Well Valencia has been and gone and the general consensus is that the race was perhaps the most boring of the season. We all knew that a boring race was looming - especially after the drama of Canada - and Valencia was the most likely candidate, given that a few years back we saw just one overtake in the race. Yes, people were hoping that a double DRS activation zone, KERS and the treacherous Pirelli tyres would spice things up, however we had no such luck.
Watching the race was fine for me - I still enjoyed it, despite that there was little change at the front of the grid. Well, maybe I enjoyed it because there was little change at the front; don't forget that I'm a die-hard Vettel/Red Bull girl! However I do feel for new fans that the race wouldn't give the best impression. It also made me wonder how long Valencia would be hosting the European race. I seem to recall that Europe moved around different circuits each year. The first race at the Nurburgring that I saw was the European Grand Prix for example. The past few years though the European race has been at Valencia, in effect giving us two Spanish Grand Prix races. Good for Alonso fans, not so good if you like variety.
Overall, I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, despite the boring race. For F1 fans, any race is alright. Yes, it is annoying to have non-eventful races, but rather that than no race at all. Valencia did have some merit to it though: for the first time in F1 history 24 cars have finished a race, which is an achievement for the sport in terms of reliability. Also, Vettel made the record books being the only man to finish in the top two for the first eight races of the season and completing over 1,000 laps in the lead of the race. So, well done to him and to the teams!
One man who wasn't so happy at Valencia was the usual suspect: Lewis Hamilton. He's been all over the media lately, first being quoted as giving up in the championship, then being quoted as a fighter. It's kind of irritating for fans, as nobody really knows what his actual position is and what he's being told to say by PR people. It's more than likely the media twisting words, as is usual - Lewis isn't the only one being represented by contradictory statements this year. Fernando Alonso was first quoted as saying that Ferrari are having a bad year, then in the next breath he rattled off a list of races which Ferrari should be proud of. Generally, I try and avoid the media hype and take each race as it comes. Look at what happened with Schumacher; every media spokesperson out there said that Schumi was too old to race and that he should retire. After Canada, he's back on form! Whatever happens, hopefully the rest of the year will be a bit better than Valencia, and we'll get back to the exciting form of F1.
