Sven
Norm Smith Medallist
The eighth GP of the year takes us back to Spain for the European Grand Prix at the Valencia.
Here's Mark Webber showing us not to drive around Valencia:
and here he shows us how you should do a lap of the circuit:
Valencia is a street circuit, and although the average lap speed is higher than Monaco, has featured a number of mundane, follow the leader, races in the past.
Drivers Championship
Seven winners from seven races is unprecedented in Formula 1 and accordingly there is a battle royale at the top of the rankings. Hamilton's win in Canada, coupled with his consistency so far this season sees him at the top of the rankings with Vettel and Alonso snapping at his heels. Webber's 7th in Canada sees him drop off the pace into 4th position, but more Red Bull friendly tracks coming up on the calendar has him in with some hope for the rest of 2012. The gap between the top 4 is so close that a win by any of them at Valencia will likely see them at the top of the standings after the race. Who will eventually win the driver's championship is anyones guess at this point of the season.
1 Lewis Hamilton 88
2 Fernando Alonso 86
3 Sebastian Vettel 85
4 Mark Webber 79
5 Nico Rosberg 67
6 Kimi Räikkönen 55
7 Romain Grosjean 53
8 Jenson Button 45
9 Sergio Perez 37
10 Pastor Maldonado 29
11 Kamui Kobayashi 21
12 Paul di Resta 21
13 Bruno Senna 15
14 Felipe Massa 11
15 Nico Hulkenberg 7
16 Jean-Eric Vergne 4
17 Daniel Ricciardo 2
18 Michael Schumacher 2
Constructors Championship
It increasingly looks like a McLaren vs Red Bull battle for the Constructor's title. Hamilton's win ensured McLaren closed the gap to Red Bull to 31 points. Grosjean's 2nd pacing in Canda has seen Lotus overtake Ferrari in 3rd place and it looks likely that these two teams will battle it out for 3rd position behind the Red Bull/McLaren battle.
1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 164
2 McLaren-Mercedes 133
3 Lotus-Renault 108
4 Ferrari 97
5 Mercedes 69
6 Sauber-Ferrari 58
7 Williams-Renault 44
8 Force India-Mercedes 28
9 STR-Ferrari 6
Last year
Qualifying
Last year Red Bull dominated qualifying and returned a 1-2 result. THe McLarens and Ferraris battled it out for the next four qualifying spots with Mercedes 7th and 8th.
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:36.975
2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.163
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.380
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.454
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.535
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.645
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.231
8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:38.240
9 Nick Heidfeld Renault no time
10 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time
Race
Vettel started well, got a margin and was unchallenged in cruising to an easy victory. Alonso and Webber had a race long battle for second with positions changing once through a pass (Alonso past Webber) and two during pit stops (1st pit stop Webber got past Alonso and 2nd pit stop Alonso back past Webber). Webber ran into engine problems late in the race and Alonso ended up in an easy 2nd postion some 16 seconds in front of Webber. The two McLarens and Massa in the other Ferrari were off the pace during the race, but easily finished in the next three positions.
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:39:36.169
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +10.891
3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +27.255
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +46.190
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari +51.705
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1:00.065
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1:38.090
8 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 Lap
9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
10 Nick Heidfeld Renault +1 Lap
Tyre choices for Valencia features the medium and soft tyre which is slightly different from last year (medium and supersoft). Whether or not the change in tyres will make the racing more interesting at Valencia is unknown, but I can't see an obvious reason that it should. Most overtaking moves in Valencia are traditionally as a result of pit strategy, so getting the best out of the tyres over qualifying and the race will be all important.
I'm tipping a close battle between the top four teams at Valencia, with qualifying all important. Whether or not Sauber, Mercedes and/or Williams can inject themselves into the mix is an interesting storyline that could evolve over the race weekend. Schumacher's form in Monaco could be a guide to an improved qualifying performance from Mercedes.
After seven different winner in seven races, I'm tipping the eighth will see a repeat winner for the first time, and it will either be Hamilton or Webber.
Here's Mark Webber showing us not to drive around Valencia:
and here he shows us how you should do a lap of the circuit:
Valencia is a street circuit, and although the average lap speed is higher than Monaco, has featured a number of mundane, follow the leader, races in the past.
Drivers Championship
Seven winners from seven races is unprecedented in Formula 1 and accordingly there is a battle royale at the top of the rankings. Hamilton's win in Canada, coupled with his consistency so far this season sees him at the top of the rankings with Vettel and Alonso snapping at his heels. Webber's 7th in Canada sees him drop off the pace into 4th position, but more Red Bull friendly tracks coming up on the calendar has him in with some hope for the rest of 2012. The gap between the top 4 is so close that a win by any of them at Valencia will likely see them at the top of the standings after the race. Who will eventually win the driver's championship is anyones guess at this point of the season.
1 Lewis Hamilton 88
2 Fernando Alonso 86
3 Sebastian Vettel 85
4 Mark Webber 79
5 Nico Rosberg 67
6 Kimi Räikkönen 55
7 Romain Grosjean 53
8 Jenson Button 45
9 Sergio Perez 37
10 Pastor Maldonado 29
11 Kamui Kobayashi 21
12 Paul di Resta 21
13 Bruno Senna 15
14 Felipe Massa 11
15 Nico Hulkenberg 7
16 Jean-Eric Vergne 4
17 Daniel Ricciardo 2
18 Michael Schumacher 2
Constructors Championship
It increasingly looks like a McLaren vs Red Bull battle for the Constructor's title. Hamilton's win ensured McLaren closed the gap to Red Bull to 31 points. Grosjean's 2nd pacing in Canda has seen Lotus overtake Ferrari in 3rd place and it looks likely that these two teams will battle it out for 3rd position behind the Red Bull/McLaren battle.
1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 164
2 McLaren-Mercedes 133
3 Lotus-Renault 108
4 Ferrari 97
5 Mercedes 69
6 Sauber-Ferrari 58
7 Williams-Renault 44
8 Force India-Mercedes 28
9 STR-Ferrari 6
Last year
Qualifying
Last year Red Bull dominated qualifying and returned a 1-2 result. THe McLarens and Ferraris battled it out for the next four qualifying spots with Mercedes 7th and 8th.
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:36.975
2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.163
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.380
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.454
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.535
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.645
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:38.231
8 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:38.240
9 Nick Heidfeld Renault no time
10 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes no time
Race
Vettel started well, got a margin and was unchallenged in cruising to an easy victory. Alonso and Webber had a race long battle for second with positions changing once through a pass (Alonso past Webber) and two during pit stops (1st pit stop Webber got past Alonso and 2nd pit stop Alonso back past Webber). Webber ran into engine problems late in the race and Alonso ended up in an easy 2nd postion some 16 seconds in front of Webber. The two McLarens and Massa in the other Ferrari were off the pace during the race, but easily finished in the next three positions.
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:39:36.169
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +10.891
3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault +27.255
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +46.190
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari +51.705
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +1:00.065
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +1:38.090
8 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 Lap
9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 Lap
10 Nick Heidfeld Renault +1 Lap
Tyre choices for Valencia features the medium and soft tyre which is slightly different from last year (medium and supersoft). Whether or not the change in tyres will make the racing more interesting at Valencia is unknown, but I can't see an obvious reason that it should. Most overtaking moves in Valencia are traditionally as a result of pit strategy, so getting the best out of the tyres over qualifying and the race will be all important.
I'm tipping a close battle between the top four teams at Valencia, with qualifying all important. Whether or not Sauber, Mercedes and/or Williams can inject themselves into the mix is an interesting storyline that could evolve over the race weekend. Schumacher's form in Monaco could be a guide to an improved qualifying performance from Mercedes.
After seven different winner in seven races, I'm tipping the eighth will see a repeat winner for the first time, and it will either be Hamilton or Webber.
