A real street fight

The Formula One championship is tighter, forcing teams to take more risks and that – according to McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton – is why the season has been so unpredictable.

"We're all pushing very hard," said the 23-year-old Briton, before official practice began for the European Grand Prix on the new Valencia city circuit. "It's a closer season than it was last year. Teams are perhaps pushing more to the edge and that's when you see the mistakes.

"This year, there's lots of opportunities to make mistakes and there has been lots of unknowns."

The European GP marks the return of Formula One after a three-week break following the Hungarian Grand Prix, where a shredded tyre reduced Hamilton to a fifth-place finish.

That left him with 62 points in the drivers' championship, five ahead of defending champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari – who was third in Budapest – and eight in front of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Hamilton blamed the tyre on misfortune: "For me it was tyre defect, tyre failure, just one of those things."

"It was a little bit unfortunate, but I don't think they [team engineers] really found the exact cause of it."

Hamilton said he was eager to race on the circuit's newest track.

"They've done a fantastic job in doing the place up. The track looks incredible," said Hamilton, who was runner-up to Raikkonen in 2007, his debut season.

Ferrari, with five victories this season, lead the constructors' standings with 111 points. McLaren, which has also won five, including the past three, has 100 points. BMW Sauber has one victory and 90 points.

Valencia's new circuit is a 5.44-kilometre (3.38-mile) loop, with plenty of room to overtake. The race is the first of two street circuit premieres this season. The second will be in Singapore.

"It's pretty impressive and interesting," Massa said. "It's a different track to what we're used to. There are some corners like in Monaco but there some very different corners and some straights similar to Bahrain.

"I think it [the track] will be very, very dirty and we can see that it is very, very slippery," he added.

Massa said he wants to forget about how his engine problem cost him the Hungarian GP and a chance to lead the overall standings.

"We need to look forward to the next seven races and know that we still have 70 points in front of us," the 27-year-old Brazilian said.

"For sure when you look back it would have been a great moment to win the last race but sometimes this sport is like that," he added, stressing that the team "showed great performance, good speed, good base. I think we showed that we are there."

BMW Sauber's pair, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld, are fourth and fifth, and seeking to end the team's recent slide.

Kubica, who won the Canadian Grand Prix in June but hasn't finished higher than fifth since, has 49 points. Heidfeld, who has been runner-up three times this season, has 41.

Sunday's race will see two-time world champion Fernando Alonso on home territory for a second time this season following the Spanish Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Honda driver Rubens Barrichello was candid about rumors of a possible move by the Spanish driver to his team, which could upset him.

"I think the team is definitely talking to Fernando. That's the question mark," said the Brazilian who lies 12th in the standings with 11 points.