Valencia will set a new standard for F1 - Whitmarsh
The Formula 1 circus re-groups after its three-week summer break to visit the first all-new venue on the 2008 calendar - the impressive and demanding 25-corner street circuit in the Spanish port city of Valencia.
What particular difficulties does a track like Valencia present to the team?
"In terms of car set-up, we need to remember that, like Monaco, the track will be both green and dusty on the opening day of practice. That sometimes tempts you into playing with set-up more than you would like, so you need to resist that temptation and let the track come to the car. Our simulations suggest we’ll employ a downforce level similar to that of Hockenheim, but the individual demands of the track may push that window up or down. Finally, anybody who’s studied any onboard footage of the circuit will be mindful of the proximity of the concrete barriers in certain areas - clearly, we’ll be packing plenty of spares, but hoping we won’t need to use them!"
How does the team prepare for visiting a track for the first time?"The most important thing is to be thorough, methodical and iterative. Although we arrive at a new racetrack having undertaken a huge amount of research and armed with an enormous amount of data, the reality is that it’s really only the starting point for our engineering team. We begin Friday practice the way we would at any other circuit, but in this instance, we need to pay particular attention both to driver feedback and the data generated from the car. The important thing is not to react too hastily - it’s vital that you don’t end up going down the wrong path, because you only have a limited amount of time to tune the set-up before qualifying."
How important is this race for the sport?"Clearly, Spain has become a tremendously important market for Formula 1 over the past five years - and the addition of a second Spanish race to the calendar rightly reflects the sport’s success and popularity in the market. We launched the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes partnership here in 2007 and the city was a stunning backdrop to the event.
"Everything we’ve seen about the city and the organisation of this event leads me to believe it will be a fantastic success and set a new standard for Formula 1. More importantly, it marks a return to city racing - something we will also witness in Singapore and next year in Abu Dhabi - and that’s something that really engages the people and fans far more than at a purpose-built circuit out of town. This is an important time for the growth of the sport and everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes will be hoping the weekend is a fantastic success - both for the team itself and the sport as a whole."
