Valencia, dull? 2012 begs to differ. Race winner, Fernando Alonso started from eleventh while nobody from the front two rows left with points in a topsy-turvy race that revolved around a mid-race safety car period and a series of retirements at the sharp end of the running order. The safety car was a big factor in the strategies too…

Who says qualifying at Valencia can’t be interesting? We might have anticipated a close qualifying session given that FP2 had seen 15 drivers setting times within one second of the leader, but Mark Webber’s surprise exit from the first session had not seemed likely.

Formula One, the America’s Cup and the construction of the City of Arts and Sciences by architect Santiago Calatrava, have made Valencia a city in transition. Massive construction and transformation over the last 10 years have turned a once little-considered port into one of the most fashionable destinations on the Mediterranean…

This weekend sees the fifth and final European Grand Prix to be held at the Circuito Urbano Valencia before it alternates with Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya as host of the Spanish Grand Prix. The circuit has been roundly criticised since joining the calendar in 2008 but the unpredictability of this season should offset the negatives. It may not live up to the hype of an eighth winner but we’ll still be spoilt with a choice of seven potential second-time winners…

After Mark Webber set the pace in the morning session on a track that was still dusty and covered with debris, the times tumbled in the second session. Fernando Alonso quickest of the day, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher – just four tenths of a second separating the four teams…

The name ’street circuit’ conjures up images of a ‘tight’, ‘twisty’, ’slow’ circuit with ‘minimal overtaking’. However, whilst the Valencia Street Circuit partially rewrites the book on three of those counts, it’s produced little overtaking since the track appeared on the calendar. Valencia Street Circuit winds around a harbour and across a dynamic-looking swing bridge…