MIKA27 Posted July 9, 2010 Author Posted July 9, 2010 New layout ‘will not boost overtaking’ Overtaking will be no easier on the new Silverstone circuit than it was on the previous layout, several drivers have warned. The historic Northamptonshire track has undergone a major revamp since Formula 1 last raced in Britain a year ago, with a completely new middle section adding half a mile to the lap distance. The changes were initially conceived with MotoGP in mind following Silverstone’s temporary loss of the F1 contract, but organisers predicted they would add at least two new overtaking opportunities on a circuit whose flowing high-speed nature makes passing difficult for aerodynamically sensitive grand prix cars. According to the drivers this is unlikely, however. “I don’t think there will be any ore overtaking than there was in the past,” said Mark Webber. “It was always a difficult track to overtake on, and I think that will still be the case – but that’s the same for most circuits around the world.” Fernando Alonso concurred: “I think overtaking will be difficult, but no more difficult than it was in the past.” World champion Jenson Button is slightly more optimistic that the slow corners at Village and the Loop will present chances to outbrake rivals. “Hopefully it will help with some overtaking,” he said. “This is a pretty tough track to overtake on, and with a couple of slow corners it might change that.” Webber, Alonso, Button and Lewis Hamilton gave the new design an initial thumbs-up, agreeing that Silverstone had done a good job of adapting the circuit while preserving its best features. “I think when they designed it they weren’t planning to have a Formula 1 race here – they were looking very aggressively at making it more [suited to] the bikes,” noted Webber. “It was a bonus that they got the cars back, which I think we’re all very happy about. “The work that the BRDC, Damon [Hill] and everyone has done has been incredible. “They kept all of the good stuff, the sections of the circuit that the drivers like. “Yes, Bridge and some of the other corners were still nice, but you can’t have everything when you have other world-class categories like MotoGP coming here. “So they’ve made an adjustment and I think it will be good for both categories.” Button believes the new corners only increase the technical demands of the circuit. “It does take away from the flow of the old circuit, but it’s interesting to have some slow corners in there where you need mechanical grip,” he said. “The downforce level we run could also be different, and it will work the tyres differently as well.” Hamilton, who took an emphatic home victory in the rain-soaked 2008 British GP, admitted it had taken him a while to get used to the new layout, but believes it will get spectators closer to the action. “I think it’s positive and I hope that we’re able to put on an even better show than we have in the past,” he said. “It should be good for the fans.” MIKA: I'm really looking forward to the new Silverstone revamp GP, hopefully it will be a great event. Button believes there may be overtaking opportunities on the slower corners and I'd have to agree, looking at the specs of the track. Even previous years, there were opportunities to overtake. I particularly loved Juan Pablo Montoyas style on this circuit, especially at turns 8-9 and 14 into 15 where he was always a late braker but had a smooth exit which netted him results (Points) but could often get him in trouble also.
MIKA27 Posted July 9, 2010 Author Posted July 9, 2010 Webber wants Silverstone kerb mods Mark Webber has voiced concerns about the aggressive kerbs that have been installed at some parts of the Silverstone circuit and called for them to be modified before the race weekend gets underway. The Australian, who is a prominent member of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, said the main problem was not with the new section of the redesigned circuit but rather the height of the kerbs behind the ‘rumble strips’ at some of the fastest corners. “I think at Becketts there are a few larger sections behind the main kerbing, if you like, which the drivers are certainly not a fan of,” said Webber. “We don’t feel there’s a need to have this type of kerbing in high-speed corners because the main aim of that kerbing is to keep us inside the circuit [and prevent short-cutting of tight chicanes]. “To have them in fifth- and sixth-gear corners isn’t particularly necessary, so hopefully the guys [organisers] can have a look at that tonight.” Webber fears the high kerbs could act as launching ramps if a car runs wide, potentially causing major damage. “We’ve seen here many cars in the past aquaplaning across Maggotts and Becketts out of control,” he noted. “I think [Juan Pablo] Montoya had a pretty decent suspension failure here a few years ago across there, so it’s best that the cars go across a smoothish surface – within reason – and we don’t need to add any largish bumps to have a car potentially [launched into the air]. “It doesn’t matter which way – front, sideways or rearwards – you could then be at head height for a driver that’s on the apex. “I think having these kerbs in low-speed corners is fine, but it’s just having them in the fast stuff that we feel is a bit unnecessary. “I think they’re really for touring cars and maybe some other saloon racing here at this track. “But I don’t imagine that the bike [MotoGP and World Superbike] guys would be particularly too keen to roll over them either.”
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 I to am chomping at the bit about Silverstone lets hope it is a good race and the main protagonists all get of the line and it is a good and exciting race then stay up for the world cup go Spain
MIKA27 Posted July 9, 2010 Author Posted July 9, 2010 Rubens expects better second half to '10 Rubens Barrichello thinks there is every reason to believe Williams will enjoy a stronger second half of the season compared to its disappointing first with it now on an upward trend with the development of its FW32. The Grove-based squad appeared to turn a corner at the last round in Valencia as it made Q3 with both cars for the first time this season and then Barrichello finished a season-high fourth in the race. The team is eyeing a further step forward at its home Silverstone race this weekend courtesy of the introduction of a ‘blown diffuser’, a new floor and further aero updates – improvements Barrichello is optimistic about. He thinks the team’s turn around in form can be traced back to initial improvements made for Canada two races ago and is confident Silverstone will be a further step forward over Valencia. “Turkey was one of the worst [weekends] we could ever have,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It was very hard in terms of performance, the car was nowhere. “But the car itself changed a bit in Montreal so it’s a bit of a situation where we thought the situation was a little bit better, but Montreal didn’t go very well. “Valencia was better. Here it can be even better with the whole new stuff that they have brought.” Barrichello is wary of predicting how much of a performance improvement the latest round of parts will bring, but says if the team has managed to improve the car’s form in high-speed turns then the step forward could be a big one. “It’s a hard call. The thing that we can say is it’s definitely going to be better,” he said. “The Williams has been okay on high-speed, but never fantastic, so we might improve that. “If it does then we could expect as much as a good half second.” And asked if he thinks Valencia will prove to be a turning point, the 38-year-old expressed optimism that it would prove to be case while setting out his top-10 targets for the remainder of the season. “Most definitely,” Barrichello concurred. “Obviously we need to prove out in this race and in the next ones, but I think chances are that our second half of the season can be a lot better than the first one. “And yes Valencia was in my opinion definitely a turning point.” He added: “I think that’s the biggest thing – to qualify top 10 all the time and to race for top six all the time. “That’s the aim for the end of the year.”
MIKA27 Posted July 9, 2010 Author Posted July 9, 2010 WATCH MARK WEBBERS SILVERSTONE LAP (CRASH NOT INCLUDED!) Take a spin in the Red Bull simulator as Mark Webber tackles the revised British GP layout. New Silverstone MIKA: Seriously, if I ever win lotto, I'm buying me one of these simulators!
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 British Grand Prix: Mark Webber sets practice pace Mark Webber set the pace in Friday's second practice for the British Grand Prix as Ferrari raised hopes the Red Bulls could face a fight. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was second fastest, 0.392 seconds behind Webber and splitting the Australian from his team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Alonso's team-mate Felipe Massa was fourth ahead of the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were eighth and 13th. McLaren spent the day evaluating a raft of new parts which they hope will enable them to challenge Red Bull for pole position at a track where Webber and Vettel would be expected to dominate. It remains to be seen whether the reality will match McLaren's hopes but it was apparent on Friday that Red Bull remain the favourite for victory on Sunday. The Red Bulls were the fastest cars pretty much whenever they were on the track, and Webber eventually stopped the clocks at a scintillating one minute 31.234 seconds. Key among McLaren's developments are a new front wing and 'blown diffuser', which increases downforce - and therefore cornerning speed - by directing the exhaust gases around the rear wheels and into the floor of the car. Williams are also giving their blown diffuser a debut here, while Mercedes - who introduced it for the last race but had to abandon it after it over-heated the rear of the car - have fitted it again with extra insulation around the rear of the car. Ferrari introduced their version of the device at the last race. They were analysing the performance of their F-duct aerodynamic device - a system pioneered by McLaren this year that improves straight-line speed. The team decided to run it on both cars for the rest of the weekend after comparing the car with and without it on Friday. As well as the now normal upgrades on their cars, the drivers were familiarising themselves with the new layout of the Silverstone track, with a new 'Arena' section added in towards the end of the lap. A big bump at the new Abbey right-handed kink where the old track joins the new caused several drivers problems - among them Lewis Hamilton, who ran wide there several times in his McLaren in the morning session, when he was second fastest to Vettel. Lotus's Heikki Kovalainen was the fastest driver among the three new teams, nearly 0.8secs quicker than Virgin's Lucas di Grassi. Japanese Sakon Yamamoto, who has replaced Bruno Senna in one of the Hispania's for this race, was nearly 1.3 seconds off the pace of his team-mate, the Indian Karun Chandhok. Only Lotus's Jarno Trulli, who managed just three laps in the second session as problems kept his car in the garage, was slower.
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 Practice two times from Silverstone British Grand Prix free practice session two times 1 WEBBER Red Bull 1m31.234s 2 ALONSO Ferrari 1m31.626s 3 VETTEL Red Bull 1m31.875s 4 MASSA Ferrari 1m32.099s 5 ROSBERG Mercedes 1m32.166s 6 SCHUMACHER Mercedes 1m32.660s 7 PETROV Renault 1m32.745s 8 HAMILTON McLaren 1m32.757s 9 SUTIL Force India 1m32.787s 10 BARRICHELLO Williams 1m32.967s 11 KUBICA Renault 1m33.019s 12 HULKENBERG Williams 1m33.164s 13 BUTTON McLaren 1m33.200s 14 KOBAYASHI Sauber 1m33.402s 15 LIUZZI Force India 1m33.728s 16 BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m33.836s 17 DE LA ROSA Sauber 1m34.051s 18 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 1m34.643s 19 KOVALAINEN Lotus 1m35.465s 20 DI GRASSI Virgin 1m36.237s 21 GLOCK Virgin 1m36.553s 22 CHANDHOK HRT 1m37.019s 23 YAMAMOTO HRT 1m38.303s 24 TRULLI Lotus 1m42.901s
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 McLaren duo brush off talk of tension McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have brushed off suggestions that strains will develop in their relationship as they both vie for world title glory. Former world champion turned BRDC president Damon Hill caused a stir amongst the media this week when he predicted that the all-British battle at McLaren was “going to start to boil over” as the battle for the championship intensified over the second half of the season. Red Bull’s Mark Webber then had his say on the rivalry, saying it was difficult for any team-mate pairing fighting at the front of the field to get on famously and that he suspected that the McLaren duo were employing some “smoke and mirrors” to suggest that was the case. On Thursday both Button and Hamilton were selected by the FIA to appear in the official pre-event press conference at Silverstone and were pressed on several occasions by the assembled media about the state of their relationship. Both insisted that their intra-team rivalry was on good terms, with Button suggesting the media was just keen to whip up a controversial story ahead of Sunday’s big race. “I always love the lead-up to the British Grand Prix. It’s always exciting. I p****d myself when I read the quotes in the papers the other day,” the reigning champion said. “But it’s great that the weekend’s here because we’ll have something good to talk about hopefully, Formula 1 as a whole. “We are always looking for a new story leading up to the British Grand Prix and it’s all over now which is good and we can concentrate on the important bit.” Hamilton, who leads Button by six points at the head of the drivers’ standings, said he had talked to Hill and the 1996 champion had clarified his remarks to him. “I’ve been in touch with Damon and he insists that he’s supportive of both myself and Jenson and things have been miscommunicated,” Hamilton. “So that puts that to rest and otherwise everything’s sweet. We’re here at the British Grand Prix and excited to see how the rest of the weekend goes.” Later in the press conference the theory was put to the pair that some needle should exist between them giving they both desperately wanted to become world champion at the end of the season. Hamilton, however, bristled at this suggestion and instead joked that they only appeared friendly towards each other as they had perfected their acting skills. “Well we know you guys want it [a heated rivalry],” he said “But we’re doing a good job – I keep telling you guys we’re working very much on our acting careers and they seem to be going very well because we are convincing all of you. “He’s going to be James Bond and I’m going to be the villain in the movie. So we’re working on that role.” Button added that their strong working relationship was a key component in the team's success. “The important thing is that we work together and we do,” he said. “That helps in the team. When you get on the circuit you want to beat each other and that’s the way it is. But we’re not on the circuit right now, we’re here talking to you guys [the media]. “I wish we were on the circuit!” Webber also appeared in the press conference and the Australian, who collided with his Red Bull team-mate and fellow title rival Sebastian Vettel in Turkey, accused the press of blowing the team-mate rivalry story out of proportion. He reiterated his belief that it is difficult for front-running stable-mates to always have the most harmonious of relationships, but insisted this was nothing new in Formula 1. “I think the press are bored as there’s nothing else to talk about and they want to talk about team-mates,” Webber said. “So it seems to be the topic in the last 10 days or so. “My opinion was exactly as it was, yeah, that it’s not the easiest to have a warm, fuzzy relationship because obviously we’re all competitors. “But we don’t hate each other’s guts and that’s the way it’s always been I think at the front in Formula 1 – 70s, 80s, 90s and it will certainly continue in the future. “It’s certainly not rocket science.”
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 McLaren duo brush off talk of tension McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have brushed off suggestions that strains will develop in their relationship as they both vie for world title glory. Former world champion turned BRDC president Damon Hill caused a stir amongst the media this week when he predicted that the all-British battle at McLaren was “going to start to boil over” as the battle for the championship intensified over the second half of the season. Red Bull’s Mark Webber then had his say on the rivalry, saying it was difficult for any team-mate pairing fighting at the front of the field to get on famously and that he suspected that the McLaren duo were employing some “smoke and mirrors” to suggest that was the case. On Thursday both Button and Hamilton were selected by the FIA to appear in the official pre-event press conference at Silverstone and were pressed on several occasions by the assembled media about the state of their relationship. Both insisted that their intra-team rivalry was on good terms, with Button suggesting the media was just keen to whip up a controversial story ahead of Sunday’s big race. “I always love the lead-up to the British Grand Prix. It’s always exciting. I p****d myself when I read the quotes in the papers the other day,” the reigning champion said. “But it’s great that the weekend’s here because we’ll have something good to talk about hopefully, Formula 1 as a whole. “We are always looking for a new story leading up to the British Grand Prix and it’s all over now which is good and we can concentrate on the important bit.” Hamilton, who leads Button by six points at the head of the drivers’ standings, said he had talked to Hill and the 1996 champion had clarified his remarks to him. “I’ve been in touch with Damon and he insists that he’s supportive of both myself and Jenson and things have been miscommunicated,” Hamilton. “So that puts that to rest and otherwise everything’s sweet. We’re here at the British Grand Prix and excited to see how the rest of the weekend goes.” Later in the press conference the theory was put to the pair that some needle should exist between them giving they both desperately wanted to become world champion at the end of the season. Hamilton, however, bristled at this suggestion and instead joked that they only appeared friendly towards each other as they had perfected their acting skills. “Well we know you guys want it [a heated rivalry],” he said “But we’re doing a good job – I keep telling you guys we’re working very much on our acting careers and they seem to be going very well because we are convincing all of you. “He’s going to be James Bond and I’m going to be the villain in the movie. So we’re working on that role.” Button added that their strong working relationship was a key component in the team's success. “The important thing is that we work together and we do,” he said. “That helps in the team. When you get on the circuit you want to beat each other and that’s the way it is. But we’re not on the circuit right now, we’re here talking to you guys [the media]. “I wish we were on the circuit!” Webber also appeared in the press conference and the Australian, who collided with his Red Bull team-mate and fellow title rival Sebastian Vettel in Turkey, accused the press of blowing the team-mate rivalry story out of proportion. He reiterated his belief that it is difficult for front-running stable-mates to always have the most harmonious of relationships, but insisted this was nothing new in Formula 1. “I think the press are bored as there’s nothing else to talk about and they want to talk about team-mates,” Webber said. “So it seems to be the topic in the last 10 days or so. “My opinion was exactly as it was, yeah, that it’s not the easiest to have a warm, fuzzy relationship because obviously we’re all competitors. “But we don’t hate each other’s guts and that’s the way it’s always been I think at the front in Formula 1 – 70s, 80s, 90s and it will certainly continue in the future. “It’s certainly not rocket science.”
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 McLaren duo brush off talk of tension McLaren team-mates Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have brushed off suggestions that strains will develop in their relationship as they both vie for world title glory. Former world champion turned BRDC president Damon Hill caused a stir amongst the media this week when he predicted that the all-British battle at McLaren was “going to start to boil over” as the battle for the championship intensified over the second half of the season. Red Bull’s Mark Webber then had his say on the rivalry, saying it was difficult for any team-mate pairing fighting at the front of the field to get on famously and that he suspected that the McLaren duo were employing some “smoke and mirrors” to suggest that was the case. On Thursday both Button and Hamilton were selected by the FIA to appear in the official pre-event press conference at Silverstone and were pressed on several occasions by the assembled media about the state of their relationship. Both insisted that their intra-team rivalry was on good terms, with Button suggesting the media was just keen to whip up a controversial story ahead of Sunday’s big race. “I always love the lead-up to the British Grand Prix. It’s always exciting. I p****d myself when I read the quotes in the papers the other day,” the reigning champion said. “But it’s great that the weekend’s here because we’ll have something good to talk about hopefully, Formula 1 as a whole. “We are always looking for a new story leading up to the British Grand Prix and it’s all over now which is good and we can concentrate on the important bit.” Hamilton, who leads Button by six points at the head of the drivers’ standings, said he had talked to Hill and the 1996 champion had clarified his remarks to him. “I’ve been in touch with Damon and he insists that he’s supportive of both myself and Jenson and things have been miscommunicated,” Hamilton. “So that puts that to rest and otherwise everything’s sweet. We’re here at the British Grand Prix and excited to see how the rest of the weekend goes.” Later in the press conference the theory was put to the pair that some needle should exist between them giving they both desperately wanted to become world champion at the end of the season. Hamilton, however, bristled at this suggestion and instead joked that they only appeared friendly towards each other as they had perfected their acting skills. “Well we know you guys want it [a heated rivalry],” he said “But we’re doing a good job – I keep telling you guys we’re working very much on our acting careers and they seem to be going very well because we are convincing all of you. “He’s going to be James Bond and I’m going to be the villain in the movie. So we’re working on that role.” Button added that their strong working relationship was a key component in the team's success. “The important thing is that we work together and we do,” he said. “That helps in the team. When you get on the circuit you want to beat each other and that’s the way it is. But we’re not on the circuit right now, we’re here talking to you guys [the media]. “I wish we were on the circuit!” Webber also appeared in the press conference and the Australian, who collided with his Red Bull team-mate and fellow title rival Sebastian Vettel in Turkey, accused the press of blowing the team-mate rivalry story out of proportion. He reiterated his belief that it is difficult for front-running stable-mates to always have the most harmonious of relationships, but insisted this was nothing new in Formula 1. “I think the press are bored as there’s nothing else to talk about and they want to talk about team-mates,” Webber said. “So it seems to be the topic in the last 10 days or so. “My opinion was exactly as it was, yeah, that it’s not the easiest to have a warm, fuzzy relationship because obviously we’re all competitors. “But we don’t hate each other’s guts and that’s the way it’s always been I think at the front in Formula 1 – 70s, 80s, 90s and it will certainly continue in the future. “It’s certainly not rocket science.”
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 Ferrari have made radical changes for Valencia, introducing their version of Red Bull's exhaust-blown diffuser. They have dramatically modified the shape of their exhausts, from the previous design (1), to a lower, more RB6-inspired layout (2). They've also introduced a new gearbox case to Felipe Massa's car to raise the rear suspension pick-up points to help accommodate the changes. There's also a larger radiator layout (3) to handle the additional heat within the lower and more enclosed bodywork. Inset, you can see the exhaust on the F10 is shorter, and therefore ends before Red Bull's.
OZCUBAN Posted July 9, 2010 Posted July 9, 2010 Great Britain Preview - fans hoping for British glory Red Bull will be very strong at a revised Silverstone this weekend, but many fans will want to see the two McLaren drivers - Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, currently first and second in drivers’ table - fight it out for home victory in the British Grand Prix. Both men are pinning their hopes not just on the MP4-25’s famed F-duct, but also a series of new upgrades which include a blown diffuser similar to Red Bull’s, and to those introduced in Valencia by Ferrari and Renault. And doubtless each would be happy to makes amends for their nation’s recent sporting disappointments in the form of England’s World Cup squad and Andy Murray’s defeat at Wimbledon. “I don’t feel under pressure going into my home race - I feel very relaxed, and Lewis is the same,” Button says. “It’ll be a lovely atmosphere. We’ve both been here and had a rubbish result, yet you still get the support. For us it’s a case of going there and looking forward to it, more than feeling under pressure. Winning at home, you celebrate with your home crowd. I‘ve never even been on the podium here, and I’m going to change that this year.” Button knows, however, that he must improve his qualifying form after a couple of disappointing showings on a Saturday afternoon. “The last few races have been frustrating in qualifying; in Canada I wasn’t quick enough, basically, and in Valencia I made a mistake in the last corner. I was very happy with our race pace, but I’ve got to perform better in qualifying if I want to fight for the championship.” Hamilton has the advantage of having won at home already, but that means he is just as determined to do it again, especially after finishing only 16th last year. "Every year we come here it's a mega experience with the support you have," he says. "I really just hope it will be an incredible experience again, that the upgrades we will have on the car work, and we're able to demolish the field. I'm sure Jenson wants to win, but it doesn't mean he wants it more than me, so we'll have to wait and see. Although I've won the race before, I'd love to win it again, but if he does a better job than me, so be it. But he has to do a better job than me. “We'll race fairly, and the fastest guy will win, hopefully a one-two, which would be real special. Clearly expectation is high, more than anywhere else because everyone is here wearing the flag for you. But this is not the deciding race of the year. If it was then you would feel the weight of the world. Instead, for me, rather than being dragged down, I just get this incredible boost of energy from everyone." Button doesn’t disguise how excited he is about racing at the revised Silverstone. “It’s a great Grand Prix, the atmosphere is always electric. It should be a full house, the weather should be good, and the new layout is flowing and should work well. We should have a competitive car, so hopefully we’ll have a great weekend. It’d be great for the British public to have two British drivers fighting for the win. Whether we’ll be competitive with Red Bull I don’t know, but if our updates work as well as expected then we should be competing with them up front.” Of course, Red Bull should never be underestimated. “People think they are very competitive at circuits such as Silverstone,” Button points out, “but this year they are quick everywhere. They’ve sorted their mechanical grip and their blown diffuser works very well, but I don’t think they will make a big step forward here because they have gone very well everywhere.” Sebastian Vettel is the bookies’ favourite after winning here last year, while Mark Webber, fully recovered from his back flip in Valencia, has Vettel’s old chassis (since repaired) in place of the one he damaged in Spain. Ferrari, too, should not be discounted and could have had much stronger results in Canada and Valencia with only a small slice of better fortune. Their blown diffuser works well, suggesting they too will be strong. "It is a crucial moment in the season, with three races coming up in the space of four weeks," Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso said recently. "We are ready, both on the technical front and physically. In Valencia, we introduced significant updates on the F10 and there will be more in Silverstone and the races after that. The development programme is intensive and I think we will see it produce results. We have also prepared very carefully from the physical point of view, given that the next events are all very close and one needs to be at a hundred percent all the time. The track seems reasonably similar to the way it was, with a lot of very fast corners, which will not suit us that much. However, it's a fact that the configuration of the F10 seen in Valencia should give us a boost in these quick corners, so it is best to wait and see where we will be. I remain optimistic.” Don’t overlook Robert Kubica in the revised Renault, either, or the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, though they still seem to be suffering from the same sort of tyre temperature generation problems that beset Button here with the Brawn last year. On other levels, Scotsman Paul di Resta will be out in a Force India on Friday morning, as will Malaysian Fairuz Fauzy in one of the Lotus T127s which bring the marque’s iconic green and yellow colour scheme back to the track at a Grand Prix for the first time since Jim Clark won here in 1967. Virgin hope that they will offer Lotus much stronger competition in their home race, courtesy of the VR-01’s first major design upgrade since its fuel tank was made large enough to go a race distance. The changes to the track have been widely praised, though the MotoGP riders complained about bumps. It seems that teams might have to use more downforce than in the past for the new Village complex, and Bridgestone will have done a lot of computation after all the lessons its engineers learned here at the recent MotoGP event. The Japanese company will be bringing their hard and soft compound tyres. At 5.891 kilometres the track is now the third longest on the calendar and is expected to be one of the fastest. The high speeds and high lateral forces caused by the circuit layout and the abrasion from the track surface will present a great new challenge to drivers, engineers and tyre supplier alike.
OZCUBAN Posted July 10, 2010 Posted July 10, 2010 Vettel beats Webber for British GP pole Sebastian Vettel won a private Red Bull battle for pole position at Silverstone on Saturday, as the Milton Keynes-based team secured its fifth front-row lockout of the season. Last year’s dominant British Grand Prix winner beat team-mate Mark Webber on both his Q3 laps to take pole by 0.143s. The opposition was left trailing by the flying Red Bulls, but as expected Fernando Alonso was best of the rest in the third place, some 0.8s adrift of the pole time. Lewis Hamilton salvaged fourth on the grid after McLaren’s fraught build-up to qualifying, which involved the team abandoning the key element of its planned car upgrade and reverting to the old specification rear end on the MP4-25. Team-mate Jenson Button had a disastrous session, however, and will start his home grand prix from 14th place after missing the cut for the top-10 shootout. There was never much doubt that a Red Bull would take pole position; all that was in question was which of the team’s drivers would have the upper hand. Vettel was quicker in the first knockout session, Webber had the edge in Q2, and then when it really mattered Vettel produced a pair of superbly committed laps to settle the contest. Webber was the first to set a Q3 time and logged a 1m29.758s, easily the fastest lap of the new Silverstone layout up to that point – but moments later Vettel stopped the clocks in 1m29.695s. Webber was unable to respond on his second run so Vettel’s pole was secure, but that didn’t stop the young German shaving another few hundredths off his own benchmark just to emphasise who had the upper hand. His final time of 1m29.615s represented an average speed a shade over 132mph for the revised 3.7-mile circuit, some 15mph lower than the average he recorded on the previous layout in last year’s low-fuel Q2 session. McLaren was on the back foot going into qualifying after having to shelve the exhaust-blown diffuser it tried in Friday practice, which it found upset the MP4-25’s balance. Hamilton made the best of the situation, but Button found that his car’s handling had gone awry between final practice and qualifying and a tentative-looking lap left him 0.3s short of the time needed to make Q3. Nico Rosberg was the Mercedes standard-bearer once again in fifth place, but team-mate Michael Schumacher at least squeaked into the top 10 for only the second time in the past five events. Robert Kubica was sixth fastest for Renault ahead of the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa and Rubens Barrichello, who took a strong eighth for Williams. Pedro de la Rosa delivered on the promise he showed in final practice to qualify an excellent ninth, his first top-10 grid placing of his F1 comeback season and a big source of encouragement for Sauber. Neither Force India made the Q3 cut, while Vitaly Petrov was a disappointed 16th for Renault after touring back to the pits with an apparent mechanical problem during Q2. British Grand Prix starting grid 1 VETTEL Red Bull 2 WEBBER Red Bull 3 ALONSO Ferrari 4 HAMILTON McLaren 5 ROSBERG Mercedes 6 KUBICA Renault 7 MASSA Ferrari 8 BARRICHELLO Williams 9 DE LA ROSA Sauber 10 SCHUMACHER Mercedes 11 SUTIL Force India 12 KOBAYASHI Sauber 13 HULKENBERG Williams 14 BUTTON McLaren 15 LIUZZI Force India 16 PETROV Renault 17 BUEMI Toro Rosso 18 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 19 KOVALAINEN Lotus 20 GLOCK Virgin 21 TRULLI Lotus 22 DI GRASSI Virgin 23 CHANDHOK HRT 24 YAMAMOTO HRT OZ I was hoping that mark would pip vettel at the death but was not to be lets just hope they can keep it clean at the start Silverstone does give Red Bull wings
OZCUBAN Posted July 10, 2010 Posted July 10, 2010 Horner denies fresh RBR bias claims Red Bull boss Christian Horner has attempted to play down fresh suggestions of favouritism at his title-chasing team after pole-man Sebastian Vettel was given the final version of the new front wing it has brought to Silverstone in qualifying. Vettel and Mark Webber, each running new front wings in practice, had been in a class of their own prior to qualifying and then waged a private duel for pole position, with the former eventually winning out by just over a tenth of a second. Earlier Vettel had suffered a scary moment in final practice when his car’s nose mounting suddenly snapped on the approach to the fast Abbey kink, which prompted a change of nose and front wing for qualifying. However, it later emerged that RBR had taken the second of the two new front wings it has brought to this weekend's race off Webber's car and fitted it onto Vettel’s prior to qualifying, leaving Webber with the older specification for the remainder of the weekend. Asked for his reaction to the decision in the post-qualifying press conference after being pipped to pole, a clearly frustrated-looking Webber replied cryptically: “I think the team is happy with the result today.” Horner was later quizzed about the performance of the new front wing and the decision to give Vettel the final available one for qualifying. He insisted that there was little difference between the old and new specification and that Vettel had got the nod as he had been the faster of the two drivers in final practice and leads Webber in the championship standings. “It [the wing] seems to be working okay,” Horner told the BBC . “We tried it yesterday; both drivers had a run with it. It has different characteristics. “Unfortunately we only had one after this morning’s incident and sometimes I have to make difficult decisions and based on P3 and championship position that went to the left-hand side [Vettel’s side] of the garage today. “But very, very little in it. Last night it wasn’t clear which wing we were going to use. [There is] Very little difference.” Asked specifically about how he had made that decision given drivers are always desperate to run new parts on their respective cars, he added: “Obviously we discuss it with the engineers and I sat down with Adrian [Newey] and you look at the performance at the end of the day and the performance difference between the two [wings] is absolutely minimal. “It’s a characteristic as opposed to a clear performance advantage. And when you’ve only got one, do we leave it off both cars and hurt the whole team? “Sometimes I have to make a difficult decision and based on the P3 and championship position this weekend it went to the left-hand side of the garage.” Red Bull was caught in a favouritism controversy at the Turkish Grand Prix last month after its drivers had spectacularly crashed into each other while leading the race, with Webber having initially taken the brunt of the team’s public criticisms of the incident despite most observers blaming Vettel for the clash. Vettel, who has been brought through the ranks by Red Bull, was asked directly after qualifying whether he had felt he had been favoured by the team on Saturday. “I think from the outside it’s difficult to know what’s going on sometimes,” he replied bluntly. “But we know what we’re doing I think.” He added: “I think in the end if you look back to the quali session it was extremely tight. “I think there wasn’t much [in it]. Q1 was pretty much the same, Q2 Mark was a bit ahead and I was struggling a bit, Q3 I was ahead. “So I don’t think it’s a black and white answer on the wing.” Oz Where there's smoke there's fire German owner German driver you do the maths
OZCUBAN Posted July 10, 2010 Posted July 10, 2010 Lewis ecstatic to be as high as fourth Lewis Hamilton reckoned his run to fourth on the Silverstone grid was one of the best laps of his life. McLaren is on the back foot this weekend as its upgrade package - including the blown diffuser exhaust system - had to be removed following difficulties with making it function in practice. But while Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button struggled to 14th on the grid, Lewis managed to salvage a second row spot. "I'm so happy with it, you couldn't believe it," he said. "I'm so proud of my team because we've pushed so hard all year, but especially in the last couple of weeks coming here, they've pushed longer and harder than ever to get that update package. "Some of the guys have only had four hours' sleep all weekend and they've done a remarkable job. "It was down to just getting as good a lap as possible, and for me I think this is the best lap I've ever had." Hamilton believes McLaren is at a major disadvantage this weekend. "We knew we were a long, long, long way off," he said. "The Red Bull is a second and a bit ahead, and we've got three teams with a blown diffuser that were ahead of us." He remains confident that McLaren's new package will come good in time, though. "It is an improvement, but unfortunately we just weren't able to make it work and we had to take it off last night," Hamilton insisted. He also credited the Silverstone crowd for inspiring him to his qualifying result. "It's down to all the fans we have here, because the support from the British fans around this track is like nowhere else," he said. Oz Considering that mclaren were that far off the pace 4th is a good result for them
OZCUBAN Posted July 10, 2010 Posted July 10, 2010 Button: My car was undriveable Jenson Button labelled his car “undriveable” after his shock failure to make the top 10 on the grid for his home grand prix. The British star missed the cut for Q3 and will line up 14th, easily his worst dry-weather qualifying showing of the season, while McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton took fourth. Button said his car’s balance had deteriorated dramatically between final practice and qualifying, and reckons there must be an underlying problem. “This morning the car felt reasonably good,” he told reporters. “I personally think there’s something wrong because the car was undriveable this afternoon as soon as I jumped in it. “I took so much front wing [angle] out of the car, like five or six turns, which is just wrong. “I’m very disappointed.” Button admitted McLaren’s torrid build-up to qualifying – which saw it abandon a key performance upgrade, the exhaust-blown diffuser, on Friday night and then have to cram all its set-up work into the single hour of final practice on Saturday morning – hadn’t helped. But he expects the team’s analysis to unearth a more fundamental problem. “It’s been tricky for us this weekend and it has affected us, but that wasn’t normal,” he said. “I hope there’s a problem because the way the car was in qualifying, I won’t be moving forward; that’s where the car is. “For me there must be an issue with the car. It just doesn’t feel right.” Oz My heart goes out to Button as there is nothing worse than failing to perform on your home track in front of the fans,lets hope he can get a good start
OZCUBAN Posted July 11, 2010 Posted July 11, 2010 Liuzzi given five-place penalty Tonio Liuzzi has been demoted from 15th to 20th on the Silverstone grid for blocking Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying. However the frustrated Italian feels that other drivers have got away with doing the same to him earlier in the year. He admitted that he got in Hulkenberg's way due to a misunderstanding, but thinks worse offences have gone unpunished. "It was at the end of Q2 - I thought he was coming from the pits and I got a message from the team to stay in front," said Liuzzi. "We all thought that maybe there was a misunderstanding on the pit wall and we thought he was on an out-lap, so we wanted to stay ahead. "I don't think we should've been penalised because I lost three out of 10 races' qualifying session because a Williams was always in the middle but this has just happened once." Liuzzi insisted he would enjoy fighting through the field tomorrow - but wasn't optimistic about his chances of getting as far as the points. "It won't be an easy race," he said. "It's a shame because the team's home race will be difficult, but we like the fight. "Points are difficult starting from 20th because it's not a circuit where you can easily overtake." Even before the penalty, Liuzzi said he had been hampered by a strange straightline speed issue that had also been apparent in Valencia. "It was confirmation of what I was saying last time, we had to wait for a proper circuit," he said. "It's an issue that we have to sort. "There is just three-tenths between me and Adrian [sutil], and most of it is in a straight line, so overall it wasn't the best qualifying." OZ A well deserved penalty IMO
OZCUBAN Posted July 11, 2010 Posted July 11, 2010 Qualifying analysis - race now Red Bull's to lose? Everyone says the RB6 is the fastest car on the grid over a single lap and at Silverstone on Saturday Red Bull hammered the point home, once more locking out the front row. With or without its latest front-wing update, it seems the rest of the pack will have their work cut out to stay in touch on Sunday. We take a team-by-team look at where things stand after qualifying for the British Grand Prix… Red Bull Sebastian Vettel, 1m 29.615s, P1 Mark Webber, 1m 29.758s, P2 Red Bull hit back with a vengeance on a circuit that was tailor made for the RB6’s aerodynamic excellence. But it transpired that after his front wing failure in free practice, Vettel was given the only other new front wing, which came off Webber’s car. The Australian was not happy that his team mate was given that aero advantage and did not trouble to hide it. Ferrari Fernando Alonso, 1m 30.426s, P3 Felipe Massa, 1m 31.172s, P7 Alonso’s coarser style worked well to heat up the Bridgestones and third fastest time left him the closest challenger to the Red Bulls and confirmed the progress that the F10 had made in Montreal and Valencia. Massa, by contrast, could not generate sufficient heat in his tyres and struggled for grip on his way to seventh. Mercedes Nico Rosberg, 1m 30.625s, P5 Michael Schumacher, 1m 31.430s, P10 Rosberg was very happy with a nice, clean lap, and said that fifth place showed that the team had made decent progress in and since Valencia. Schumacher said that he was very disappointed not to be able to get his lap together in Q3. Renault Robert Kubica, 1m 31.040s, P6 Vitaly Petrov, 1m 31.795s, P16, will start P15 Kubica said the R30 was still difficult to get the best out of even after a raft of set-up changes, and that as a result if felt like a significant achievement to make Q3. Then, typically, he hauled the car to sixth place. Petrov also looked pretty good until Q2, when then engine cut out as he entered the pit lane and he lost time while the mechanics ran down to retrieve the car. On his final run he didn’t warm the tyres fully, and suffered grip problems as a result. McLaren Lewis Hamilton, 1m 30.556s, P4 Jenson Button, 1m 31.699s, P14 Hamilton said he was delighted with fourth place, and well he might have been. McLaren got on their back foot yesterday when the new front wing and blown diffuser did not work together quite as they had been expected to. After an all-night session in the simulator at Woking by tester Gary Paffett, they reverted to the old floor but the handling of the cars was not optimised in final practice. Hamilton monstered the time out of his car, while Button’s was so bad that he suspected at one stage that something was wrong with it. Force India Adrian Sutil, 1m 31.399s, P11 Vitantonio Liuzzi, 1m 31.708s, P15, will start P20 Sutil said that he struggled a little with grip all day and that his final result was a disappointment. Liuzzi still complained about straight-line performance in his VJM03 and was 4 km/h down on Sutil. Then he got a five-place grid penalty for impeding Hulkenberg, which he felt harsh as he did what the team told him. They believed the German was on an out lap when he was actually on a flying run. Williams Rubens Barrichello, 1m 31.175s, P8 Nico Hulkenberg, 1m 31.635s, P13 Barrichello was pleased overall with his eighth-fastest time and aspires to a top six finish tomorrow. Hulkenberg said that traffic destroyed his chances, and the stewards seemingly agreed, hence Liuzzi’s penalty. BMW Sauber Pedro de la Rosa, 1m 31.274s, P9 Kamui Kobayashi, 1m 31.421s, P12 Not surprisingly, De la Rosa was very happy with ninth place on the grid after the team had made a lot of aerodynamic and mechanical changes to the C29. This made it much more consistent. Kobayashi also reported an improvement with his car, but said he found it extremely difficult to put together a decent lap. Toro Rosso Sebastien Buemi, 1m 32.012s, P17, will start P16 Jaime Alguersuari 1m 32.430s, P18, will start P17 Buemi said he was disappointed about Q2 as he’d hoped to make Q3 and didn’t miss it by much. Alguersuari said he had a lot of trouble with heavy traffic and only got one clean lap. Lotus Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 34.405s, P19, will start P18 Jarno Trulli, 1m 34.864s, P21 Kovalainen admitted that this wasn’t the best qualifying session of his career, as he struggled with a change in wind direction, while Trulli shrugged off a hydraulic problem in the morning and did a strong job despite minimal mileage over the weekend. Virgin Timo Glock, 1m 34.775s, P20, will start P19 Lucas di Grassi, 1m 35.212s, P22 Glock had a much better day despite another wing breakage and a throttle sensor problem in the morning. He got two very clean qualifying laps and was gratified to be closer to Lotus. Di Grassi thought he improved his car, but said he couldn’t put a good lap together. HRT Karun Chandhok 1m 36.576s, P23 Sakon Yamamoto, 1m 36.968s, P23 Chandhok complained that heavy traffic had cost him four-tenths of a second, while Yamamoto made some good progress as he logged time in the car. OZ RBR will expect nothing less than a 1-2 finish Webber 1st Vettel 2nd
MIKA27 Posted July 11, 2010 Author Posted July 11, 2010 Great posts on the qualifying news OZ, thanks very much for posting. I'm hoping Webber takes Vettel for the lead at the very first corner and sticks it. I'd really love to see a great result from Mercedes GP at this one however I have a sneaking suspicion Maclaren Mercedes will take the podium along with Redbull and perhaps Renault.
MIKA27 Posted July 11, 2010 Author Posted July 11, 2010 'Disappointed' Schumi: I made mistakes Michael Schumacher admits it was his own mistakes that saw him qualify in a disappointing tenth place for Sunday's British GP. With Mercedes GP showing signs of improvement at Silverstone this weekend, Schumacher entered qualifying seeking a solid top ten grid slot. And it looked as if it would happen. Quicker than his team-mate Nico Rosberg throughout the opening two segments, the seven-time World Champ opted for just one late run of two flying laps in Q3. However, a mistake on his first lap meant he had to push hard on his second, and, unfortunately for the German, that led to even more mistakes on his second. "Clearly I am disappointed after today's qualifying as I couldn't get my lap together in Q3," said Schumacher. "After the second session which was pretty good, I wasn't able to maximise my performance and I am obviously unhappy about my grid position. "I made a small mistake on my first quick lap so I slowed down to give the tyres the possibility to work again for the second fast lap. But there wasn't much more to come and so I pushed harder and therefore made some mistakes. "Now I will have to work hard for the race tomorrow which will be difficult from where I am starting as overtaking here is not really possible. I have to do a good start and see how far I can get. I will certainly try to make the most out of it." Team boss Ross Brawn, though, insists he was encouraged by Schumacher's earlier lap times ahead of Q3. "Michael looked quick after Q2 and we were expecting an equally strong Q3 however he made a mistake on his lap and unfortunately that was it. But we saw today what Michael is capable of and that's encouraging for the future." MIKA: Here's hoping the race results prove better.
MIKA27 Posted July 11, 2010 Author Posted July 11, 2010 I'm watching the Formula 1 race show and I see Bernie Ecclestone on track with his 'Lady' and I can't believe it's Michelle Yeoh from the old Jackie Chan/Hong Kong movies. She's gorgeous, what on earth is she doing with crusty old Harry Potter?
OZCUBAN Posted July 11, 2010 Posted July 11, 2010 MIKA27 said: I'm watching the Formula 1 race show and I see Bernie Ecclestone on track with his 'Lady' and I can't believe it's Michelle Yeoh from the old Jackie Chan/Hong Kong movies.She's gorgeous, what on earth is she doing with crusty old Harry Potter?
OZCUBAN Posted July 11, 2010 Posted July 11, 2010 Webber turns anger into British GP win Not bad for a number two driver Mark Webber turned his frustration at Red Bull’s decision to give Sebastian Vettel its new front wing into a brilliant victory in the British Grand Prix to catapult himself right back in the thick of the title hunt. The Australian seized the lead from pole-sitting team-mate off the line, with Vettel’s chances of a responding immediately dashed by a puncture which dropped him to the back of the field after Lewis Hamilton made apparent contact with his RB6’s rear tyre at Copse. Championship leader Hamilton duly moved up to second and surprisingly kept Webber in sight through the first stint, but after the pit stops the race-leading Red Bull moved up another gear and Webber broke free to take his third victory of 2010. Vettel’s afternoon meanwhile looked set to be a point-less one as he toiled away at the back of the field but the appearance of the safety car 21 laps from home gave him an unexpected chance and a succession of late paces netted him seventh. Nico Rosberg returned the revitalised Mercedes team to the podium for the first time since China with an impressive run to third, withstanding late pressure from Jenson Button as the world champion rebounded brilliantly from his qualifying slump. The Briton successfully navigated his way up to eighth from 14th on the opening lap and then picked off several rivals by staying out longer on his opening set of soft tyres. Valencia stars Rubens Barrichello (Williams) and Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), meanwhile, performed impressively once again to take their respective fast-improving squads to fifth and sixth places respectively. Adrian Sutil was denied seventh place on the penultimate lap by the charging Vettel, but eighth still marked a fine result for Force India after he missed Q3 – the German finishing ahead of countrymen Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Nico Hulkenberg (Williams). Ferrari, meanwhile, were left fuming at the race stewards for the second successive race after Fernando Alonso was handed a drive-through penalty while challenging Rosberg for third after earlier having passed Robert Kubica’s Renault while going over a kerb. By the time the penalty was issued, Kubica had retired from the race with a mechanical problem. A frustrated Alonso eventually finished 14th, right ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa who had earlier suffered a puncture. A full report follows… British Grand Prix result - 52 laps 1 WEBBER Red Bull 2 HAMILTON McLaren +1.3s 3 ROSBERG Mercedes +21.3s 4 BUTTON McLaren +21.9s 5 BARRICHELLO Williams +31.4s 6 KOBAYASHI Sauber +32.1s 7 VETTEL Red Bull +36.7s 8 SUTIL Force India +40.9s 9 SCHUMACHER Mercedes +41.5s 10 HULKENBERG Williams +42.0s 11 LIUZZI Force India +42.4s 12 BUEMI Toro Rosso +47.6s 13 PETROV Renault +59.3s 14 ALONSO Ferrari +62.3s 15 MASSA Ferrari +67.4s 16 TRULLI Lotus +1 lap 17 KOVALAINEN Lotus +1 lap 18 GLOCK Virgin +2 laps 19 CHANDHOK HRT +2 laps 20 YAMAMOTO HRT +2 laps R ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +8 laps R DE LA ROSA Sauber +23 laps R KUBICA Renault +33 laps R DI GRASSI Virgin +43 laps Fastest lap: ALONSO 1m30.874s (lap 52) OZ Great race for MW puts him back right into the mix ,Mclaren did really well considering car is off the pace ,I think the stewards were a bit harsh with Alonso having said that he should have given the place back after cutting corner intentional or not . My only disappointment was that Vettel finished
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