GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia)
The Track
Circuit Length: 5.419km
Race Distance: 309km
Kerbs: Low
Pitlane: 243m
Altitude: 10m
Maximum speed: 315kph
Minimum speed: 65kph
Average Speed: 198kph
Average corner speed: 86kph
Downforce Level: Medium
Aero efficiency ratio: High
Full throttle: 58%
Longest section full throttle: 7.5s
Fuel effect: 0.3 s/10kg
Fuel consumption: 2.9kg/Lap
Braking events: 12
Brake Wear: Severe
Gear changes per lap: 64
Gearbox severity: High
Tyre Compounds: Soft (Yellow), Medium (White)
DRS Activation:As in Canada, there will be two DRS overtaking zones on the streets of Valencia this weekend for the European Grand Prix, but only one detection point. The new in 2011 adjustable rear wing system contributed to a frenzy of overtaking on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, ahead of this weekend's event at Valencia where processional races have been common.
History
The Valencia Street Circuit (Valencian: Circuit Urbà de València, Spanish: Circuito Urbano de Valencia) is a semi-permanent street circuit in Valencia, Spain which will host the Formula One European Grand Prix for seven years. The first race meeting on the circuit was held over the 23/24 August 2008 weekend, with Felipe Massa winning the main event, the European Grand Prix, after starting from pole position. The circuit utilizes the roads skirting around the city's harbour and America's Cup port area – including a section over a 140-metre-long (460 ft) swing bridge, and also includes some roads designed exclusively for racing purposes by the German architect Hermann Tilke who also designed the infrastructural buildings for the circuit. The 2011 edition will be held on Sunday June 26th.
The deal to host the Valencia race was signed on June 1, 2007 and is for seven years. The deal was made between Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and the Valmor Sport group, which is led by former motorcycle rider Jorge Martinez Aspar and Villarreal football club's president Fernando Roig. This deal goes back on comments made by Ecclestone previously stating that no European country should hold more than one race each year as Barcelona currently holds the Spanish Grand Prix each year.
Although now confirmed, the deal was rumored to be conditional on People's Party winning regional elections on 27 May 2007. However, Ecclestone had clarified his comments on May 16, 2007: "I said I wouldn't formalise a contract until after the elections because I didn't know who I would be signing it with." He said his statements were taken out of context. Ecclestone has since been cleared of influencing the election by the Valencian Electoral Commission.
The official track layout was unveiled by Valencia councillor and transport counselor, Mario Flores, on 19 July 2007. The track was first used in the last weekend of July 2008, as the circuit hosted a round of the Spanish F3 Championship and International GT Open. It was first used for the European Grand Prix on August 24, 2008.
2008 European Grand PrixThe 2008 European Grand Prix was held on August 24, 2008. It was the 12th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Felipe Massa for the Ferrari team after starting from pole position. Lewis Hamilton finished second in a McLaren car, with Robert Kubica third in a BMW Sauber.
During the race Massa was reprimanded by the stewards and fined €10,000 for nearly colliding with Adrian Sutil's car in the pits, but the Brazilian kept his victory.
This was Bridgestone's 200th and Massa's 100th entry, and this makes Massa the only driver to date to win his 100th race.
2009 European Grand PrixThe 2009 European Grand Prix was held on August 23, 2009. It was the 11th race of the 2009 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Rubens Barrichello for the Brawn team after Lewis Hamilton took pole in the McLaren. Hamilton came second, while Kimi Räikkönen took third in the Ferrari car. It marked the first race of Frenchman Romain Grosjean in the Renault. Barrichello's victory was the 100th for a Brazilian driver.
2010 European Grand PrixThe 2010 European Grand Prix was held on June 27, 2010. It was the ninth round on the 2010 Formula One season. The race, contested over 57 laps, was won by Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing after starting from pole. McLaren team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button came second and third respectively. Championship contender Mark Webber was involved in an accident with the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen, resulting in the Australian's car launching into a flip, before crashing into the barriers. The release of the Safety car following the accident led to a controversial moment in the race, with Hamilton passing the safety car while Fernando Alonso was stuck behind, providing Hamilton with the opportunity to pull away. 20 minutes after Alonso had complained to the stewards, Hamilton was given a drive-through penalty, meaning to the dismay of the Ferrari driver he was able to maintain his position.
The Technology
Tyres:The unique demands of the Valencia street circuit mean that Pirelli will introduce its brand new medium tyre in Spain this weekend, which was tested during free practice in Canada two weeks ago. The PZero White medium tyre is not quite as durable as the hard tyre seen during the first five grands prix of the season, but it is quicker while still representing a significant step in range over the PZero Yellow soft tyre, which is the option tyre in Valencia. Pirelli has tested in Valencia twice during the build-up to its first season in Formula One, but only at the permanent circuit on the outskirts of the city rather than on the 5.419-kilometre street circuit inaugurated in 2008, which runs through the ultramodern City of Arts and Sciences made famous by the architecture of local man Santiago Calatrava. Valencia will be the third street circuit race in succession this year, following Monaco and Canada, where the outcome of the race was only settled in the very final laps. The Valencia track has little in common with other street circuits, containing a wide variety of corners and a relatively high proportion of the lap spent on full throttle, together with a smooth surface. The stop-start nature of the track and frequent changes of direction place heavy demands on the tyres under traction and braking, while there is also very little adhesion to provide lateral support in the corners. The track is only used once a year, which means that the amount of grip evolves considerably over the course of the weekend as more rubber is laid down.
Pirelli’s Motorsport Director says: Paul Hembery: “We’ve seen some fantastic street races so far this season, with the last grand prix in Canada being one of the highlights of the year, so we hope that Valencia will continue this pattern although it’s notoriously difficult to overtake there. Tyre wear on this circuit is likely to be quite high because of the track layout, the nature of the surface, and also the weather conditions, which should be very warm. For all these reasons, we’ve selected the medium and soft tyres, which should provide the teams with a good level of resistance, plenty of different opportunities for strategy and about a second per lap difference between the compounds. The PZero White tyres have been adjusted slightly from our original specification to make them a bit more durable, along the lines of the tweak we made to the PZero Silver hard tyre in Spain, and this was the compound that the teams tested during Friday’s free practice in Canada, giving us plenty of useful data.”
Aero:The track calls for more aerodynamic downforce than at the last race, in Canada, it also requires good aerodynamic efficiency because the speeds are high at four points of the lap, according to Robert Kubica, at the Renault team, who said he particularly liked the final corners of the lap.
Engine/Drivetrain: Sector one: The lap starts on the pit straight but unlike the other street tracks on the calendar where the first turn is a tight corner, the track only curves slightly to the right, allowing drivers to build to just under 300kph before turn 2. The engine therefore needs to be smooth but also responsive off the start. The first heavy braking zone is into turn 2 and turn 3 when the driver will slow from around 293kph and seventh gear to just 85kph and second gear for the right hand complex. Then it’s back on the power for a short burst and another chicane, this time starting with a left hander. After turn five, taken at 110kph, the drivers then accelerate through the gears, staying on the power through a left hand kink to reach 285kph just before entering sector two and the third heavy braking zone of the circuit at turn 8.
Sector two: Sector two is the longest sector of the circuit, but most of it is taken up by the 970m straight that runs between turn 10 and turn 12. Interestingly there will be one DRS detection zone for two activation points in Valencia. The detection zone comes 130m before turn 8, but can be activated 285m after turn 10 or 35m after turn 14, the curved straight leading to the hairpin. Expect to see a lot of overtaking in the first activation zone as cars peak at 312kph before the right hander of turn 12, a second gear turn taken at just 75kph. After turn 12 the cars then pass into a relatively stop-start complex where cars flick left and then quickly right before the second DRS activation zone, a curved straight where speeds can reach 310kph. Again the overtaking here could be spectacular as at the end of the ‘straight’ drivers brake down to 65kph for the hairpin turn 17. Over this section the balance between top end power and good driveability over the lower revs is particularly important.
Sector three: This sector comprises two of the slowest corners on the circuit (turn 17 and 25) but also flows nicely. From turn 17 drivers build speed over the rest of the sector, maintaining around 280kph through the open corners. The final turn, turn 25, however stops this flow as drivers brake down from around 295kph to just 65kph to round the hairpin leading back onto the pit straight.
Among the myriad rule changes for the 2011 season, one of the less prominent was that gearboxes must now last for five consecutive events rather than four. Furthermore, each team had to choose 30 ratio options before the season began to cover the demands of the 19 circuits, which must be able to cope with the slowest corners at Monaco, and the long straights of Monza, with DRS enabled. As the Valencia Street Circuit requires the most gear changes per lap of any circuit so far this season, 64, and the second-most per lap of any circuit behind Singapore, it provides the perfect opportunity to take a look at this crucial system.
The Valencia Street Circuit requires 64 gear changes per lap; only Singapore requires more, with 71 changes per lap. This equates to over 3,648 changes per race, compared to a season average of 3100 gear changes. This means, on average, the drivers are changing gear once every 85 metres, compared to once every 61 metres in Monaco, or at the other extreme, once every 143 metres in Spa.
The Schedule
Fri 24 June 2011Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30
Sat 25 June 2011Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00
Sun 26 June 2011Race 14:00
All times Valencia local time.On the Internet
[url=http://formula1.com]Live Timing (Registration required)[/size][/url]
LOCAL WEATHER FORECASTInformation sourced from here, there and everywhere. Enjoy!
Topic: 2011 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 24 - 26 June *SPOILERS* (Read 758 times)
