Grand Prix 2011 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

In a case of after the lord Mayor's show, we are back to square one after Valencia served up another placid race with the same result - A Sebastian Vettel victory. Some people reckon that the championship will be decided at Silverstone as if Red Bull still win despite the EBD ban, that is the championship over and done with for this season, and it's hard to argue with that considering Vettel has only dropped 14 points so far this season after 6 wins and 2 second places, not even Schumacher in his 2002/2004 pomp started a season like that.

So we go to a circuit where 3 drivers hold as their home grand prix, lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Paul Di Resta, but the Mclaren pair go into their home race in low spirits after their update package failed to get them closer to Red Bull on a circuit where Red Bull were supposedly weaker at than other tracks, a feeling that has been reflected across the paddock with Alonso admitting that the championship was virtually over and it would be more productive to focus on 2012 and 2013.

Silverstone has recieved a massive redevelopment as part of the 17 year contract it recieved when Donnington couldn't come up with the goods to stage a British Grand Prix and the new addition this year is the pit lane complex which looks stunning and has really elevated Silverstone into the 21st century as one of the elite grand prix facilities, (and certainly one to show off to the other countries when they come here ;) )

With the rule changes this could be the most unpredictable race of the season however, as we saw in Valencia, if anyone can adapt to rule changes, it's Red Bull, Adrian Newey has often been able to pull a rabbit out of a hat when the chips are down so don't be surprised to see Vettel take his seventh win of what has been a remarkable season for the young German who has swept all before him and is now walking towards his second World Championships and joining the select few who have won back to back Championships.

It's been a curious couple of weeks for Ferrari, off the pace and then suddenly back on it in Valencia and once again (like Turkey) they are the second fastest team again when the car is in the hands of Alonso (although Massa didn't exactly have a bad race himself)

Further down the grid at Toro Rosso, Alguesari has proven a point to his critics after a points finish at his home race and his second points finish in a row, and if he wants to keep his race seat there, he needs more of where that came from as Ricciardo is no slouch and will want the second seat at Toro Rosso next year. Even Sutil in the Force India shrugged off his critics to beat his team mate to claim a handful of points to relieve the pressure on his shoulders, albiet for only a short while.

For Galahads superb circuit write up see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/silverstone-circuit/
 
by the way. Vettel chewed his tyres up and burned them out such that he was trying so hard to get past Hamilton. When he came in his tyres were shredded. This was not the result of conservative driving. It was the result of an aggressive push. One which was ultimately fruitless. As I said before, he wasn't up to it wheel to wheel against his rival who was in a slower car.

He made exactly the right choice to come in and get some clean air so that he wouldn't have to race with anybody to get past, but I'm sure he would much rather have pulled off a pass.

I know you probably think I am knocking Vettel for my own devices but I am just pointing out a chink in his armour which is becoming more and more evident. He is as fast as any man out there (blisteringly fast) until you take him out of a sprint and put him in a race.

I am not presuming this from pretending to know what he was thinking. I am concluding this from long-term observation of his actions.

Now i have to disagree with you there. Sure, Vettel didn't pass Hamilton, but how slow was that Mclaren compared with the RB? Surely Mclaren still has one of the highest top speeds in f1 and i bet the partly wet track didn't help overtaking either. All in all, Silverstone isn't the best track for overtaking.

Just to point out that this year Hamilton crashed everyone of the road in a faster car when he tried to overtake.

If i had to rate Alonso,Hamilton and Vettel. Than i would have to put Vettel on top very closely followed by Lewis and Alonso.
But that's just my humble oprinion.:)
 
"disgusting by Red Bull"

We have seen countless of times, especially when team orders where "illegal" that cars near the end of the last few laps would back off each other because they have been told to,, not only that Webber disobeyed the order, unlike Vettel did in Turkey 2009 when they were both fighting for 2nd and 3rd back then, Vettel was angry, yet he obeyed the team. It's happened nearly every other team also...Australia this year, di Resta was told to let Sutil through, even though di Resta was faster, what about that?

"Sebastian can't overtake".

In the DRS zone how slow was the Red Bull compared to the McLaren top speed wise? We know the Red Bull isn't the fastest in the straights, one of it's disadvantages, I am not backing Vettel up here, but can you really say "he can't overtake" when his car is clearly not as fast on the straights? We saw it last year when he tried to pass Adrain Sutil when he overtook others, the Force India was had much better straight line speed that Vettel could do nothing.

His best chance came, but he got a much better exit out of Luffield compared to Hamilton, not much he could do he had to back otherwise he would have hit the back of the McLaren, but then if that happened he would probably be labelled as the "Crash Kid" again...

Wish there was more rain in this race, Ferrari once again screw up Massa's strategy, if I was him I would certainly would be fuming, he probably would have double the points if his pitstops where better as they are always shocking.

Need to mention Perez aswell, doesn't seem to much about him, mature drive from him. Also, Schumacher aswell, clumsy move, yet he made up quite a great deficiet to actually finish in the points great drive from him.

Williams once again falter after a good qualifying...

And a big big shame for Paul di Resta
 
Ferrari once again screw up Massa's strategy, if I was him I would certainly would be fuming, he probably would have double the points if his pitstops where better as they are always shocking.

Totally agree. Massa has been extremely unlucky throughout his time in f1, especially this year. He seems to have had more slow pit stops than any other driver, and in most races, after being in such a great position to challenge for points, either he mistkes a mistake or something else goes wrong for him.

I was also very impressed with Perez, I think that he is the best rookie since Lewis Hamilton, and could go on to do great things.

A special mention to Daniel Ricciardo, finishing on his debut with no major incident, and stayed out of trouble, especially in the challenging conditions considering it was his debut.

I think the BBC F1 forum was brilliant also, and it's good to see Murray back again. :D
Didn't he do some commentary for 5live????
 
Nah. The Red Bull and the Ferrari were quicker today.

The only point of the race where Lewis was quicker was when the car disparency was neutralised by the conditions and it was all down to the driver. As soon as it dried up, it became all about the car again.

Sorry I missed this but again this is not my point. If Vettel in the quicker Redbull could not pass Hamilton then I doubt Webber could've either. I believe had Hamilton not been asked to save fuel he would've kept third place, especially when you factor in the 12seconds he finished behind Webber despite going into fuel saving mode from lap 44.
 
Sorry I missed this but again this is not my point. If Vettel in the quicker Redbull could not pass Hamilton then I doubt Webber could've either. I believe had Hamilton not been asked to save fuel he would've kept third place, especially when you factor in the 12seconds he finished behind Webber despite going into fuel saving mode from lap 44.

Possibly, but had he started on more fuel, would Lewis have been in that position in the first place? I honestly don't know. Maybe, maybe not.
 
Possibly, but had he started on more fuel, would Lewis have been in that position in the first place? I honestly don't know. Maybe, maybe not.
With the damage done, I think the question now is how much fuel did he have when he got back to the pit. From my perspective if they got the fuel instructions right he should have run out of fuel on the in-lap.
 
Just to point out that this year Hamilton crashed everyone of the road in a faster car when he tried to overtake.

??

Sorry I'm I missing something here?

Hamilton passed Alonso in what turned out to be the slowest race car out of the top 3 and Alonso took back the position later on. It's called racecraft. The obvious observation when looking at Vettel's futile attempts to pass Hamilton was not the lack of speed - He just didn't know where to place his car and he has this strange susceptibility to violent steering movements when attempting to overtake. There was no killer instinct at all and we've seen this time and time again when he is up against an equally competitive car. Nonetheless I accept he bailed out and took the easy approach by pitting to overtake. Once again the Redbull came to the rescue.
 
Thanks. So you can't use DRS in the wet?

From what I have figured out, is when drivers are all on dry tyres and the track is (partially) wet but drying out, the DRS will get enabled, it's up to Charlie Whiting when.

When it's dry it will always be enabled after lap 2
 
From what I have figured out, is when drivers are all on dry tyres and the track is (partially) wet but drying out, the DRS will get enabled, it's up to Charlie Whiting when.

When it's dry it will always be enabled after lap 2
OK, but the issue was in practice. Sorry if I'm confusing things. It seems to me that if Race Control didn't want DRS available in practice due to concerns of one nature or another then they should centrally control whether DRS can be activated. If Race Control (or the regs) specifically stated/state that DRS shouldn't be used then Hamilton should have a slap on the wrist and rightly so. If Race Control didn't, and the rules allow it, then they should leave him alone.
 
From what I have figured out, is when drivers are all on dry tyres and the track is (partially) wet but drying out, the DRS will get enabled, it's up to Charlie Whiting when.

When it's dry it will always be enabled after lap 2

This is in the race. I think the discussion is about Friday practice. Also, DRS was enabled whilst everyone was still on intermediates in the race this weekend.
 
Totally agree. Massa has been extremely unlucky throughout his time in f1, especially this year. He seems to have had more slow pit stops than any other driver, and in most races, after being in such a great position to challenge for points, either he mistkes a mistake or something else goes wrong for him.

Massa became the main ochestrator of his downfall when he decided to sell his soul and part like the red sea for Nando last year. Ferrari clearly have very little time for him these days apart from using him as a mobile chicane for his team mate (something he does to very good effect and with little shame). I'm told he used to carry a sack of potatoes around Interlagos so he's used to carrying dead weight. Sounds harsh but i have no sympathy for the guy at all.
 
OK, but the issue was in practice. Sorry if I'm confusing things. It seems to me that if Race Control didn't want DRS available in practice due to concerns of one nature or another then they should centrally control whether DRS can be activated. If Race Control (or the regs) specifically stated/state that DRS shouldn't be used then Hamilton should have a slap on the wrist and rightly so. If Race Control didn't, and the rules allow it, then they should leave him alone.

Oh, sorry about that.

They were running wets and inters in that practice session, and from what I am aware it is too dangerous to use it in wet conditions or even with intermediate tyres on.

And if Hamilton got punished for something like that I wouldn't be surprised if there was a big uproar with fans, but a rule is a rule.
 
http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/sporting_regulations/8692/ Under new moveable bodywork regulations, drivers of suitably equipped cars can adjust the rear wing from the cockpit, altering its angle of incidence through a set range. (The moveable front wing, used in 2010, has been dropped.) The system’s availability is electronically governed - it can be used at any time in practice and qualifying (unless a driver is on wet-weather tyres), but during the race can only be activated when a driver is less than one second behind another car at pre-determined points on the track. The system is then deactivated once the driver brakes. In combination with KERS, it is designed to boost overtaking. Also like KERS, it isn’t compulsory.
 
"wet-weather tyres"

Are intermediates classified as "wet"? During the race I heard Lewis Hamilton's engineer refer to the intermediates as "wets"
 
"wet-weather tyres"

Are intermediates classified as "wet"? During the race I heard Lewis Hamilton's engineer refer to the intermediates as "wets"

Yes they are, that's why later in the race no-one had to use the prime tyre because they had all used the inter, which is classified as a wet tyre.
 
Yes they are, that's why later in the race no-one had to use the prime tyre because they had all used the inter, which is classified as a wet tyre.

Ah indeed, it was just to clarify it as I thought it was but was unsure.

Another thing, have intermediates always been classified as "wets"?

I only remember that tyre compound being called that term since 2008.
 
Back
Top Bottom