Martin Whitmarsh believes the old phrase 'discretion is the better part of valour' will serve McLaren well this weekend.
Valencia's newly-designed street circuit, with the Mediterranean and harbour serving as a dramatic backdrop, makes its Formula One debut on Sunday in the guise of the European Grand Prix.
As no F1 driver or car has yet to snake its way around the 5.440km track, the temptation would be to go all guns blazing in practice on Friday and rack up as many laps as quickly as possible.
But McLaren chief executive Whitmarsh said: "In terms of car set-up, we need to remember that, like Monaco, the track will be green and dusty on the opening day of practice.
"That sometimes tempts you into playing with set-up more than you would like, so you need to resist that temptation and let the track come to the car.
"The most important thing is to be thorough, methodical and iterative.
"Although we arrive at a new race track having undertaken a huge amount of research and armed with an enormous amount of data, the reality is it's really only the starting point for our engineering team.
"We begin practice the way we would at any other circuit, but in this instance, we need to pay particular attention both to driver feedback and the data generated from the car.
"The important thing is not to react too hastily - it's vital you don't end up going down the wrong path, because you only have a limited amount of time to tune the set-up before qualifying."
But as a street track, there are also inherent dangers - as singled out by Whitmarsh, who added: "Anybody who's studied onboard footage of the circuit will be mindful of the proximity of the concrete barriers in certain areas.
"Clearly, we'll be packing plenty of spares - but hoping we won't need to use them!"
After a three-week break, there is a feeling Valencia is a perfect way to rekindle the season - with much anticipation surrounding the title race, currently led by Lewis Hamilton.
"Spain has become a tremendously important market for Formula One over the past five years," remarked Whitmarsh.
"The addition of a second Spanish race rightly reflects the sport's success and popularity in the market.
"Everything we've seen about the city and the organisation of this event leads me to believe it will be a fantastic success and set a new standard for Formula One.
"More importantly, it marks a return to city racing, something we will also witness in Singapore and next year in Abu Dhabi.
"That's something that really engages the people and fans far more than at a purpose-built circuit out of town.
"This is an important time for the growth of the sport and everybody at McLaren will be hoping the weekend is a fantastic success - both for the team itself and the sport as a whole."
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