For those new fans who became enthralled by the Canadian Grand Prix a little under two weeks ago, I must warn you that this weekend's European Grand Prix may highlight the other end of the spectrum. The street circuit in the port city of Valencia, placed onto the calendar in 2008 following the rise of Fernando Alonso, has not really delivered and as is rarely anything other than a processional affair. An emotional Rubens Barrichello victory and enormous Mark Webber shunt apart, Valencia has highlighted F1s main weaknesses in recent years, predominantly the inability of cars to overtake.
Practice in Spain has followed a fairly familiar pattern. Sebastian Vettel finished FP3 half a second clear of Alonso, with Felipe Massa's sister Ferrari in third. Vettel hasn't qualified or finished outside of the top two all season but his last lap error in Montreal denied him a win and at last he showed there is a chink in his armour. Vettel is clearly not immune to the pressures of being one of the best drivers in the sport, but you cannot help but feel that despite losing the battle in Canada he will surely win the war.
A man with plenty of battles on his hands right now is his team mate Webber. After seven races last year, he had 93 points and led the championship. In 2011, however, he has 94 points and that is only good for third in the standings. More worryingly for the Australian he has a 67 point deficit to Vettel and I cannot see him eating into that anytime soon. Webber has found it difficult following the switch to the Pirelli tyres and has been hit with continual KERS dramas. He has got to start beating Vettel more regularly in qualifying having taken just a solitary pole in Spain. Canada proved Vettel can crack and with Christian Horner happy to allow his drivers to race Webber knows he must overhaul his world champion team mate if he is going to shorten Vettel's seemingly impregnable lead.
Although still way off the pace of the Red Bull, Ferrari's recent performances will have encouraged those back at Maranello. Massa, in particular, drove beautifully in Canada and in the initial, treacherous conditions looked the faster Ferrari. He may have finished only sixth following a spin on slick tyres, but he does finally look like the driver prior to Hungary 2009.
Alonso meanwhile will be desperate for a good result in front of adoring home fans. It is his second home race of the season and it is certainly not a Grand Prix which has been kind to him. He retired early in 2008 after colliding with Kazuki Nakajima's Williams and in 2009 was a lowly sixth. And last year, Alonso was caught out by the deployment of the safety car which ruined his afternoon, especially as his rival Lewis Hamilton still managed second.
In spite of Massa's improvement, Alonso remains Ferrari's best bet for victory. He declared Ferrari's 2011 a bad year and thoughts must now surely be turning to 2012 and beyond. Alonso recently signed a contract until 2016 and is clearly settled with the Prancing Horse and will acknowledge that you cannot be competitive every year. Nevertheless, it is a barren spell for Alonso who has not won since Korea. He will be Red Bull's main threat come race day.
At Mclaren, there must surely be mixed emotions right now. Jenson Button's sensational victory in Canada was fully deserved but Martin Whitmarsh will probably feel they could have secured a one-two. Button's win will lessen the impact of his shunt with Hamilton; had they both retired one would have to expect the similar levels of fireworks we saw at Red Bull last year. Nevertheless, it shows the maturity of the two drivers that they were able to put it behind them.
Knowing they could, and perhaps should, have won the past three races Mclaren will be desperate for a trouble-free weekend if they are going to reel in Vettel. Hamilton has shown superb consistency in Valencia and has finished second in every race here while Button finished third in 2010 and will be keen to improve on that. Hamilton, after an incident packed couple of races, will want to remain out of the spotlight but if he wants to challenge for victory then that thought becomes unthinkable. He was only sixth in this morning's practice session while Button was two places ahead in fourth. Could this weekend define Mclaren's season?
With a third of the season gone it appears Vettel and Red Bull may soon be out of sight. The Valencia circuit is supposedly not on their favourites yet they crushed the opposition here in 2010 and on long runs look irresistible. In spite of their dominance, we may see a more exciting Grand Prix in Spain than in previous years and although regarded as an artificial form of racing, DRS may actually aid proceedings this weekend. Will it be enough to halt the charging bulls in Spain's industrial heartland?
Josh.
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