The 2009 Formula 1 season has already produced plenty of excitement and surprises. One of the biggest came when seven times Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher was named as Felipe Massa's replacement at Ferrari, while the Brazilian recovers from injury. Schumacher has since pulled out due to a neck injury and the second Ferrari will be driven by veteran test driver Luca Badoer.
2008 European Grand Prix
The Valencia circuit first held a Formula 1 race last year. Despite an interesting looking circuit featuring no less than 25 corners the Grand Prix was rather processional. Massa qualified on pole and won the race. Lewis Hamilton started from second and finished in the same position. It was the same story with Robert Kubica, who qualified third and finished third.
There are several notable features on the Valencia circuit, including a section where the Formula 1 cars race over a swing bridge. In addition, some of the track winds its way around the city's famous docks.
2009 European Grand Prix Statistics and Weather Forecast
Race date: Sunday, August 23rd
Race distance: 57 laps
Circuit length: 3.367 miles (5.419 km)
Lap record: 1 minute, 38.708 seconds (Felipe Massa, 2008 - Ferrari)
2009 European Grand Prix weather forecast: Sunny on all three days.
2009 Valencia Formula 1 Form Guide
Before the last race at the Hungaroring it seemed unlikely that any team apart from Brawn GP or Red Bull would win a race during the 2009 Formula 1 season. In Hungary, however, defending Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton demonstrated that McLaren are once again a force to be reckoned with. The Englishman scored a convincing victory on a weekend overshadowed by Massa's dreadful accident in qualifying.
Red Bull's Mark Webber was the best of the rest in Hungary and now occupies second in the Formula 1 standings, 18.5 points behind Brawn's Jenson Button. Sebastian Vettel suffered a rare Red Bull mechanical failure last time out and slipped to third in the title chase, just ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the other Brawn.
The great unknown in Valencia will be Badoer, competing in Formula 1 for the first time in a decade. It will be fascinating to see if the 38 year old Italian can compete with his younger rivals after such a long time away from Grand Prix racing.
Spanish hero Fernando Alonso will be a notable absentee unless his Renault team successfully appeal the decision to exclude them from the Valencia weekend. The penalty was imposed after Alonso lost a wheel at the Hungaroring which the team allegedly knew had not been fitted correctly. Safety is top of the agenda at the moment following Massa's crash and the recent death of Henry Surtees in a Formula 2 race. In both cases the accidents were caused by parts detaching from other cars.
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