away after a gamble to one stop failed. In the end Roman Grosjean and Sergio Perez finished on the podium and it is testament to the unpredictably of 2012 that it wasn't the first time either of them have been on the podium this season.

From race to race no team has been consistently at the very front, in Spain it was Williams, in Monaco it was Red Bull and in Canada it was McLaren. Both Ferrari and Lotus have probably been the most consistent package over recent weeks but not enough to win races with podium places the highest they can manage, but considering the start to the season Ferrari made, that probably isn't a bad thing and Alonso is only 2 points off the championship leader with world champion Vettel just one point behind in third.

It's a complete reversal of 2011 as this time last year Hamilton left Canada with a world of problems after a DNF which involved a collision with team mate Button who went on to win one of the best races of his career passing Vettel on the last lap. But 12 months later Hamilton won the race with Button finishing a lapped 16th. What's worse for the 2009 champion is that was on merit as well and not down to any car failures or pit problems, it marks a horrid fall from grace after winning the opening race in Melbourne and an early run of podiums but now he is struggling to even get into Q3 and convert that into points finishes. Button appears clueless as to where the problem lies and it may not be a short term fix as the car isn't slow as Hamilton is currently proving. It could be already over as far as Button's title hopes are concerned as he is currently 43 points behind Hamilton and has roughly half the points total.

It is also interesting to note that Button was further behind the leader last season and he was second in the championship, while at the moment he lies in 8th behind both Lotus drivers who are the only front running drivers yet to win a race (excluding Schumacher) and having come close in Bahrain and Spain they will want to be the next winners and take the total to 8 winners in 8 races and with both Raikkonen and Grosjean closely matched it's hard to say who is the more likely. But it's Grosjean's form which is the most surprising, a lot of people questioned why he was given the driver role given the way he was outperformed in 2009 and a lot of people said he would be outraced by the returning Finn, but after 7 races he is only 2 points behind and that is despite several first lap incidents where he has been the innocent part in some cases but not others (Malaysia). With the pendulum swinging from race to race it is hard to predict who will have the upper hand in the Spanish heat.

For Galahad's brilliant circuit write up - http://cliptheapex.com/pages/valencia-street-circuit/
 
I was gonna say would Mercedes be strong but Sportsman has covered all my points, the race shall be won in the pits though, probably by Ferrari, Toro Rosso vs Caterham could be interesting
 
I'm still liking Ferrari (Alonso) to take the victory. The developments Ferrari has brought at each race since Mugello have been great and I think with the new stuff coming for Velencia will put them close to pole and then #1 for the race.
 
Valencia shares many similaries with Monaco
In the race they are a lot similar: processional. But during quali I think it will be a lot different from Monaco. Valencia has more straights and medium to high speed corners than Monaco and hopefully no Pastor Maldonado running into things.
 
OK. I'm going for Vettel lights to flag victory. If the boy puts it on pole and does his usual first lap trick of getting a second and a half in front of everyone then I can't see how anyone can get back at him at Valencia without some form of pitstop error
 
Maybe Winfinger will be the cause for the SAFETY CAR to come out, and thus hand the victory to another!!
 
"One red light ..." ... "Anything can happen in the next [one and a] half hour ..." ..."Look but never stare ... " "Five red lights ..." :thinking: "Hmm ... the only thing we can guarantee (perhaps) is a lights to flag procession interspersed with the odd DRS and tired tyres gifted pass." So sayeth an F1 soothsayer who shall never soothsay again if said prediction hath not come to pass.:)
 
I don't think we would get look but never stare, mainly cus Crofty takes the start! Maybe a "Lights Out and away we go" from Ben! And I think we may get moved to the nonsense thread if I don't post something sensible! I actually have a good feeling (Optimistic hat on) that this race will be a good race, because of how packed together the field is and all the non-winners, watch out for Kobayashi
 
OK. I'm going for Vettel lights to flag victory. If the boy puts it on pole and does his usual first lap trick of getting a second and a half in front of everyone then I can't see how anyone can get back at him at Valencia without some form of pitstop error

The Red Bull doesn't seem to have the race pace currently to go lights to flag. One lap speed, yes, but over the whole of the race? I don't think so.
 
Raikkonen for the win. The high temperatures will favour the Lotus - who I believe have fundamentally the best car. And I think Kimi is faster than Grosjean.
 
The Red Bull doesn't seem to have the race pace currently to go lights to flag. One lap speed, yes, but over the whole of the race? I don't think so.

Did it in Bahrain. Only guess work - this season doesn't leave you with much form to go on - but Seb seems to come out on top at races like this.

For Vettel to get that 1second+ gap by the 3rd lap, he must be pushing harder than everyone else so surely he could bin it somewhere!

Didn't do it all last season
 
Did it in Bahrain. Only guess work - this season doesn't leave you with much form to go on - but Seb seems to come out on top at races like this.
Well, I did say currently. But yes you're are 100% that this season doesn't leave you with much form to go on, especially only 7 races in. Each car seems to be very up and down round to round and has struggled to find the consistency all around. I think by the end of the season we will see the Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren pull away from Mercedes and Lotus. This championship will come down more to driver skill and consistency and I give the nod to Alonso.
 
Doesn't matter he will get pole and run out front with nobody able to get by.
Maybe that was true in 2008-2010, but last year should passing could happen. 42 in dry conditions and I have a feeling more will be coming this season. That being said, I don't hate this track as much as the usual F1 fan, I think there are some neat parts to the track, but the FIA and F1 just needed to get "creative" in order to make passing possible. As unpredictable as this season has been, I don't think there will be any "boring" races.
 
Well we've already had one! And while the track is interesting the races aren't. I guess the Red Bull is slow enough in a straight line to make a DRS overtake definitely doable.
 
Back
Top Bottom