F1 2017 Round 10 - Britain (16th July)

darth_timon

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I hope no one minds, but I haven't seen a thread yet for the British GP, so I thought I'd contribute one...



Against the backdrop of Silverstone's owners saying 'no' to extending the British Grand Prix past 2019, comes the halfway point of the 2017 season. The short version of the contract issues surrounding this event is that costs are rising and the venue can no longer afford these costs, so it is cutting short its contract. The other previous venues to host F1 races in the UK (Brands Hatch and Donnington) are not currently in a position to take over, so a few ideas are being mooted, such as having the event in London. At this point, nothing is certain.

Nothing is certain in the championship either. Valtteri Bottas won in Austria last time around to arguably put himself into contention for the title, whilst his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton will be desperate to re-assert himself, after seeing one likely win in Baku slip through his grasp, and taking a penalty last time around. He is 20 points behind lead Ferrari man Sebastian Vettel, hardly insurmountable, but he will want to start putting wins on the board to apply some pressure to the championship leader.

If recent years are anything to go by, Silverstone is the perfect place for him to begin that run. He won here in a rain-soaked event in 2008, and has won here in 2014, 2015 and 2016 (every year of the hybrid turbo era). He appears to relish the superfast sequence that is Maggots and Becketts (turns 10-14), a part of track that every driver has nothing but praise for. It has been suggested that Stowe (turn 15) will be flat-out this year, which should make for a pretty dramatic spectacle. Hamilton would settle for a boring race, one where he leads from the start to finish.
 
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Mercedes look like they have the pace over a hot lap, and will more than likely occupy 1 and 2 on the grid unless a driver stuffs up. Race pace however is where the Ferrari's and even the Red Bulls have shown an ability to challenge Mercedes and force them to run higher engine modes that increase the likelihood of a failure.

Hopefully for the sake of a good spectacle that Max can complete the race. Even though Sky tend to go a bit overboard on him, he's just too good a driver to continually have DNF's
 
Slicks in the damp? Don't have video to watch, ballsy lap?

Drying track on slicks, just crossed the start/finish line to start his flying lap by a mere tenth or so of a second, absolutely went for it to get P1 by 1.3 seconds.

Also knocked out Lance Stroll with his pride lap, so double lulz.
 
Drying track on slicks, just crossed the start/finish line to start his flying lap by a mere tenth or so of a second, absolutely went for it to get P1 by 1.3 seconds.

Also knocked out Lance Stroll with his pride lap, so double lulz.
Get the man in a decent car already. Man how much more interesting would this year be with say Alonso in a Merc.
 
Get the man in a decent car already. Man how much more interesting would this year be with say Alonso in a Merc.

Would leave Vettel and co eating his dust.

But then who knows, maybe in a top line car he wouldn't be as carefree.
 
Watching Alonso getting the car around the track on slicks and fighting the damp weather was awesome. What drivers do in the wet is when they prove they are the best, Alonso is the best driver out there.
 
Would leave Vettel and co eating his dust.

But then who knows, maybe in a top line car he wouldn't be as carefree.
There would be heaps more added pressure, and Hamilton is a gun qualifier for example, but take Alonso's American sojourn. The drive to compete and having the hardware to actually do it, he put in a pretty amazing performance for his first time racing that series and cars.
 
Not sure whether Hamilton actually held up Grosjean there from that one viewing, he was way off the line and any hold up was really brief - would be super harsh to penalise grid positions for that.

Also lol @ salt from Vettel.
And Kimi will want to get Hamilton off the start line or he will be letting Vettel past shortly after.
 
And Kimi will want to get Hamilton off the start line or he will be letting Vettel past shortly after.

Depending on the stewards Kimi might already be in front of Hamilton before the race starts.

On repeated viewing this is a lineball decision. It would be harsh, but understandable if Hamilton cops a grid penalty. There was definite blocking as perhaps Hamilton thought Grosjean was a lot further back than he actually was, but worse incidents than that go unpunished. Every driver backs themselves up two turns before the finish so they can wind up and have a gap in front.

Now we wait...
 
Depending on the stewards Kimi might already be in front of Hamilton before the race starts.

On repeated viewing this is a lineball decision. It would be harsh, but understandable if Hamilton cops a grid penalty. There was definite blocking as perhaps Hamilton thought Grosjean was a lot further back than he actually was, but worse incidents than that go unpunished. Every driver backs themselves up two turns before the finish so they can wind up and have a gap in front.

Now we wait...
No further action (as I would have expected)
 

hey shorty

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30k Posts 10k Posts TheBrownDog
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So we need Kimi to have a Bottas type start or this race will be over. Was really impressed with the Hulk and Stoffel too

Hopefully ADR can get some points
 

hey shorty

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30k Posts 10k Posts TheBrownDog
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Yep I have to say that it's the one I want to go to overseas. Singapore has something different, Monza has the passion, Monaco has the location and history and Texas has the hospitality and facilities.

But it's still Silverstone for me.
 
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Yep I have to say that it's the one I want to go to overseas. Singapore has something different, Monza has the passion, Monaco has the location and history and Texas has the hospitality and facilities.

But it's still Silverstone for me.
I never realised how many people camp out in tents near the track all weekend. Certainly adds to the spectacle. The track is also a traditional solid and even racing track (Sector 2 through Cobs, Beckets etc.. might be the best set of corners on the calendar)
 

hey shorty

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30k Posts 10k Posts TheBrownDog
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German papers have Sainz being cut by Red Bull and going to replace Palmer at Renault
 
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