European Grand Prix Live

The 2011 Formula One Grand Prix of European Grand Prix Live is going to be held this week, and it happens in Valencia, Spain, June 24^th through the 26^th. The first practice will be at 10:00 on Friday, and then the race will actually begin at 14:00 on Sunday, June 26^th. So far we have seen Sebastian Vettel singlehandedly take the series all by himself. He has been able to win five races out of the seven that have been run, with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button barely able to secure their own wins at the China and Canada Grand Prix respectively.

Obviously that leaves very little doubt as to who currently leads the standings. RBR-Renault driver Sebastian Vettel towers over everyone else with 161 points, and Jenson Button and Mark Webber are second and third. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso round out the top five. In the manufacturers, RBR-Renault leads with McLaren Mercedes in second and Ferrari taking third. Watch the 2011 Formula One Championship in Europe from your computer or mobile by signing up at the links on this page.

Posted: 25th June 2010

The Formula One Championship continues with the European Grand Prix, which will be held Friday, June 25^th through Sunday, June 27^th, at the Valencia Street Circuit in Spain. This is about the midway point in the Formula One Championship with Bahrain, Malaysia, Australia, China and Spain, Monoco, Turkey and Canada already covered and much more to come. You can watch the European Grand Prix by getting your membership at the links on this page for access to high quality video right from your computer.

Let's take a look at the 2009 European Grand Prix which was held August 21^st through the 23^rd. Rubens Barichello came in first at this race driving for Brawn-Mercedes, after starting third on the grid. The pole sitter was Robert Kubica but he ended up eighth when the race was over. Second was Lewis Hamilton with McLaren and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in third, after starting in sixth position on the grid. Heikki Kovalainen starting in second on the grid and ended up with fourth place while Williams-Toyota driver Nico Rosberg took fifth.

The track is the Valencia Street Circuit which is 5.419 km, meaning that drivers will have to complete a total of fifty seven laps in order to complete the race for a total distance of 308.883 km. The circuit is made up of 25 turns, some of them quite sharp making this a very challenging track for these drivers. Although the circuit hasn't been doing it very long, the first meeting in 2008 over the weekend of August 23rd and 24^th it will be hosting the European Grand Prix for a total of seven years and in its short history has become a track fans and drivers look forward to.

The Formula One circuit has seen some major changes this year, with Michael Shumacher, after having been retired for three years, returning to the series. Also, Jenson Button, the current Formula One Champion moved to McLaren. Another big change was with the current constructor's champion, Brawn GP, which changed its name to Mercedes GP. The season started off with the first race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was held March 14^th. The winners of the Formula One season so far include Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Jenson Button as well as Lewis Hamilton.

Let's look at the top three in both the driver's and constructor's championships. Lewis Hamilton holds first place with 109 points right now while Jenson Button takes second, only three points away. Mark Webber has the same amount between him and Button with 103 and is in third. In the constructors, McLaren-Mercedes is first with 215 points, and Red Bull Racing Renault is second with 193. Ferrari takes third with 161. If you want to watch the Formula One Championship, then get your membership at the links on this page for high quality video access on the three day racing weekend.

Carlo Salamano won the very first European Grand Prix, driving a Fiat in 1923. It wasn't really the European Grand Prix, it was the Italian Grand Prix. This is because before 1983, the European Grand Prix was an honorary title rather than the actual name for a Formula 1 race. The race began being held regularly since 1999, and last year it was announced that it would take place for at least another seven years. Other races that have held the honorary title of European Grand Prix included the German Grand Prix, Belgian Grand Prix, British Grand Prix, Monaco Grand Prix, French Grand Prix, Dutch Grand Prix and several others.

Before the second world war, there were four other sites besides the Italian Grand Prix to receive the honorary European Grand Prix title. The first was the French Grand Prix, then the Belgium Grand Prix. Spa once again received the honorary title in 1930, and then the war came and stopped the running of the race entirely. This was pre-FIA so the honorary title was bestowed by the AIACR, the organization that predated the FIA. When World War II ended, the FIA decided to bring back this honorary title, and it was once again Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium that received it in 1947. After that the title was bandied around to several different nations, the last being the 1977 British Grand Prix.

In 1983, the title came back once again, but this time assigned to a race in New York that was canceled. Instead, they decided to name the race at Brands Hatch that year the European Grand Prix. This went over extremely well, and the tradition continued the next year, although not at Brands Hatch. They were hosting the British Grand Prix, alternating years with Silverstone, so it went to the Nurburgring circuit in 1984. Brands Hatch again took over the title in 1985, but on the next year – their alternating year with Silverstone once again, the title moved onto the Hungarian Grand Prix.

As the race moved onto more modern times, in 1990 a race held at Domington Park was added to the Formula 1 Calendar, courtesy of Bernie Ecclestone. This race bore the name European Grand Prix. Ayrton Senna won that first race, famous for it being held in wet/dry conditions. That was the only race at Donington Park to date however. The following year, it moved to the Jerez track and then back to Nurburgring. Next year, it went back to Jerez. Finally, after several years at Nurburgring the race ended up at Valencia, Spain, thanks in part to a disagreement over naming rights in 2008, and this year, it will again be hosted in Valencia.

The European Grand Prix has gone through many sponsors since 1983, that first year advertising John Player, a cigarette manufacturer. That only lasted a year, and 1984 saw AvD sponsor the race, one of the oldest and most respected German Car Clubs. For eight years starting in 1985, Shell Oil sponsored the race, and then it moved onto the Sega Company, who at that time was trying to promote their newest game Sonic the Hedgehog. Warsteiner Brewery took over from 1999 to 2001 and sponsorship was once transferred, this time to Allianz, off and on from 2002 to 2007. Vodaphone took over in 2006, and then last year, a Spanish telecommunications company called Telefonica took over sponsorship or the European Grand Prix.

Previous winners of the European Grand Prix over the past ten years have included several drivers from 1999 to 2008 when the race was hosted at Nurburgring including British driver Johnny Herbert for Stewart Ford in 1999, Ferrari star driver Michael Shumacher from Germany in 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2006, Shumacher's teammate and Brazilian Rubens Barichello in 2002, younger brother of Michael, Ralf Shumacher, driving for Williams-BMW in 2003, Fernando Alonso for team McLaren Mercedes in 2005 and 2007 and of course last year's champion, for team Ferrari, Brazilian Felipe Massa.

Last year's race was held on August 24^th at the Valencia Street Circuit and when it started with Felipe Massa on pole position and Lewis Hamtilton right behind him, then Robert Kubica third in qualifying. The race started out with Massa pulling out ahead, while Kubica and Hamilton battled it out, with Lewis just barely managing to hold onto his second place. These top three placings was the way that the race went for a long time, until the first round of pit stops. After that it wasn't so close anymore, because Felipe Massa had gained a huge lead over second placed on the track Lewis Hamilton. Still, the top three positions stayed exactly as they had been in the starting grid, and the race ended up that way with Massa first, Lewis Hamilton second, and Robert Kubica coming in third on the podium.

The Valencia Street Circuit, where the race was hosted last year, will be the course for the European Grand Prix for the next seven years. Last year was the first race held on this circuit, and it is an asphalt track that uses some of the roads around Valencia's port area, including going over a 140 meter long bridge. The circuit is 5.419 kilometers long, and has 25 turns. Besides the European Grand Prix,the Valencia Street Circuit also hosts the Spanish GT Championship, which is part of the FIA GP2 Series. Felipe Massa set the lap record last year with a time of 1:38.7-8 seconds.

If you want to watch the 2009 European Grand Prix then all you need to do is click on the banners on this page and get your membership. Not only will you be able to watch this race live, from the confrort of your PC or laptop, but you will also be able to watch any of the other Formula One or NASCAR races that you choose, in high quality video feeds always live from the track. You'll have the ability to record for later viewing if you choose. The 2009 European Grand Prix takes place Friday, August 21^st through Sunday, August 23^rd from Valencia, Spain. Don't miss the F1 racing action!.