[Official] Round 8 - British Grand Prix

[steve_r]

Just got back from Silverstone. Great weekend.
Where to start?

How the hell a billion dollar industry cant sort out tyres that are fit for purpose is beyond me. 4 failures in one race, and we are lucky not to be sitting here talking about a driver badly injured, never mind 4 drivers races ruined. Shambolic.

Just when it looked like Vettel was going to walk away with it, he had a failure. I don't know how it came accross on TV, but the crowd were cheering very very loudly - he's not a popular chap at the moment, at least with the British crowd it seems. There was loads of support for the Brits of course, and also plenty of support for Alonso, Raikonnen and Webber.

Hamilton was in the thick of it, and it was a fantastic recovery drive - obviously helped by the safety cars.

Great finish to the race - with battles for 1/2 and 3/4.

What you probably did not see much of was an epic race long battle between Chilton and Van der Garde. They were really going for it - which was nice to see, even if it was just to avoid finishing last.

Anyway - I'll catch up with it again on TV, I'm sure there is plenty I missed. Off to nurse my sunburn!

[Mekola]

The hero of the race was Webber for me - specially on last laps.
About the tyre supplier, Pirelli isn't the worst one... Imagine if F1 used NA (Turismo Carretera official supplier)

[Catingaround]

Originally Posted by djinvicta

Thank God Pirelli don't make condoms....

[bjohnsonsmith]

What's happened to DOTR and the other polls?

[willb]

Originally Posted by TWRv12

Rosberg's penalty was sick joke
http://www.racer.com/rosberg-reprima...rticle/301080/

He received the same penalty Webber did for the same infraction earlier this year at Canada

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by nicanary

Vettel's car was parked about as far away from the racing line as can be imaginable - cars drift to the outside of a corner, unless I'm very much mistaken* ,

There are times when cars exit Club and get out of shape on the outside kerb, with the result that they end up slamming into the pit wall right about where Vettel stopped. Whilst I haven't seen it in F1 I have seen it in Historics and other formulas.

[gomick]

When was the last time Vettel had a mechanical failure? Safety car made the race exciting for sure... Does Rosberg have equal status as Hamilton at Mercedes, he seems to be having the luck at the moment to get the job done - good to see another driver up there fighting for wins

[dsg]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

What would you choose, primes or intermediates........?

Full wets......

[Scooter185]

Originally Posted by gomick

When was the last time Vettel had a mechanical failure? Safety car made the race exciting for sure... Does Rosberg have equal status as Hamilton at Mercedes, he seems to be having the luck at the moment to get the job done - good to see another driver up there fighting for wins

Valencia last year I think.

Re: the second SC, the safety car is almost always called out for a car stopped on the pit straight.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

What's happened to DOTR and the other polls?

I suspect the author was also returning from Silverstone?

[FAS33]

RTR - 8
DOTR - Webber
TOTR - Mercedes

hard luck to Vettel and hamilton, both could've won the race. oh well, great recovery from Alfonso at the end, but wasn't nearly as good as webbers, I doubt he would caught Rosberg had it been 1 more lap, but was good drive, despite his bad start (nothing new). Mclaren should throw away this season and start focusing on 2014, cause there somethings gone wrong there. and to the fans that booed Vettel for his mechanical failure, seemed like he wasn't all fussed about it and even smiled about it when he went to his team, *cue the conspiracy theories* () he's still leading the championship which is allgoods.

[Razzzor]

So Mercedes seems to be completely on form now don't they? Since Monaco they've completely sorted those tyre issues.

At this point Hamilton is 43 points behind Vettel, with Rosberg a further 7 back. Basically two race wins.

If Vettel has a bit more bad luck, perhaps another retirement, with the Mercedes picking up the points, I'd say Mercedes will be right in the title hunt. Vettel and Rosberg were fairly even on pace in Silverstone, perhaps Vettel slightly faster, but if he hadn't passed Rosberg at the start, I don't think he would have had the pace to pass him at all. Hamilton was faster than both of them and would have won that race if not for Pirelli.

With 5 poles already if Mercedes keeps taking poles and fighting for wins they could close the points difference. Especially since Lotus and Ferrari seemed to have drifted backwards.

Hamilton or Rosberg could win the title this year. What do you guys think?

[sparkione]

Originally Posted by JamesH

National Disgrace? Hardly worthy of that moniker I think - they are just a race car team after all, not running the NHS.

As for Ronspeak, if you can explain how someone talking and/or shouting at the team is going to completely redesign a car before the next race (or indeed the end of the season), you should be on the apprentice. Once you have a bad car, there's not a whole lot you can do until you design a new one. That doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen just because Ron says so.

Yes, we should all be mighty glad they're not running the NHS...

You're right about the car's fundamental inadequacies. But strong, effective – even dictatorial – leadership is sometimes required in situations such as McLaren's current one. Some head banging and botty-booting might have concentrated a few minds.

But with 2013 effectively a write-off, let's hope they get the next one right...

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by sparkione

Yes, we should all be mighty glad they're not running the NHS...

You're right about the car's fundamental inadequacies. But strong, effective – even dictatorial – leadership is sometimes required in situations such as McLaren's current one. Some head banging and botty-booting might have concentrated a few minds.

But with 2013 effectively a write-off, let's hope they get the next one right...

Concentrating a few minds is fair enough, but you can have all the concentration in the world - you still ain't going to redesign a car from the ground up in the time available.

Unfortunately governments run the NHS, they have a worse record than McLaren. All of them.

[nicanary]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

There are times when cars exit Club and get out of shape on the outside kerb, with the result that they end up slamming into the pit wall right about where Vettel stopped. Whilst I haven't seen it in F1 I have seen it in Historics and other formulas.

Yes, this has been pointed out to me. I've already got my coat..........

I just get a bit OTT at times about the overuse of the safety car. I s'pose Charlie knows what he's doing.

(BTW are the kerbs at Silverstone made to the same design as kerbs at other F1 tracks? GP racing is so generic these days I sort of assumed they were, and so couldn't see what the fuss was about. The press today are widely blaming Pirelli, but what if it's the fault of the kerb-designer/constructor ?)

[pauln]

Two responses from the point of view of a marshal at Village for the race - which also covers the inside of Aintree, where the Anderson video was shot.

The kerbs haven't changed since last year (or the year before). The change is in the tyre construction or in the way they're being used. A few people have suggested tyre pressures as a possible factor.

Quite right on the van der Garde/Chilton battle. It was race-long, hard-fought and very entertaining.

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

What's happened to DOTR and the other polls?

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I suspect the author was also returning from Silverstone?

Sorry, but nobody told nothing about it, that's how a team works, so I guess the usual author would be around. I just noticed today after coming back from watch the final match of the Confederations Cup, thank god for having airplanes despite all the trouble ! Posted now, so go there and have fun !

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by nicanary

(BTW are the kerbs at Silverstone made to the same design as kerbs at other F1 tracks? GP racing is so generic these days I sort of assumed they were, and so couldn't see what the fuss was about. The press today are widely blaming Pirelli, but what if it's the fault of the kerb-designer/constructor ?)

Listening to a podcast today, the problem was being attributed to a unique feature of turn 4.

Essentially a combination of:
a) Drivers cutting inside the kerbs.
b) Cars accelerating through the corner.
c) The best line resulting in inside tyrewall meeting inside of kerb.

In aviation safety, this type of event is sometimes referred to as a Swiss-cheese occurrence. No matter how many preventative measures are in place, something will get through the holes. In this case, the problem could have been prevented by any one of the following:
a) Not cutting the corner.
b) Cutting the corner further.
c) Not accelerating mid-corner.
d) Increasing tyre pressure.
e) Changing kerb design.
f) Stronger tyrewall.

I think it's wrong to apportion blame on any one factor, but to look at them in combination to determine the best way of preventing re-occurrence.

[andy666]

Anyone know if Seb will have a gearbox penalty for the Germany ?

[Razzzor]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Listening to a podcast today, the problem was being attributed to a unique feature of turn 4.

What podcast is this?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

What podcast is this?

six 'o slicks (I think).

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Listening to a podcast today, the problem was being attributed to a unique feature of turn 4.

Essentially a combination of:
a) Drivers cutting inside the kerbs.
b) Cars accelerating through the corner.
c) The best line resulting in inside tyrewall meeting inside of kerb.

In aviation safety, this type of event is sometimes referred to as a Swiss-cheese occurrence. No matter how many preventative measures are in place, something will get through the holes. In this case, the problem could have been prevented by any one of the following:
a) Not cutting the corner.
b) Cutting the corner further.
c) Not accelerating mid-corner.
d) Increasing tyre pressure.
e) Changing kerb design.
f) Stronger tyrewall.

I think it's wrong to apportion blame on any one factor, but to look at them in combination to determine the best way of preventing re-occurrence.

I think this an accurate summing up, and as you say blaming one single factor is an error although where I come from we would call it a perfect storm not a swiss cheese . The irony that struck me at the time is that, depending on the exact line through turn 4, it is possible some were completely missing the critical part of that kerb by putting the left rear fully inside it and responded to the engineers advice to stay off the kerbs by moving their line a little wider. Having said that the failures were mainly before they started making that call and of course all but one occurred during the first 15 or so laps when the cars were heavy.

[andy666]

Originally Posted by andy666

Anyone know if Seb will have a gearbox penalty for the Germany ?

Sorry slightly bad wording ! I have not heard anything mentioned about this , I presume his gearbox will have to be changed , so will this incur a 5 place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix ?

[chunder]

Just caught some of the coverage of qually on the BEeb

Thought DC's piece with the 25 and Jim Clark was very nicely done, lovely music and was great to hear the mechanics. Shame the car was not really shown or DC wasnt miked up as much as Brunders was in the past, but as a quick piece I thought it was poignant and very tastefully done.

I saw that car last month at Brands and my God it takes your breath away.

[formerf1champ]

So, I watch the race, as I do. I listen to David Croft's attempt at being a GP commentator. I hear him praising the high standards set by British marshals. Then, I read this account, from someone in the trenches...

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/thread...#post-28952710

He said it, not me. Australian marshals all the way!