I have slept through plenty of races. Having originally come from New Zealand and the time zone that entails, I have had plenty of 2am race starts that have lead to terminal open eye malfunction. Unfortunately I was not able to sleep through the European Grand Prix and instead spent 2 hours of my life watching Formula 1 cars following each other around a track which is as exciting as any other industrial port where it is staged. What made it worse was that I was introducing Formula 1 racing to a friend of mine who had never seen a race on tv before. I spent the race explaining Pirelli tyre wear rates and pit stop timing to optimise track postion. Late in the race I got to point out high the high degradation rate lead to a very dirty track off the line. But that's as exciting as it got. Luckily he said he liked it enough to come back for another shot at the British Grand Prix in a couple of weeks.
I can't work out why it is that the Valencian Grand Prix is always so boring. It is hard to pass, but it is hard to pass at Monaco and I love the Monaco Grand Prix. I think the main problem comes down to the fact that the track has no soul. It is a street race which gives you no indication that it is in a great city. Monaco on the other hand holds a car race amongst scenery that shows off the wealth and good taste of the city. Melbourne holds a race in a park that suggest the laid back, fun kind of place it is, Montreal is fast paced with some nasty walls and plenty of fun. What has Valencia got? Judging by its race track it has concrete and warehouses. And tracks are generally not made up of straights seperated by corners but corners seperated by straights. When you think of Spa you think of Eau Rouge, when you think of Silverstone you think of copse and maggots and chapel, Montreal has the chicane into the wall of champions, Turkey has turn 7, Monaco has Tabac and Ste Devote. What has Valencia got? I still can't recognise a single corner or tell one apart from another.
Some of the problem with the European Grand Prix may have been down to Pirelli's tyre choice. But the fact remains that Valencia has never held a remotely interesting race whether Bridgestone or Pirelli were bringing the rubber. The problem lies with the track. And I say the sooner we can scrap tracks like Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Valencia for their lack of soul the better.
I can't work out why it is that the Valencian Grand Prix is always so boring. It is hard to pass, but it is hard to pass at Monaco and I love the Monaco Grand Prix. I think the main problem comes down to the fact that the track has no soul. It is a street race which gives you no indication that it is in a great city. Monaco on the other hand holds a car race amongst scenery that shows off the wealth and good taste of the city. Melbourne holds a race in a park that suggest the laid back, fun kind of place it is, Montreal is fast paced with some nasty walls and plenty of fun. What has Valencia got? Judging by its race track it has concrete and warehouses. And tracks are generally not made up of straights seperated by corners but corners seperated by straights. When you think of Spa you think of Eau Rouge, when you think of Silverstone you think of copse and maggots and chapel, Montreal has the chicane into the wall of champions, Turkey has turn 7, Monaco has Tabac and Ste Devote. What has Valencia got? I still can't recognise a single corner or tell one apart from another.
Some of the problem with the European Grand Prix may have been down to Pirelli's tyre choice. But the fact remains that Valencia has never held a remotely interesting race whether Bridgestone or Pirelli were bringing the rubber. The problem lies with the track. And I say the sooner we can scrap tracks like Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Valencia for their lack of soul the better.
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