Seven eventful stages have passed since the 2011 season began and Formula 1 has arrived at Valencia for the usual European Grand Prix, once held on the historic Nurburgring track in Germany. The street circuit constructed inside the 'Juan Carlos 1st' harbour of the city was inaugurated three years ago in 2008 and, during this period, three differently-motorized team have won the race. A Mercedes-Benz-powered Brawn GP single-seater driven by former champion Jenson Button was led to victory in the sensational 2009 season. Nowadays, the current MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team is paving its way to consolidating a firm foundation ahead of Sunday's race through delivering a substantial set-up and components evaluation work and a consistent, promising pace. The two practice rounds scheduled for Friday got underway pretty well, as both drivers focused on doing race preparation and trying out several tyre configurations. The end of the day showed everyone there are some aspects that need to be improved in order to achieve the desired performance. After FP1, Nico was ranked 9th and Michael 11th, while after FP2 was over, the standings looked even better, as Michael came home 4th and Nico 8th.
Check out more track shots captured at Valencia on Friday after the break!
* Official photos courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *
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