European Grand Prix, Valencia: Preview and weekend times

Having archived the Canadian Grand Prix with an incredible victory for Lewis Hamilton, the Formula 1 circus returns to the old continent for the European Grand Prix which will be held on the city circuit of Valencia, in the port area.

The Canadian Grand Prix offered the seventh different winner in seven Grands Prix. Never in the history of Formula 1, at this point in the world championship, had any driver managed to reconfirm himself. The season is very chaotic and betting on one driver or another is a difficult task. Hamilton won the Canadian race at the end of a very hard-fought and uncertain race. A few laps from the end, when the tactics of the first three (Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel) seemed to be oriented towards a single stop, the Englishman stopped in the pits and thus found himself third, about ten seconds behind Alonso and Vettel.

Taking advantage of the deterioration of the tires of the two in front, Lewis was the protagonist of a good comeback which led him to catch up and then overtake the standard bearers of Red Bull and Ferrari. Final mockery for Ferrari who stuck on the one-stop strategy with Alonso and slipped from a possible victory to a modest fifth place.

McLaren therefore joins Red Bull with two seasonal victories. During the week some German newspapers reported the news that a possible key to Hamilton's success in Canada lies in a new system developed by the Woking team to heat the tires by controlling the flow of heat towards the tyres. McLaren mechanics are able to adjust the rear braking system in the pits with a screwdriver - the system is located close to the cockpit. The adjustment affects the rear braking system, and the heat produced during braking is used to heat the tires.

Canada also offered two surprises: thanks to the wrong strategies of Alonso and Vettel, the French/Swiss Grosjean and the Mexican Perez placed themselves on the second and third step of the podium. Sauber, given the excellent form of the young Mexican, does not hide the fact that it is aiming for even better performances.

Formula 1 arriving in Valencia is, once again, intent on discussing cost reduction. A real obsession now which risks, in the name of perhaps necessary savings, distorting the sport even further. The last to make his voice heard on the matter was the president of Ferrari Montezemolo who invited the Federation to do more to contain expenses, perhaps limiting the number of engines from eight this year to five in 2014 and four in 2015.

The European Grand Prix takes place on the Valencia Street Circuit, a city circuit built in the port area of ​​the city during the modernization works carried out for the America's Cup of sailing in 2007. The track, despite being a city one, is not comparable to the Monte Carlo circuit, as there are escape routes at critical points, although not like in a permanent circuit. This circuit is not at all loved by enthusiasts, and in fact all the races held up to now have been characterized by a lot of boredom.

It should be added that the promoters of the event are not at all in excellent waters from a financial point of view and the rumors are becoming increasingly insistent about an alternation between the two Spanish tracks of Barcelona and Valencia to host the Grand Spanish Prize, thus dividing the costs and effectively canceling the European Grand Prix also in view of the circus's arrival on new shores: next year it will take place in New Jersey, in 2014 probably in Russia and perhaps also elsewhere.

“European Grand Prix” was the title that was conferred by the Federation, year after year, to one of the most prestigious Grands Prix of the Old Continent, such as France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, England, Monaco and others. In this capacity, it was the 1923 Italian GP that received the title of European Grand Prix for the first time, while it was the 1977 British GP that was the last to boast this honour.

The title of European GP returned in 1983, this time in a completely "independent" capacity with respect to the nation that was actually hosting the race. It was, essentially, an expedient to allow some countries to host two championship matches.

In 1983 it took place on the English Brands Hatch circuit, as well as two years later, 1985, an edition which marked Nigel Mansell's first victory in F1 and at the same time the conquest of the first world title by Alain Prost, the first French driver to succeed in the undertaking. After three consecutive editions (in '84 it was raced on the new Nurburgring, which thus made its return to the world championship scene), there was no more talk of a European GP until 1993, the year in which Grand Prix single-seaters returned to the English circuit of Donington after 55 years, and the "titans" Nuvolari and Rosemeyer found a worthy successor in Ayrton Senna, who under the downpour achieved what for many is perhaps his best victory.

In '94 and '97 the GP was held on the Andalusian track of Jerez: the second occasion is remembered for the famous and infamous contact between Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher, which saw the German succumb amid controversy while the Canadian managed to win the world title. However, Schumacher remains the most victorious driver in this competition since it became autonomous (1983), with six victories between 1994 and 2006: a memorable one in 1995, when the German (on Benetton), opting for a 3-stop strategy , with two laps to go he resolved in his favor a fantastic duel with Ferrari driver Alesi who had instead planned only one stop but who had managed to gain the lead of the GP for a long time by keeping the slick tires in the pouring rain. Again at the 'Ring, the following year, Schumacher failed to prevent Jacques Villeneuve's first F1 victory.

In '98 the race was not held, while in 1999 the German circuit (which hosted the GP for years) saw the only victory of the team founded by Jackie Stewart, with Johnny Herbert (in his third and last victory) in an edition pyrotechnics that are often remembered for the mess in the Ferrari garage with the "missing" tire at the Irvine stop. Since 2008 the race has migrated to the new city track of Valencia, and the first edition saw the victory of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, while the following year Barrichello triumphed on the Brawn (the Brazilian had already won the European GP in 2002 with the Ferrari).

Among the active drivers, we also remember the success of Fernando Alonso in 2005, again on the Nurburgring, when the Spaniard in his Renault prevailed on the last lap against Raikkonen, victim of a spectacular and dangerous suspension failure in the final stages, due to vibrations of a flat and non-replaceable tire due to the ban on changing tires that was in force in that season.

Massa and Alonso, now team mates at Ferrari, were the protagonists of a famous polemic in the 2007 edition (then at the Nurburgring): the Brazilian slightly hit the Spaniard's McLaren when the Spaniard overtook him in the final laps, Fernando didn't like it, and shortly before the award ceremony the cameras immortalized the lively argument between the two on worldwide vision, who among other things used the Italian language to "clarify themselves".

We therefore arrive in Valencia without any certainty, but only full of doubts and perplexities. As exciting and uncertain as this world championship is, the chaos that characterizes every Grand Prix is ​​not welcomed by everyone. The impression one gets is that the level of uncertainty is not due to the same technical level of different teams who are the same from race to race, but only to the Pirelli tires which behave in a completely unpredictable way, declining in performance from one lap to another and behaving differently from one car to another. It is certainly no coincidence that McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe said that so far the team has only managed to understand the Pirelli tires 30%.

The last two editions of this Grand Prix have been the hunting ground of the reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, who many predict as the favorite for the trio, with the Red Bull which should adapt well to the characteristics of the Valencian track, but the 2012 World Championship teaches us to be careful with forecasts…

Domenico Della Valle – Francesco Ferrandino

INFO
Circuit length: 5,419 km
Laps to go: 57
Total distance: 308,883km
Number of curves: 25
Direction of travel: clockwise
Pirelli compounds: soft/medium
Throttle opening: 59% of mileage

RECORD
Test lap: 1:36.975 – S Vettel – Red Bull Renault – 2011
Race lap: 1:38.683 – T Glock – Toyota – 2009
Distance: 1h35:32.339 – F Massa – Ferrari – 2008
Driver victories: 6 – M Schumacher
Team victories: 6 – Ferrari
Driver pole: 3 – M Schumacher
Pole team: 6 – Williams
Km in the driver's lead: 1.304 – M Schumacher
Team lead km: 2.163 – Ferrari
Best driver laps: 6 – M Schumacher
Best team laps: 7 – Ferrari
Driver podiums: 8 – M Schumacher
Team podiums: 17 – Ferrari
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Hall of Fame

01. 1983 N Piquet – Brabham BMW
02. ​​1984 A Prost – McLaren TAG
03. 1985 N Mansell – Williams Honda
04. 1993 At Senna – McLaren Ford
05. 1994 M Schumacher – Benetton Ford
06. 1995 M Schumacher – Benetton Renault
07. 1996 J Villeneuve – Williams Renault
08. ​​1997 M Hakkinen – McLaren Mercedes
09. 1999 J Herbert – Stewart Ford
10. 2000 M Schumacher – Ferrari
11. 2001 M Schumacher – Ferrari
12. 2002 R Barrichello – Ferrari
13. 2003 R Schumacher – Williams BMW
14. 2004 M Schumacher – Ferrari
15. 2005 F Alonso – Renault
16. 2006 M Schumacher – Ferrari
17. 2007 F Alonso – McLaren Mercedes
18. 2008 F Massa – Ferrari
19. 2009 R Barrichello – Brawn Mercedes
20. 2010 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
21. 2011 S Vettel – Red Bull Renault
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European Grand Prix times

Friday 22 June
10:00-11:30 Free Practice 1
14:00-15:30 Free Practice 2

Saturday June 23
11:00-12:00 Free Practice 3
14pm-00pm Qualifying – Rai Due/Rai HD

Sunday 5 June
14pm Race – Rai Uno/Rai HD