So there we have it, the most important sporting event on the British calendar has now been completed. There is a lot of people paying a lot of attention towards a couple of people hitting a small green sphere backwards and forwards, where the nation only really seems to care because some Scottish bloke is having a go. The bandwagon there is starting to get rather full, until the guy loses then there will be complete public outcry - how fickle the general public are, the BBC made a great point post race - the world of motor-racing is much more tolerable. Yes people have their favourites and here at blog HQ there is a practice of neutrality in place, but there is a greater respect for all involved. If a driver has a bad day, ends up in the fence or falls down the standings, there isn't the same international petition to have them exiled back home and completely rejected only until the event rolls round again next time. It could be said that the British GP isn't so much of a race like the other 19 on the calendar this season, and more of an event where pre and post show entertainment are just as important and sometimes moreso entertaining than the 52 laps round the track.
Which can only help when the race itself was a little minimalistic in terms of action for the most part, featuring more of a strategic event than the wheel to wheel contact based mayhem we fought with on the pseudo streets of Valencia. Still doesn't make that track any better, but that's a rant for that time next season. Today's race did have it's moments and wasn't completely devoid of action, intrigue and a small component of controversy. One of the elements that we were robbed of this weekend, was the rain, which now has decided to fall while the coverage moves onto the forum. The track stayed dry throughout the race and that could have rearranged the finishing order a fair bit, so we did keep up with one of the great British traditions in the form of disappointment and underwhelming performances. However there is a rather promising Indycar race on a bit later on at Toronto and that is predicted to be a series of collisions in-between which a race might break out.
 |
| credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk for the image |
When the TV coverage opened the focus was drawn to the skies and the tarmac to make an initial judgement on whether the rain would be coming, and the clouds were similar in colour to the final practice session on Saturday morning. Where things remained dry for that session and all the way up to qualifying - roughly the same time window as a race distance which was rather unfortunate. But bigger problems were elsewhere as Vitaly Petrov in the Caterham returned from his lap to the grid with plumes of smoke leaving the rear of the car. The fuel pressure problem brought the car to a halt on the pit lane entry road and proved to be a terminal problem, meaning grid was going to be one car short for the race.
Patches of sun and blue sky erupted of the start finish straight as the drivers lined up in position alongside the swanky new pit buildings - dispelling the threat of inclement conditions for the afternoon ahead. When the lights went out under the uncharacteristic British sun Fernando made sure he was going to be the first car heading into Abby corner on this opening lap. Cutting across the front of Webber's nose, leaving only inches between cars being pitched into pit-wall, but they kept all parts on the cars through the opening sequence. A couple of rows further back Vettel was having to defend against Massa and Kimi - running close to three wide on the apex at turn 4. With all the cars running so close at this point it was miraculaous there were no shards of carbon fibre sailing through the air, a problem slightly rectified as Vettel trimmed some of Massa's rear wing aero-vanes off. But that wasn't the end of it all, Holy endplates Lotus as Grosjean after finding himself on the outside of Hamilton brushed Di Resta's rear tyre with his wing. The Force India took on a puncture and span off before retiring later with further damage from the flailing tyre.
At the end of the opening lap Alonso had built a small lead ahead of Webber while Schumacher maintained third ahead of the second Ferrari of Massa - a little too orderly at the front so we have to look a little further back. Holy understeer Lotus, as Romain was missing a proportion of his front wing the car was struggling to stay on the track in the high speed corners spending some time on the astroturf on the fringes of the circuit. He had fallen back into the clutches of Jenson Button, the Frenchman defended from the McLaren into turn three failing to notice a Sauber finding space on the outside. That Sauber was piloted by Kamui Kobayshi who passed both Jenson and Grosjean in the one corner, Romain fought back as Kamui slide wide in turn four but it was only delaying the inevitable, surrendering the position in Brooklands. In the same corner a couple of cars further up the grid.. Holy Run-off Lotus as Kimi found himself on the outside of the ever friendly Pastor Maldonado - the thing is that Pastor isn't particularly respectful of personal space. Therefore Raikkonen no found soggy green false grass underneath his tyres instead of dry tarmac as the Williams eased him out and off the track.
After the opening phase of cars being entertaining and racing each other, things did decide to settle down and take on the other great British tradition of queuing - mainly behind Schumacher who once more was demonstrating that the Mercedes is not so quick in immediate race pace. Speaking of traditions and Britain there was another one filtering through and that was moaning and complaining, usually while queuing, and this was Hamilton running between Raikkonen and One-Stop Perez. Lewis made a radio call back to the team complaining that the car had no pace, which might have been a consequence of being one of the few cars on the hard compound tyres.
Back in the Schumacher train - shade of Valencia were coming through here, though in this case the queue of followers didn't stretch as far back and wasn't quite so rowdy as last time round. Felipe was the first car in the line behind the Mercedes and was looking considerably faster. However Schumacher has been doing this driving thing for a long time and was able to defend the position from the Ferrari, because the queue was costing those trapped in it time Vettel opted to pit and get out of sequence to avoid any problems. As the last time there was a Schumacher queue there was contact and madness. Michael in the high top speed of his car was able to counter the DRS attacks on the Wellington straight - formally known as the national straight - but was slower in the faster corners. Massa figured this out and focussed the charge on the high speed middle sector and got a good run out of Chapel diving down the inside of Michael into Stowe breaking free of the queue.
It was time for the rest of pit stops to unfold for the starters on the softer compound tyres, so we saw Hamilton and Kobayashi filter up onto the podium on account staying out. Through stopping earlier Vettel had jumped ahead of Massa and Schumacher into a net third position - but it wasn't all going to plan through the field as it had been a little while since everything happened. We turn the focus down towards One-stop Perez and Maldonado having just made their stops the pair were released in close proximity onto the track. Maldonado doesn't do close proximity, as it normally results in issues. This time was to be no different, Sergio in the DRS zone went to the outside as Pastor defended the inside as is the correct thing to do. They entered the corner side by side, and in a scene of deja vu, the Williams drifted wide and into the side of the Sauber. Contact was made and the rear suspension on the Sauber was damaged and Pastor suffered a puncture but could continues. As the commentary mentioned this could be classed as a racing incident as the Williams got loose on the apex and that precipitated the contact - at this point no decision has been made as to any possible penalties for the accident.
We headed into a phase of inactivity and serenity only permeated by Alonso catching up with Hamilton who hadn't stopped by this point on the harder tyres. Lewis fought with the faster Ferrari losing the position in the slower hairpins in the arena section before Aintree corner. Meaning Alonso was able to use the DRS while being in front, but that didn't seem to matter as Hamilton managed to out-drag the Ferrari even with the wing open, yet the McLaren went deep into Brooklands surrendering the position once more. The rest of the middle stint was almost eventless where Fernando lead from the Red Bull pairing of Webber and Vettel, Massa held fourth which was a good day for the pressured Ferrari driver with Raikkonen fifth.
The second run of stops started to turn into target practice in the Sauber pit as Kamui collected a fair amount of his pit crew all of the escaping any serious injuries as they were launched into into the air. We also found out that while the suspension on the Sauber can't survive an attack from an errant Williams the front wing can withstand bouncing off pit crews. On the plus side the pit stops did place cars out of position in relation to their strategies - Hamilton found came out with a warning coming over the radio. Holy comeback Lotus as it was Grosjean on the charge behind him - Lewis tried to put cars between himself and the Lotus starting with the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Hamilton took the German into Copse but Holy overtaking Lotus, Grosjean went one better and threw one down the inside of Maggots. Closing the battle up once more, Lewis needed another car to put between them, and convenienly there was one just ahead, it was almost as if this was planned as that car was Jenson. The two McLarens ran together for a while not being particularly decisive as to where the pass was going to happen, but it was to be into Copse once more. Leading to Grosjean repeating his manoeuvre this time to the outside of Maggots on Button.
Holy perseverance Lotus Romain spent a while behind Hamilton before being able to use the DRS to take the position from the McLaren and setting off after Raikkonen in the other batman sponsored machine further up the road. At this late stage in the race the drivers starting on the harder tyres were beginning to suffer on their strategy falling back towards the cars behind them, a situation that did include the leading Ferrari of Fernando Alonso being closed in on by Webber in the Ferrari. The only car on this strategy looking like making progress was Button locked in a battle with Senna and Hulkenberg trying to claim the final point in another challenging day for McLaren. Senna took a look at the inside of Nico to take the place and the Force India ran wide on the exit of Aintree allowing Button and Kobayashi through handing Jenson the single point for tenth place.
More woes in McLaren as Hamilton's tyres had seen their best, allowing Schumacher to close considerably, Lewis tried defending but the position on the Wellington straight but the Mercedes drove completely round the outside into Brooklands easily taking the position away. Holy team-mates Lotus for a while it seemed like Romain was going to drive up to the back of Raikkonen, carving into the gap, but towards the end of the race Kimi started setting fastest laps and charged after Massa in 4th. One gap that was still coming down and getting rather close was the battle for the lead - because Webber was getting very close to Alonso as the laps were running thin. With only four remaining, Mark took a tighter line through turn four resulting in a better run through Aintree onto the back straight. Instinctively Fernando defended to the inside leaving the only the outside lane open. A combination of extra momentum from the DRS and a wider line allowed Webber to sweep around the outside of Brooklands not only just to pass Alonso but to take the lead of the British GP.
The positions were now settled for the run to the line, meaning Webber becomes the second driver to double his win tally of the season with the rest of the podium filled by Alonso and Vettel. Just outside the podium was Felipe Massa having the strongest race he has had since 2010, fending off the position from Raikkonen at the end of the race. Grosjean recovered from the opening lap contact with Di Resta to finish in 6th place ahead of Schumacher and Hamilton finishing where he started in 8th. The top ten was completed by Bruno Senna in 9th and the last point went to the second McLaren of Jenson Button.
The bonus points championship points winners
Even through this race may not have had the immense quantity of racing and action that other races this season including the surprise entertaining race last time in Valencia, there has to be the same amount of points on offer for the British GP, because there were some performances worth handing points to.
25pts - Romain Grosjean - Holy recovery-drive Lotus from a damaged wing to be within 7s of Kimi
18pts - Mark Webber - A relentless drive and a strong pass to take the win
15pts - Fernando Alonso - Again a very accomplished drive
12pts - Felipe Massa - His best race since a very wet Korea 2010, very composed considering the rumours of being replaced remained
10pts - Sebastien Vettel - Some points for a decent, race but for his shameless interview with Lee Mckenzie in the post race Forum, and pouring champagne on Jackie Steward on the podium
8pts - Lewis Hamilton - Two main reasons firstly for making a pass against a car using DRS, and secondly for doing doughnuts, automatic bonus points for that
6pts - Jean Eric Vergne - For making the most places in the race, even through 66% of them were the newer cars
4pts - BBC F1 Team - A great broadcast including David Couthard crashing Martin Brundle's sky tv broadcast on the grid - legendary
2pts - Kimi Raikkonen - For a great opening battle with Vettel for the opening sequence of corners
1pt - Jenson Button - There is the single point you fought for at the end of the race
Penalty points championship
As there as of yet has been no decision on the Maldonado/Perez contact so there hasn't been any official driving penalties followed today's race we shall move swiftly onto the penalty points series and there are going to be some penalties from the blog.
- Pastor Maldonado - not so much for the crash because that wasn't an intentional event getting loose mid corner and sliding into the Sauber, but for earlier in the race when he forced Raikkonen off in the same corner
- Tennis - for taking over the BBC HD channel, shocking confusion of priorities there
- Kobayashi - hitting your own pit crew, not cool there really
- Rain - you let us all down hiding until after the race had finished, also not cool.
Looking ahead to Germany
For this year the German GP is to be held at the Hokkenheimring as part of the alternating deal with the Nurburgring, a similar deal to the one that is planned in response to managing the cost of having two races in Span. The track continues the pattern of traditional European tracks we visit in this phase of the season in a run that will see us all the way to the end of the European season. Hokkenheim used to be a very formidable high speed and exciting track featuring powerful blasts through the dark and mysterious forest, where rain and mist hung in the branches creating a special and eerie atmosphere in the wet.
Sadly now, the track is now a faint shadow of its former self, where the long straights have been neutered from the layout, replaced with a smaller more technical spectator friendly infield track. As much as it may be less enthralling and challenging to drive the racing on the track has generally been good. Designed as a nice balance between speed and precision and with the current tyre scenarios and the DRS system which will be debuting there the results could be rather spectacular. So until then this is farewell from me here at Blog HQ
No comments:
Post a Comment