[Official] British Grand Prix: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 10 of 21

[gert]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Whilst this is true, Ferrari also need to look at the decisions they make. They got away with it because of Vettels accident, but a poor call (again) cost Leclerc.

Without Vettel we'd still be telling Ferrari to get it together. They will not beat Mercedes with calls like this.

True, it's not just Vettel, it's a combination of things: driver(s), team, strategy, car and its development, and luck.

Both Vettel and Leclerc have made mistakes. Tiny mistakes and costly ones.
As has the team: poor pitstop strategy, less than perfect reaction to FCY, VSC or SC.

And luck has generally not been on their side either: Vettel stuck in the garage in Q3 while Leclerc takes pole (Austria ?), car failure for Leclerc in Bahrain, ...


A bit of luck at the right time, a better call when needed and less driver errors and things could have been much better.

[chillibowl]

What do we know about Ferrari's in race decision making process? Too many chefs, fear of risk, bad race analysis software, single minded 1-2 philosophy, just unlucky, a little of everything?

Would make for an insightful/insider story but teams dont really ever open up about this stiff.

[Anyopenroad]

Red Bull's apparent step forward to challenge Ferrari means Mercedes (and Hamilton) are going to romp away into the distance while we enjoy more Verstappen/Vettel/Leclerc (and hopefully Gasly) battles.

McLaren's improvement is also heartening. Some good midfield scrapping in prospect as Renault and Racing Point improve too.

[chavez]

So passing a car while off the circuit was penalised in France, but allowed to stand in this race.

Ricciardo should be asking for his points back from the French GP.

[TrapezeArtist]

Blimey, they build F1 cars strong these days. When Vettel hit Verstappen I thought that was the end for both and there would be a big pile of carbon fibre all over the track. Even Vettel's from wing survived, despite other little touches causing wings to fall off completely.

Vettel's string of driving errors are now reaching Brambilla or Maldonado proportions. I'm not too sure there's any way back for him now as it becomes ever more difficult inside his head to judge what is a reasonable risk and what is not. I see retirement coming at the end of the year.

Before the season began, Mario Spaghetti made it clear they would favour Vettel over Leclerc in order to maximise their championship chances. They were good to his word yet still Leclerc is only 3 points behind. Looking forward, favouring Leclerc has got to be the best way of maximising championship chances. (No favouritism would be even better, but that's not the Ferrari way.)

I'm really not sure about that 10 second penalty. It can't be for deliberately punting off a rival, because I'm sure he didn't do that. It didn't seem wildly careless, reckless or negligent, so I don't think it's that either. It was a mistake. A pretty bad mistake, especially for a 4xWC who is being paid millions because he is supposedly so good, but a mistake all the same. The consequences of the accident hurt him far more than the 10 seconds. Of course the consequences of the accident hurt Verstappen too. But the safety car hurt, Bottas, Leclerc and Norris but no-one has suggested penalising the the safety car driver or even Giovinazzi.

As for "overtaking off the road", I really didn't notice it at the time, but it is true. Perhaps Verstappen could've, should've, would've been told to give the place back, or perhaps he would have been given a 5 second penalty. We'll never know.

[S griffin]

So nice to finally watch a race live again, went quickly for me.

Bottas put up a good fight, shame the SC ruined it for him, did seem a bit much to bring it out, when they could have used the VSC

Vettel really seems to have lost it. He's made yet another bad mistake and as DC pointed out is like Schumi when he came back to F1 with his incidents. Really Ferrari should just forget the whole favouring Vettel over Leclerc because it's clear to me Vettel will not win another title unless he gets his act together. Another great race by Leclerc, got unlucky with Ferrari strategy, but managed to get it back with third. Also good to see Gasly up there, certainly deserved that 4th even with a bit of luck

Shame Norris finished out of the points due to strategy and bad luck for Albon too. But the McLarens are looking best of the rest atm which is great to see. And Renault looking better too. And another good solid race for Kimi too

[Greem]

What a weekend. Back in the office and decompressing a bit!

I was on the inside at Becketts this year and got to "watch" all the sessions (bar three, which I'll come to shortly...).

The new surface has loads of grip and is nice & smooth. Small changes to some areas such as the grass behind the outside kerb at Luffield being replaced with gravel, and some additional FIA/FIM approved secondary kerbing at Stowe, Club, and somewhere else I forgot, both the Hangar and Wellington straights have been slightly narrowed and made a more even width along their entire lengths.
Talking to a Porsche driver coach on Saturday he said that the surface is harder on tyres than the previous surfaces and right now has allllllll the grip and then none when drivers are pushing through corners, which some F1 drivers demonstrated at Becketts on Friday and Saturday.

The driver parade on Sunday was much more fun than them tanking around on the back of a truck, with us able to wish them good luck as they passed us. May I say what a polite young man Monsieur Leclerc is - he said "thank you!" to us directly while some of the other drivers stared off into the crowd
Lando visited the Becketts run-off and fired t-shirts into the crowd on the bank and in the grandstand, which was nice.

The race itself felt like it was over in an instant - and notably was the fastest race since this layout opened, at 1h21m8s. Hamilton's pace was metronomic (again) and his line through Becketts rarely changed, being inch perfect lap after lap. Awesome to watch.

So, not being able to directly watch some of the sessions... if you were there and either really keen and early or stuck around to watch the Historic F1 races, I was the in the passenger seat of the Aston Martin safety car. In a year of "I never thought I'd ever" moments, being on the safety car crew for a support race at an actual Formula 1 event takes the biscuit

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Greem

What a weekend. Back in the office and decompressing a bit!

I was on the inside at Becketts this year and got to "watch" all the sessions (bar three, which I'll come to shortly...).

The new surface has loads of grip and is nice & smooth. Small changes to some areas such as the grass behind the outside kerb at Luffield being replaced with gravel, and some additional FIA/FIM approved secondary kerbing at Stowe, Club, and somewhere else I forgot, both the Hangar and Wellington straights have been slightly narrowed and made a more even width along their entire lengths.
Talking to a Porsche driver coach on Saturday he said that the surface is harder on tyres than the previous surfaces and right now has allllllll the grip and then none when drivers are pushing through corners, which some F1 drivers demonstrated at Becketts on Friday and Saturday.

The driver parade on Sunday was much more fun than them tanking around on the back of a truck, with us able to wish them good luck as they passed us. May I say what a polite young man Monsieur Leclerc is - he said "thank you!" to us directly while some of the other drivers stared off into the crowd
Lando visited the Becketts run-off and fired t-shirts into the crowd on the bank and in the grandstand, which was nice.

The race itself felt like it was over in an instant - and notably was the fastest race since this layout opened, at 1h21m8s. Hamilton's pace was metronomic (again) and his line through Becketts rarely changed, being inch perfect lap after lap. Awesome to watch.

So, not being able to directly watch some of the sessions... if you were there and either really keen and early or stuck around to watch the Historic F1 races, I was the in the passenger seat of the Aston Martin safety car. In a year of "I never thought I'd ever" moments, being on the safety car crew for a support race at an actual Formula 1 event takes the biscuit

Hi Greem, glad you enjoyed your weekend, as a past competitor I appreciate what you guys & gals of the 'Orange Army' do to make the racing possible.
As I wasn't there can you explain please how the drivers parade was different please?

[Greem]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Hi Greem, glad you enjoyed your weekend, as a past competitor I appreciate what you guys & gals of the 'Orange Army' do to make the racing possible.
As I wasn't there can you explain please how the drivers parade was different please?

Thanks

With the exception of Kimi, who took a vintage Alfa Romeo round the circuit at quite some speed (!) to start it off, all the drivers were in/on classic soft-top MG cars with no TV interviewer or mobile phones in sight. Hamilton, for example, was being driven by his dad and had hist brother in the passenger seat while he sat on the boot (less dangerous than it sounds); Sir Frank Williams was in another car being driven by David Coulthard.

Much more personable, in my opinion. And the fact they were down at our level while we lined the kerbs made it far nicer than them being driven at 50mph on the back of a flatbed!

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

I'm really not sure about that 10 second penalty. It can't be for deliberately punting off a rival, because I'm sure he didn't do that. It didn't seem wildly careless, reckless or negligent, so I don't think it's that either. It was a mistake. A pretty bad mistake, especially for a 4xWC who is being paid millions because he is supposedly so good, but a mistake all the same. The consequences of the accident hurt him far more than the 10 seconds. Of course the consequences of the accident hurt Verstappen too. But the safety car hurt, Bottas, Leclerc and Norris but no-one has suggested penalising the the safety car driver or even Giovinazzi.

Stewards:
The Stewards reviewed the video evidence which showed car 5 [Vettel] locked wheels under braking and collided with the rear of car 33. The Stewards concluded that the driver of car 5 was wholly to blame for the incident [ref Article 38.2 a) of the 2019 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations.

Regulation:
The stewards may also investigate an Incident noted by themselves.
38.2 a) It shall be at the discretion of the stewards to decide if any driver involved in an Incident
should be penalised.
Unless it is clear to the stewards that a driver was wholly or predominantly to blame for an Incident no penalty will be imposed.

[Peter Mallett]

The other point may be that had they issued another kind of penalty it would have been a grid drop at the next race.

Just to add: I do think it's quite sad the way that Vettel appears to have "lost it". He was being compared on tv to Michael S in his latter seasons at Mercedes.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Greem

Thanks

With the exception of Kimi, who took a vintage Alfa Romeo round the circuit at quite some speed (!) to start it off, all the drivers were in/on classic soft-top MG cars with no TV interviewer or mobile phones in sight. Hamilton, for example, was being driven by his dad and had hist brother in the passenger seat while he sat on the boot (less dangerous than it sounds); Sir Frank Williams was in another car being driven by David Coulthard.

Much more personable, in my opinion. And the fact they were down at our level while we lined the kerbs made it far nicer than them being driven at 50mph on the back of a flatbed!

Thanks for the explanation. As you say, that does sound much more personable and great to hear that other non-drivers were also involved.
Well done to whoever it was for making that change.

[steve_r]

Britain does love its sport. Huge crowds at Silverstone, Wimbledon and Lords all on the same weekend, all delivering high drama. Plus the netball of course!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Britain does love its sport. Huge crowds at Silverstone, Wimbledon and Lords all on the same weekend, all delivering high drama. Plus the netball of course!

Who won the netball?

[Greem]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Who won the netball?

Nobody, the final isn't until Sunday. That said, England have beaten Uganda, Scotland and Samoa so far... and Australia have beaten all of their opponents, too.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by Greem

What a weekend. Back in the office and decompressing a bit!

I was on the inside at Becketts this year and got to "watch" all the sessions (bar three, which I'll come to shortly...).

The new surface has loads of grip and is nice & smooth. Small changes to some areas such as the grass behind the outside kerb at Luffield being replaced with gravel, and some additional FIA/FIM approved secondary kerbing at Stowe, Club, and somewhere else I forgot, both the Hangar and Wellington straights have been slightly narrowed and made a more even width along their entire lengths.
Talking to a Porsche driver coach on Saturday he said that the surface is harder on tyres than the previous surfaces and right now has allllllll the grip and then none when drivers are pushing through corners, which some F1 drivers demonstrated at Becketts on Friday and Saturday.

The driver parade on Sunday was much more fun than them tanking around on the back of a truck, with us able to wish them good luck as they passed us. May I say what a polite young man Monsieur Leclerc is - he said "thank you!" to us directly while some of the other drivers stared off into the crowd
Lando visited the Becketts run-off and fired t-shirts into the crowd on the bank and in the grandstand, which was nice.

The race itself felt like it was over in an instant - and notably was the fastest race since this layout opened, at 1h21m8s. Hamilton's pace was metronomic (again) and his line through Becketts rarely changed, being inch perfect lap after lap. Awesome to watch.

So, not being able to directly watch some of the sessions... if you were there and either really keen and early or stuck around to watch the Historic F1 races, I was the in the passenger seat of the Aston Martin safety car. In a year of "I never thought I'd ever" moments, being on the safety car crew for a support race at an actual Formula 1 event takes the biscuit

Originally Posted by gert

Maybe a retirement is not necessary.
There's a lot of sense in what Akrapovic posted.

If it is a matter of confidence in car and pit crew, then maybe not all is lost.

Even with the crappy season he's got so far, he's still ahead of Leclerc.

There's still 10 more races to gain confidence.

A good performance in Germany and/or Monza can mean a lot of good.

A world championship team like Ferrari doesn't need a driver that maybe in certain circumstances can regain confidence. They need a driver that get's the job done, both in getting the maximum of the car and in battles on track. Especially regarding the latter, Vettel's performance has been miserable the last two seasons.



I would love to see Ricciardo in that car next year. With Ricciardo and Leclerc they would have the strongest paring on the grid. If they just want to put all cards on Leclerc, which would be understandable, they should get a reliable reasonably fast 2nd driver. However I would not find it easy to pick one from the current grid. Perhaps Hulkenberg.



Than about the race, I felt like Red Bull/Verstappen did not maximize their performance very effectively this time. Pace wise I reckon Max was able to at least take on one of the Mercedes. Triggering the Leclerc pitstop with Gasly was smart, but I expected them to then let Verstappen use the pace of the car to stretch his legs in the free air. Instead he got tangle up again with Leclerc (sure he was ahead existing the pits, but that was not something they would've/should've counted on). Perhaps the mediums had suffered too much already, but seeing Vettel (admitted in more clear air) getting the softs too lap 28, it seemed to have made much more sense to go long.



P.S. Awesome race, I hope it will be a precursor for 2021 rule changes.

[F1Pete]

I think the comparison of Vettel to Schumacher in his later years stands out when MS rammed into the back of someone for no apparent reason. I remember Brawn freaking out on the radio asking him what the hell happened? I don't remember what race it was or who he hit, but Vettel's crash reminded me of it.

If someone can remember that particular race when MS was driving the Merc, it would be great.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by F1Pete

I think the comparison of Vettel to Schumacher in his later years stands out when MS rammed into the back of someone for no apparent reason. I remember Brawn freaking out on the radio asking him what the hell happened? I don't remember what race it was or who he hit, but Vettel's crash reminded me of it.

If someone can remember that particular race when MS was driving the Merc, it would be great.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

This one? https://www.torquenews.com/1/michael...rix-video-2011

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

This one? https://www.torquenews.com/1/michael...rix-video-2011

Actually it when he rear ended Vergne in the same GP in 2012

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Who won the netball?

Who cares?

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by Taxi645

P.S. Awesome race, I hope it will be a precursor for 2021 rule changes.

Run all 21 races at Silverstone?

[S griffin]

Well we still need that traditional trip to Monaco

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Run all 21 races at Silverstone?

I must admit, as a simracer, Silverstone was one of my favourites.


Stowe being my personal favourite, the way you would transition from high speed braking into leaning on the outside tires, sailing by the crest and then oozing out onto the kerbs into the direction of Vale. That must feel nice in a real car.


And then I'm not even talking about the wheel to wheel fights to be had there!




Good it has been preserved (and at much more reasonable rates)!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Greem

Nobody, the final isn't until Sunday. That said, England have beaten Uganda, Scotland and Samoa so far... and Australia have beaten all of their opponents, too.

Thanks for that.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

Who cares?

I thought I'd ask as it was mentioned.