Drivers seek ways to learn Valencia

The BMW Sauber driver hasn't sampled the layout in a computer simulator, but has seen video of the Formula 3 and GT races held on the circuit earlier this month.

He believes simply walking the circuit and working through a plan on paper will put him in the best possible position prior to the first session on track on Thursday.

"We don't have a simulator like other teams do, but we have some on paper so I can see speeds, braking, and gears, things like that so we can look at the profile," he told autosport.com. "I will try and get some footage and I've already seen something on the internet.

"I don't walk all the circuits any more, but on the new ones I will walk and try to do it with a scooter or a car.

"It helps a bit, I think walking the circuit, driving it, and watching the footage is better (than a simulator) as it gives you a rough idea."

Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber will try the circuit in a computer simulator, but doesn't expect it to give him a full picture of what to expect.

"We've got a few things we do, simulators are a way to get your head around the track and then you calibrate all that into what we do," he told autosport.com.

"Computers don't pick up bumps and that sort of stuff, we know where the track's going, but to get an idea of how the car is going to feel, and the grip, I'll just tune into that pretty quickly in two or three laps and we'll go from there."