Grand Prix 2019 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

*Engage grumpy mode*

With no deal in place for 2020 this could well be the last British Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone for the foreseeable future. News stories out today suggest Liberty is now actively pursuing a London Street race to replace Silverstone for next year. This is just criminal in my opinion, the removal of good race tracks in place of street tracks and all for the purpose of money is just driving F1 into oblivion. Lets see how this one develops. Hopefully it is just a negotiating tactic by Liberty.

Strange one for me this race, I have lots of happy memories of visits and I love watching the coverage of what I truly think is one of the best tracks on the calendar. Yet actually visiting Silverstone is a mixed bag, yes the race is good, great views over a large percentage of the track, but the facilities particuarly for campers have always been under invested and a poor experience. In someways I can see why Liberty want to give them a kick up the ass just as Bernie did several times over the years.

I've been to Silverstone 5 times over the years but after the mud baths in 2011 and 2012 I swore I wasn't going back unless they put proper roads in the camp sites. They still haven't. I guess it's all irrelevant now, if the F1 circus is heading to London in the future it really will be a sport only for the rich as you will not only have the ticket cost but London hotel prices to add in as well. For old time sake I have added a link to my 2012 post below, lots of nice photos and a diary. GL's Silverstone Diary

*grumpy mode cancel*

On a lighter note.

What can we expect from this weekend? Well free live race coverage YAY. It's the only CH4 race to be shown in full and live for every session this year. Also if you love seeing Mercedes win, and who doesn't, I suspect that Mercedes will be back on top as they have always done well here in recent years with the exception of last year as Lewis ended up at the back after a first lap collision. Indeed Mercedes have won 5 out of the last 6 races here and Lewis has won 4 out of the last 5. Ferrari may need a bit of luck as they had last year if they are to win again.

TV times

So on with the show.

 

[Ruslan]

its a bit rich coming from Max that he can't take a bit of shoving

Well, he certainly has been one of the worst offenders about this. On the other hand, apparently it is no longer an offense. We shall see how that works out.

 

[Publius Cornelius Scipio]

Well, if you have the time you might want to a look at the Verstappen and Leclerc duel. It was pretty dramatic and at one point Leclerc pushed Verstappen off the track. It harkens back to the discussion of what should or should not be allowed in racing.

I have seen some of that, great stuff

 

[Ruslan]

I have seen some of that, great stuff

It was. Sort of makes your point that neither Vettel in Canada nor Verstappen in Austria should have been penalized.

 

[F1Brits_90]

It was. Sort of makes your point that neither Vettel in Canada nor Verstappen in Austria should have been penalized.

as i was saying post Austria. ferrari can just call themselves extremely unlucky to be on the end of "old" & "new" interpretations of what the limit is

have liberty media had a chat with stewards to allow battles like that

 

[Angel]

as i was saying post Austria. ferrari can just call themselves extremely unlucky to be on the end of "old" & "new" interpretations of what the limit is

have liberty media had a chat with stewards to allow battles like that

Maybe the public outcry at the penalties or non penalties has made them think again about what the fans want. Not that what we want usually counts for much of course.

 

[Ruslan]

as i was saying post Austria. ferrari can just call themselves extremely unlucky to be on the end of "old" & "new" interpretations of what the limit is

have liberty media had a chat with stewards to allow battles like that

Well, it may have cost them two wins....lost race in Canada because of the penalties and lost race in Austria because there was no penalty.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Well, it may have cost them two wins....lost race in Canada because of the penalties and lost race in Austria because there was no penalty.

well they did finally morally win the Canada argument. but im sure they'd rather have the wins in Bahrain Canada & Austria

 

[Ruslan]

well they did finally morally win the Canada argument. but im sure they'd rather have the wins in Bahrain Canada & Austria

Well, because one could make the argument that Canada was because of unsafe re-entry of the track, the “lessons” here are not that clear. We shall see how other stewards rule. I don’t think they (FIA or F1) are out of woods yet on this issue.

 

[Publius Cornelius Scipio]

Well, because one could make the argument that Canada was because of unsafe re-entry of the track, the “lessons” here are not that clear. We shall see how other stewards rule. I don’t think they (FIA or F1) are out of woods yet on this issue.

I agree, I think that we need further proof that the attitude has changed (besides with the stewards changing at every race and no clear guidance on the interpretation of the rules any new "approach" by the stewards by definition is going to be very shaky)

 

[Ruslan]

I agree, I think that we need further proof that the attitude has changed (besides with the stewards changing at every race and no clear guidance on the interpretation of the rules any new "approach" by the stewards by definition is going to be very shaky)

Yea, this is not over.

 

[Lewywo4]

Yeah but the safety car coming when it did had an effect, as did the fact Bottas went onto the same tyres at his stop meaning he had to stop again. I'm not saying Hamilton wouldn't have beaten him anyway, he could well have done, but the luck ran his way on Sunday and made it easier for him there's no denying that surely.

Luck had nothing to do with Lewis deciding on a one stop strategy, using the hard tire on his one and only stop. As Andrew Benson the BBC's chief F1 writer said, " Hamilton didn't need the safety car."

He also said, " What Hamilton did next was going to win him the race, safety car or no safety car. He had already decided before the Grand prix had started that he was going to try to go for a one stop strategy, knowing Bottas was doing two. That meant looking after his tires and extending his first stint as long as possible. Hamilton did this superbly, keeping his tires in much better condition than Bottas could. When Bottas re-emerged from his pit stop on lap 16, he was only slightly faster than Hamilton. That meant that when Hamilton did stop-which would have been more or less at the time the safety car came out anyway - he would have rejoined only a second or two behind his team-mate. With Bottas still needing to stop again, that was effectively game over."

Lewis said, " I could have just sat behind him, if I'd wanted to, and waited for him to stop again."

 

[Il_leone]

Bottas is getting the kind of beating from Hamilton that Senna use to dish out to Berger at Mclaren.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Hamilton gambled on 1 stop ....

More likely a decision by Toto Wolff.

 

[Bill Boddy]

....Lewis said, " I could have just sat behind him, if I'd wanted to, and waited for him to stop again."

But he might not have been able to do had Bottas been put on hard tyres.

 

[Il_leone]

Bill Boddy I don't think Bottas would have won even if they were on the same strategy

 

[Lewywo4]

More likely a decision by Toto Wolff.

No....it wasn't at all a decision made by Toto, and it was Lewis who took the initiative to run the hard tire on his first stop.

As Mark Hughes said, " Hamilton had a plan. The Mercedes team had a plan. But they weren't the same plan."

Hughes also said " He was pretty sure he could make it only on a one stop strategy. In the full knowledge that Bottas had bought into, and committed to the two stop plan. All Hamilton had to do was stay in touch, keep his tyres in good enough shape to run longer, and then ask for the hard. Giving him the opportunity to one stop, with Bottas trapped into a two. It was audacious, but he was backing his own ability."

As Lewis said, " I had to figure out how to get pass this guy, and I'd decided before the morning what I was going to do," and he did it.

 

[Lewywo4]

But he might not have been able to do had Bottas been put on hard tyres.

We don't know how fast Valterri would've been on the hard tires, but we do know that Lewis on the hard, was as fast or faster than him during the race. While Bottas was both on the medium and soft tires.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Exactly Lewywo4, we do not know; that is why I put it in bold.