Button looks forward to Valencia challenge

The Honda driver, who has been practicing the European Grand Prix venue on the team's simulator, is looking forward to driving on the Spanish city lay-out for real.

"I think the whole of Formula One is very excited about going to Valencia," he said. "It's a beautiful city and it will be great to be racing around the streets there. 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.

"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. 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."

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello believes that the new circuit will bring an added variable to the weekend and hopes that his vast experience will help him lever an advantage as the teams work to develop set-ups through the weekend.

"A new track always opens up the field and gives an opportunity for the driver to make an impact as our feedback will be very important in achieving the correct set-up," said the Brazilian. "We have prepared well and I am looking forward to the weekend and the potential to score some points.

"We can expect the race weekend to be very hot which will add to the physical challenge for the drivers, car and team. I'm a big fan of Valencia as a city; it's a beautiful location, and hopefully the race will bring a lot of new fans to Formula One."

Team principal Ross Brawn added that he expected Valencia to be a medium to low-downforce track with some fast corners.

"Valencia is going to be a medium to low downforce track with a couple of quick corners which will present a very challenging circuit in an exciting environment," he said.

"One of the key aspects is that it is going to be very windy. The America's Cup is held in Valencia for this very reason however such conditions could make achieving a good balance on the cars quite tricky. The Valencia weekend is going to be a fascinating engineering challenge for the team and we are all looking forward to it."