
The Valencia Street Circuit (, ) was a
street circuit
A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...
in
Valencia, Spain
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
which hosted the
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
European Grand Prix for five years (2008–2012). The first
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
race meeting on the circuit was held over the 23–24 August 2008 weekend,
with
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
winning the main event, the European Grand Prix, after starting from
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
. The circuit used the roads skirting the city's harbour and
America's Cup
The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...
port area
– including a section over a swing bridge
– and also included some roads designed exclusively for racing purposes by the German architect
Hermann Tilke
Hermann Tilke (born 31 December 1954) is a German engineer, racing driver and circuit designer, who has designed numerous Formula One motor racing circuits. His son is architect Carsten Tilke.
Racing
During the 1980s, Tilke competed in touring ...
, who also designed the infrastructure buildings for the circuit. The 2012 edition took place on 24 June and was the last to go under the name of the
European Grand Prix until 2016, when the
Baku City Circuit
The Baku City Circuit () is a motor racing street circuit located in Baku, Azerbaijan constructed near Baku Boulevard. A lap of the circuit is , making it the fourth-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar (after Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ...
used the title for one year. The circuit has been left abandoned after a deal fell through to alternate this venue with
Catalunya in Barcelona to host the Spanish Grand Prix.
History

The deal to host the Valencia race was signed on 1 June 2007, and was for seven years. The deal was made between Formula One supremo
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate, motorsport executive and former racing driver. Widely known in journalism as the "F1 Supremo", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the c ...
and the Valmor Sport group, led by former motorcycle racer
Jorge "Aspar" Martínez and
Villarreal CF
Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...
's president
Fernando Roig. The deal came about despite Ecclestone previously stating that no European country should hold more than one race each year, as there was already a
Spanish Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix (, ) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating its centenary in 2013. The race had modest beginnings ...
at the
Circuit de Catalunya
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...
.
Initially, the deal was rumoured to be conditional on the
People's Party winning regional elections on 27 May 2007. On 16 May, Ecclestone clarified his comments, explaining "I said I wouldn't formalise a contract until after the elections because I didn't know who I would be signing it with" and claiming his earlier statements had been taken out of context. Ecclestone was later cleared of influencing the election by the Valencian Electoral Commission.
The official track layout was unveiled by Valencia Councillor and transport counselor, Mario Flores, on 19 July 2007. The track was first used in the last weekend of July 2008, as the circuit hosted a round of the
Spanish F3 Championship and
International GT Open. It was first used for the European Grand Prix on 24 August 2008.
Layout
The track was long and incorporated a total of 25 turns – 11 left-handers and 14 right-handers.
It was estimated that the track had a top speed of around ,
with a lap record of 1:38.683, set by
Timo Glock during the
2009 European Grand Prix. Valencia was not as tight as
Circuit de Monaco
Circuit de Monaco is a street circuit laid out on the city streets of Monte Carlo and La Condamine around the harbour of the Principality of Monaco. It is commonly, and even officially, referred to as "Monte Carlo" because it is largely inside ...
but overtaking opportunities were still scarce, due to the straights not being straight and the dust away from the racing line.
Nico Hülkenberg
Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German racing driver who competes in Formula One for Sauber. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Hülkenberg won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2015 with Por ...
noted there was quite a lot of space for a street circuit, and some corners had a lot of run-off area;
Robert Kubica
Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. Kubica competed in Formula One between and , and the World Rally Championship ...
suggested that good traction and braking stability were crucial to win at the circuit, due to the number of long straights that ended in heavy braking zones.
The circuit was criticised by drivers for its lack of overtaking opportunities. Changes in Formula One in 2011, including the introduction of the
Drag Reduction System and the switch to Pirelli tyres, partially improved that with 27 passes recorded in that year's race, 22 of which were accredited to the assistance of DRS. However, the five 'normal' overtakes still represented the year's second lowest total, although the adoption of two DRS zones for that year's race limited the potential for non-DRS assisted passes. Despite this,
the 2012 race was shown to have many different overtakes and became one of the most thrilling races of the season. It also had four retirements compared to zero during the 2011 race.
A lap in a Formula One car
The pit straight is short and immediately leads into the flat-out turn 1 before cars heavily brake down to for the right-left complex of turns 2 and 3, passing the
Grau Metro station. A curved 'straight' leads into a left-right chicane: turns 4 and 5, by the Neptune Hotel. Drivers exit the chicane by running very close to the wall, before sweeping through the kinks of turns 6 and 7, then braking heavily for the following
swing bridge section. One of the slowest corners on the track, turn 8, with an apex speed of around , leads drivers over the bridge before immediately braking again into the equally slow turn 10.
Good traction is important out of here as the following section is a DRS zone with a top speed along the kinked 'straight' of around , with a heavy braking zone for the turn 12/13 chicane; a 2nd-gear, right-left complex. Turn 14 is a medium speed right-hander before another, shorter DRS zone that leads through two left-hand kinks before the turn 17 hairpin at
Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe. Right-handed and a good spot for overtaking, turn 17 is taken at about . A series of flat-out, or near flat-out sweeping curves follow, with the right-handers of turns 19 and 20 the most challenging of the bunch. Turn 25 is a hairpin, taken at about ; the run to the line following this left-hander is fairly short but requires good traction and acceleration for the best lap time.
Lap records
The fastest official race lap records at the Valencia Street Circuit are listed as:
See also
*
List of Formula One circuits
*
Circuit de Valencia – another motor racing circuit in Valencia used for
MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix.
References
External links
Official sites
The F1 Valencia Street Circuit Official Site
Non-official sites
The F1 Valencia Street Circuit Non-oficial Guide Site(in Spanish only)
BBC's circuit guideValencia Street Circuit on Google Maps
{{Navboxes
, list1 =
{{Formula One circuits
{{GP2 Series circuits
{{GP3 Series circuits
{{International GT Open circuits
{{Euroformula Open circuits
{{Porsche Supercup circuits
{{Culture of Valencian Community
Formula One circuits
Motorsport venues in the Valencian Community
Sports venues in the Valencian Community
Sports venues in Valencia
Tourist attractions in Valencia
Racing circuits designed by Hermann Tilke
Defunct motorsport venues in Spain