With the dust just settled on the 2013 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX what was your thoughts on the race? What are your thoughts about the Pirelli tyre failures? Please let us know why you voted the way you did in the comments section below.
thejudge13
F1: Daily International News roundup, inside whispers and insight together with thoughts and opinion
I gave it a 6. The last few laps were pure fireworks. Alonso was just spectacular to watch. Points deduction though for Pirelli’s ridiculous tyres. How in the name of all that’s holy can tyres get CUTS from a blunt slab of concrete? Further points deduction for Mercedes’ sudden ‘understanding’ of the tyres. While it was good to see Nico win, it just smacks of trickery.
Vettel’s premature exit is good for the championship, though. Don’t want to know what would have had happened had he won. The crowd’s cheering when he retired was a bit sad as the British have an image of impeccable sportsmen over here. I only saw such things in Hockenheim and Monza before (and lately in Canada). I wish people would have more class about such things.
Overall a very entertaining race and good to see that teams have given up their over-cautious tyre saving and went for real racing instead. Of course the price tag were hideous blowouts. I hope the FIA pulls the finger to allow Pirelli some tests with other teams.
1. A double fiasco: Pirelli in one hand and the FIA and its IT farce in the other -can somebody at this point say that Mercedes didn’t gain an unfair advantage?-
….Well pirelli didn’t
Hahaha, I was thinking about adding that to my comment. They are so incompetent that they can’t benefit from they own test, incredible.
Well, Pirelli did benefit – sort of. They also tested the re-inforced version of the 2013 tyres, but some teams (FI, Lotus, maybe others) vetoed the new tyre. I suppose they might rethink that veto now
MAybe but neither FI nor Lotus suffered today.. maybe they think they wont 🙂
I think the teams need to look at the pressures they are running these tyres at, to try and gain an advantage. This has been a factor before. This would exacerbate the kerb structure problem. BE has a lot to answer for, this is motor racing not a pantomime show!
Pirelli was asking the teams to increase pressuse in the tyres by the end of the race in a desperate attempt to obtain sidewall stability, which leads me to something I have been discussing in other forums since preseason. Why did Pirelli decide to use a soft sidewall this year? Theory says soft sidewall tyres should be avoided in racing and everybody with a little of experience driving sports cars knows how badly they affect performance and how unsafe they feel/are.
Unless the teams were running outside of the parameters specified by Pirelli, they have done nothing wrongs.
“can somebody at this point say that Mercedes didn’t gain an unfair advantage?-”
Most of the posters on this site will try. 4 races ago Mercedes fell into the mid-field almost as soon as the race started. Today they have probably the best tyre wear characteristics. It’s evident that the test that the test was a significant help. Too bad for Mass, Vergne and Perez. Poetic justice it happened to Hamilton.
You make up your mind what we are all like and think without worring too much about reading what we write, or asking what we think.
Trollrampantef1 more like
A 7 reduced because of the tyre fiasco!
I gave it a 8, the race was very entertaining but for all the wrong reasons.
Mercedes and Red Bull were clearly the teams matching each-other for pace, Hamilton was actually pulling away from Vettel gradually, until the left rear blew. And the worst part for him was that he had to do the whole lap before getting back to the pit, massive penalty for that and it must have been soul-crushing for him.
But when the same happened to Massa 4 laps later, and Jean-Eric Vergne another 2 laps later, then it started to really hit people that the race was going to be a rather dangerous one. Contrasting this with the race at Indianapolis in 2005, when Michelin told all teams it equipped to not race, I think it was the sensible thing to do, though obviously it made for a farcical race.
Anyway, the whole paddock was seriously fearful about tyre blowouts and they were having to tread a very fine line between racing and being conservative. For much of the race, we had cars running out of position, namely Alonso, Webber, Raikkönen and Hamilton in the “top group” and Sutil, Ricciardo, Di Resta and the McLarens in the “middle group”, that actually gave us plenty of good and fair racing. Hamilton vs Di Resta was good fun to watch and they ran each-other hardly but fairly.
The last few laps, after Perez had his left rear blow, were just total box-office stuff, again because we had cars out of position with fresh tyres and others with not so fresh tyres. Webber just ate the whole field bar Rosberg in the end, likewise Alonso, while Hamilton was opportunistic as hell on 2 occasions and did so rightly. Though he closed up on Alonso, I think the damage he was carrying in his car would have meant he wouldn’t go past Alonso unless he had a serious car issue.
So, all in all : it was a very entertaining race, we’ve had plenty of fighting going on at various points between various cars, I think that the drivers (although mindful of the tyre blowouts) were still racing each-other hard. In the end, for the neutral viewer it was a very entertaining race to watch. Vettel’s gearbox failing him was a really bad moment (I’ve seen Hamilton lose out in Singapore because of that so I won’t say I was happy because I know that’s a killer-blow for him) but for the championship it will bunch the drivers closer, so good for the overall interest I guess.
That also brings the Mercedes thing at the front : they were actually racing pretty competitively against Red Bull. Hamilton was comfortably ahead of Vettel for the little time he was ahead, Rosberg was not as quick but could still manage to stay on Vettel’s coattails so they’ve clearly made a step-forward. Which brings back the whole tyre-gate thing, I think it’s obvious they learnt something. They tried a “dangerous” trick with Pirelli, and eventually they got away with a mere slap on the wrist. Teams have tried that before and teams will continue trying that afterwards, it’s the name of the game. Ferrari and McLaren have done it more than often in the past, it’s ugly but it’s part of the game. Red Bull are massively pissed because now they see the opportunity they missed because they can see Mercedes will cause them trouble this year, maybe not in the drivers’ championship but the constructors’ will be interesting.
To conclude : I want to give a warm congratulations to Nico Rosberg on his win, he was opportunistic, perhaps not the fastest driver on the day (for me, it was one of Vettel and Hamilton) but he stayed clear of the tyre issues (he had an imminent tyre failure but pitted just at the right time) and just about held on in the end. Also big congrats to Mark Webber for his own recovery drive, likewise Alonso, good races for them as they needed it. I was rooting for a Hamilton win but it wasn’t to be, still glad that Mercedes won the race, that’s a great boost.
Its difficult, as a spectacle and an exciting event, its was right up there, yet I can’t help but feel it was contrived and a result of a degree of both types of luck due to tyres.
As a Lewis fan I was gutted, but it was still a great drive by him, Felipe, Webber, and indeed the guys on the podium. Unlucky for Seb, but generally all good for the championship.
I gave it a 10!
Heaps of overtakes and drama.
Vettel’s luck runs out (finally) – why he chose to park his car where he did after slowing down noticeably for the previous 2 corners beggars belief.
Now we may have a championship that’s not a foregone conclusion so early in the season
– wooooop
Surely you don’t think he did that in order to bring out the safety car and help Webber by bunching the field again, do you?
Vettel helping Webber? Never 😉
A very succinct potential explanation of the reason for the tyre damage by Gary Anderson on BBC F1 forum. A combination of sharp kerb edges, weak tyre walls and drivers consistently putting a wheel over the edge. As Eddie Irvine is reported to have said many years ago – if they put armco round the corners drivers would not cut them!
Gary Anderson indeed highlighted a good point, in my view, and that’s probably what happened today. A lot of drivers experienced cuts in their tyres, Vettel and Rosberg were very lucky to not suffer tyre blowouts themselves because their tyres had cuts in them and it was a matter of time before they would blow ala Hamilton/Massa/Vergne/Perez.
I would love to vote, but it won’t let me for some reason. But, if I could vote, I would give a 9, just for all the drama throughout the race. We actually had drivers racing flat out, brilliant overtaking and re-overtaking. Cars which started at or near the back fighting their way through the field. Even better for me was that Vettel eventually had some bad luck for once, its almost unheard of, which closes the gaps in the championships a bit.
Gary Anderson on the turn 4 kerb –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23089321
5 is average between the zero of the present day f1 with secret tests, ridiculous tribunals and sanctions, tyres i wouldn’t on my volvo and so on, and 10 for the last seven laps. We, fans, and those drivers deserve a lot better show.