2010 British Grand Prix ****SPOILERS****

LS. Wrote:
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> Haha this gets even better, After the tv press
> interviews webber went back to redbull pit to
> celebrate and Told his mechanics to unfix his
> front wing and waved it at Vettel's mechanics!


Lol! Brilliant!

It will deffo go down in history as a very strange decision by the team. We've seen how quickly things can go from bad to worse, or worse to fantastic with the current points system and for RBR to to what they did not only hurt Webber, but hurt their image too. A very confusing situation indeed. I might blame Horner, but the other man to keep an eye on is Marko! He is to Vettel what Ron is to Lewis ! Im sure I wasnt the only who noticed Ron standing on the left hand side of the garage this weekend .

RBR's lineup is fixed. Webber has resigned and Vettel I guess is long term. I dont think there is issue between the drivers, more so Webber with various team-members however Vettel's post-race interview was telling though. Regarding what people are like when they show their "true face". Im not quite sure what he meant in any of that but im sure both drivers will keep well away from each other.

edit - the great thing about this all is that the only people to benifit are Lewis and Button! If RBR cant sort out team-issues and of course making the most of their package (couldnt last year, cant now!) then they are giving Lewis an easy ride to his 2nd WDC and Mclaren a WCC for the first time in a while.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2010 01:35AM by chet.

From an interview with Webber;"...On the parade lap some drivers offered me front wings, but I said I'd stick with what I've got."

And; "...It was a unique situation yesterday, the first time the team had only one component for each of us, but I'd never have signed a contract for 2011 if I had known it would be that way."

From a seperate article;

"...When it was all over here today, and the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, had walked away from his last difficult interview, he muttered: "By the way we have just won the f$%^ British
British Grand Prix".

then; The earnest and reasonable sounding Horner assured everyone that this would be the case. Tonight, however, the impression remained that he is taking orders from those above him, and in particular
from Helmut Marko, a "motor sport consultant" but the man who really calls the shots at Red Bull.

Oh dear this could get interesting, i fear for Webber's future at Red Bull.

1986

Quote
n00binio
i have the feeling vettel is blamed for everything that goes wrong at rbr. seriously, people complain about questionable ethics at rbr but are incredibly biased themselves.

I've been vocal about the support Vettel has had compared to Webber, but I don't blame Vettel for any of that. It's natural to impose yourself on your teammate and Webber would have trod all over him otherwise. It's the lack of support from above which annoys me - above Horner, who must be in an even more incredibly difficult situation now, as if Turkey wasn't bad enough.

Judging from the interviews yesterday both drivers seemed pretty bitter towards each other, and that comes from the horribly bad management, particularly after the Turkey race.

Well ..... what a cracking race. I had the most fun I've had watching a Grand Prix for years. A really enjoyable day. I got up at the crack of dawn (well a bit before.. 3AM, to get myself ready to arrive at Sixfields stadium for first few buses to leave for the circuit. This worked fairy well because there wasn't too much traffic around at this point and the journey into the circuit was smooth and steady with no hold up to speak off. But even arriving at the circuit before 6AM there was already a thin line taken up at the front all around the general admission areas. I took a walk round towards Club which has radically changed since last year, they've taken away most of the spectator banking, most likely in preparation for a Bernie approved pit straight grandstand for next year and beyond.

I eventually settled at Vale right at the front, having found a good gap in the line, opposite the Vodafone gantry, and big TV screen at the braking zone for Club. This is one of the few areas that has actually been improved with the general admission fan in mind, because they've extended the grass, well more mud at the moment to be honest, and brought the viewing area closer to the circuit. So they've taken away the decaying tarmac of the old stretch between Stowe and Club which was raced on before the 1991 modifications. This was a good call... so okay... you don't get the widest view here, but do see them emerge from Stowe, a chance overtaking into Club etc, and round Club. Plus you can see the big TV, and the PA speakers there are new and therefore not quite as shite as the ancient ones at other parts of the circuit.

So all in all I was pleased with the spot I ended up with... I had the luck to be sat next to a Williams fan, and some very general and knowledgeable people in general so I was able to get involved in some really good conversations. So my fears of being stuck elbow to elbow in clueless Hamilton bandwaggoner's were mercifully unrealised.

The Silverstone radio and TV was pretty good as well, had some good interviews including all the inevitable regulars and Jamie Green joined Ian Titchmarsh on the commentary team, I think he was pretty good, I might prefer him to Anthony Davidson actually because there is less of the cockiness. Jamie is a decent DTM driver... but he's humble enough to appreciate that he just wasn't quite good enough to make it to F1 (even though he probably would have been, no less so than Davidson etc) and there's none of this relating everything he talks about to his racing like there is with Davidson. But his technical input is just as good.

Red Arrows display was awesome as you’d expect even if the guy commentating was a bit cringe worthy, but always a good highlight leading up to the Grand Prix itself.

So… I had front line viewing, Semi hearable PA speakers allied to my ailing radio le mans radio, big TV and… live timing on my iPhone! So I was able to follow the race really quite well, better than for a while actually because I’ve had the misfortune to be working during the last grand prix since pretty much before Monaco. The data reception got slightly overwhelmed at times, bit it was steady and reliable enough to get the job done and the official (free timing app) though not as detailed as the epically expensive one, is more than good enough to help you follow the gist of the race and enable you to read it… I called things pretty much spot on.

The atmosphere was electric as well and Hamilton and Button in particular played to the crowd but they were all pretty good, the atmosphere is the touch which really puts the icing on the cake, and it really does make it worthwhile leaving your armchair viewing to experience this.

I also walked on the new arena section after the race… which felt really weird, it was like walking some Tilkedrome, it didn’t feel like Silverstone at all, felt more like Bahrain lol! Having said that… Tilke hasn’t been involved with this, and it has thus far actually worked fairly well, thanks in no small part to the bumps, which I were able to examine close up since the cars were bottoming out on these quite heavily and left black and yellow marks… I was reminded of walking the Porsche and Karting curves at Le Mans and dissecting the accidents from remaining evidence of tyre marks and collision marks etc. Very enjoyable.

Getting home wasn’t too bad… the actual traffic organisation is pretty smart and the bus was able to leap frog most of the slow traffic back to Sixfields. Indeed I only really encountered traffic on the M1 which was mostly not Grand Prix related but very annoying, since it was stop start… so much so that I elected to get lost in Milton Keynes instead of stay on the M1 until the junction nearest home. Normally for Silverstone I’d drive along the A5 until Towcester and then take the back roads through the Silverstone village to the circuit… not possible during Grand Prix weekend especially if they priced you out of he carparks forcing you into park n ride. Even so it still only took a couple of hours to get home.

All in all a very enjoyable day… they are improving the spectator experience and will be adding some “better grandstands next year” however I strongly feel that for the Grand Prix the basic general admission fan is being priced out. Because the areas were you’d traditionally be able to go are now being cordoned off with more expensive tickets being laden on them. So the basic roving admission is being ever more restricted and priced out which is a huge shame. It’ll probably work far better for lower profile but equally awesome events such as the LMS.

The food is still pretty poor as well… they claim it’s improved, but in reality they’ve simply re-branded the same old muck, which is still prohibitally expensive and invariably inedible. I took a pack lunch each day, though I did have some doughnuts on race day, the guy next to me said “Doughnuts for breakfast?!” So I replied “….well they’re nearly edible you see!” Which caused many knowing giggles.

However, having really enjoyed race day… I am actually considering epic wallet rapage again for next year, possibly with a grand stand ticket. Yes I really do have less sense than money.

Great post Jim. A cracking race it was.

I hope Webber maintains the rage because his start was especially superb considering starts aren't his strongest point not to mention the wing business. He should give Vettel the old Edward G. Robinson line, "You were good, kid, really good, but while I'm around you'll always be second best." I believe!

Alonso deserved the penalty, not because he cut the corner but because he didn't redress it himself. Kubica had the racing line and Alonso wasn't past him so Kubica was entitled to use the track to his advantage.

Not that this alone makes it right, but I've often heard Brundle compliment overtakers for hanging their prey "out to dry," forcing them wide so they'll be off the track if they argue. What's wrong with doing it in clean defense of a position? Nothing. The problem was the time the penalty took, regardless of Kubica's DNF.

Credit to Vettel and Button for their recovery races. How did his car go from being "undriveable" according to 14th placed Button in qualifying to being worthy of 4th in the race?

that was a good weekend. good atmosphere and fantstic weather. had great time.

race was great and the stuff going on immediately after the safety car was like watching a formula ford race at times.

thought the organisation was very good this year. its clearly a transitional period for them and i think access to the arena section will be easier once the paddock is moved across to the new start finish straight.

the tracks looking pretty good. ok, its a bit of a building site in parts but i think the new pit complex is going to look very impressive.

the roaming ticket for friday and saturday is a good idea and gives you a bit more for your money.
watched 1st practice from the start/finish straight and qualifying from becketts


also, have to say a big big thumbs up to the new offical campsite. half the price of litchlake and about 1000,000 times better.

nicely sectioned off into noisey and quite areas, gravel access roads and (you guys at Spa take note of this one) they actually cleaned, emptied and restocked the loos at least 2-3 times a day.
and there appears to be a permenant shower and loo block being built for next year.(the shortage of showers was about the only negative point)

there was an entertainment area with a bar, big screen and live bands on in the evening

they even had a guy going round with a buggy and trailer to give people lifts from the far end of the site to the main entrance in the mornings.

all in all from an organisational and infrastructure point of view, its definitly heading in the right direction. well done Mr Hill and Mr Phillips.

@jim,

i understand what you mean about general entry, but looking at the map for next years race, it does look like they've improving it.

silverstone 2011


clearly, club is now going to be mainly premium grandstands as its the final corner but the general entry is going to run from copse right the way round to vale, right round luffield and a bit on the wellington straight.

the only circuit i can can think of that gives you more of the circuit open to general entry than that is Spa.

if they continue with the roaming grandstands on the friday for general entry tickets and friday and saturday for grandstand ticket holders (something Spa don't do) then i think it works out quite well .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2010 12:47PM by marwood82.

No... my point is that in general the work to improve the viewing is good. The physical plans are right etc.

But they are systematically cordoning off other terraces in front of the grandstands, and plonking larger fees on them. Back in the day general admission was exactly that, turn up early and bag your spot... but that's getting ever more restricted. That's all very well if can are able and/or willing to pay insane amounts to sit on a bit of grass at Cospe or stand on a terrace at Luffield etc. But as far as I'm concerned it's forgetting the fans who haven't got bottomless pockets... and it's also making it harder for people to take along their familes. That is what is dissapointing me.

As I said they are improving the spectator facilities... but they're also pricing a lot of people out of those areas.

mcdo Wrote:
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How did his car go from being "undriveable"
> according to 14th placed Button in qualifying to
> being worthy of 4th in the race?


Its Button, he often over reacts in bad situations :p. 14th on the grid seems to be a favourite of his.

But it was tyre temperature I believe (as ever?) and of course low-fuel qualifying which is a major weak point. Once the car is loaded with fuel he is often as quick as Lewis.

Besides that, it's a Mclaren. Still a quick car. On a bad day it's a match for the Merc apparently.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

but looking at next years tickets it would appear the terracing is going and its just going to be turn up and sit down general entry.
on their website they don't seem to be offering tickets for any of the terraces. and the map, shows general entry all the way round from copse to vale.

to be honest it wouldn't surprise me as the with the changes to the track the luffield terrace is now in the wrong place anyway



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2010 01:09PM by marwood82.

I went this weekend, my first British GP since '99, Ferrari's race was terrible but at least not as bad as the last time i went, still had an excellent time though.

We had grandstand tickets in the new section, I don't know how it looks on TV but its a great place to watch live from. Not only do you get a good view of the village and the loop but you can see the cars go through Becketts and down the first part of Hanger Straight. You can also see them come out of Stowe and along the first part of Vale. Plus if you're on the top row then out of the back of the stand, you can see them head down Wellington straight and into Brooklands.

I also enjoyed the roaming for Friday, the last GP I went to (Hungary) didn't let you do this, which takes some of the fun out of Friday. The atmosphere at the track was great though, although i think they need to get more people up to the Arena, it's a bit isolated and the atmosphere there was a bit lower than in other sections.

chet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> mcdo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> How did his car go from being "undriveable"
> > according to 14th placed Button in qualifying
> to
> > being worthy of 4th in the race?
>
>
> Its Button, he often over reacts in bad situations
> :p. 14th on the grid seems to be a favourite of
> his.
>
> But it was tyre temperature I believe (as ever?)
> and of course low-fuel qualifying which is a major
> weak point. Once the car is loaded with fuel he is
> often as quick as Lewis.
>
> Besides that, it's a Mclaren. Still a quick car.
> On a bad day it's a match for the Merc apparently.


I was going to make a snide suggestion about Parc Fermenting but thought better of it.
The McLaren is a quick car. Needs to get quicker. Maybe a swig of that sugar junk with disappearing wings.

Some very amateur pictures from my 12th grand prix

cool,

here's a couple of mine

gav schrieb:
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> > i have the feeling vettel is blamed for
> everything that goes wrong at rbr. seriously,
> people complain about questionable ethics at rbr
> but are incredibly biased themselves.
>
>
> I've been vocal about the support Vettel has had
> compared to Webber, but I don't blame Vettel for
> any of that. It's natural to impose yourself on
> your teammate and Webber would have trod all over
> him otherwise. It's the lack of support from above
> which annoys me - above Horner, who must be in an
> even more incredibly difficult situation now, as
> if Turkey wasn't bad enough.
>
> Judging from the interviews yesterday both drivers
> seemed pretty bitter towards each other, and that
> comes from the horribly bad management,
> particularly after the Turkey race.

i fully agree and my post wasn't directed at you as i've never seen a post by you that was overly biased. your posts are always worth reading.
imo a lot of people just search for reasons to dislike a driver. it's not just a vettel related problem, it's the same with hamilton, schumacher, .... instead of just saying "i don't like that guy" people try to discredit them all the time. all drivers have done mistakes at some point, no discussion about that, but to attribute all that goes wrong in the team to a certain driver or to dislike him because he is favoured by the team wihtout knowing the role he plays is just a fail.

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used to be GPGSL's Nick Heidfeld

No no, I wasn't suggesting you were having a go at me (though I can see now why someone might think that) - I was just stating my opinion on the matter.

As I've said several times, I hate fanboys anyway, so to become one would be a bit backwards. I don't mind fans those who watch a race for the racing and might want an underdog or a particularly stylish driver (Alesi in my case) to win, but I despise those who watch it then only come back and comment on their driver or team. Alonso, Hamilton & Kimi fans seem the worst (though will differ in different countries)! I mean really... what's the point?

For all the reasons above plus more, the situations cry out for 1 car teams. Also, teams spend much less money on developing 2 cars.

Not expecting a great deal of support for this though.

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GPGSL: S6 - TafuroGP Tester (14th) /// S7 - ART Tester (6th) /// S8 - Demon Driver (13th) /// S9 - Demon/Snake Driver (13th) /// S10 - Snake Driver (???) ///]
"My ambition is handicapped by laziness" - Charles Bukowski

It's really good to see that Williams is improving. It's the teams second finish in the top 5. If they keep working hard, and improve the car, the future will look bright for Rubens and Hulkenberg, and also for the team. I believe that this year, they can reach the podium this season (or with some luck even more then that ). Their car is almost as good as the Mercedes. In the last lap, Rubens was only 5 seconds behind Button.

Kobayashi also did a great job at Sauber.

They're a bit more solid within the mid-field again, and it's nice to see Rubens possibly having a good effect in pushing the team forwards. But I doubt it's going to get significantly better from here.