Valencia: Valencia is not exactly known for producing memorable races since it started hosting the European GP from 2008, but there is no denying the fact that a visit to this beautiful city located on the Mediterranean coast is something that everyone looks forward to. The laid back, informal attitude of the people here combined with the pleasant climate is a refreshing change. It is this aspect that makes Valencia different from Monaco, which too is located on the Mediterranean coast, has pleasant climate and hosts a race on the street circuit. However, compared to Monaco, there is hardly any power, wealth or glamour associated with Valencia.
Though the European GP, one of the city's biggest sporting events of the year, is just a couple of days away, there are hardly any loud billboard campaigns. In fact, those staying in the heart of Valencia (where this writer is) wouldn’t even know that the F1 circus is in town this weekend.
However, there is a scattering of some displays/banners around the city, at the airport and on metro stations announcing this weekend's race. Needless to mention, Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso features in a majority of them. Along with Rafael Nadal, Alberto Contador and the all-conquering Spanish football team, Alonso, who won back-to-back championships in 2005 and 2006 and missed out on winning the title by a whisker in 2007 and 2010, manifests the success of Spain in sports. Valencia has all the ingredients of being a great venue for Formula One. What is needed this year is some excitement on the track. Hopefully, KERS, DRS and Pirelli tyres would do the trick this Sunday.
Sutil under spotlight again
Even before any on-track action started in Valencia, Force India driver Adrian Sutil has come under the spotlight after it was revealed that Eric Lux, co-owner of Lotus Renault GP, had lodged criminal charges against the German driver for causing bodily harm. It may be recalled that following an incident on April 17 in a Shanghai night club, Lux had suffered an injury on his neck.
Though the complaint is bound to put Sutil in a spot of bother, the German driver sounded confident. "I am ready to defend myself. I can concentrate on the race. This is not a problem," he was quoted as saying. The question on everyone's mind is how the team would react to this development. After the incident had come to light, Force India boss Vijay Mallya had remarked that the team would assess the situation if and when Sutil gets charged.
Catching up with 'Red Bull'
Red Bull´s dominance could be judged by the fact that their lead driver Sebastien Vettel has lost just 14 of the maximum available points in the seven races so far. While Vettel´s talent and ability is undoubtable, what has helped the young German stamp his authority is a brilliantly designed car. Red Bull engineers have perfected almost every aerodynamic aspect on the car thereby making it uncatchable on the track. The Red Bull engineering excellence has reached such a level that teams have been trying to come up with ´Red Bull´type solutions to improve their performance. The paddock talk is that Mercedes GP team would be testing a 'Red Bull' type exhaust on Friday. What they would really want is to match 'Red Bull' type results every Sunday.
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