The cricket world cup final er I mean British GP thread

[Spectoremg]

Poor old Channel 4, not only are they competing with a one-off terrestrial tv event but they've been stabbed in the back by... Channel 4!
Treble vodka and Rich Energy's all 'round!

[dinizintheoven]

EVERYWHERE WE GO
PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE COME FROM
SO WE TELL THEM
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE COME FROM
WE ARE MERCEDES
THE BRACKLEY BRACKLEY ARMY
AND WE ONLY HAVE TO TURN UP TO WIN...

(ad nauseam)

[mario]

EVERYWHERE WE GO
PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE COME FROM
SO WE TELL THEM
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE COME FROM
WE ARE MERCEDES
THE BRACKLEY BRACKLEY ARMY
AND WE ONLY HAVE TO TURN UP TO WIN...

(ad nauseam)

I'm not sure whether it is meant to be a good thing or a bad thing that I'm not sure what you're referencing there...

So, we've had a slightly odd first practise session with Gasly on top, and then an interesting second practise session where Leclerc seems to be reasonably close to the two Mercedes drivers. OK, it is Friday, and Ferrari have tended to look stronger on a Friday than they do on Saturdays or Sundays, but maybe it is a sign that there might be a more even battle between Ferrari and Mercedes this weekend.

[Spectoremg]

Grosjean, cos Haas really needed to be rebuilding cars this weekend. It says everything about this team's ambitions that they still employ him. Let's start a most forgettable team thread with them in mind.

[You-Gee-Eee-Day]

Is it too early to nominate Gasly for ROTR?

I realize if he does well on sunday this comment will age extremely poorly. But for some reason that's a risk I feel safe taking.

[dinizintheoven]

EVERYWHERE WE GO
PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE COME FROM
SO WE TELL THEM
WHO WE ARE
WHERE WE COME FROM
WE ARE MERCEDES
THE BRACKLEY BRACKLEY ARMY
AND WE ONLY HAVE TO TURN UP TO WIN...

(ad nauseam)

I'm not sure whether it is meant to be a good thing or a bad thing that I'm not sure what you're referencing there...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRo4d8w19nU

Absolutely guaranteed to happen at any cricket match involving England, whether it's a noisy T20 bash or the fifth day of a test match at Lord's that's heading to a draw.

[FortiWinks]

C’MON KIWI C’MON

Seeing as my main team is out I’m all on the Kane train, can’t lose to the poms now!

[Aislabie]

I genuinely have no idea what I'm going to do on Sunday. I will be torn between:

• The British Grand Prix
• The Cricket World Cup final
• Federer versus Djokovic final at Wimbledon
• Tour de France Stage Nine
• Ireland against Zimbabwe third T20
• Formula E Championship finale

Literally how do I deal with that?

[FortiWinks]

I genuinely have no idea what I'm going to do on Sunday. I will be torn between:

• Ireland against Zimbabwe third T20

Now there’s something here that doesn’t seem like the others...

[Faustus]

I know what I’ll be doing instead of watching qualifying: Cineworld is showing ‘Jaws’ in the cinema, 1 screening only, 1 day only. I’m there.
I’ll record qualifying and watch it after.

[Aislabie]

I genuinely have no idea what I'm going to do on Sunday. I will be torn between:

• Ireland against Zimbabwe third T20

Now there’s something here that doesn’t seem like the others...

Exactly, that's the one most likely to get rained off

[Faustus]

Bollocks, I couldn’t make it to the cinema. I’m having heart problems again. I had no choice but to watch qualifying.

[Rob Dylan]

Might be the first qualifying I've had time to watch all year, but it was good! Very predictable down the field, with only Vettel showing any signs of real trouble of the front-runners. However, Q3 was worth turning on the telly for. Nice to see Bottas get pole, though I very much predict, of all the races to predict a Hamilton victory, this is almost a guarantee.

[Barbazza]

Bollocks, I couldn’t make it to the cinema. I’m having heart problems again. I had no choice but to watch qualifying.

I'm really sorry to hear about this troublesome pain. And the heart problems. (I'm here all week, etc.)

[You-Gee-Eee-Day]

Hey guys, I don't know if you're going to be able to see this, it's me posting this from the future using my time machine!

I don't want to spoil the race for you, but I will tell you a bit of trivia. Haas have broken the record for the longest pit stop as they repainted the livery of both cars halfway through the race!

[Londoner]

Less than 10 laps in and Haas have already wrapped up ROTR.

[Faustus]

16 laps to go and the Williams are not in the last 2 places. I know it was Perez had an accident and had to change his front wing, but still.

[Faustus]

Vettel drove into Verstappen. There was nothing that Verstappen could do. Vettel locked up and bathplug up.

[Paul Hayes]

A decent race with some good excitement in it (despite some awful TV direction at big moments). Just a shame it all ended with another regulation Mercedes victory!

[Rob Dylan]

I would say in my opinion that that was safely the best race of the year so far. Fantastic scrapping between Leclerc and Verstappen, and they really showed up their respective teammates.

Bottas was completely robbed of that win by the safety car, and only the fact that the entire Sky broadcast team are British at the British Grand Prix meant that the fact Bottas was robbed was only a very minor detail in the race report. Absolutely unfair. Oh well.

[good_Ralf]

Bottas was completely robbed of that win by the safety car, and only the fact that the entire Sky broadcast team are British at the British Grand Prix meant that the fact Bottas was robbed was only a very minor detail in the race report. Absolutely unfair. Oh well.

Seconded, in fact I'm surprised it's not been mentioned more on here. I feel Lewis might've had more speed today anyway (set the fastest lap on old hards right at the end!) and would've completely deserved the win in a straight fight, but it's still utterly frustrating as to how he took the lead, I was really enjoying his battle with Valtteri (who I'm pretty sure would've at least retaken the lead under green flag conditions). It's swings and roundabouts, though I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis has already had his worst race of the year in Austria!

[Fetzie]

Bottas was completely robbed of that win by the safety car, and only the fact that the entire Sky broadcast team are British at the British Grand Prix meant that the fact Bottas was robbed was only a very minor detail in the race report. Absolutely unfair. Oh well.

Seconded, in fact I'm surprised it's not been mentioned more on here. I feel Lewis might've had more speed today anyway (set the fastest lap on old hards right at the end!) and would've completely deserved the win in a straight fight, but it's still utterly frustrating as to how he took the lead, I was really enjoying his battle with Valtteri (who I'm pretty sure would've at least retaken the lead under green flag conditions). It's swings and roundabouts, though I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis has already had his worst race of the year in Austria!

Hungary could be a boogeyman track for Mercedes. If it isn't raining, that race is almost always as hot as Austria was, if not hotter.

Yeah the Safety Car did rob us of a battle between Hamilton and Bottas, but assuming their tyre allocation for the race would have stayed the same I don't think it did anything other than give Hamilton more "leading laps" before he inevitably would have taken the lead at Bottas' second stop.

[You-Gee-Eee-Day]

Is it too early to nominate Gasly for ROTR?

I realize if he does well on sunday this comment will age extremely poorly. But for some reason that's a risk I feel safe taking.

Boy I bet you feel silly now haha oh wait...

[Rob Dylan]

Is it too early to nominate Gasly for ROTR?

I realize if he does well on sunday this comment will age extremely poorly. But for some reason that's a risk I feel safe taking.

Boy I bet you feel silly now haha oh wait...

One race doth not a season make.

He is now operating at the level that's expected of him at the most basic level all he has to do is keep this up for the rest of the season and he might keep his seat!

[mario]

Bottas was completely robbed of that win by the safety car, and only the fact that the entire Sky broadcast team are British at the British Grand Prix meant that the fact Bottas was robbed was only a very minor detail in the race report. Absolutely unfair. Oh well.

Seconded, in fact I'm surprised it's not been mentioned more on here. I feel Lewis might've had more speed today anyway (set the fastest lap on old hards right at the end!) and would've completely deserved the win in a straight fight, but it's still utterly frustrating as to how he took the lead, I was really enjoying his battle with Valtteri (who I'm pretty sure would've at least retaken the lead under green flag conditions). It's swings and roundabouts, though I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis has already had his worst race of the year in Austria!

Hungary could be a boogeyman track for Mercedes. If it isn't raining, that race is almost always as hot as Austria was, if not hotter.

Yeah the Safety Car did rob us of a battle between Hamilton and Bottas, but assuming their tyre allocation for the race would have stayed the same I don't think it did anything other than give Hamilton more "leading laps" before he inevitably would have taken the lead at Bottas' second stop.

I agree there - with Hamilton going for that one stop strategy and Bottas putting himself on a two stop strategy, even if Hamilton exited behind Bottas, all he had to do was to sit a few seconds behind Bottas and then wait for him to pit again to take the lead of the race.

Rather than being "robbed" by that safety car, it looks like Bottas was losing that race as soon as he started overworking his front tyres in that first stint and committed himself to that two stop strategy - it was noted that his tyres seemed to be visibly much more worn than Hamilton's front tyres by the time of Bottas's pit stop. All the safety car probably did was slightly increase Hamilton's likely winning margin from about 20 seconds to about 25 seconds - with the need for an extra stop, Bottas was losing that race anyway.

[Nuppiz]

Considering that Hamilton scored the fastest lap of the race on 30-lap-old hard tyres, it's probably safe to say that Hamilton would've had more than enough pace to get past Bottas even if there was no safety car.

Besides, current regulations call for a mandatory safety car when heavy equipment is used by the marshalls to clear up an incident. So there were no other options for the stewards.

I admit I wasn't happy to see Lewis getting yet another masterstroke of luck. This time though he probably would've won even without the SC, but it certainly did make the job a lot easier for him.

[yannicksamlad]

I noticed Kubica didnt lose as much ground as he 'normally' does . And in the F2 , the strugglers were also more competitive . I found it interesting, but can't think why. May be a coincidence.

As for the safety car - I was disappointed a VSC couldnt be used . I can't see why not, personally .
Strangely the TV coverage was a bit rubbish, as noted by others. For a while they seemed to like the camera-on-a-string at Luffield ( which didnt add anything to the view/understanding what was happening) , and then they stopped . All seemed a bit like a new pair of hands was involved

[Fetzie]

I noticed Kubica didnt lose as much ground as he 'normally' does . And in the F2 , the strugglers were also more competitive . I found it interesting, but can't think why. May be a coincidence.

As for the safety car - I was disappointed a VSC couldnt be used . I can't see why not, personally .
Strangely the TV coverage was a bit rubbish, as noted by others. For a while they seemed to like the camera-on-a-string at Luffield ( which didnt add anything to the view/understanding what was happening) , and then they stopped . All seemed a bit like a new pair of hands was involved

Even with VSC speed controls the cars still arrive at the end of that straight at over 100mph, if somebody messed up their braking they would have gone straight into the crane, potentially giving us an accident like Bianchi's a few years ago. The safety car allows race control to completely eliminate that risk (they just tell Mailänder to take it easy at that point).

[yannicksamlad]

Even with VSC speed controls the cars still arrive at the end of that straight at over 100mph, if somebody messed up their braking they would have gone straight into the crane, potentially giving us an accident like Bianchi's a few years ago. The safety car allows race control to completely eliminate that risk (they just tell Mailänder to take it easy at that point).

I hadnt thought they'd be quite so fast under VSC so yes I can see the risk. Although perhaps they shouldnt be quite so fast under VSC at the incident zone...
At least we don't have the old risk from people going flat out to catch the safety car as we used to ..Yellow flags don't seem to mean all that much to drivers

[Rob Dylan]

Were you at the Grand Prix this year yannicksamlad? I spent most of the weekend reminiscing about last year Considering turning up in 2020 if possible

[yannicksamlad]

Were you at the Grand Prix this year yannicksamlad? I spent most of the weekend reminiscing about last year Considering turning up in 2020 if possible

No I didnt go - we went to Baku as a treat instead . It was indeed a great weekend last year, and actually Silverstone 2019 had more action than Baku 2019, so that didnt quite work out as expected . But Baku was great

[Rob Dylan]

Hey, last year was fantastic if even just for the football fanaticism the entire weekend

I can still hear the haunting shouts of "It's coming home!" through my window at night.


Great to hear you enjoyed Baku, would you recommend it as a venue to visit? Cheap, enjoyable, etc.?

[yannicksamlad]

Hi, Yes the football angle was a bit odd last year at Silverstone..But a top motor racing weekend.

Anyway, yes I'd recommend Baku - the flights from UK are a nightmare (not direct, night flights) , but ticket prices are good- we got end of the main straight, for guaranteed late braking action . Accommodation is in the city - so right next to the track and is not expensive. And we nipped out the track to get lunch in local restaurant - very reasonable prices . Baku is a nice , and interesting city. They were pretty well organised. Lots of fans came from the UK and Europe . So it wasnt too much more expensive than Silverstone. But there is less track action .

Might go Silverstone next year though ..

[Rob Dylan]

I am also tempted by Silverstone next year. Though in a chat with CarloSpace I have since heard that MotoGP might be coming to Finland as of next year, and if that is so, I am totally going there.