Grand Prix 2014 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

As Mark Webber kindly pointed out on the podium interviews Nico Rosberg won last years British GP. On the back of a win in Austria I'm sure Nico will be hoping for the same again and to have the chance to further extend his lead in the drivers title race. But this is the British Grand Prix and Lewis Hamilton is bound to be pumped up to put on a good show for his home crowd.

I have a vague recollection of problems with tyres at this race last year. Somehow I don't think there will be a repeat even with the "sharp kerbs" which Pirelli tried to lay the blame on still in place.

Behind the Mercs Williams are clearly the best of the rest or did Austria flatter to deceive? Force India are also there or there abouts and both of the FI drivers seem to be enjoying having the most powerful engine on the grid as they stack others cars up behind them, wearing their tyres down to the canvas.

Red Bull must be getting close to some grid penalties for Vettel with another technical failure in Austria so it looks, once again, like it will be down to Ricciardo to up hold Red Bull and Renault honours in Northamptonshire. Unless they are pushed close again by their junior team, who have shown great pace compared to the Newey cars.

In the middle of all these will be Fernando Alonso who doesn't seem to realise that the Ferrari is crap. Perhaps he should have a chat with Kimi who is making every effort to show just how bad the car is.

There will be some other teams there and of them McLaren might score some points but that's about it. So, after a rousing chorus of God Save the Queen this little island will give us a couple of hours of intense excitement or teeth grinding tedium. I'm sure most that will be there will be hoping for a Lewis win, after all there aren't any other British drivers with a hope in hell of getting in the top 6.

 

[soccerman17]

Brands Hatch would be cool if it was up to date. May not have produced great GPs in the past but it is an incredible circuit, especially to drive in video games. They also have the whole noise ordinance thing which shouldn't be a real problem but seriously if you don't like living near loud race cars don't buy a house near a race track. What about Donington though? The one GP it has held was pretty memorable and Bernie's proposed redesign surprisingly wasn't terrible.

 

[Boyle]

As if the trophy is made of plastic!!!

 

[FB]

Enjoyable race, even with the delay. Something to keep you interested throughout and a great result for Lewis and the Championship race. Any news on Kimi?

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

...Some of his [Hamilton's] quotes (although it is impossible to say how accurate they are ,as they could be carefully chosen snippets or taken out of context) such as "being hungrier than Rosberg" DO come off as supremely arrogant...

As far as that particular quote goes, I'm pretty sure its reporting was both carefully chosen snippets and taken out of context.

 

[FB]

Like any quote, the written word doesn't give the nuance. Tommy Byrne, when asked about what it was like racing against Niki Lauda replied, jokingly, "Niki who?" but when it was reported it was about the "arrogant upstart" etc, etc.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

I've seen this before from Lewis, when the chips are down he starts making fundamental mistakes.

What was that you said again Mephistopheles ?

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Quote:
"I come from a not great place in Stevenage and lived on a couch in my dad's apartment," said Hamilton, 29.
"Nico grew up in Monaco with jets and boats and all these kind of things - so the hunger is different."

"I want to be the hungriest guy in the cockpit from all 22 of us - even if every driver has to believe that he's the hungriest - because if I were to come here believing that Nico is hungrier than me then I might as well go home. To win the world championship, you need to be the hungriest."

Headline:
HAMILTON: NICO ROSBERG NOT AS HUNGRY FOR THE TITLE AS ME BBC

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Anyway, to get back on topic; yes it's a pity that Rosberg's retirement robbed us of a potential exciting fight between the two Mercs, but a great result for the home fans. I just wish I had been there (couldn't afford it this year).

Also, plenty of interesting action through the field. An exceptional drive by Bottas from 16th to 2nd and a great boost for the Williams team after their qualifying woes and Felipe's getting caught up in Raikkonen's accident. A great fight, radio handbags and all, between Vettel and Alonso. But when are they actually going to start penalising drivers for continually exceeding track limits?

 

[Il_leone]

whoever said Hamilton deliberately tried to baulk Rosberg in quali should cast your minds back to Hungary 2007 when Alonso did that to lewis....i dont see how Hamilton would have gained anything by doing it given what happened at Monaco this year

 

[Incubus]

But when are they actually going to start penalising drivers for continually exceeding track limits?

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Alonso did receive a caution for it. Vettel later on radioed in several times to complain he kept doing it again but I never saw it, although I thought FA was playing with fire because I did see him a couple of times exiting Copse with his right wheels just inches away from going off the track limits.

I can't really I saw anyone definitely going all four wheels off the track while racing?...

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I saw Vettel do it loads of times

 

[FB]

I thought the radio messages which were replayed to us were juvenile, both from Alonso and Vettel, and contributed nothing to the viewing of the event. Frankly, I wouldn't care if FOM stopped broadcasting and radio messages as they always seem to choose to play the cheapest sound bites rather than anything which helps us understand what is happening in the race.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

I was thinking about this earlier, maybe when a car gets within DRS range of another car then they should be able to hear each others radio communications. That would make for some great entertainment!

Imagine the handbags between Vettel & Alonso then!

 

[Il_leone]

Bottas was the star driver of the day from 16th to 2nd


A worthy mention should be to both Ricciardo, Button and Alonso

- Ricciardo - a podium unnoticed and doing a long stint which his teammate could not do
- Button - in an inferior car he held off Alonso lap after lap and nearly got a podium on 1 stop . Oh yeah Ron - he outraced K_Mag pretty much

- Alonso - excusing missing his grid position he showed why he is the best driver in F1 and not only made some brilliant passing moves but managed to first pass Vettel and then resist him lap after lap which really frustrated Seb


Losers of the day

Vettel - see above and race was compromised by a poor start and his inability to manage the tyres better than his teammate and later showed his frustrations with his inability to pass Alonso

Gutierrez - idiotic move even if it was on Maldonado

 

[Incubus]

Totally agree FB, and seemingly half the radio messages are intended for gamesmanship anyway, attempting to lure rival into switching tactics.

Still, it was a great battle though.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

We're missing a trick here - what if the drivers were allowed to intimidate each other directly over the radio? Would spice things up a bit.

 

[Greenlantern101]

I'm starting to think the championship will go to who ever has the least DNF's

 

[Bullet190]

Great day for Lewis, here is some video from Stowe of his celebration Sorry about the shakiness....I was celebrating too

 

[Il_leone]

Vettel was just petulant - his race was ruined because he made a mess of his 2nd stop and was passed by Alonso and therefore lost a lot of time and probably a podium as well

Alonso was loving every lap he kept Vettel behind

 

[Il_leone]

one other note Lewis equally Jackie Stewart's record of 27 wins and what a place to do it at the British GP