Missing a Trick
There’s been much consternation on this site and elsewhere around the web, relating to the various merits of the latest addition to the Formula 1 calendar. A couple of criticisms levelled at the Valencian street circuit is that it featured way to much concrete, didn’t produce particularly close racing and was nothing but a let down after all the pre-race hype built around the event.
However, it wasn’t until I read today’s race round-up from Axis of Oversteer that I realised where Bernie and the organisers had gone wrong.
Back when McLaren were after a sensational launch platform for their 2007 challenger, they chose the city of Valencia as the place to do it, and specifically the area known as Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències. With it’s stunning architecture and liquid landscapes the region provided a unique backdrop for the launch. Toyota also found a use for the area when they ran their cars around the white concrete streets earlier this year.
Sadly, when Bernie decided he wanted a race in the very same city, he chose the dockyard.
It just doesn’t have the same appeal does it?
I understand the reasoning behind such a decision, not least that it may not even be possible to run a race around the City of Arts and Sciences, but I can’t help feeling an opportunity was missed somewhere between the conception of this project and its realisation.
A 25 turn race track, situated on the coast of the Mediterranean should have been enough to make for a fantastic weekend of racing. Instead we got a view reminiscent of shipyards on the Tyne and a 100 minute procession that felt like the Hungarian GP we were expecting three weeks ago.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:47 amJoe said:
It might be a bit better next year. No more silly flaps and them crappy bits on the cars and the track will be fully finished. I’m clutching at straws perhaps. For me though that was the worst race of the year. Marginally worse than Hungary.
A question for both Me and Christine. Do you ever watch old races on youtube or otherwise? I think Christine would enjoy some pre-2001 GPs.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:52 amme said:
i think i’d agree, although i thought catalunya was the previous worst.
nope. only because youtube isn’t a great way to watch video’s when there’s more than one of you. i think you’re right though, we’ll have to see if we can dig out some decent quality races and watch them on tv.
good idea
August 25th, 2008 at 1:00 amJoe said:
You could always get them from youtube and stick them on a blank cd/dvd and then watch them on the telly. The quality wouldn’t be great but I doubt you’d get full races from seasons such as 97 in great quality anyway.
Watching Australia 97 now, Damon retired on the parade lap and was very helpful with the marshalls which is nice to see. You never see a driver do that now, they just walk away. Even though that isn’t their job, it’s still good to see a driver being a good fella like that. You could say Damon was the last “gentleman racer”.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:06 amJordan Allen said:
You are watching the wrong race Joe. Hill won in in Melbourne ‘97. I have been cursing the name of Damon Hill ever since for truely histroic reasons.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:10 amme said:
we were watching glock at silverstone in fp2, and he pushed his car along with the marshals. it was up hill and took them about 6 minutes, but he helped all the way.
you’re right though, it is very much the exception.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:12 amJoe said:
Hhmm? Murray even said at the start how JV nearly won there in the previous year.
*checks wiki*
DC won. I believe you, Jordan, are on about the wrong race : P
August 25th, 2008 at 1:13 amlou said:
Yeah it was for me too. In my opinion we have only had 2 bad races (Catalunya and now Valencia) which is pretty good considering we have had 11 races so far. It has been an amazing season for results and today just didn’t live up to the season or the expectation everyone had on it.
Some races have a higher quality option which isn’t bad, I mean they play in pretty good quality on my ipod.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:19 amlou said:
Massa helped the marshals in Canada during Free Practice, but that was more out of concern for the car i think than to be helpful. As you say the drivers usually just walk away, certainly during a race they seem to have disappeared in a number of seconds.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:25 amJoe said:
What would be an interesting idea I think, would be if on Sidepodcast we watched an old race in full, with live commenting on it and everything. Preferrably one which no one remembers too well I spose. We could do it during the dark winter months of the dreaded off-season.
Australia 97 is an awesome race from what I’ve seen so far, guys dropping like flies. Lou, I recommend you watch it sometime.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:28 amJoe said:
It also has one of the daftest retirements I’ve ever seen, from none other than Fisi. Nice comment from Martin:
“Dare I say, they should’ve had a more experienced driver in the car”
Lmao.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:29 amme said:
that’s a very good point lou…
if we can find a hq video, then that sounds like a fine idea. you guys are gonna have to remind us. we have a lotta balls in the air right now
August 25th, 2008 at 1:30 amJoe said:
HQ?
August 25th, 2008 at 1:32 amlou said:
Ah cool, thanks, will give me something to do tomorrow
August 25th, 2008 at 1:37 amme said:
sorry, high quality. as lou mentioned in the previous comment.
youtube has two modes (on some videos) - unwatchable and bearable
August 25th, 2008 at 1:39 amSteven Roy said:
When you see what Valencia has to offer you would have thought that the least they could do was build a Tilkedrone with the good backdrop instead of a container port. You know you are in trouble when the most interesting feature is a very utilitarian bridge.
I have watched three free practise sessions and a race and I doubt I could recognise more than four corners on the track. The idea that you can squeeze 25 corners into a track in this day and age is ridiculous. The A1 Ring was never anyone’s idea of a magnificent circuit but because it only had a few corners it produced great races year after year.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:43 amJoe said:
Wow, the pitlane speed limit was 75 mph in 97, I don’t know when it was changed to 50. I tend not to agree with the FIA and their rule changes, but they done the right thing there, the cars look quite fast in the pits.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:48 amJordan Allen said:
God my brain is still asleep from the snoozefest that was todays so-called race. How could I compare Melbourne ‘96 to ‘97, All well, what did you except from a ‘97 Arrows?
But surely the prize for the daftest retirement goes to Alesi when you just knew that Benetton was going to run out of fuel at some point. The “Pit In” sign kinda gave it away…
.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:50 amlou said:
That would be a great off season activity
I will try and remind you during the off season 
could be another good use for drop.io 
August 25th, 2008 at 1:51 amme said:
genius! thank you.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:52 amme said:
hadn’t thought of that.
when i first saw the 25 corner layout, i thought “excellent, plenty of low speed corners”. who knew the track would cover half of spain?
August 25th, 2008 at 1:54 amlou said:
hehe. you have enough space for loads and loads and loads of hq videos now too
August 25th, 2008 at 1:56 amSteven Roy said:
Go back a decade and there was no pit lane speed limit. The cars came in and left at full speed.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:01 amJordan Allen said:
Heck, Senna managed to set the fastest lap at DP by going through the pit lane, at the European grand prix. He did not get any servicing, so was able to take the shortest distance around the track at full speed!
August 25th, 2008 at 2:03 amSteven Roy said:
I had forgotten about that.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:06 amme said:
what? that’s news to me. you have any background on that?
August 25th, 2008 at 2:17 amJordan Allen said:
@Me:
look under 1993 European Grand Prix under wikipedia. In the notes section at the bottom.
“Fastest lap: Ayrton Senna - 1:18.029 on lap 57. That lap time was achieved when Senna drove into the pitlane but aborted the pit-stop returning to the track course, showing that there actually was a “shortcut” through the pitlane. This is due to the grand prix configuration of Donington, which has the pit entry before the final hairpin corner onto the start/finish straight. This is possibly the only Fastest Lap in modern F1 history set by driving through the pitlane. Pitlane speed-limits were introduced a year later.”
August 25th, 2008 at 2:18 amJoe said:
Jordan, I see the retirement you meant, XD. The “Pit In” signs they had on the pit-wall lap after lap, they were shaking their fists at him and everything. The body language of the mechanics when Jean retired, a mixture of disappointment and resignation, XD. That is hilarious.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:21 amSteven Roy said:
The last corner at Donington is a tight left hander(Goddards?) with the pit entry before the corner. So it is a shorter distance to the finishing line via the pit lane than by following the circuit. Since there was no pit lane speed limit the shorter distance and the tight final corner meant he did the fastest lap of the race through the pits. Bear in mind this was a wet, dry, wet, dry race with more weather changes than you can imagine. Prost made seven tyre stops because of weather but Senna only made four and that effectively decided the race. Senna happened to pit on one of the drier laps so got the fastest lap as a result.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:25 amme said:
cheers guys. i never knew that.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:30 amJordan Allen said:
Well, I hope that redeems myself for the mess up of the Melbourne ‘97 incident…..
Although if you could post the link of to where you view Alesi’s antics, I am sure Christine will have a good laugh as well.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:13 amJoe said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc6DRGwLjgs&feature=related
From 8:02 to the end of the video. Even Martin laughed.
August 25th, 2008 at 3:39 amJordan Allen said:
Thanks for the link Joe and I think we may have found the next subject for Sidepodcast’s next mini-series.
“Funniest Grand Prix Incidents Ever.”
Must be on-track, but does not have to result in a DNF. One of the best ones is when Mansell had a certain victory and he was waving to the fans in the hairpin at Montreal. And then stalls the car to lose the win…..
August 25th, 2008 at 3:52 amme said:
sounds good. another for the list then
August 25th, 2008 at 4:07 amJordan Allen said:
darn. Forgot about the Hungarian ‘95 Taki Inoue vs. Fire Marshall’s Car mismatch…. I guess if it should not count as a “Track incident” it should get an Honourable mention…..
August 25th, 2008 at 7:35 amScott in Italy said:
I’d love some segments like this for a mini series - I hope you can find some quotes from what the drivers said afterwards. i wasn’t at the Australian race in 97 to watch the fuel running out, but I remember it well. Funny stuff. thanks for the link.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:24 amStuart C said:
Morning all.
Apols for lack of input yesterday – I had to take Mrs C shopping so I watched the race time-delayed on Sky+.
You’d probably get a stroppy cease & desist notice from FOM if you do, although I notice they’ve been less heavy with YouTube in recent months. FOM own the copyright to all F1 video footage from the 1981 season onwards.
Pre-81 stuff is alright.
Absolutely nuts. I’m surprised more people weren’t injured, especially when the pits were narrower (although in 1980 or thereabouts, a mechanic died after falling in front of Carlos Reutemann’s car).
August 25th, 2008 at 10:36 amMattw said:
So without ever going to, or seeing the ‘ City of Arts and Sciences’ you have decided that it would have made a better location for thr race?
I’m sure Bernie would have jumped for that if there was any possibility.
The race was certially boring, but sometimes that just happens - it is far to early to write off the track yet.
As far as the track goes, it looked like a good one. Nice layout, and it nice to see a longer layout that actually goes somewhere rather then endless infield loops. All it needs is some paint and sponser signes to hide some of the concrete.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:38 amMattw said:
Back in ‘97 Fisi was young driver, and Martin has just lost his seat at Jordan to a guy called…. Fisi…
August 25th, 2008 at 10:40 amMattw said:
You should have seen the old pitlane at Le Mans. Very narrow, crouded with people, and the cars would blast through there trusting that everyone would jump out of the way.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:17 pmme said:
nope, after looking at the arse end of a dockyard for three days, i’ve decided that CAS would’ve been prettier.
it has a bridge that they need to weld shut
August 25th, 2008 at 1:32 pmAlex Andronov said:
To be honest I think it was just disappointing in comparison to what we were expecting.
It actually had a lot more stuff going on in the background than Bahrain or many other circuits.
And the bridge might well be utilitarian but it is something different and instantly recognisable.
If we hadn’t been looking at those other pictures it would have seemed interesting in comparison to your regular Tilkedromes. In fact I think it did seem more interesting to me.
August 25th, 2008 at 1:59 pmSteven Roy said:
Apart from the corners next to the bridge an the pit building I couldn’t identify another corner on that track from a camera shot after watching at least six hours of video. It is not going to get better next year.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pmDan Brunell said:
Sorry, long one…
Ant brought up a good point on the Checkered Flag Podcast; the track is way too sanitized. One of the things that make Monaco and even Canada so wonderful is not only the scenery and atmosphere, but also lack of run off area and frankly the danger of it. You make a mistake in Monaco, you’re in the wall. If you make a mistake in Canada, it will cost you the race by being in the wall or sand/gravel.
How many drivers during the weekend ran wide onto the concrete run off? How far off the track were most of the stands? It just created a dull and sanitized atmosphere. Do we really need acres of useless concrete when we have things like SAFER barriers and sand/gravel traps that can do the job just as well?
This all leads to my biggest criticism of Herman Tilke and his Tilkedromes. They try too hard, are too sanitized, too artificial, and lack any soul. Tilke tries to create a false sense of character to all of them and fails. Like the architecturally innovative but dominating main stands at the ugly stadium tracks of Malaysia and China, the circular control tower and the track in Bahrain that takes away from the natural beauty of the desert, and even the harbor bridges and faux harbor scenery at Valencia. They all feel like they are some person’s model train builds that are not organic to the area.
You know what makes places like Silverstone, Spa, Imola, Indy, Monza, the Nurburgring, Brands Hatch, Laguna Seca, Monaco and other amazing places for races work. It not the architecture, it not the scenery, it not the track itself, it’s not the grandstands, it’s not even the racing: It’s the organic sprit of the place. It the wooden grandstands going into La Source at Spa. It’s the overpass to old banked oval at Monza, it’s the yard of bricks at the brickyard, its dented barriers at every turn at the Nurburgring, it’s the fans hanging off their balconies in Monaco, and it’s even the dusty wooden open stands that I sit at when I go to regional races in Seattle and Portland. It’s the sprit that seems to speak to you privately every time you go to watch a race at those places. It’s a cradle of comfort and intimacy that races fans share a track. It’s something that faux “character” buildings of Valencia or any other of the Tilke circuits try to achieve with architecture and computer design tracks, but have never, ever achieved.
The closest thing I can think of it is the difference between digital and film photography. Look at the same black and white photo done on a digital printer and done in a darkroom. The difference is remarkable. The sliver gelatin print just gives off an air that a digital printer, even a professional one, cannot ever achieve.
Yet, It’s not just history, interesting features or the infrastructure, or even the looks; it’s the way a track interacts with its’ environment in a way that creates a certain magic in the air. In a way, to me at least the new tracks represent everything that wrong with the modern Bernie led F1 era: an artificial spirit with no real soul or connection to anything else.
August 25th, 2008 at 10:51 pmme said:
that’s as good a summary as i ever heard. agreed.
that’s true to an extent. in fairness turn 8 in turkey wouldn’t or couldn’t exist anywhere else. but aside from the odd “win”, the man hasn’t exactly captured anything special in his designs.
i suspect malaysia will be gone soon and others will follow of a similar ilk. but what can the guy do? you can’t invent any of the things you’ve pointed out, they have to grow organically, and with new countries interested in hosting gp’s the only option is to create new isn’t it.
it could be worse, they could try importing old tracks brick by brick!
August 26th, 2008 at 4:38 amDan Brunell said:
I agree about Turkey. It is the track that just seems right and probably the best track he has put together. You what the secret of that track is? The architecture doesn’t superceed the track (unlike all other Tilkedrome) and the track itself actually has character. The track is a wonderful flowing pattern that is unlike anything on the calender. I just wish he took the same approach to more of his work.
August 26th, 2008 at 5:00 amJordan Allen said:
I remeber that I could find F1 books that would trash the old Hockenheimring as bland, boring and souless. Then Herman Tilke first started modifing places like Silverstone, and slowly the Hock status grew until it became on of the better tracks in F1.
Then the Hock became a bland, souless, boring Tilkodrome…..
August 26th, 2008 at 11:39 amSteven Roy said:
Everyone did constantly complain about Hockenheim being boring to drive and boring to watch but at least it was unique. Now it is just another glorified Tilke go kart track. If only John Hugenholz had been 40 years younger.
While Tilke designs bore after bore. Hugenholz did Zandvoort which was a magnificent track which gave magnificent racing year after year and featured the fabulous but improbably named Tarzan corner. He followed that up by designing Suzuka. Either of those tracks has more to offer than all the Tilkedrones put together.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:34 amF1Wolf said:
well, I was there in Valencia, and I definitelly did not feel like I am in dockyard …
August 27th, 2008 at 10:31 amme said:
good to hear f1wolf. we were following your diary entries throughout the weekend.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:01 amF1Wolf said:
… there should be more tracks with beach and bars and cafes within 5 mins walking distance
the diary was not what I expected them to be, the internet connection let me down big way …
August 27th, 2008 at 11:12 amAlex Andronov said:
Absolutely agreed!
August 27th, 2008 at 11:33 amme said:
i highly recommend taking a 3g modem. hotels in europe don’t understand the internet. they’ll learn, but it’ll take years.
August 27th, 2008 at 11:48 amF1Wolf said:
lesson learned
August 28th, 2008 at 7:14 amReflections on Valencia - My European GP experience | F1 Wolf said:
[...] Some people think that the reace should have taken place somewhere around the Ciutat de les Arts i l… - a new modern part of Valencia near the harbour rather than in the dockyard. Well, perhpas it would provide better backdrop if those parts still under construction could be somehow be avoided. But the race track was build a bit closer to the sea, near that dockyard. Yes, once you sit there you can’t miss the sights of cranes and containers. But the views from grandstands also offer this: [...]