Silverstone

[cameraman]

It has been an epic disaster today at Silverstone. They are telling 25,000 people NOT to come to the quals tomorrow as the parking areas are non-functional due to the excessive rain. The practice sessions were a wash out. But people were stuck in gridlocked traffic for over 5 hours trying to get to the track. After the sessions were over people couldn't leave because the roads were blocked by people still trying to get in:eek:

Because it will probably be wet all weekend the teams didn't run much because they are not issued enough wet tires to make it through the weekend solely on wets. The teams were worried that if they ran through a lot of tires today they wouldn't have enough for qualifying & perhaps the race.

[Michaelhatesfans]

Bad timing as Bernie is pushing the London GP again.

[opinionated ow]

Bad timing as Bernie is pushing the London GP again.

If the amount of rain that fell yesterday fell on a street circuit, it'd be trapped between the concrete walls and would overwhelm the drainage system. It wouldn't matter which circuit and where, that sort of crazy weather just wreaks havoc everywhere.

[Methanolandbrats]

Bernie will fine them because they allowed it to rain more that the allowed amount in the regulations.

[stroker]

What a disaster. It's an equalizer, though. Better put that car on the front row or you're screwed. That'll separate the men from the boys.

[Michaelhatesfans]

If the amount of rain that fell yesterday fell on a street circuit, it'd be trapped between the concrete walls and would overwhelm the drainage system. It wouldn't matter which circuit and where, that sort of crazy weather just wreaks havoc everywhere.

Bernie doesn't give a rats ass about that, as long as his check clears. And he would love to have an excuse to pull the plug on Silverstone if it meant a bigger check from somewhere else.

[Insomniac]

Will people get refunds?

Interesting qualification session. Could prove to be another interesting race.

[cameraman]

Yes. Refunds are available.

And Silverstone had sold 80K for Friday alone, 120K for tomorrow.
That is the biggest gate in F1, the race isn't going anywhere.

[opinionated ow]

It was a mad situation but the general word is that they all got too precious. A British driver who won the Australian Formula 3 Championship a couple of years back (and has won in various other Formula 3 Championships and other categories) made the comment that at the first sight of rain everyone wants a safety car start. He thinks that's ludicrous and he's right...

[Insomniac]

Yes. Refunds are available.

And Silverstone had sold 80K for Friday alone, 120K for tomorrow.
That is the biggest gate in F1, the race isn't going anywhere.

On TV they said Silverstone has a 14 year extension. I'd say it's not going anywhere. :)

[gjc2]

What’s with the imitation Sam Posey? The qualifying show and the pre-race show introductions were Sam, but the race intro was a Posey imposter. This has been the case for all the races on Fox for at least this and last seasons. Why?

[Rogue Leader]

Wow, Maldonado is really terrible. Can he pass anyone without hitting them? I was excited for him for his win, but now I think he needs to be parked. He got a taste of the top and now he drives with the red mist.

[Methanolandbrats]

**** FOX, tape delay and the pseudo Posey. I had a news blackout till just before the race, could not stand it anymore, logged on and read about it in 30 seconds and went running. If it ain't live, it blows. :mad:

[stroker]

**** FOX, tape delay and the pseudo Posey. I had a news blackout till just before the race, could not stand it anymore, logged on and read about it in 30 seconds and went running. If it ain't live, it blows. :mad:

I think that's the last one this year. It could have been worse.

[gjc2]

I think that's the last one this year. It could have been worse.

I think Germany is the last one

[Elmo T]

I think that's the last one this year. It could have been worse.

How many times did they talk over each other this race? Sounded like they were all in different studios.

And :thumdown: to Phony Posey.

[SteveH]

Last year 'cured' me of Fox. www.justin.tv is your friend. Sometimes the quality could better, today I jumped between two streams but the coverage is always top notch.

[WickerBill]

So, hey, the race! Shouldn't the chop-block move at the green light be made illegal? Did Kobayashi sign all his crew members' casts? What was the chin's excuse du jour?

[Methanolandbrats]

Last year 'cured' me of Fox. www.justin.tv is your friend. Sometimes the quality could better, today I jumped between two streams but the coverage is always top notch.

Thanks man!

[SteveH]

Thanks man!

Search for the name of the race, it will give you several streams to select. Usually when you click on one, once it loads, look in the comments for a webpage to go to in order to see the feed. No use in bookmarking the webpage, it is only there just for the race, then it vanishes never to be reused again. Some may be full of ad over the video, it usually takes me a couple of attempts before I find a decent stream. Today several had been taken down by the 'man' ;)

Only problem is you have to watch in real time. I have DVRed the last two on FOX but deleted them without even watching.

I had used a 'specially modified' BBC viewer last year but that had gotten corrupted.

You have no idea how poorly even Speed covers F1 until you watch it on the Beeb.

[WickerBill]

Oh, another thing to Steve's point: Varsha is TERRIBLE.

[cameraman]

What was the chin's excuse du jour?

Besides being stuck in a **** car?

[WickerBill]

Besides being stuck in a **** car?

It's won a race this year, and he's driven a half dozen **** cars in his career and would always finish higher than he qualified. I'm just tryin' to make conversation happen :)

[cameraman]

It's won a race this year

So has Button's...

[WickerBill]

Speaking of Button, he went forward and Hamilton backward yesterday, and for once, we can't blame a horrible pit stop. Those sub-3 second stops are crazy.

[Rogue Leader]

It's won a race this year, and he's driven a half dozen **** cars in his career and would always finish higher than he qualified. I'm just tryin' to make conversation happen :)

The honest truth is the car is fine, the rest of the cars are just better, and Schumacher isn't Schumacher anymore, and Rosberg, while good, is not Vettel (and it hurts me to say that because I like Rosberg far more than Vettel).

[Insomniac]

What’s with the imitation Sam Posey? The qualifying show and the pre-race show introductions were Sam, but the race intro was a Posey imposter. This has been the case for all the races on Fox for at least this and last seasons. Why?

So they can do stupid stuff like call Hamilton two face and Button bionic. Maybe Sam Posey won't lower himself for that crap. :)

[Insomniac]

So, hey, the race! Shouldn't the chop-block move at the green light be made illegal? Did Kobayashi sign all his crew members' casts? What was the chin's excuse du jour?

I think it should be allowed. I think everyone was shocked Webber got such a good start! :)

[Insomniac]

When will Ferrari understand how tires work? They panic pitted Alonso early and he had to protect his tires so they didn't lose 3s a lap at the end.

[WickerBill]

Faces for Charity paint scheme looked really really good in the sunlight.

[DagoFast]

When will Ferrari understand how tires work? They panic pitted Alonso early and he had to protect his tires so they didn't lose 3s a lap at the end.

The hards from Fred's second stint (HHS) were losing time to Webber who was on his much newer (SHH) 3rd stint hards. Ferrari really didn't have a choice, they pitted for their final stop when they did to give Fred the largest possible cushion. It simply wasn't enough. Redbull got it right.

[Insomniac]

The hards from Fred's second stint (HHS) were losing time to Webber who was on his much newer (SHH) 3rd stint hards. Ferrari really didn't have a choice, they pitted for their final stop when they did to give Fred the largest possible cushion. It simply wasn't enough. Redbull got it right.

But would've the hards lost their luster after a few laps and been more similar to the used hards? Shouldn't the softs been a lot faster than the hards? So say Webber continued to close at 0.5s a lap. Gap was 19s, take an extra 6-8 laps, come out right behind him and chase him down on better tires. Did he really have any chance given the life of the softs?

[Methanolandbrats]

Whose gonna win the World Tire Management Championship this year? And they can take KERS and DRS and stick it up Bernie and Charlies's asses. :yuck:

[Hard Driver]

But would've the hards lost their luster after a few laps and been more similar to the used hards? Shouldn't the softs been a lot faster than the hards? So say Webber continued to close at 0.5s a lap. Gap was 19s, take an extra 6-8 laps, come out right behind him and chase him down on better tires. Did he really have any chance given the life of the softs?

He came in too early. Of course hindsight is everything.

[DagoFast]

But would've the hards lost their luster after a few laps and been more similar to the used hards? Shouldn't the softs been a lot faster than the hards? So say Webber continued to close at 0.5s a lap. Gap was 19s, take an extra 6-8 laps, come out right behind him and chase him down on better tires. Did he really have any chance given the life of the softs?

Alonso got it wrong by starting on the hard tire. It seemed like a sensible choice on the face of it, run the hard tires while the fuel load was heavy and go with the soft tires near the end when the fuel weight had burned off. (I really detest these stupid tire rules that require them to run both compounds during a race. F-that. Who wants to be required to run a crappy compound?)

But Fred's progression of H-H-S vs.the H-S-H of Webber was the wrong choice. For whatever reason, the soft tire was simply the slower of the 2 compounds at Silverstone as they did not last very long. I think Webber only ran the softs for about 6 laps. If I could explain why the soft tire degraded so fast and was slower, I would be Fred's new BFF, wearing red and cashing a big fat Ferrari paycheck! :D

My personal theory is that the guy at Pirelli that color codes the tires this season gets sloppy drunk on wine in the afternoons and just puts whatever color he wants on whatever compound he feels like. :rofl:

[SteveH]

I wonder that had there been more dry practice if Ferrari would have taken that strategy? It was sort of a crap shoot on tire strategy since nearly all of the running up until race day was totally unlike race conditions.

[Insomniac]

He came in too early. Of course hindsight is everything.

Hindsight? They forget about Canada? Massa ran the softs, they knew the life and performance.

[opinionated ow]

Hindsight? They forget about Canada? Massa ran the softs, they knew the life and performance.

Different track, different surfaces, different corners, different rubber down, different atmospheric conditions

[Insomniac]

Alonso got it wrong by starting on the hard tire. It seemed like a sensible choice on the face of it, run the hard tires while the fuel load was heavy and go with the soft tires near the end when the fuel weight had burned off. (I really detest these stupid tire rules that require them to run both compounds during a race. F-that. Who wants to be required to run a crappy compound?)

But Fred's progression of H-H-S vs.the H-S-H of Webber was the wrong choice. For whatever reason, the soft tire was simply the slower of the 2 compounds at Silverstone as they did not last very long. I think Webber only ran the softs for about 6 laps. If I could explain why the soft tire degraded so fast and was slower, I would be Fred's new BFF, wearing red and cashing a big fat Ferrari paycheck! :D

My personal theory is that the guy at Pirelli that color codes the tires this season gets sloppy drunk on wine in the afternoons and just puts whatever color he wants on whatever compound he feels like. :rofl:

Webber ran S-H-H and pitted on lap 15. Vettel went to 11 and seemed to benefit the most from getting off those tires early. Ferrari made a mistake, but at that point in the race, I think they should've known the tires were not going to hold up against Webber's for 15 laps. Maybe nothing would've mattered, but at least to me, it seemed like it was better to stay out and shred the soft tires for 8-10 laps or so. Webber took 0.5s off Alonso the 2 laps before he pitted. That's not so bad.

[DagoFast]

Webber ran S-H-H and pitted on lap 15. Vettel went to 11 and seemed to benefit the most from getting off those tires early. Ferrari made a mistake, but at that point in the race, I think they should've known the tires were not going to hold up against Webber's for 15 laps. Maybe nothing would've mattered, but at least to me, it seemed like it was better to stay out and shred the soft tires for 8-10 laps or so. Webber took 0.5s off Alonso the 2 laps before he pitted. That's not so bad.

You are correct. I miss-typed that in my last post, but had it right in a previous post. As to pitting Alonso later on his last set of hards and giving him fewer laps on the softs, I doubt that strategy would have worked either. At a half second a lap, his window to come out ahead of Webber after the stop was disappearing quickly. I would speculate that they felt he had a better shot of trying to keep Webber behind him than chasing him down and passing him?

Since the final race of 2010, Ferrari pit strategy is always a bit suspect. But this one was a tough call. I doubt any heads will roll for this one. It is turning out to be a helluva season!

[Insomniac]

You are correct. I miss-typed that in my last post, but had it right in a previous post. As to pitting Alonso later on his last set of hards and giving him fewer laps on the softs, I doubt that strategy would have worked either. At a half second a lap, his window to come out ahead of Webber after the stop was disappearing quickly. I would speculate that they felt he had a better shot of trying to keep Webber behind him than chasing him down and passing him?

Since the final race of 2010, Ferrari pit strategy is always a bit suspect. But this one was a tough call. I doubt any heads will roll for this one. It is turning out to be a helluva season!

I have my doubts too, but my perspective was the disaster in Canada. If the softs gave up, he could've lost a lot more than 1 spot.

It is also pretty stupid in general when the new option isn't superior to the new prime.

I wish the McClaren was doing better. Should ugly cars win a championship? Come on Hamilton!

[JohnHKart]

So, hey, the race! Shouldn't the chop-block move at the green light be made illegal? Did Kobayashi sign all his crew members' casts? What was the chin's excuse du jour?

On that start I thought I was about to watch somebody die or have a massive accident. Bad.

[Rex Karz]

Probably only a matter of time until someone mid-pack tries the Schumacher Chop and winds up wrecking about half of the grid.

[cameraman]

Webber ran S-H-H and pitted on lap 15. Vettel went to 11 and seemed to benefit the most from getting off those tires early. Ferrari made a mistake, but at that point in the race, I think they should've known the tires were not going to hold up against Webber's for 15 laps.

Webber did 15 laps on full fuel, Ferrari was hoping that Alonso's tires would last on light fuel. Oh well.

[Insomniac]

Webber did 15 laps on full fuel, Ferrari was hoping that Alonso's tires would last on light fuel. Oh well.

As Alonso built what, a 6 second lead?

[cameraman]

Build what? At the end Alonso was in the lead on the softs, the faster tire when new. His strategy was that on light fuel his tires would last longer than they would have on full fuel and would remain faster than (or at least as fast as) Webber's hard tires. They didn't although they lasted long enough that Vettel didn't get close.

[Insomniac]

Build what? At the end Alonso was in the lead on the softs, the faster tire when new. His strategy was that on light fuel his tires would last longer than they would have on full fuel and would remain faster than (or at least as fast as) Webber's hard tires. They didn't although they lasted long enough that Vettel didn't get close.

I meant at the beginning of the race. New softs vs new hards, should be similar weight and Alsono was faster to start and built a lead. So I'm just saying, if they are protected to last as long as they can, they were slower than the hards. So in my opinion they risked the tires may not last (maybe it was a low risk) vs. staying out longer and maximizing the performance of the softs. Maybe either way they end up in 2nd, but after what happened in Canada, it seems like the higher risk was the softs going off at the very end. But I'm sure they felt he could stay in front of Webber too.

[cameraman]

Wow, Maldonado is really terrible. Can he pass anyone without hitting them? I was excited for him for his win, but now I think he needs to be parked. He got a taste of the top and now he drives with the red mist.

He managed to crash out of his demo in Venezuela in front of 20K fans:rolleyes: