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/
 
Nice pre-race piece from Mercedes:
http://www.formula1.com/news/features/2011/7/12260.html
although very confusing with them talking about the corner numbers and in the re-fashioned format.

I was just wondering about KERS at Silverstone this year; I seem to remember it wasn't the most efficient circuit for it in 2009 due to the minimal braking zones (did some teams remove it for British GP?). The new layout has added a couple of breaking zones at Village and the Loop, to the Club/Vale, Brooklands sections. Will KERS have the same efficiency/effect this year?
 
They can open it at the activation point.Very unlikely that they will still in the corner.
 
Button is the only one of the the top 5 not to have won the British GP.

Unless McLaren have resolved their issues from Valencia, he's unlikely to do it this Sunday either.
 
Oh yeah Button of course.
Having said that according to the latest forecasts it looks rather unsettled these next few days, so Button could have a say in the event of variable weather.
 
Listening to the BBC feed this morning and discussions with Christian Horner he seems very miffed in regards to the ongoing discussions with the Blown Diffuser, reading between the lines and number of times Mr Horner stressed 'even hand' it sounds like some teams are not being penalised as much as other depending on their set ups.
 
First practice sessions rarely tend to be much of an indication into the current form-book.
But in this case, and more than ever, what you can deduce in terms of lap-times from this session is.... well, strictly nothing actually.
 
Listening to the BBC feed this morning and discussions with Christian Horner he seems very miffed in regards to the ongoing discussions with the Blown Diffuser, reading between the lines and number of times Mr Horner stressed 'even hand' it sounds like some teams are not being penalised as much as other depending on their set ups.

" Red Bull and their supplier Renault have pointed to a characteristic of the Mercedes engine that the Renault does not have, and which they think gives the teams with the German engine an advantage."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9532348.stm

He only wants a level playing field (with the slope in his favour) like any team principal.
 
Is anyone else confused on the new track layout? :s

Why do they constantly have to make changes, they took out one of the best corners, think it was "Bridge" not sure, don't know the names of the corners for this track as there are so many...

I was so confused when they were focusing on Jarno Trulli and he was going into the previous Turn 1 with 30s on his time, and I was wondering if that they were concentrating on Chandhok on TV and Trulli on the timing screens, that's how bamboozled I was!
 
Is anyone else confused on the new track layout? :s

Why do they constantly have to make changes, they took out one of the best corners, think it was "Bridge" not sure, don't know the names of the corners for this track as there are so many...

I was so confused when they were focusing on Jarno Trulli and he was going into the previous Turn 1 with 30s on his time, and I was wondering if that they were concentrating on Chandhok on TV and Trulli on the timing screens, that's how bamboozled I was!

Yeah, i didn't see the free practise, but i watched a lap on f1 2011 and it confused the hell out of me.
So the pit entrance is now between Vale and club?
 
Is anyone else confused on the new track layout? :s

Yeah, I was having trouble working out who was where and which corner was which, but towards the end of FP1 it was getting better.. When Koby crashed out, I was struggling to work where at first!

It will hopefully continue to come to me during FP2... :D

And also hopefully FP2 will be drier, so we can see where the cars are with respect of this EBD change.
 
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