Grand Prix 2012 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

After a Grand Prix in Valencia which was probably better than all the others put together it shows that F1 2012 is completely mad. For the first time this season there is a driver with 2 wins after Fernando Alonso benefited from a retirement from Vettel and any pressure from behind was gone when Grosjean lost drive not long after Vettel stopped. The big talking point came on the penultimate lap involving Maldonado and Hamilton which resulted in Hamilton being pitched into the wall and Maldonado lost a podium which seemed pretty certain as it was only a matter of time before he passed the McLaren who had fallen off the cliff.

Without the safety car it was likely that Vettel would have won at a canter as he was a long way ahead before the race changing event in the middle of the race, but he pulled up soon after the restart gifting Alonso the lead and he would keep this until the end of the race, and because of Hamilton's issues he inherited the lead of the Championship with Mark Webber's fourth place meaning he jumped up into second place. Perhaps the biggest shock of the weekend was a first podium for Michael Schumacher since his return to the sport in 2010. Both his and Webber's strategy meant they were able to come through the field and claim major points just like Alonso did as all three started outside the top 10.

Fernando Alonso's victory marks a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Ferrari as he stormed to victory in a car which was barely faster than the midfield cars at the start of the season, but now the car is as consistently fast as the Lotuses and the McLarens, certainly in race trim anyway but not quite up to the level of the Red Bulls as shown in the early race but we've still yet to see a straight fight between Alonso and Vettel which would provide a true reflection of where the teams are at.

Once again Lotus had the pace for a victory and had Grosjean not have retired he could well have possibly claimed a maiden win for him and the team. Kimi Raikkonen spent most of the race stuck behind Hamilton which prevented him from having a shot at Alonso and by the time he got past there were just a few laps remaining and claimed a comfortable second place which he said underwhelmed him, although since when has he ever been anything but that!?

Looking ahead to the British Grand Prix the atmosphere will once again be fever pitch as McLaren could well be in their best position yet to compete for victory with the high speed corners suiting the MP4-27 and knowing the British summer it could well be a cool day which will suit the car even better and both Hamilton and Button will be fighting for the win. Jenson Button has had a horrid record at Silverstone with no podium finishes in the 12 years he has been driving in Formula One. Hamilton has a better record with podiums in 2007 and 2010 and a famous win in the wet in 2008 where he destroyed the competition.

I know that quite a few members from this site are going to the grand prix and I hope that you all have a great weekend, providing McLaren can nail down their pit stops there is a very good chance that a British driver could be at the top step of the podium, or who knows, if Lotus can finally find the sweetspot then perhaps an eighth winner can be on the cards!

For Galahad's brilliant circuit write up - http://cliptheapex.com/pages/silverstone-circuit/
 
Sorry Bill Boddy. I wasn't watching BBC, so my mistake as I got a little mixed up. However, I did catch Gary Anderson's comment on the BBC website and I thoroughly agree with him.
 
Guess they'll have to weigh up the probability of him parking on the racing line again.
I'm glad somebody's happy Kewee.
Quali's been too disjointed for me to enjoy & the feeling of it being slightly unfair though I can't put my finger on it.
It's got to be a good race tomorrow for me to not feel the weekend's been a washout (literally at times!)
If Alonso can battle through from 11th in Valencia there's a slim hope for the British lads...
 
If he set his personal best under yellow flag conditions surely the stewards will have to take a look.

If he was found to be in breech of this rule what could his punishment be? Surely nothing too ridiculous.
 
Three drivers will take five place grid drop penalties:
Kamui Kobayashi for causing a collision with Felipe Massa at the European Grand Prix​
Nico Hulkenberg due to a gearbox change​
Charles Pic due to a gearbox change​

One will take a ten place drop:
Jean-Éric Vergne for causing a collision with Heikki Kovalainen at the European Grand Prix​
 
Bill Boddy

Like with many other rules I would apply different conditions in quali in relation to those applied in the race. I would never suggest that there should not be a power to red flag a race due to weather.
 
Bill Boddy I'd say it should be. Qualifying is a different setup altogether. You don't have a race & say anyone in the last 7 after the first 10 laps drop out. There's always a chance of getting back into the points. In qualifying there's no chance of rectifying things once you've gone out.
Perez is the perfect example. Sauber read the conditions right & he put in a sterling lap in bad (but the same for everyone) conditions. Other teams got the strategy wrong & yet gained because external forces (race control) gave them a joker.
I fully agree with Gary Anderson, if a session has started it shouldn't be stopped because of weather, if the teams have mis-called strategy & have to sit out the session because the conditions worsen then tough that's their own mistake. It's happened many times before.
 
Am I the only one wondering how Greenlantern is faring the horrible weather conditions and traffic?
 
In qualifying a driver can do six terrible laps in each part and yet finish up with the top time in them. I would say that there is very much more chance of rectifying errors in qualy than there is in the race.

If it is dangerous to race then no racing should take place. I remember journalists being up in arms against Stewart for daring to suggest that racing could be made safer, death was taken as a normal event.

I would agree that the system is unfair, but then there are many things in F1 that are unfair. It was unfair that Button had to lift because of a crash by Glock but it happened.
 
If you do six laps in each quali session and finish top then clearly 24 drivers did more terrible laps which makes your lap relatively good - given that all in racing is relative.
 
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