2012 Formula One European Grand Prix

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Manuel De Samaniego

3X Race Department Rally Champion
The Track
Circuit Name: Valencia Street Circuit
Number of Laps: 57
Circuit Length: 5.419 km
Race Distance: 308.883 km
Lap Record: 1:38.683 - T Glock
(2009)​

Zona-de-uso-DRS-Valencia-Street-Circuit.1.png




Time Table

Fri 22 June 2012
Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30

Sat 23 June 2012
Practice 3 11:00 - 12:00
Qualifying 14:00

Sun 24 June 2012
Race 14:00 Race


Teams & Drivers
Red Bull
Engines: Renault​
1. Sebastian Vettel​
2. Mark Webber​
Mclaren
Engines: Mercedes​
3. Jenson Button​
4. Lewis Hamilton​
Ferrari
Engines: Ferrari​
5. Fernando Alonso​
6. Felipe Massa​
Mercedes
Engines: Mercedes​
7. Michael Schumacher​
8. Nico Rosberg​
Lotus
Engines: Renault​
9. Kimi Raikkonen​
10. Romain Grosjean​
Force India
Engines: Mercedes​
11. Paul di Resta​
12. Nico Hulkenberg​
Sauber
Engines: Ferrari​
14. Kamui Kobayashi​
15. Sergio Perez​
Toro Rosso
Engines: Ferrari​
16. Daniel Ricciardo​
17. Jean-Eric Vergne​
Williams
Engines: Renault​
18. Pastor Maldonado​
19. Bruno Senna​
Caterham
Engines: Renault​
20. Heikki Kovalainen​
21. Vitaly Petrov​
HRT
Engines: Cosworth​
22. Narain Karthikeyan​
23. Pedro de la Rosa​
Marussia
Engines: Cosworth​
24. Timo Glock​
25. Charles Pic​
2012 Standings
2011 Onboard
Fernando Alonso ( Ferrari )​
 
Given the track characteristics as well as expected high temperatures, the pecking order should be as following:

Lotus > Red Bull > Ferrari > Mercedes > McLaren

Lotus has good traction and does exceedingly well at high temperatures. If it is as warm as last year, I expect them to win. Same goes for RB, but not as extremely, so I think they might not be as fast as Lotus. Ferrari is an all-rounder. For Mercedes, it will simply be too hot, but at least the track suits their car. That's not the case for McLaren and considering how badly they were doing at Valencia last year, I expect them to suffer again.

So, my predictions:

1. Grosjean (o.O)
2. Vettel
3. Raikkonen

Pole: Grosjean
Fastest Lap: Raikkonen
First DNF: Schumacher :thumbsdown:


And as far as DRS is concerned: the second zone was useless last year because that straight starts with a fast corner where the dirty air from the car in front makes it impossible for the car behind to get sufficiently close. The first zone was a little bit too short. So I expect them to lengthen that and just remove the second one completely.
 
So, my predictions:

1. Grosjean :)confused:)
2. Vettel
3. Raikkonen

Pole: Grosjean
Fastest Lap: Raikkonen
First DNF: Schumacher :thumbsdown:
.

Ill edit this for you:

1) Raikkonen
2) Alonso
3) Vettel

Pole: A toss up really, my money would be on Vettel or Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Raikkonen
First DNF: Grosjean ---> Even though Schumi is a good bet for a DNF unfortunately, it's highly unlikely he'll be the first. Normally his car messes up mid way through the race.

I don't really know what to think about Valencia anymore. From what I've read in the last couple years this race is extremely boring, however since this track is kind of like Bahrain (hot, heavy breaking) I think we could see a different kind of race from something like Monaco or Montreal.

It's hard to place Red Bull this weekend because while Vettel won the race in Bahrain he didn't really dominate it like he normally does when he wins and in Montreal even though he started on pole he couldn't keep it which is extremely rare for him. They're always a safe bet to do well, but Lotus should be right up there with them.

Something that was said by the commentator on FOX (they actually said something true I couldn't believe it myself) was that Raikkonen always comes up flying in the first half of the race then seems to just be content where he is and not push for a better spot. In Bahrain that was kind of the case, he caught Vettel, tried once for the lead, then seemed content with second place. In Monaco he seemed to start well and then drop off near the end of the race. The tyre wear on the Lotus' seem to be reasonable so I don't know the reasoning for this unless he just gets bored lol.

Mercedes... I don't even want to go through this but here I go: Nico seems to do relatively well in hotter conditions, but the question still stands, will their tyres be able to last and will their cars? I think Nico is a good bet for a underdog winner, but everything will have to fall into place with him. The first being he MUST qualify on the front row. Micheal Schumacher... where to begin. I swear to god the FIA must be paying Mercedes to f**k up his car week after week to get back at him because the fact it's only his car that seems to be breaking raises an eye. I'd really like to see him actually qualify top 5 and not have anything to go wrong so we can see his true potential this year.
 
Ill edit this for you:

1) Raikkonen
2) Alonso
3) Vettel
Yep, whether Grosjean wins or is the first DNF is a 50/50 thing, really. I just went with the former :p He seems to be a better qualifier than Raikkonen, which is fairly important on this track. So i just went with it, even though it's probably not that likely. He always has the capability to exceed the expectations, though. His lap times at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix, were pretty insane, considering that he had done only one stop.

Something that was said by the commentator on FOX (they actually said something true I couldn't believe it myself) was that Raikkonen always comes up flying in the first half of the race then seems to just be content where he is and not push for a better spot. In Bahrain that was kind of the case, he caught Vettel, tried once for the lead, then seemed content with second place. In Monaco he seemed to start well and then drop off near the end of the race. The tyre wear on the Lotus' seem to be reasonable so I don't know the reasoning for this unless he just gets bored lol.
In Spain it was the exact opposite. He was fairly slow during the first half of the race and just couldn't keep up with Alonso and Maldonado, but if it had gone on for 5 more laps, he might very well have won it.
 
True, that's going back a while though so I can't remember exactly, but did he pit for fresh tyres? If so it may have been the same case as Hamilton this week where he was just on very fresh tyres which can get you a couple seconds a lap advantage.
 
Tire Choice for Valencia :
Option - Soft
Prime - Medium
So i guess it could be a 2 stop strategy and single stop could be possible but due to Long straights and Heavy breaking zones i guess it could be Hard for Drivers to do a single stop
What do you think guys
 
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