48 responses to “Rate the Race: 2015 FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX”
Well above average for the season, fizzled out in the last few laps but otherwise a goodun.
9 out of 10. Best race of the season. Definitely!
7
The rain was fun, but overall too little action. The new noses might be nicer to look at, but the racing Has suffered.
Watching the replay I think I should’ve voted an 8.
Great race but a disappointing result.
Saved by rain and Williams being idiots.
The 3.8 second pit stop by Williams handed Hamilton the win.
Williams are just too cautious now, hence settling for safe 2nd bests and ‘best customer’, which makes sense, but it shows Bottas he’ll have to be aiming for a Mercedes or Ferrari if he wants to win races. e.g. Austria 2014.
Wasn’t it more that they pitted a lap too late?
What was saved; Lewis or the Race? I thought the race was worse after the rain… it just randomised it, before it actually had some tension and pace. But yeah Lewis was saved by Williams being idiots, but his in lap was a good un, so even on the same lap I’m not sure Willaims could have held him off, but fair enough. But Lewis wasn’t saved by the rain, if not for the rain he’d have almost certainly had more points than Nico.
Saved by the rain!!! Are you sure you’re an F1 fan. That was great race
So what was the big hoopla about missing the test to go and watch Pharell?
Saved by the rain? Do you remember that Nico was two friggin seconds faster than Lewis before his pitstop? He made the correct decision, but without the Williams roadblock and the rain he might have had to work much harder.
And without the rain Nico would’ve finished 4th. But I’m glad you somehow chose to overlook that part. And without the rain, Seb would not have been on the podium.
Like always, Nico choked! Lewis was able to jump both Williams, he had the chance to get pass Bottas and got bullied yet again.
Not sure how you get to your reasoning of Nico choking? Could you please elaborate?
After his stop he came out side by side with Bottas, he had the inside line turning left onto the Wellington straight I think it was and he let the position slip and that’s despite being on tires that were one lap fresher and up to temperature.
At the start of the race, Lewis was in the same situation and at that point Bottas was actually ahead, but he saw the gap and took it.
Bit harsh on Nico that. Lewis only jumped the Williams’ because he got first call on the pitstop. He didn’t have the legs to beat them on track either. Shame Williams pit wall all turn into Bambi whenever they’re in a good position on track really.
No it’s not harsh. He had the inside line going into the corner and he got out muscled by Bottas who was on the outside on tires that weren’t fully up to temperature.
Lewis’s stop was 1.4s faster than Massa’s and his out lap was just as impressive.
Lewis jumped them in the pits through no skill of his own. Nico had to do it on the track, and he did.
Yes he did hippo, but with the assistance of the rain. Like I said, had it not been for the rain, he would’ve finished 4th.
Yes Lewis jumped them in the pit, but he made his strategy at the time work which allowed him to build his lead, Nico however didn’t look like he would’ve gotten past either Willaims even if they were still racing now.
How did Seb jump Massa again?
In the dry Lewis was closer to passing Williams than Nico was. By time the rains came he was already in front. AS to pit passing, well the driver is required to have brilliant in and out laps in order to make over/undercut work. Which he did.
Well, he technically got past Bottas on track in turn 4, but the SC restart lost that again.
Dont be ridiculously biased. There are things called in laps and out laps which usually affect the effectiveness of pit strategy. At least give Hamilton credit for that.
By the way, was Williams’ lack of pace in the wet not self evident?
“Oh but if this, if that”. Lewis won. End of.
It was already slippery by that point, times were 4 secs off dry pace; Coulthard pointed out that Lewis’ tyres had less life left.
Rosberg did well to keep his temps up and be closing at that point, where it did look like he could win in a drying finish. But once it was wet, Ham & Vet were the fastest on track.
Apparently it is possible to be a gangsta and beat everyone. It must literally pain the haters.
love it
Great race. Could have been so much better if Williams had let Bottas pass. Hammy would still have won because Bottas struggled in mixed conditions.
I guess all that ice racing not helping bottas!
That’s why hulk is a better choice for Ferrari. Doing a great job in the force India.
Shows what a difference you can make in the midfield.. Lotus should be ahead of them, but never seem to optimise with both cars, same for Toro Rosso who always break down.
Can’t wait for the review, I anticipate plenty of vitrol disguised as luck, Williams errors and pit stop timing.
And I gave it a very generous 9. It was exciting and remained undecided until the very end. There were battles for nearly all points positions and the conditions allowed more overtaking than usual.
Very genetous 6/10. Barely a single overtake on track in the dry. Saved by the rain. F1 has definitely lost its spark. Not sure if anyone else is in the boat but my excitement for this sport is virtually zero nowadays
I don’t see what makes some people rate the race so highly. Where was the racy part?
Maybe it’s because the rest of the season was so dull…
Who voted 1? Really? C’mon… Go watch NASCAR if you want WWE style entertainment.
I voted 9 – which is perhaps a touch inflated, but it’s a vote in the context of this season. A good, fun race…
Great surprise start by Williams. You might say saved by the rain but he made a brave choice and he worked with the conditions better than the others. So all the extra testing by Nico in the end made no difference. Yes he was going faster but he didn’t make the proper strategy call.
“Because I’m happyyyy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof…
Because I’m happyyyy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth…”….
Sorry WTF_F1, I had to borrow that comment 😂😂😂
Hahaha, it’s ok mate. Lewis did very well today…
In the old days it would have been a non-championship race, with only a half grid in the GP, like Australia. There must have been some cracking NC GPs that are totally forgotten about!
Can’t say watching the mercs unable to pass williams on track inspired me…up to the rain it was exciting, but only due to the run order rather than action, thankfully rain kicked in and allowed a few overakes. Bonus point for Checo’s pass on Vettel while still dry.
I don’t fully understand the “It was saved by the rain” comments. The race was the race – as a result of the rain things happened the way they did. We’ll never know what may/may not have happened in the dry. There’s way too much speculation and conjecture around F1 as it is (especially with the shift towards tabloid style coverage of drivers), maybe people should just accept that if a race had a greater deal of tension/interest in it because of the circumstances that unfolded they should just accept that and take it for what it is?
As I alluded to above, I thought that it had that degree of tension due to the changeable conditions, and seeing what strategies people would opt for. The constant “Yellow flag sector _” updates that popped up at the top of the feed also meant you never knew if you were about to have a cut away to a camera showing someone had binned it which also added its own spice.
Regardless of that though, with around 12-15 laps to go it became a lot more uncertain about who would finish where which isn’t something that happens at all that many races. Rosberg was storming it and closing in on the drivers in front the whole time, the rain was coming and going, people were slithering around the place – anything could have happened. That even came down to the last corner with how quickly Kvyat was closing in on Bottas.
That doesn’t even cover the first few laps as things started to slightly settle down at the start, then Bottas trying to make moves on Massa. Considering he appeared to have more pace it seems odd that Williams decided to make the call that Bottas wasn’t going to have his life made easier by Massa. Maybe Rob Smedley just didn’t want to have to radio that message again… The restart after the safety car added a bit more interest too.
Speaking of, it was good to see the VSC deployed when Carlos Sainz decided to park his car in probably the worst possible place. Glad to see it finally get used correctly, rather than just being a piece of legislation they’d drafted that’d never actually get properly utilised in a race.
Surely Sainz will get a slap on the wrist for that one, he left it in the middle of the run off when there was a path to the marshal post next to the gravel.
We all know it, and just like Austria 2014: “Valtteri is faster than you”.. however, I think it was tyre preference, Bottas was better on mediums, Massa on hards. But Williams did blow a chance to keep the lead until the rain came down, which would have been a win (likely 1-3) without the rain.
I can kind of see how if it cut out/died a little faster than he was expecting then he might himself without power in no-mans-land, but surely he could have done better than there?
In terms of Bottas/Massa, if they knew Bottas was better on the mediums then surely maximising his pace at that point would have been better than stymieing his stint on his optimal setup. If Massa ended up catching him on the hards then they could just swap positions back again and it’d be a fair deal (similar to the Red Bull position switcheroo earlier in the season). With how hard the Mercedes cars appear to find overtaking even if Massa was low on pace on the mediums it’s unlikely that both of the Mercs would get by him. Factoring in the fact that early in the race it seemed pretty likely that it would be rain affected and again it makes little sense that they’d hold Bottas up. C’est la vie, the benefit of hindsight, etc.
Agree.. I put the exact same example on F1F. If it’s obvious to us.. why not the teams? Merc and Williams need strategy help.. we are available. McLaren needs help everywhere, heh. “Button’s tyres on Alonso’s car”, who’s the village idiot now, Ron Dennis? Not EJ..
But Eddie Jordan is an idiot – this is one of Ron Dennis less… far fetched claims.
😀
On Saturday, the BBC showed a segment of Valtteri Bottas driving on a frozen lake. He said that he would be happy to play around on there all day long. Given his performance on the wet track, he didn’t get in enough time.
Williams need to sort out Massa. Today wasn’t the first time he’s not helped the team. Bottas might have got to the first stop with a significant lead, instead he was stuck behind Massa, who was doing a Truilli. Massa is a selfish fool.
I think this race didn’t reserve an 8 because the finish order was still a fairly predictable Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel. I was willing to give it a 7.5, but that’s not available, so I gave it a 7. Good race. It was enjoyable to see the four front cars racing so close for so many laps. It was amazing to see how fortunes change. Williams qualified 3-4, went 1-2 on the first lap, then ended finishing 4-5. Pretty interesting result. I always thought that Williams was going to get a third place, or perhaps 2-3.
Well above average for the season, fizzled out in the last few laps but otherwise a goodun.
9 out of 10. Best race of the season. Definitely!
7
The rain was fun, but overall too little action. The new noses might be nicer to look at, but the racing Has suffered.
Watching the replay I think I should’ve voted an 8.
Great race but a disappointing result.
Saved by rain and Williams being idiots.
The 3.8 second pit stop by Williams handed Hamilton the win.
Williams are just too cautious now, hence settling for safe 2nd bests and ‘best customer’, which makes sense, but it shows Bottas he’ll have to be aiming for a Mercedes or Ferrari if he wants to win races. e.g. Austria 2014.
Wasn’t it more that they pitted a lap too late?
What was saved; Lewis or the Race? I thought the race was worse after the rain… it just randomised it, before it actually had some tension and pace. But yeah Lewis was saved by Williams being idiots, but his in lap was a good un, so even on the same lap I’m not sure Willaims could have held him off, but fair enough. But Lewis wasn’t saved by the rain, if not for the rain he’d have almost certainly had more points than Nico.
Saved by the rain!!! Are you sure you’re an F1 fan. That was great race
So what was the big hoopla about missing the test to go and watch Pharell?
Saved by the rain? Do you remember that Nico was two friggin seconds faster than Lewis before his pitstop? He made the correct decision, but without the Williams roadblock and the rain he might have had to work much harder.
And without the rain Nico would’ve finished 4th. But I’m glad you somehow chose to overlook that part. And without the rain, Seb would not have been on the podium.
Like always, Nico choked! Lewis was able to jump both Williams, he had the chance to get pass Bottas and got bullied yet again.
Not sure how you get to your reasoning of Nico choking? Could you please elaborate?
After his stop he came out side by side with Bottas, he had the inside line turning left onto the Wellington straight I think it was and he let the position slip and that’s despite being on tires that were one lap fresher and up to temperature.
At the start of the race, Lewis was in the same situation and at that point Bottas was actually ahead, but he saw the gap and took it.
Bit harsh on Nico that. Lewis only jumped the Williams’ because he got first call on the pitstop. He didn’t have the legs to beat them on track either. Shame Williams pit wall all turn into Bambi whenever they’re in a good position on track really.
No it’s not harsh. He had the inside line going into the corner and he got out muscled by Bottas who was on the outside on tires that weren’t fully up to temperature.
Lewis’s stop was 1.4s faster than Massa’s and his out lap was just as impressive.
Lewis jumped them in the pits through no skill of his own. Nico had to do it on the track, and he did.
Yes he did hippo, but with the assistance of the rain. Like I said, had it not been for the rain, he would’ve finished 4th.
Yes Lewis jumped them in the pit, but he made his strategy at the time work which allowed him to build his lead, Nico however didn’t look like he would’ve gotten past either Willaims even if they were still racing now.
How did Seb jump Massa again?
In the dry Lewis was closer to passing Williams than Nico was. By time the rains came he was already in front. AS to pit passing, well the driver is required to have brilliant in and out laps in order to make over/undercut work. Which he did.
Well, he technically got past Bottas on track in turn 4, but the SC restart lost that again.
Dont be ridiculously biased. There are things called in laps and out laps which usually affect the effectiveness of pit strategy. At least give Hamilton credit for that.
By the way, was Williams’ lack of pace in the wet not self evident?
“Oh but if this, if that”. Lewis won. End of.
It was already slippery by that point, times were 4 secs off dry pace; Coulthard pointed out that Lewis’ tyres had less life left.
Rosberg did well to keep his temps up and be closing at that point, where it did look like he could win in a drying finish. But once it was wet, Ham & Vet were the fastest on track.
Apparently it is possible to be a gangsta and beat everyone. It must literally pain the haters.
love it
Great race. Could have been so much better if Williams had let Bottas pass. Hammy would still have won because Bottas struggled in mixed conditions.
I guess all that ice racing not helping bottas!
That’s why hulk is a better choice for Ferrari. Doing a great job in the force India.
Shows what a difference you can make in the midfield.. Lotus should be ahead of them, but never seem to optimise with both cars, same for Toro Rosso who always break down.
Can’t wait for the review, I anticipate plenty of vitrol disguised as luck, Williams errors and pit stop timing.
And I gave it a very generous 9. It was exciting and remained undecided until the very end. There were battles for nearly all points positions and the conditions allowed more overtaking than usual.
Very genetous 6/10. Barely a single overtake on track in the dry. Saved by the rain. F1 has definitely lost its spark. Not sure if anyone else is in the boat but my excitement for this sport is virtually zero nowadays
I don’t see what makes some people rate the race so highly. Where was the racy part?
Maybe it’s because the rest of the season was so dull…
Who voted 1? Really? C’mon… Go watch NASCAR if you want WWE style entertainment.
I voted 9 – which is perhaps a touch inflated, but it’s a vote in the context of this season. A good, fun race…
Great surprise start by Williams. You might say saved by the rain but he made a brave choice and he worked with the conditions better than the others. So all the extra testing by Nico in the end made no difference. Yes he was going faster but he didn’t make the proper strategy call.
“Because I’m happyyyy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof…
Because I’m happyyyy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth…”….
Sorry WTF_F1, I had to borrow that comment 😂😂😂
Hahaha, it’s ok mate. Lewis did very well today…
In the old days it would have been a non-championship race, with only a half grid in the GP, like Australia. There must have been some cracking NC GPs that are totally forgotten about!
Can’t say watching the mercs unable to pass williams on track inspired me…up to the rain it was exciting, but only due to the run order rather than action, thankfully rain kicked in and allowed a few overakes. Bonus point for Checo’s pass on Vettel while still dry.
I don’t fully understand the “It was saved by the rain” comments. The race was the race – as a result of the rain things happened the way they did. We’ll never know what may/may not have happened in the dry. There’s way too much speculation and conjecture around F1 as it is (especially with the shift towards tabloid style coverage of drivers), maybe people should just accept that if a race had a greater deal of tension/interest in it because of the circumstances that unfolded they should just accept that and take it for what it is?
As I alluded to above, I thought that it had that degree of tension due to the changeable conditions, and seeing what strategies people would opt for. The constant “Yellow flag sector _” updates that popped up at the top of the feed also meant you never knew if you were about to have a cut away to a camera showing someone had binned it which also added its own spice.
Regardless of that though, with around 12-15 laps to go it became a lot more uncertain about who would finish where which isn’t something that happens at all that many races. Rosberg was storming it and closing in on the drivers in front the whole time, the rain was coming and going, people were slithering around the place – anything could have happened. That even came down to the last corner with how quickly Kvyat was closing in on Bottas.
That doesn’t even cover the first few laps as things started to slightly settle down at the start, then Bottas trying to make moves on Massa. Considering he appeared to have more pace it seems odd that Williams decided to make the call that Bottas wasn’t going to have his life made easier by Massa. Maybe Rob Smedley just didn’t want to have to radio that message again… The restart after the safety car added a bit more interest too.
Speaking of, it was good to see the VSC deployed when Carlos Sainz decided to park his car in probably the worst possible place. Glad to see it finally get used correctly, rather than just being a piece of legislation they’d drafted that’d never actually get properly utilised in a race.
Surely Sainz will get a slap on the wrist for that one, he left it in the middle of the run off when there was a path to the marshal post next to the gravel.
We all know it, and just like Austria 2014: “Valtteri is faster than you”.. however, I think it was tyre preference, Bottas was better on mediums, Massa on hards. But Williams did blow a chance to keep the lead until the rain came down, which would have been a win (likely 1-3) without the rain.
I can kind of see how if it cut out/died a little faster than he was expecting then he might himself without power in no-mans-land, but surely he could have done better than there?
In terms of Bottas/Massa, if they knew Bottas was better on the mediums then surely maximising his pace at that point would have been better than stymieing his stint on his optimal setup. If Massa ended up catching him on the hards then they could just swap positions back again and it’d be a fair deal (similar to the Red Bull position switcheroo earlier in the season). With how hard the Mercedes cars appear to find overtaking even if Massa was low on pace on the mediums it’s unlikely that both of the Mercs would get by him. Factoring in the fact that early in the race it seemed pretty likely that it would be rain affected and again it makes little sense that they’d hold Bottas up. C’est la vie, the benefit of hindsight, etc.
Agree.. I put the exact same example on F1F. If it’s obvious to us.. why not the teams? Merc and Williams need strategy help.. we are available. McLaren needs help everywhere, heh. “Button’s tyres on Alonso’s car”, who’s the village idiot now, Ron Dennis? Not EJ..
But Eddie Jordan is an idiot – this is one of Ron Dennis less… far fetched claims.
😀
On Saturday, the BBC showed a segment of Valtteri Bottas driving on a frozen lake. He said that he would be happy to play around on there all day long. Given his performance on the wet track, he didn’t get in enough time.
Williams need to sort out Massa. Today wasn’t the first time he’s not helped the team. Bottas might have got to the first stop with a significant lead, instead he was stuck behind Massa, who was doing a Truilli. Massa is a selfish fool.
I think this race didn’t reserve an 8 because the finish order was still a fairly predictable Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel. I was willing to give it a 7.5, but that’s not available, so I gave it a 7. Good race. It was enjoyable to see the four front cars racing so close for so many laps. It was amazing to see how fortunes change. Williams qualified 3-4, went 1-2 on the first lap, then ended finishing 4-5. Pretty interesting result. I always thought that Williams was going to get a third place, or perhaps 2-3.