The Valencia Street Circuit shares many similarities with the Bahrain International Circuit. The two tracks are exactly the same length (to two decimal places); they have similarly long straights and the track temperatures are expected to be similar to those in the desert this weekend as well.
However, Valencia has more corners than any other track on the calendar (25) and, like Montreal two weeks ago, it’s part street circuit and part permanent racetrack. It’s also unusually wide, being a minimum of 14 metres across, and it has a lot more run-off than other street tracks, as you’d expect of place that sees cars reach speeds in excess of 300kph.
The track hugs the city’s America’s Cup port, so it’s very flat and it features a swing bridge, which is lifted each evening to let yachts in and out of the marina. Drivers have to be careful not to get excess wheelspin passing over the join in the road.
Pirelli are bringing their soft and medium compound tyres to the race. The last time that combination was used was – yep, you guessed it – in Bahrain.
The statistics
Laps: 57
Lap length: 5.419km
Race distance: 308.883km
Start time: 1400 (local)
Full throttle: 63%
DRS: 60% of qualifying lap
Downforce level: medium
Gearchanges per lap: 64
Average lap speed: 200km/h
Top speed: 315 km/h
Tyre compounds: soft / medium
Overtaking places: Turns 2, 12 and 17
Average ambient temperature: 31 degrees
Lap record: Timo Glock, 1:38.683s (197.687km/h) in 2009
Mark Webber’s best result in Valencia: 3rd
Sebastian Vettel’s best result in Valencia: 1st
Daniel Ricciardo best result: N/A
Jean-Eric Vergne’s best result: N/A
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