Grand Prix 2010 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Well 60 years after it all began we are back at Silverstone for the 2010 British GP. This time last year most of us were contemplating how 80,000 people were going to use a park and ride scheme to reach Donington. This year the modified Silverstone circuit sees the addition of the Arena section which adds another 4 seconds per lap and in the sticky mitts of the BRDC, a 17 year contract to host the race.

Can anyone see past the RBRs and McLaren in a fight to the end for victory in this race. Will the RBRs magic "any weight" ride height suspension see them top the podium or will the sheer grunt of the Merc' engine shine through on this high speed circuit?

Merc' and Ferrari need to bounce back from a disappointing couple of races because the front two are starting to edge away. The race marks the mid-point of the season and at the moment it looks like a two horse race for the remainder of the season unless Ferrari can find something (6 10ths anyone?) and Ross Brawn manages to find that old magic.

Williams and Sauber were the surprise packages in Valencia and can they carry that on through to GB. Barrichello loves Silverstone so don't be surprised to see at least one Williams car in the points.

Lotus were talking of bringing another major upgrade to the car for this race so can they finally close the gap to the midfield pack. Expect further progress from HRT and Virgin now that they seem to have found some reliability and Virgin have a fuel tank capable of making it to the end of the race.

All in all we are in for a fascinating weekend.

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Who do you consider was "blocking" or holding others back?

 

[RickD]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

These hold-backers should be black flagged.

Thought it was a superb race..

 

[Sakari]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

These hold-backers should be black flagged.

Thought it was a superb race..

+1 4 the superb race

 

[siffert_fan]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Great race, but I missed one thing: why did Kubica drop out?

 

[fat jez]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Great race, but I missed one thing: why did Kubica drop out?

Problems with the diff, from memory.

 

[teabagyokel]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

To be honest, I cannot complain about the race.

And good moderating, jez!

 

[siffert_fan]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Thanks for the info, Jez.


Too bad, because I thought RK might pull off an upset victory today.

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Well I don't know where to start with that race.

So I'll let someone else

 

[BlackCountryBob]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

That race, very impressed, I think the new section is a good move and I really love that Brooklands is now a real corner.

I don't want to sound ike a broken record but I am hugely impressed with LH not just today but in the last few races, off the top of my head I reckon he has picked up 86 out of a possible 100 points in the last 4 races with 2 wins and 2 second places which is very impressive championship winning form.

Also, must sing the praises of the fans, it is such a great spectacle to see a track lined with fans especially compared to empty tracks like Turkey and Abu Dhabi. Germany in two weeks will also be the same, these core European races are where people love racing, not the glamour of the name of F1.

 

[McZiderRed]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

A good race.
McLaren will be pleased to finish 2nd and 4th, considering where Jenson started. I'm glad for Webber - he looked particularly pleased, on the podium!

Alonso appears to be falling foul of the marshalling decisions of late. He probably should have just given the place back to Kubica, straight away. He would have avoided all the angst, then! I wouldn't mind so much, if he wasn't part of my Fantasy F1 team...

 

[cosicave]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I guess it's easier to enjoy a race like that if you are impartial. Fortunately for me, the result is that I've enjoyed every race this season, bar Bahrain.

I thought Silverstone put on a superb show. From what I saw on the monitors and with my own bare eyes, and from the pure spectacle point of view; it was a very good race. Something to be celebrated in this country.

Well done Damon Hill and all the rest here at Silverstone!

 

[P1]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I thought it was an excellent race.

1) Really good to see Webber get his revenge.
2) Vettel managed to take himself out of play yet again. I believe drivers create their own luck and he creates a lot of problems for himself.
3) Hamilton was very impressive given the relative strength of his car. Truly a masterful drive. He definitely placed the McLaren higher than it should have finished.
4) Alonso seems to be loosing the plot a little. If he had just given back the spot he would have probably picked up third.
5) Button really needs to do better in qualifying. He is very fast but needs to start further up.
6) Schumacher is rung out of excuses.
7) Kobayashi, Sutil and Kubica were all top notch.

 

[Brogan]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I'd probably agree with all of those points Batman.

Some great results for the midfield and lower teams too.

 

[cosicave]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Yep. I'll second that Batman. Good overall assessment.

 

[higgins87]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Spot on Batman!

 

[JamesHunt]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

It's weird.....I was such a Vettel fan....but when Webber got that great start and beat him to the first corner I jumped off the couch and cheered.

Somehow I have lost my appreciation of Vettel, and I am not sure its his fault......I think I blame Horner.

 

[cosicave]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

It's weird.....I was such a Vettel fan....but when Webber got that great start and beat him to the first corner I jumped off the couch and cheered.
Somehow I have lost my appreciation of Vettel, and I am not sure its his fault......I think I blame Horner.

Sometimes the truth hurts. What's unusual is that you have not only seen it, but something in the back of your mind has kicked in and you have acknowledged it.

- Most seem to lack the courage to say these things.

 

[TK421W]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I managed to catch some of the race live, but was stuck at work. Got home, and to my infinite annoyance, turns out i hadnt set my dvdr to record correctly! anyway, watched and recorded the highlights. very happy for Webber, think hes been treated pretty badly recently by Red Bull, hopefully this result - together with all the adverse publicitiy - will at least make things a bit better for him. Honestly, i think hes on a downward spiral though, cant see RedBull changing their "hidden" policy seeing as theyve touted Vettel as the second coming for quite some time now.

Well chuffed with Lewis, outperformed the car i felt and really wasnt expecting the MMs to finish as well as they did.

What is going on with Alonso and Ferrari??!!! I can only assume he kept his mouth shut this time as i strongly suspect the FIA gave Ferrari a kickin after valencia.

Overall, the best the dry race in briton for some time, im just annoyed that my sisters wedding is on the weekend of the German GP.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

A good race.
Alonso appears to be falling foul of the marshalling decisions of late. He probably should have just given the place back to Kubica, straight away. He would have avoided all the angst, then! I wouldn't mind so much, if he wasn't part of my Fantasy F1 team...

Alonso absolutely should've given the place back! I've not seen it mentioned, but to me this incident looked not dissimilar to Hamilton/Raikkonen Spa 2008 where Hamilton made a rather optimistic move to overtake at the chicane, got ahead by a tiny margin (though probably a bigger margin than that which Alonso was ahead of Kubica by), and then forced to go off-track to avoid an inevitable coming-together. Except the major difference is that Hamilton actually gave back the place and re-overtook. So in hindsight it really reinforces just how harsh a decision that was in Spa.

 

[TK421W]

Re: 2010 British GP Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Rufus: whilst i totally agree that the spa decision was incredibly harsh, i have to say i dont think Alonso deserved a drive through. Kubica really didnt give him enough room. I think Alonso shouldve given the place back, but once Kubica was out, i think the most that should have happened was a post race penalty where he dropped only one place. A drive through i think was harsh.