What's FA done that requires investigating?

Something with pit lane entry.

Don't the LIVE threads exist anymore?

-edit-

Awesome track. Reminds me of some Champ Car tracks like Vancouver for example.

F.M. - edit your post to remove that....I have already PM'd the crazy one.....people take notice

Just watched the video that TopGear have on their site, and actually it doesn't look half as bad as I originally thought. The bridge doesn't look particularly spectacular from the driver's point of view, but I bet it'll be cool from overhead to see them flying over it

Track is dull, they put far to many useless curbs all over the place

Montoya would love it.

F.M. -

Interesting to watch as the grip levels increase, and the drivers get more confident, they are starting to creep closer to the walls on the corner exits. Wonder who will take the dubious distinction of being the first to clout a wall?

DC has already hit the wall according to ITV

The images from Valencia remind me so much of ChampCar racing...

Live timing isn't working here.

How are the times????

Top 6

Räikkönen 1:39.6
Massa +0.3
Kova +0.8
Kubica +0.8
Rosberg +0.9
Hamilton +1.0

Chers, hadnt seen that.

KR ON A 1:39.679
FM + .297
LH + .455
HK + .836
RK +.863
NR + .928

Are the Red Bull's really slow or are they on a completely diff. fuel load?

Why so far back?

And The Force India cars quicker than the Renaults?????? WTF

Ferrari about .2 or .3 a lap quicker than McLaren. It's their weekend to lose.

It's ok...panic mode off

Personally I wouldnt read anything into the times so far.

I wouldn't say so. Maybe quicker than Kovalainen but Hamilton is just behind Massa & Raikkonen.

No Problem, do i win £5?

Fraid not. You submitted your entry after the closing date.

I like the track very much, especially the part from the bridge back to start/finish. These long and winding straights, together with some fast combinations very close to the wall.

I just don't get it: In Malaysia and other early Tilkes everybody complained that the walls were too far, now there are folks that complain because they are too close and block the view of the city? Come on...

I am just a bit concerned we might see the Big One here... Krosnoff passed my mind several times while watching FP2....

But he does still get charged for his call...

I didn't like the track at first but keep an eye on the cars in S3. That part of the track is amazing, high speed all the way through and then a difficult last corner.

Good FP sessions for Ferrari and Kimi seems to have found a good setup.

However, we shouldn't get carried away, McLaren can always surprise us and we should just concentrate on ourselves. Hopefully, the race should be entertaining and I wouldn't mind a SC mixing things up as long as Ferrari gran a 1-2.

I have been very impressed with Glock also, one to look out for.

How convenient.

If you put a concrete wall around Bahrain, it would be Valencia basically.

Obviously you don't have eyes or are tainted with something.

No, it would be a sandpit.

All the concrete blocks and chicken wire make it look like a poor Indycar circuit...and the nice container port terminal next door is real class.

The circuit is excellently located.

I was there on holiday last week and it's a very lively area, with lots of hotels, eat/drink venues and an especially great nightlife....just on a stones throw distance from the track.

You can't say this for most tracks, which are in the middle of nowhere.

This will be my next GP to visit.

Are Honda running a 3 litre engine this week? That sort of improvement can't be down to a light fuel load.

I think the more damning thing to McLaren was that Kimi's hard tyres had done 5 or 6 laps. He had a couple of practise laps that would have taken the shine off them so its worrying pace.

hhhhhhhheeeeessss bacccccckkkkkk

Well who gives a f*ck, when visiting a GP the race is what matters not the hotels, nightlife etc..

Spa is a boring town and so is Nürburg, but both tracks have produced very decent races lately.
I really don't get those who are looking for interesting surroundings when visiting a F1 race.

I think you are getting too excited about the times so far. It's a new track with next to no rubber laid down. There is a lot more speed to come yet.

- In terms of downforce many teams drove with similar levels used in Montreal. Rampf: "But at the beginning we had to drive with a bit more downforce because of the dirt. But it could be that we will come closer to our (expected) basic set-up when the track offers more grip."

For qualifying BMW Sauber has calculated an optimal laptime of 1:38.000.

- Red Bull introduced a lot of new parts, which according to Coulthard all didn't work. It took valuable tracktime when the team decided to revert the car back to its previous set-up. RBR was nowhere today compared to sister team STR, the difference in engine power would once again be one of the main reasons for this.

depends if you plan to stay there for a few days extra really...

i hoped they would paint the concrete walls/blocks different colours for different sectors or something, bare concrete will look awful in a years time...

For them? I bet the pole is going to be quite a bit faster than that.

btw I'm amazed how many people here don't like the track, I wasnt sure with crappy on-boards we got before today, but the chopper shots and pretty much everything I saw today looked way cool.. totally new and fresh

Not all F1 fans are freaks. After a days practice on friday it's nice to walk to your hotel, have a nice dinner or nice club in the evening, instead of being directed to a train like cattle (my Barcelona experience).

BTW, the drivers are positive about the track, so who gives a f*ck about armchair experts.

Obviously Maximus didn't spend a GP weekend in Montreal. 45mins on foot/subway and you go from your seat in the granstands to having a pint in a very lively downtown Montreal

its new for f1, but reminds me so much of old champ car street tracks, and i watched them off dodgy VHS...

Dont think about champ car, think CART in mid '90s... thats more cool than the vast majority of F1 races in past 15 years hehe..

I do. A race weekend is a festive weekend, and while the morning and afternoon are occupied by the race, the evenings and weekends are occupied by company and entertainment. It's only normal...

I agree, although it's been a while, apart from Monaco, when I felt perhaps a car was gonna crash into a wall, and for some reason, I just find this track more dangerous then others, it's a what if a crash happened there vibe to it.





Well it depends if someone likes other things in life to complement their f1 enjoyment, usually going to a gp abroad is bascially a holiday for me, and the gp is a bonus. Montreal Canada is a great party place, I stayed up into the early hours of the morning, got up to watch the gp sessions, went home, refreshed, went out into the night, great fun, the whole package holiday+gp. But to each to their own.

Spa's been a snoozeathon in the last few years. Valencia is certainly a circuit which I might be interested in visiting, the main appeal being that I can stay in a hotel nearby so there is no hassle with traffic. And if you're going to fork out a lot of money to visit a GP I can't see the point of a hair shirt.

Each to his own I suppose but superficiality isn't a becoming streak in anyone.

Nürburg is an historically (not only WW2) important place in European history. I'd love to go there, not only because of the F1 race but also because I'm sure it would give me an cultural and historian experience. Same goes for Valencia.

But by all means, if comfort hotels and cheap booze is all you care about I'm sure there are places which can fulfill your needs too. :\

I'm definitely adding the Valencia GP weekend on my to-do list.

Having a cool city and nightlife apart from the race makes the trip much more complete.. but then again I very much want to go watch Le Mans too, which is a completely different experience.. like Spa you sort of have to rely on booze there, 'cause the girls grow tired of that kind of stuff after a couple of hours..