What we learned from Valencia
The return of Michael Schumacher, the end of a long winter, huge crowds and instant reporting made Valencia arguably the best F1 test ever. Jonathan Noble analyses events in Spain
They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but there was more than just a three-month break from the sound of screaming V8 engines that made this week's Formula 1 test at Valencia in Spain such a special event.
It had been a long time since the F1 paddock had been together like this - having left the 2009 season behind in Abu Dhabi that Sunday night in November unaware of what an amazing winter we were going to have.
Share Or Save This Story
Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
More from Jonathan Noble
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China
Russell: Mercedes locked in F1 "battle of fine margins"
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
The story behind Shanghai's "painted" F1 track surprise
Williams may as well “go home” if spares situation changes its F1 approach, says Albon
Aston Martin ‘not convinced’ Alonso would definitely want to stay in F1
What Aston Martin’s curfew burn told us about its F1 upgrade trajectory
Latest news
Alpine gets F1 spare car for first time in 2024 as lighter chassis appears in China
F1 Chinese GP: Stroll leads FP1 as small fire causes early red flag
Live: F1 Chinese GP updates – FP1 & Sprint qualifying
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
Autosport Plus
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.