Jenson Button is "very excited" at the prospect of racing on the new Valencia street circuit next weekend.
Brit looking forward to European GP
Jenson Button is "very excited" at the prospect of racing on the new Valencia street circuit next weekend, the Honda driver reckoning the track will be "in the middle" of F1's roster in terms of speed.
Friday practice at the European Grand Prix will be the first time F1's 20 drivers will have sampled the 3.380-mile circuit. However, Button reckons Honda's simulator should give him a fairly accurate feel.
"My first thoughts are that it's a circuit that we haven't raced at before and it's got barriers all around it! I think the whole of Formula One is very excited about going to Valencia," the Briton said.
"We have a simulator at our UK base, as do most teams, and spending a lot of time on that has been vital in terms of learning the circuit.
"With a simulator, you're not getting the complete feeling of the car but you are gaining understanding of the distances and the braking points, so it's very useful."
As for the track's speed, Button reckons it should fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.
"We have some very fast circuits like Monza, Spa and Silverstone on the calendar and then the slower circuits like Monaco and Hungary, and we're expecting Valencia to be somewhere in the middle," he added.
"It's also got the added excitement of being surrounded by barriers which really focuses your mind and demands that you give full concentration around every single lap."
