Brought to you by TheJudge13 contributor Mattpt55
The mischievous and capricious Gods of the Race were out in full force today round Silverstone as the mixed up grid finally delivered the exciting race that had been promised. Having decided that Lewis Hamilton had suffered enough, they first struck Sebastian Vettel with a dart at the start gaining the Briton 2 places before the race was put on hold as Raikkonen, deemed unrepentant was hit with a bolt of thunder and sent spinning across the track after an off, collecting Massa and Kobayashi on his way and giving the crowd a genuine scare. Kimi was visibly shaken as he emerged from the cockpit after a vicious crash into the Armco at the end of his adventure. Fortunately he was not seriously injured and returned to the garage after a lengthy visit to the medical facilities.
The race restarted nearly an hour later and Hamilton immediately took advantage of his gain to take Magnussen and less than a lap later Button. Massa was dealt with cruelly as he was unable to make the restart of his 200th Grand Prix, but his teammate was rewarded with an electric drive through the field from 14th to 4th in a matter of laps. Not far behind Alonso too had the waves part for him as he displayed every last bit of the clinical skill for which he is renowned.
Differing tyre strategies at the restart layered the field with the two stoppers carving through the field as the one stoppers carefully conserved. By the middle of the race runners were finding their true position and the battles were beginning in earnest. Hamilton tracked down nearly 5 seconds from Rosberg before his pit-stop but elected to keep his own counsel and stay out, despite losing time, to shorten his stint on the hards. Behind, Bottas continued to keep the TV cameras interested as he took P3 from Button, and Ricciardo began to make his way back up the field following his first stop.
The Gods continued to Smile Down on Lewis as he discovered, much to his surprise, that the Mercedes was virtually as fast on the Hards as on the Mediums, if not faster. Not an easy question to answer as the Gods, in their tender mercies, awarded Rosberg a big box of neutrals a short while later, handing the easy win to Hamilton .
The best was saved for the fans though, as their devious nature had brought Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso into mortal conflict for 5th place. In an epic battle over 14 laps, worthy of the tender ministrations of Homer himself, the pair traded places for multiple breathtaking laps, eliciting screams, groans, shouts and cheers; extending to the stewards as both drivers took vociferously to the radio to complain bitterly about the other’s driving, before Vettel finally made it stick on lap 48, making the fans forget they had been deprived of a Rosberg-Hamilton duel.
Not content The God of Racing Humor decided to enliven the last laps by breaking pieces of Maldonado’s car and causing the engine to give up. And the crowd were rewarded with a bit of magic once again as Button was given one final, tantalizing chance to gain the podium as he desperately tried to track down Ricciardo running on Mediums that were 36 laps old at the end of the race. Button was cruelly denied his palmares as the Fates decided the sunny Australian was more deserving crossing the line less than a second in front of the McLaren and sealing one of the most epic races in many a season and definitely the best of this season.
Prelude
Under a Ham and Egg Sky and with a completely dry track the British Grand Prix already began to deliver on its thrills as the relentless anxiety of the start began to waft through the crowds. Lewis had an early moment as he radioed in smoking brakes at the end of the pit lane, but he duly carried on under orders and made the race start. Bianchi suffered problems as well and Marussia made good and got him out of pit lane in time for the start. Gutierrez having changed a gearbox in Parc Ferme´ was handed a 5 spot penalty further scrambling an already confused grid.
As the lights went out Vettel immediately drove straight backwards as both Button and Magnussen got off the line quickly and Hamilton despatched Hulkenberg and immediately began lining up Vettel. After a short dance and a little wheel banging he was by but the big action was at the back of the field as Massa had suffered a clutch problem that made him look worse than Webber at the off. But it was Perez and Vergne first to litter carbon fibre over the track into Abbey as the contact spun off.
The Ferraris too made an excellent start and as Massa threaded his way past the Caterham, Kimi went very wide into the Wellington straight. Attempting to rejoin at speed he missed the concrete apron with the rear of the car and was launched by the drainage ditch into a scarlet missile. As he spun across the track he managed to collect both Kobayashi and Massa, though adroit driving by the pair prevented serious injury, it was not enough to save their cars and both Massa and Raikkonen would be done for the day.
Eerie moments, as the crowd waited for Kimi to climb out of the cockpit and the race was red flagged. He did, with assistance, but was visibly limping though Medical Control later confirmed it was severe bruising and Raikkonen returned to the pits for the remainder of the race.
Act I
1 hour later, and after many rules explanations, the race was restarted under the safety car, meaning places gained would be kept but the red flag allowed several teams to switch their tyre strategy. Vettel and Ricciardo – chief among them – strapped on the hard boots whilst Lewis received a message to do a launch when the safety car pulled off.
The departure of the Safety car saw Bottas immediately past Kvyat and Hamilton all over Magnussen. Magnussen went wide watching his mirrors and Hamilton was by and after Button in P2 as Rosberg was already several seconds up the road.
Bottas continued his push passing Ricciardo for 7th on Lap 4 as Alonso passed Gutierrez and began lining up Sutil for 10th. Hamilton chased Button into Brooklands and his old teammate put up nary a challenge, wisely focusing on his own race as Hamilton flashed through and began the real business of attempting to salvage his World Championship hopes.
Rosberg appeared most uncooperative, matching Hamilton’s pace roughly 5 seconds up the road. As the status quo was maintained, Alonso stealthily made his way into the top 10 and with Alonso, Kvyat and Ricciardo all now running within one second of each other there was no shortage of action on track. Alonso made a beautiful pass on Kvyat for 9th as Ricciardo tried and failed to get round Hulkenberg then was further wounded as Alonso got past him and began to work Hulkenberg into position. A little further up Button, Magnussen and Vettel all settled into a steady rhythm as the pair of Mercedes put 2.5 seconds a lap on the rest of the field.
Alonso, having regrouped, tried a move on Hulkenberg into Vale, but the very wily Hulkenberg defended. The unwelcome news also came through that Alonso would be investigated for being out of position on his grid spot at the start. Perfunctory, as they had the picture and it wasn’t long before a 5 second stop and go was announced.
Undeterred Alonso continued his campaign against Hulkenberg and finally succeeded into Brooklands as Bottas caught up to Vettel and began to put the 4 time WDC under increasing pressure on lap 9.
Having seen the example of Alonso, Ricciardo began to have a serious crack at the German, causing Hulkenberg to run wide at turn 9 and risk the wrath of Charlie, but no matter as Ricciardo completes the pass and goes clear. Taking advantage of a momentary lapse in action, Gutierrez inexplicably drives directly into Maldonado, launching the Lotus spectacularly into the air, a moment that delights the TV director as we are treated to several replays in spectacular slo-mo as the race continues. Appropriately Gutierrez is done and beached and as his car is recovered under yellow, Vettel pits on lap 11 to ditch the Hards and go back to the Mediums.
Rosberg, having held Lewis off for a while, was slowly beginning to lose time to his teammate as Ericsson suffered suspension damage and slowly crawled his Caterham back to the garage.
The radio continued to make the race interesting as Rosberg was told he was on his fuel target with none to spare with his teammate inexorably closing in on him. As TV viewers were treated to the most spectacular shot yet of the Flying Lotus, Bottas continued to demonstrate how much he deserved his drive by taking P4 from Magnussen into Stowe.
Hulkenberg’s woes continued as he was warned for violating the track limits at Copse. Magnussen was going from the frying pan to the fire as he struggled at the end of his stint, with Alonso taking massive chunks of time out of him. And on lap 16 the inevitable, as into Stowe Alonso firmly put the lad in his place. In the exact same place, Vettel, working his way through the field, went past Hulkenberg.
Not to be outdone, one lap later, Bottas took 3rd from Button, again into Stowe, having a fantastic drive and pulling the load for Massa as well. Rosberg, meanwhile, was beginning to lose the battle with Hamilton but the team simply told him to push as it wouldn’t be long.
Lap 18 saw Ricciardo passing Sutil for 9th as Hamilton was well within sight of Rosberg and smelling blood at 2.5 seconds. Bonnington gave him the obligatory Hammer Time message and it’s on – as Rosberg takes to the pits for new tyres.
Act 2
Rosberg emerged a safe P2 as Bottas slid all over Brooklands but insists to his team that his tyres are easily good for another 10 laps. Hamilton continued to push and for the moment matched the pace of his teammate on new tyres as Alonso struggled to find a way around Button, who seemed rather immune to his tactics.
By lap 21 Hamilton began to lose time to Rosberg, but stayed out, confirming that he was on a different strategy to Rosberg. More chillingly, Rosberg radioed in trouble with his downshift which Mercedes confirm. Ricciardo passed Hulkenberg into Brooklands as it became apparent that the lengthy first stint for Hamilton was likely to limit his time on the hards and leave him with a fresh set of fast tyres for the end of the race.
By lap 24 the game was up and Hamilton prepared to pit next lap while Alonso continued his fruitless efforts to outsmart Button. Hamilton emerged on the Hards almost 6 seconds clear but with good pace. Button found it necessary to point out Alonso’s frequent track limits violations, but Vettel provided some action by passing Magnussen into Copse for P6.
Alonso yielded the field next lap and served his 5 second penalty as Hamilton began to make the damage up by setting a fastest lap on hards, closing down on Rosberg at an alarming rate. Button’s complaints apparently having been judged valid, Alonso was shown the black and white flag for driving standards, not a regular thing but delightful to see.
As Hamilton closed on Rosberg at over a second a lap the lack of pace from Rosberg confirmed that his gearbox was giving him more, rather than less trouble. Lap 29 was the end for Nico as his gears turned to mush and despite his desperate pleas to the garage to give him anything to get the car to the end they had no answer and he rolled slowly through Maggots and Becketts finally coming to a gentle stop on the grass. There he remained for another 2 laps until the marshals finally forced him out of the car. Hamilton cruised on, significantly more than a pit stop ahead of Bottas and no real competition left on track, bit of a tragedy really as it was shaping up to be a fascinating race at the end.
Lap 32 saw Bottas pit, emerge behind Vettel and rapidly move past him through Stowe as Vettel took his second pit stop, emerging in 5th place barely ahead of Alonso and Magnussen. All three wasted no time getting into it as Alonso came out ahead after a stonking move on the outside of Copse. Vettel, not one to take such things lightly caught Alonso on Lap 36 and began his epic multi-lap campaign to take the position back. With the pit stop of Bottas, Hamilton was 40 seconds up the road and probably playing Mario Kart on his steering wheel. With the Hards outperforming expectations he was relegated as all attention focused on the battle between Vettel and Alonso, one of the hardest fought and most exciting in a long, long time.
Lap 38 saw Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Button, Alonso and Vettel in the top spots as several times Vettel had his nose in on Alonso, but with the Spaniard firmly closing the door Vettel was forced to back out or collide, prompting angry calls from Vettel over the radio. As the attempts intensified, both took to violating the track limits and becoming increasingly desperate to keep the faster Vettel behind, Alonso began dragging every trick out of his bag. Strategic slowing, apex pinching wheel to wheel lap after lap the pair mesmerized the crowd, with a raw display of talent and nerve. By lap 43 both were on the radio complaining of each other’s naughty behavior as it was clear that it was more than just places at stake, but it was intensely personal for both drivers. Button was told to track down Ricciardo as it had become apparent that the Australian had been moved to a one stop strategy and with his tyres 23 laps old a chance still existed for Button’s first ever podium at Silverstone.
But it was still the Alonso and Vettel show as the fireworks continued and Hamilton seemingly wasn’t even racing anymore, so long had it been since the distinctive silver livery graced the viewer’s screens. Lap 47 showed Vettel going 4 wheels off though Club and inching closer and closer to Alonso down the straight. It was to be the next lap, however that seared deep into the primal lizard brains of true race fans as Vettel finally got properly alongside Alonso and for 4 straight corners they ran side by side until finally Vettel stuck the knife firmly in – going through Chapel leaving Alonso to furiously accuse him of illegally using DRS to get past all the way to the end of the race. Regardless of which driver or team you support, that’s the kind of racing one wants to see every race and that’s the kind of racing that *will* keep fans coming back. If you weren’t on the edge of your seat for that, it might be time to check for a pulse.
A quick disaster for Maldonado on lap 51 as his engine started smoking and bits and pieces appeared to be falling off and all that was left to see was if Jenson could finally achieve his podium. Going in to the final lap he was slightly over a second off and making up ground at almost exactly that rate, so the director helpfully showed Lewis swanning about and crossing the line so far ahead of Bottas that viewers had time to get up for another cup of coffee before he came into view. Then the camera hung breathlessly on empty track for agonizing seconds before Ricciardo sprang into view with Button hanging off his gearbox. That was the way they crossed the line with Vettel, Alonso, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Vergne rounding out the points positions.
It’s one for the record books too as Hamilton ties Sir Jackie for wins and now sets his sights on Nigel Mansell. With the WDC near parity at the top and the feud between Alonso and Vettel reignited – race fans have much to look forward to over the long hot summer, though it will take a lot to top today’s spectacular racing.
Final Results
| # | Driver | Ctry | Team | Time | Gap | Pits |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton |  |
Mercedes | 1:38.780 | 2:26:52.094 | 2 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas |  |
Williams | 1:39.977 | 30.100 | 1 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo |  |
Red Bull | 1:38.993 | 46.400 | 1 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | |
McLaren | 1:38.284 | 47.100 | 1 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel |  |
Red Bull | 1:37.481 | 53.500 | 2 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso |  |
Ferrari | 1:38.587 | 59.500 | 1 |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen |  |
McLaren | 1:39.360 | 62.100 | 1 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | |
Force India | 1:38.625 | 88.200 | 1 |
| 9 | Daniil Kvyat |  |
Toro Rosso | 1:38.452 | 88.800 | 2 |
| 10 | Jean-Eric Vergne |  |
Toro Rosso | 1:40.062 | 101.000 | 1 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez |  |
Force India | 1:40.039 | 108.800 | 1 |
| 12 | Romain Grosjean | |
Lotus | 1:38.996 | 1 lap | 1 |
| 13 | Adrian Sutil | |
Sauber | 1:43.747 | 1 lap | 1 |
| 14 | Jules Bianchi | |
Marussia | 1:39.961 | 1 lap | 1 |
| 15 | Kamui Kobayashi |  |
Caterham | 1:45.931 | 2 laps | 2 |
| 16 | Max Chilton | |
Marussia | 1:40.399 | 2 laps | 2 |
| 17 | Pastor Maldonado |  |
Lotus | RETIRED | 3 laps | 1 |
| R | Nico Rosberg | |
Mercedes | RETIRED | 24 laps | 1 |
| R | Marcus Ericsson |  |
Caterham | RETIRED | 41 laps | 1 |
| R | Felipe Massa |  |
Williams | RETIRED | 52 laps | 1 |
| R | Kimi Raikkonen | |
Ferrari | RETIRED | 52 laps | 0 |
| R | Esteban Gutierrez | |
Sauber | RETIRED | 43laps | 0 |
World Drivers Championship
World Constructors Championship
Great write up, brilliant race too but isn’t it a shame that Alonso and Vettel were bleating about each other rather than enjoying a hard fight? I understand why Lauda was so annoyed by the oppressive rules in F1. I can only imagine what Arnoux and the late Villeneuve would say about today’s battle.
Kids….
Im thinking if the FIA wouldnt have such a huge stick in its ass, these drivers wouldnt be complaining as much about a tough fight.
(Although Arnoux and Villeneuve most likely still wouldnt complain if they were driving in this generation.)
It didn’t bother me during the race, as I don’t blame the drivers for the way the rules are currently enforced.
However, it was rather noticeable that Vettel was still whinging after the race – in sharp contrast to Alonso (and indeed Hamilton, who I thought had reasonable ground for complaint given Vettel’s early attempt to punt him off the track).
Yeah, Vettelina was the worst one, still believes that nobody has the right defend his position.
Yeah!
I was thouroughly entertained today. Shocked and then relieved at Kimi – and than this race with all those battles! Shame rosberg’s car broke down.
Shame repairs took so long. Although Niki is probably right, I understand why they did repair. But I wondered why there’s no spare barrier. Say if you got about 30 meter spare, in different lenghts, you should be able to repair in 15 minutes, no?
@ verstappen
” Say if you got about 30 meter spare, in different lengths, you should be able to repair in 15 minutes, no? ”
–
they had to repair the stanchions too
so please tell me how easy it would be to replace about 30 metres of soil –
which would weigh at least 30 tonnes –
plus the weight of the included guard rail –
in 15 minutes ?
HELLO – reality check !
Maybe not 15 min. But an hour? That’s a bit too much. A whole argument a explaining the misses that f1 isn’t boring. And than an hour of nothing going on. All my arguments where invalid. 😉
agreed
it really should have been done in about 30 minutes max
but – as was pointed out in the BBC commentary – it was done in the usual British style
one man working whilst two others look on doing nothing
–
and the British still wonder why their industry went down the toilet ?
@ bruznic
P.S. – you should have just told your missus
what do you expect ?
just look at their beer …..
Hard to understand why the FIA’s track safety scrutineers would allow an open drainage ditch that is 3 -5 inches deep and just off the tarmac to exist.
Because they dont realise anything can happen on a race track. Anybody can crash anywhere.
There was a similar spot in Austria that the NBC commenters highlighted. The Event communications document specifically mentioned drainage improvements, but gave no exact locations.
Your the tech guy, here’s something that might interest you..
http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2014/0/1198.html
Lenny Kravits covered this last month
Did I ask you if and when it was covered? The link was for Matt, not you.
Is your life that pathetic that you feel the need to comment of every single post that someone writes? Get a fucking life asshole!
You think because you come and act all boisterous, abusive and offensive, you feel like you’ve actually accomplished something?
I said it to you once before, your nothing but a keyboard warrior, who seems to think calling people names and being offensive, makes you look macho. Your nothing but a punk, who’d run and hide at the first sign of trouble. I’ve met a lot of people like you in my life, who only act that way, because they’re insecure.
So please continue, because if you think that, I’m losing sleep at night over an imbecile like yourself, than you’re more dilussional and stupid than I thought!
If anything, I feel real sorry for you.
says the sad fuck that ALWAYS has to respond to anyone’s posts you don’t like
YOU ARE THE SAD AND PATHETIC PERSON
YOU ARE THE PUNK
YOU ARE THE ONE WHO’D RUN AND HIDE AT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE
YOU ARE THE INSECURE ONE
so please continue
whilst I continue to laugh at YOU
HA HA HA 😀
–
You’d think a tractor like the F14T could have handled a wee ditch like that though, eh?
Ah – grasshopper
mistake
Raging Bull from Sant’Agata
for Dead Horse from Maranello
Just goes to show the best way to improve the racing is having the fast cars all starting at the back!
There you go, start the top 10 in reverse order and give a point or two in Quali to make it worthwhile
@ Matt
surely it should be in complete grid reverse order – not just the top 10
no ?
–
P.S. – IMO – a stupid idea just like [ please insert any FIA regulation of your choice ]
“though it will take a lot to top today’s spectacular racing.”
Your report reminds me of when I was a kid and used to listen with my friends to boxing matches on Friday night on the radio. The announcer would have us believing that both boxers were beating the daylights out of each other – that is until we say the replay the next day on TV……………..
LOL, I’ve watched a fair number of F1 races and the battle between Alonso and Vettel was one of the most exciting things I’ve seen. Puts the duel at Bahrain to shame, TBH. It may not be Senna Prost but it’s the best racing I’ve seen in recent years, as far as this sport is concerned.
I agree that it was good to watch. The rest of the race was a dud.
Kimi is having a season that he’d like to forget, but I’m wondering if Ferrari would look to let him go, even before the season is over.
I like Kimi, but he just has not been doing the job that’s required of him. There has been way too many errors on his part, (spinning twice at the hairpin in Canada and with his off today etc) Granted some of his problems aren’t self inflicted (used as a target practice by Kmag etc), but some of the more blatant ones are.
Today’s off, probably could’ve been avoided, with a bit more caution when he tried to rejoin the track. It looked like he just floored the throttle so as to get back on infront of those behind him.
I think the mid season break can’t come quick enough for him, so that he can get a chance to do some r&r and do a full reset and come back better in the 2nd half of the season. He’s a former WDC and he’s a much better driver than what is being shown at the moment.
In Canada his spins were caused by some malfunctioning in the engine.
His off today was too risky. Maybe he should have paid more attention to details on his trackwalk (little sarcasm).
I think today he was just unlucky to be starting where he was.. he went off avoiding Gutierrez, and was probably trying to avoid Ericsson as he rejoined when he lost it over the random ditch, just after the ironically placed full run-off area.
This race, will for the time being, put to bed the suggestion from some journo’s, that one of the M-B drivers car was getting, shall we say inferior parts, that were prone to failure.
Slow pitstops are still on the table though…
I know …..
all those Mercedes pit crew from the well know German city of Brackley have it in for him
“put to bed the”
Or scratcher for some posters……
yes but this mercedes f1 team is as german as a yorkshire pudding made in a restaurant in berlin.
*tongue in cheek ON*
Hamilton swapped the cars overnight.
*tongue in cheek OFF*
I think the talks of momentum swing are a bit too early. Hamilton has clearly lost focus on his qualifying, though his first Q3 run yesterday was faster than Rosberg’s. I read some people suggesting Hamilton tried to out-Rosberg Rosberg but I will just say that Hamilton’s mind-set is too simple to think that far away. He got out of jail today and his disastrous decision to not complete his lap regardless of the time lost is a timely lesson for him to not leave anything to chance. Until he actually nails pole in Q3 fair and square and follows up with a solid win, there is no real momentum swing.
All champions need a healthy dose of luck and opportunism and today was the first time Hamilton got to score points with Rosberg out of the equation. Though Rosberg got a net 43 points with Hamilton scoring 0, Canada was a particular case and Rosberg was the luckier driver as he managed his rescue operation and Hamilton didn’t have that chance, I’d argue that Rosberg forced luck his way by getting pole. Running in clean air is just that much better. Rosberg’s retirement is a big worry for me, this just shows that Mercedes are truly vulnerable to reliability issues and what happened to Rosberg today may well happen to Hamilton in future races.
Perhaps Mercedes’ issues are a good sign for the other teams as they get to score points and/or podiums and not just scrap for the last place on the podium, which has been the case pretty often this season. In any case, I hope Hamilton learnt his lessons regarding qualifying laps and just focuses on sticking the car on pole, winning the race in the most boring and dullest way possible and getting on with doing what he (generally) does best : being faster than his team-mate.
I don’t really buy the argument about Hamilton’s quali mistake being quite so egregious.
Granted it was a mistake not to continue on that last run, but the number of future occasions when it will make sense to do so, despite being a second and a half down on the delta after two thirds of the lap, iis going to be vanishingly small.
” ….. this just shows that Mercedes are truly vulnerable to reliability issues and what happened to Rosberg today may well happen to Hamilton in future races. ”
–
the DNF’s they have both suffered have nothing to do with luck or probability
they have both had technical failures
neither has made any driving mistakes to cause these DNF’s
the only worry for both of them is Mercedes seem to be having more and more problems
is that due to regulation ?
i.e. – limited number allowed and that the PU’s are still underdeveloped and fragile
or
is there something more fundamental behind the issues they are having ?
like Ross Brawn’s departure ?
–
so whether Lewis or Nico have any problems in the future – has more to do with the Mercedes infrastructure than anything else …..
Indeed.. and they have so much pace in hand, all they have to do is bring the car home each time for a regular 1-2.
At the mid-point of the season, if we are seeing failures on the Mercedes, then it’s fair to say these will increase as the season goes on, and the number of parts available without penalty decrease.
@ f1esty
with the new rules and PU’s
I think we’ll being seeing loads of penalties being applied to every team – even Mercedes if they’re not careful
Can’t wait to have an appropriate 5th anniversary of the Japanese GP penalty fest!
I thought Hamilton was seriously unlucky in Q3, not just to lose out but to do so because for once he let his brains rule his emotions, If his lap delta was apparently hopeless, then putting avoidable stress on the engine, tyres, brakes and gearbox is a ‘head’ decision of the sort in the past he’s been slated for not making. Easy to criticise with hindsight, but actually I think a sign that he’s getting better. Ditto his restraint in the early race as he let the gap stay around 5 seconds rather than pushing and shredding his tyres 1 second behind (again). I think he had Nico beaten long before the gearbox issue.
Meanwhile I am at a loss to know why Vettel was allowed to keep to place he won by going outside track limits. He ‘outbraked’ Alonson (dramatically) because unlike him he didn’t actually make the following corner. That, along with Nico’s corner-cutting in Canada to gain a second should be stomped on. That or we need higher kerbs, though perhaps we have enough flying cars already!
Nice points about Luigi starting to have a more level-headed approach to racing. I was also quite intrigued during the race that he was maintaining the gap at ~5sec behind Rosberg.
As for Vettel, the same question popped into my head. First Vettel got better traction/speed/corner exit from Turn 18 (Club) by running wildly wide on Lap 47 and managing to keep much closer to Alonso on the start-finish straight. Then he almost (or maybe he actually did) got four wheels out of the track limits at Turn 5 just prior to the DRS activation point. And then he ostensibly gets four wheels off the track at Copse *during the passing move*. It does look like Vettel has stretched the interpretation of the rules here. He probably should have been instructed to yield the place back to Alonso.
Hell, Grosjean last year got penalized for his astonishing pass on Massa in Hungary for much less than that!!
That was precisely the example I thought of.
A bit shocked by that tbh, the place should have been given back, then we could have watched them go at it till the end of the race.
Side by side through Stowe, Vale and Club to the finish line… sounds fun. Show those MotoGP boys where it’s at =]
In regards to the track limits, it might be helpful to take up the paving and put back the grass………….
I don’t know if you were there landroni, but I was paying close attention to Alonso trackside all weekend, because, although I don’t like the guy, I can’t help but be impressed with how he gets performance out of that crap Ferrari. Having said that, he ignored track limits out of Copse, Club particularly, and Maggots-beckets-chapel and stowe, an awfull lot. I could see why, when seb got the warning, why he got a bit annoyed and messaged back, because that really was the pot calling the kettle black.
That said, Alonso still deserved driver of the day because he absolutely maximises his performance to leave nothing on the table (you can call it out driving the car if you are into your nonsense rhetoric), and to do that he uses whatever he can, including extending the track, intimidation, telling others to the stewards, etc.
I have head a few people say that this demonstrates this new breed of F1 drivers are like schools kids and not real men… but as per usual I think rose tinted glasses may be at play here, as this sounds exactly like the sort of shit Prost and Lauda would have pulled when they were driving.
twitter.com/K_RaikkonenF1/status/485883635485380608
https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/485887187213619200/photo/1
https://twitter.com/K_RaikkonenF1/status/485883635485380608/photo/1
My apologies for not having faith in Lewis and the law of averages.
The King is not dead after all, and lives to fight another day.
Nico can hand the crown back that I gave him yesterday.
Still I Rise
Still I Surprise.
@ PK
the law of averages doesn’t apply
I didn’t agree with your comments yesterday –
there’s still 12 GP points available
the winner will be the one with the most.
“the winner will be the one with the most.”
Help ma boab – tremendous insight…………..
cav – I know
guilty of stating the obvious
but that as you must admit it is the reality
those that make up what’s, if’s, buts, maybe’s ……… well
I – like you, as well as many others, could do that till the cows come home ….
–
but it doesn’t change what’s written down in black and white in the record books
and in years to come – that’s often all that people see
Have to agree.. and seeing the record books is nowhere near as informative as seeing the actual action.
You talk so much shit that your stupid ass can’t even count!! This was round 9 of 19, do the maths you degenerate piece of shit!!!
😉
I wouldn’t put it as strongly as you, Fortis96; but I do think manky needs some lessons in basic arithmetic.
@ PK see my replies
@ PK
nope – fair’s fair
I think you should have put it as strongly as Fortis – my bad 🙁
Both of you are wrong The last race has double points so effectively there are 11 races left.
” The last race has double points so effectively there are 11 races left”
You must have been dropped on your head as a child. It says double points, not double race.
So by your logic, then that means they’ll be doing double the amounts of laps as well?
But hey, what do I know, I’m the stupid one and basic arithmetic was never my strong suit. That’s why whenever the teacher use to ask me what was 1+1, I always said 11
precisely Cav
I had a typo
@ Fortis96
sorry –
I meant 11 GP points available
( typo )
You don’t get grammar either.
Sick of seeing your poor attitude and bad language.
This reminds me of an old Meme..
“Winning an argument on the Internet is like winning an event in the Special Olympics; even if you win you’re still retarded.”
This page is for comments, not slues of curse words and judgements.
Do we need a naughty step for the Courtroom?
With you there re the childish comments Aiden; at least Godwin’s Law hasn’t been invoked! Yet.
@ manky – I know precisely why the law of averages doesn’t apply, which is why I said what I did. I was being ironical:
“a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result”
In case anyone else needs enlightenment – law of averages:
” The law of averages is an erroneous generalization of the law of large numbers, which states that the frequencies of events with the same likelihood of occurrence even out, given enough trials or instances. The law of averages is usually mentioned in reference to situations without enough outcomes to bring the law of large numbers into effect.
A common example of how the law of averages can mislead involves the tossing of a fair coin (a coin equally likely to come up heads or tails on any given toss). If someone tosses a fair coin and gets several heads in a row, that person might think that the next toss is more likely to come up tails than heads in order to “even things out.” But the true probabilities of the two outcomes are still equal for the next coin toss and any coin toss that might follow. Past results have no effect whatsoever: Each toss is an independent event. “
@ PK
sorry – missed the ironical bit
it wasn’t obvious 🙂
Still I fantasize…
that Fortis96
isn’t a talentless cunt ?
Hey, I don’t know about you, but I LOVE me some cunts, so I’ll take that as a compliment.
you would …
other’s live in the real world
ha ha 😀
That’s all you’ve got you imbreed bastard!!!
says the cunt that can’t spell …
ha fucking ha retard
oh and BTW – my name isn’t Guillaume
go back to licking windows 😀
Fortis.
Please don’t react if provoked.
You have good points to make. I don’t always agree, but that’s fine also.
Our friends type are always removed in the end.
They destroy communities, and site owners don’t allow their hard work in building up communities to be undone by anyone.
Be patient, and ignore the noise. It will pass, eventually.
Indeed Colin
your type always destroys communities
and your type will always be removed in the end
site owners don’t allow their hard work in building up communities to be undone by anyone
–
so why don’t all – ” YOU TYPE’s ” – leave ?
and let us get back to the wonderful site it once was ?
Ok, guys. Knock it off. This isn’t the place for name-calling.
I admire the passion that you all have, but keep it civil or go elsewhere.
Honestly manky, you ruin everything that’s good about this website, resorting to calling people “cunts” is an all time low. Judge, please block him from commenting on here…
maybe blocking fanboys like you would be better …. eh ?
+1M.
Or make the switch to a Disqus plugin that encourages Facebook logins and real names and allows us to block people and downvote disrespectful posts into oblivion.
In reply to myself, this blog’s comments do have a downvote feature installed but it’s been hidden for some reason.
Because the idiots would use it indiscriminately and just downvote the people they were fighting, irrespective of what was being said.
@ j
+1M.
is that how many brain cells you lost last time you went to the toilet ?
No disqus, please!! At least some havens of mild Facebook-less privacy, please.
in the US the NBC commentators sometimes talk about things heard in “offline radio”. where can i get that?
You might be thinking of the Pit Lane Coverage. I know Sky and BBC do it on their ‘red buttons’.
On a side note, there is a level of exclusive team radio on the f1 app; but I haven’t had personal experience of it.
http://www.formula1.com/app/
I have the app but the radio button is useless. I have not heard anything after enabling it. I went through the settings to troubleshoot but one shouldn’t have to go that deep. something is wrong with it.
Judge. Could I ask you to have a private word with a few of your visitors.
I look for feedback, comments, fresh news and links to interesting information.
Not cunt this, cunt that.
Quite unimpressed it’s got this far.
Maybe it’d be worth organising a regular Moderator.
Yawn…
Half of the first lap and a real race between Vettel and Alonso were worth watching, which amounted to 5 mins out of 3 hours viewing. Why is the race being touted as ‘A Classic British GP’. Like so many other GP’s now, this one also cannot be classed as a reference point for super human endeavour and sporting achievement.
There is no credit due to Hamilton, especially after the retirement of Rosberg. Ham simply had a better and faster package than anybody else. If anything, surely the brief battle between Vet and Alo justifies the need to in some way, handicap the cars to bring them all into a similar performance envelope, in order to provide the racing spectacle that should be a GP. What we have currently is a televised showroom/platform which enables business and manufacturing to demonstrate how budget can affect relative performance of a piece of machinery… to the extent where the competition has clearly moved almost entirely from the track, into the design and manufacturing arena.
I agree with Nicky Lauda. I don’t believe that a race in a lesser formula would have been stopped for so long, if at all, in order to change a piece of barrier, especially in such an unexposed position on the track. The risk based draw of F1 has been removed from the sport. The risk of serious injury in F1 is no longer with the drivers on the track and is more so with pit lane personnel and film crews. What justifies the big salaries [ same for other sports by the way… Football??? ]. I have more risk of sustaining serious injury whilst riding my motorcycle out on the public highway on a sunny sunday afternoon.