Grand Prix 2021 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Better late then never!

There is a Formula One Grand Prix this weekend. Now, let's take a step back and look at that sentence. We use some words without thinking about what they mean so why is it Formula One? My apologies if this seems a bit patronising but the Formula bit refers to the design specification for the car and engine around which the teams must design their car. It's One, because it is supposed to be the pinnacle of motor sport, the fastest, the toughest test of car and driver. And for this you win a grand prize, and although other races use the term Grand Prix, this is the only series which (I believe) is allowed to use the term.

So why am I going on about this? Well, this weekend the powers that run Formula One Grand Prix racing have given up trying to actually create a competitive race series and have decided that it is better that this series can be made more exciting by trying to get the drivers to crash in to one another in a "Sprint Race" on Saturday rather than than allowing the fastest car and driver combination to start from the front of the grid as has been the norm in virtually all forms of motor sport since people started racing cars.

I know motor racing is contrived and there is no such thing as "pure" motor sport, but there are a few norms which I believe should not be messed with, and the idea of a qualifying session which often pushes the driver to, and sometimes beyond, the limit is one. How that session works, what groups of cars go out when, whether drivers get one lap or one hundred I don't mind. I do object to trying to gerrymander the starting grid by running what I'm sure the power brokers in F1 hope will be a destruction derby to replace a qualifying session.

That's my two pence worth. I may be wrong, it may be a great success, it might be very exciting, I have no idea. I am really not that excited about the prospect of this experiment.

Anyway, here's the revised running order for this race:

Friday
14:30 to 15:30 F1 practice
18:00 to 19:00 Qualifying Session (for the sprint race)

Saturday
12:00 to 13:00 F1 Practice (yup, after the qualifying session)
16:30 to 17:00 Sprint "Qualifying"

Sunday
15:00 to 17:00 F1 race

So there you go. I shall rant about the 2022 car design elsewhere.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Top 6 probably?

If / when Russell goes to Mercedes he's going to give Hamilton a real headache.

 

[Andyoak]

Great

 

[Il_leone]

Does seem Bottas knows he is out he is even talking about rallying

Helmut Marko apparently said he would consider Russell if he was available

 

[cider_and_toast]

Judging by Bottas's mood in the post Qually press conference I'd be surprised the announcement isn't immanent.

 

[Il_leone]

Would Russell seriously consider Red Bull other than Williams if Mercedes dont pick him?

For Russell the options are better, for Bottas its Williams or Alfa?

 

[F1Brits_90]

George Russell less than a tenth slower than Ricciardo this evening in his Williams, was a stellar performance.

he is a star. its hard to praise russell because ive ran out of superlatives. he finds a way to impress me Further & further. im speechless at how he dragged that Williams to 8th out qualifying a ferrari & on 0.15 of 4th

it had to be when not if. i know it big shout but i know why hamilton wants bottas as his team mate because no guarantees he beats Russell on this form. even as a 7 or 8 time world champion

 

[F1Brits_90]

sprint race weekend is slowly growing on me. there a few ideas that i liked competitive element on every day of the weekend is great

6pm on channel 4 or sky sports to watch a qualifying session. is fantastic for getting a bigger audience. even better how it turned out as that was best qualifying ive ever seen on Friday

i think the 5 sets of softs rule & ditching of the Q2 rule should stay permanenyly. i think it improved qualifying session no end

 

[Il_leone]

That would make the borefest Monaco exciting then because it would work at most races... come to think of it I have an even better suggestion that they use short versions of the race circuit for sprint races to mix things up

 

[Bill Boddy]

Could anyone tell me what the reasoning, if any, there is behind Practice 2? The cars went into parc ferme at the end of Practice 1 (or say the Coulthard told me), there has been no race so why it there if nothing but the wings can be changed does to exit? Add wear to the engines? Publicly sack Bottas and replace him with Russell with a ceremony on the podium?

Any way, we are having a BBQ tonight so please come here to see it.

 

[Bill Boddy]

All is solved.

I looked on the F1 site says that on first sight it is "Practice 2" but when you go further it is "Qualifying".

But why? Qualifying for what?

The BBQ is still on tonight.

 

[olegg]

 

[F1Brits_90]

Could anyone tell me what the reasoning, if any, there is behind Practice 2? The cars went into parc ferme at the end of Practice 1 (or say the Coulthard told me), there has been no race so why it there if nothing but the wings can be changed does to exit? Add wear to the engines? Publicly sack Bottas and replace him with Russell with a ceremony on the podium?

Any way, we are having a BBQ tonight so please come here to see it.

from what i understand Practise 1 was practice focused towards qualfying & then then practice 2 was long run based

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

Well I quite enjoyed that. I think it's a worthy addition to the race weekend. Not sure I could be bothered to watch qualifying as well as sprint races though!

 

[F1Brits_90]

that was quite good. i think in 2022 when you have cars that can go wheel to wheel but easier dirty air drops from 50% to 5/10% . it might be even better. i can certainly see this being here to stay

im still in favour of friday setting the grid for sundays race. have sprint race as separate entity. with top 6 or top 8 reversed to see some of the drivers overtaking but with smaller points system. like the old 9 6 4 3 2 1 system

but that sprint race does make me wonder could we be on for 1st dry 3 stopper for long time tomorrow as mediums where blistering after 12 laps

 

[F1Brits_90]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1416429251939737601

 

[Titch]

Well we all know the outcome of tomorrow’s race. Verstappen untouchable , Hamilton second but 7 or 8 seconds behind. Who knows for third, and the rest of the field might provide some entertainment. Who knows.
The sprint race was to long.
I hope your BBQ is more entertaining Bill Boddy

 

[cider_and_toast]

Wow, just watched the sprint race. Awesome.

We finally got to see the drivers have their wish and have a drive where they could push the car to maximum the whole way. Where it wasn't all about tyre management and managing race pace.

The action on track was.... Was..... Erm

Absolutely no fucking different from the first 17 laps of a normal race.

It's a no from me.

 

[Brogan]

Why is it called qualifying if it's a race?

Who is on pole for the err, other race tomorrow?

What a load of fucking nonsense.

 

[F1Brits_90]

giving further thought..i enjoyed the race i think it has legs but not in current format. as i. hoping that we havent made a 17 lap race better making a 51/52 lap worse

worry qualifying & the race might be devalued. because qualifying can be some weekends the highlight

i did enjoy this article

The successes and warning signs from F1's first sprint race

OPINION: Formula 1 debuted its experimental sprint qualifying race on Saturday at the British Grand Prix to a mixed reception from fans and drivers. Ultimately, it's hard to draw conclusions after just one outing, but there will be some positives and lessons to learn moving forward

www.motorsport.com

 

[cider_and_toast]

The problem is, it should have gone with the original plan of reverse championship grid order for the sprint and where you finish on Saturday you start on Sunday.

However,

The turkeys would never vote for Christmas

The reverse grid requires the ability to overtake and neither the cars or the tracks are capable of enabling that.

Monaco