British GP Thread - Contains practice/qualifying/race spoilers

by Fernando Thu 05 Jul 2012, 2:23 pm

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is the ninth round of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. This race is steeped in F1 history, Silverstone having hosted the inaugural F1 World Championship round at the beginning of the 1950 season. The British Grand Prix is one of only two races ever-present on the F1 calendar. It has also been held at Aintree and Brands Hatch but Silverstone leads the way, staging the GP 45 times.

The circuit has undergone many minor revisions over the past two decades while leaving the circuit’s perimeter configuration intact. That changed in 2010 with the debut of the new ‘Arena’ layout, which introducing a new infield loop between the corners at Abbey and Brooklands. 2010’s race used the old pit and paddock complex, though for 2011 new facilities opened, moving the start-finish straight to the section of track between Club and Abbey corners.

The new layout makes the circuit longer and more technical but Silverstone retains its reputation as one of F1’s power circuits, with over 60 per cent of a lap completed at full throttle, and featuring some of the highest-speed corners in F1.

Fast changes of direction characterise the circuit. According to tyre supplier Pirelli, this is the track which places the greatest lateral load on their tyres. Copse corner is taken at speeds in excess of 290kph, generating lateral loads of 5g. The hard and soft compound tyres have been nominated for this round of the championship but a mixed forecast means intermediate or full wet tyres may also see use during the weekend.

Last year Fernando Alonso triumphed in wet-dry conditions. He comes to Britain leading this year’s championship, having taken his second victory of 2012 last time out in Valencia. That ended a record sequence of seven different drivers winning the first seven races of the season. The other major record the 2012 season might challenge is 1982’s total of 11 winning drivers.

Silverstone

Length of lap:
5.891km
Lap record
1:30.874 (Fernando Alonso
Ferrari, 2010)

Start line/finish line offset
0.105km
Total number of race laps
52
Total race distance
306.227km
Pitlane speed limits
60km/h during practice,

100km/h during qualifying and race

CHANGES TO THE CIRCUIT SINCE 2011

► Relatively little has changed since 2011. The pit entry has been straightened and the pit lane speed limit begins 50 metres earlier.

► The British Grand Prix has been on the calendar since the inaugural F1 World Championship in 1950. The only other race able to claim that is the Italian Grand Prix. Silverstone played host to that first ever F1 World Championship event, when it hosted the British Grand Prix on 13 May 1950. Nino Farina won the race driving for Alfa Romeo and went on to win the Championship with further victories in Switzerland and Italy.
► In the Formula One World Championship era, three venues have held the British Grand Prix. Aintree hosted the race in 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962; Brands Hatch in even years between 1964-1986 and Silverstone on the other 45 occasions.
► Jim Clark and Alain Prost are tied on five wins apiece as the most successful drivers in British Grand Prix history. While Prost won all of his races at Silverstone, Clark spread his across all three British Grand Prix venues.
► There have been 63 winning drivers in the 62 British Grands Prix. During the 1957 race at Aintree, Stirling Moss took the chequered flag driving the Vanwall in which Tony Brooks had started the race. Moss had pitted his ailing Vanwall from the lead and taken over team-mate Brooks’ drive, re-emerging in ninth place, Moss worked his way through the field and still managed to win by 26 seconds..
► The 1951 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was won by José Froilán González driving a Ferrari 375. It was Ferrari’s first Formula One World Championship victory. González’s car, now owned by Bernie Ecclestone, was driven around the Silverstone circuit by Fernando Alonso before the 2011 race – which Alonso subsequently won in a Ferrari 150° Italia.
► Fernando Alonso’s victory in 2011 made Ferrari the leading Constructor in British Grand Prix history with 15 victories, one ahead of McLaren.
► The new Silverstone layout, used in the last two years, was designed with the needs of MotoGP in mind. The infield section and Arena, where the new pit complex is located, bypasses the bridge, which was deemed too close to the track for bike racing. The new parts of the Arena Grand Prix Circuit use sections of track that are part of the shorter ‘National’ and ‘Southern’ layouts.
► The British Grand Prix has the highest number of home-grown winners of any race on the F1 calendar. The race has been won by a British driver 21 times. Alongside Clark’s five wins (1962-1965, 1967), Nigel Mansell has four (1986-7, 1991-2), while on two wins apiece come Stirling Moss (one shared with Tony Brooks) (1955, 1957) , Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971) and David Coulthard (1999, 2000). The other winners are Peter Collins (1958), James Hunt (1977), John Watson (1981), Damon Hill (1994), Johnny Herbert (1995) and Lewis Hamilton (2008).

Race Stewards
Biographies
PAUL GUTJAHR
PRESIDENT OF THE FIA HILL CLIMB COMMISSION, BOARD MEMBER AND PRESIDENT OF AUTO SPORT SUISSE SARL
Paul Gutjahr started racing in the late 1960s with Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Lotus and Porsche, then March in Formula 3. In the early ‘70s he became President of the Automobile Club Berne and organised numerous events. He acted as President of the organising committee of the Swiss GP at Dijon from 1980-82. From 1980-2005 he acted as President of the Commission Sportive Nationale de l’Automobile Club de Suisse and in 2005 he became President and board member of the Auto Sport Suisse motor sports club. Gutjahr is President of the Alliance of European Hill Climb Organisers and has been steward at various high-level international competitions. He was the Formula 3000 Sporting Commissioner and has been a Formula One steward since 1995.

PAOLO LONGONI
MEMBER OF THE ITALIAN MOTOR SPORT COMMISSION (CSAI); THE AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF MILAN
Paolo Longoni is a steward with more than 20 years’ experience. Milanese Longoni began his stewards’ training at his home circuit – Monza – in 1990 and was immediately ‘bitten by the bug’ of motorsport. While his early stewarding experience was based largely at Monza, since 2006 Longoni has been a national steward, officiating at rounds of the Porsche Supercup, Ferrari Challenge Championship, FIA Historic Championship, ETCC, WTCC, Formula Two and Le Mans Series events.

NIGEL MANSELL OBE

1992 F1 CHAMPION, 1993 CART CHAMPION
Nigel Mansell is the FIA driver steward at the British GP. From 187 grand prix starts he took 32 pole positions, 31 victories and 28 other podium finishes. He raced for Team Lotus, Williams, Ferrari and McLaren, winning the FIA F1 World Champion in 1992 with Williams. The following season Mansell took a sabbatical from F1, racing in the CART championship. He become the first rookie to win that title and the only man to hold the F1 and CART titles simultaneously. He continues to compete occasionally, most recently in endurance racing. Mansell is a four-times winner of the British Grand Prix, with three of those victories at Silverstone.

Weather Forecast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2637827

Source: Fia/BBC

by Fernando Thu 05 Jul 2012, 3:23 pm

Fernando's Predictions of the weekend
1) Rain
2) a Sauber will win the GP
3) Mclaren will get their pitstops correct

by Guest Thu 05 Jul 2012, 3:30 pm

Basically FP1 & FP2 are going to be a total washout. The weather is going to improve slightly but changeable conditions are expected through Saturday & Sunday. Therefore drivers are going to be complaining about setup and I wouldn't be surprised to see a mixed up qualifying result, however stats and rain interference mean qualifying pole may not be so important. Sunday should be an exciting race and hopefully Hamilton can bounce back but I fear a certain Spaniard may spoil the party.

Be amazed if there's not a McLaren foul up Fernando. Shocked

by Fernando Thu 05 Jul 2012, 3:33 pm

Well they reckon they have fixed/made a change to the jack did 800 pitstops in testing with it and didn't have an issue on any of them so your probs right and it'll go wrong again....

by Guest Thu 05 Jul 2012, 3:41 pm

They can do all the testing they want. They promised investigations and improvements to the pit stops throughout the season and we're still having this discussion. Practicing 800 times doesn't recreate the pressure of a live race situation. Last year at Silverstone they under-fuelled Hamilton that ruined his race and they fouled up Button's stop with the tyre incorrectly fitted which resulted in a DNF immediately. Good Luck McLaren! Another foul up and surely Whitmarsh will go......

by Fernando Thu 05 Jul 2012, 3:45 pm

All i shall say is Sam Michaels @Williams - crap
Leaves Williams suddenly becomes good again
Joins Mclaren - turning into williams....

by Critical_mass Thu 05 Jul 2012, 4:15 pm

That does appear to be the case, its an interesting theory. But how does a man joined from another team suddenly affect the ability of say a man operating the wheel gun during a pit stop. Assuming nothing has changed, and if something has changed what could have possibly been changed to affect performance?

by Bushys Fri 06 Jul 2012, 1:33 pm

The advert on Sky's F1 channel for the British GP has Lewis saying, "watch the British GP on Sky F1 and share the unique experience"...

Or words to that effect.

Yeah, you got that right Lewis, you know you're at the 'unique' British GP when you pay a fortune for a ticket that enables you to stand in the pouring rain 200 meters from the rack behind 3 layers of chain link fencing and offers you the chance to pay £6 for a wafer thin gristle burger...

by liverbnz Fri 06 Jul 2012, 1:51 pm

Rain affected FP results.

Times
01 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:56.552 13 laps
02 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:56.827 0.275 10 laps
03 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:57.174 0.622 6 laps
04 Sergio Perez Sauber 1:57.664 1.112 11 laps
05 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:58.119 1.567 7 laps
06 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:58.463 1.911 7 laps
07 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 1:58.483 1.931 19 laps
08 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:58.493 1.941 10 laps
09 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:58.942 2.390 8 laps
10 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:59.076 2.524 12 laps
11 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:59.414 2.862 11 laps
12 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:59.614 3.062 9 laps
13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:59.733 3.181 7 laps
14 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 1:59.787 3.235 10 laps
15 Pastor Maldonado Williams 2:00.125 3.573 5 laps
16 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 2:00.253 3.701 6 laps
17 Jenson Button McLaren 2:01.834 5.282 6 laps
18 Timo Glock Marussia 2:01.835 5.283 6 laps
19 Pedro de la Rosa HRT 2:04.341 7.789 9 laps
20 Dani Clos HRT 2:05.022 8.470 11 laps
21 Charles Pic Marussia 2:11.760 15.208 6 laps
Fernando Alonso Ferrari 4 laps
Paul di Resta Force India 3 laps
Jules Bianchi Force India 1 laps

by Guest Fri 06 Jul 2012, 2:27 pm

Bushys wrote:The advert on Sky's F1 channel for the British GP has Lewis saying, "watch the British GP on Sky F1 and share the unique experience"...

Or words to that effect.

Yeah, you got that right Lewis, you know you're at the 'unique' British GP when you pay a fortune for a ticket that enables you to stand in the pouring rain 200 meters from the rack behind 3 layers of chain link fencing and offers you the chance to pay £6 for a wafer thin gristle burger...

When you've had prior warning to the potentially hazardous weather issues, I have no sympathy for complaining fans. Everyone with a ticket received an email regarding the weather and its implications upon the weekend and the issues of parking for spectators around Silverstone.

Watching it on TV has always been the place to be on weekends such as this, however I hope you enjoy that soggy, wafer thin burger while getting drenched.

C'mon Lewis! thumbsup

by Bushys Fri 06 Jul 2012, 2:38 pm

John wrote:
Bushys wrote:The advert on Sky's F1 channel for the British GP has Lewis saying, "watch the British GP on Sky F1 and share the unique experience"...

Or words to that effect.

Yeah, you got that right Lewis, you know you're at the 'unique' British GP when you pay a fortune for a ticket that enables you to stand in the pouring rain 200 meters from the rack behind 3 layers of chain link fencing and offers you the chance to pay £6 for a wafer thin gristle burger...

When you've had prior warning to the potentially hazardous weather issues, I have no sympathy for complaining fans. Everyone with a ticket received an email regarding the weather and its implications upon the weekend and the issues of parking for spectators around Silverstone.

Watching it on TV has always been the place to be on weekends such as this, however I hope you enjoy that soggy, wafer thin burger while getting drenched.

C'mon Lewis!

Well I wont be there for sure, I was making the point that Silverstone is typical of pretty much all British tracks, in that they're over priced, often soaking wet, bad for spectators and that concessions are a rip off....

There are exceptions - if you''re into proper racing (two wheels) Cadwell and Oulton Park offer something different, and i'll concede that Brands isn't half bad either.

by liverbnz Fri 06 Jul 2012, 2:45 pm

Well then, do what Lewis says and ""watch the British Gp on Sky F1". Very Happy

by SteveG Fri 06 Jul 2012, 6:37 pm

A couple of observations thus far:

Firstly - as predicted practice sessions are a washout. Noone wanted to burn up their precious wets - why don't they increase tyre allocation in certain conditions? At least the great british public would then get to see cars go round whilst standing in their sodden wet clothes chomping on their £6 burgers.

Secondly in the light of keeping costs down in F1 what price the new paint job on the Red Bulls ? (cough cough)

And thirdly will the commentators please stop saying Jenson is great in the wet. No he isn't. He's been good in changeable conditions when the track starts to dry (Canada 2011, Aussie 2010) but when it is proper lashing down he has gone backwards (Canada 2011, Aussie 2010).

by SteveG Sat 07 Jul 2012, 2:23 pm

Some people have voiced that the quali sessions should not be frozen by bad weather and instead the clock should continue and the grid declared. Why should a team who called it wrong get a second chance over those who called it right. There is a valid argument. When conditions improve why should a team who called it wrong cash in on having fresher wet tyres?

by SteveG Sat 07 Jul 2012, 3:40 pm

Very disappointing for Mclaren. Hope its lashing down tomorrow. Cream rises.

by Fernando Sat 07 Jul 2012, 4:06 pm

I don't think that's wise tbh Mclaren look shocking in the rain today

by GSC Sat 07 Jul 2012, 4:14 pm

I dunno, Lewis was up there when it was heavy, when it dried out they dropped back.

by Bushys Sat 07 Jul 2012, 4:23 pm

Very similar weather forecast for tomorrow.

by Critical_mass Sat 07 Jul 2012, 4:29 pm

Mclaren need it to stay wet tomorrow, wet enough for full wets. The Mclaren did perform well on full wet judging by lewis's Q2 run. Though i reckon they'll struggle if it starts to dry up and goes into the inters phase.

I was expecting more from Mclaren, Lewis seemed to be doing well up until Q3. Button struggled all session, though he was a little unlucky with the yellow flags.

by Fernando Sat 07 Jul 2012, 4:44 pm

Critical_mass wrote: Button struggled all session, though he was a little unlucky with the yellow flags.

Well atleast he slowed for the yellow flag Whistle

by Critical_mass Sat 07 Jul 2012, 4:56 pm

Are you referring to vettel?

by Guest Sat 07 Jul 2012, 5:15 pm

How did Alonso get away with that at the end of Q2? Clearly failed to slow down and set a faster time to qualify for Q3, yet unsurprisingly gets away with it. If someone has the evidence to suggest why he got away with it then I'm all ears.

As soon as Alonso/Massa go off in Q2, FIA (Ferrari Intervention Act) throw the red flags. Shocking.

As for McLaren it's not slowly slipping away now, it gathering worrying speed. Completely off the pace in Q3 and yes I agree we need the heavens to open again tomorrow but let me guess the safety car will be in full view for a prolonged time in aid of the heightened driver safety. Hamilton will have to be in attacking mode tomorrow and being around Massa & Maldonado is worrying especially in treacherous conditions. As for Button, it's gone beyond embarrasing now.

Tomorrow is a lottery but it wouldn't suprise me to see a spanish grin on the top step of the podium tomorrow.

by Fernando Sat 07 Jul 2012, 5:23 pm

John wrote:How did Alonso get away with that at the end of Q2? Clearly failed to slow down and set a faster time to qualify for Q3, yet unsurprisingly gets away with it. If someone has the evidence to suggest why he got away with it then I'm all ears.

^^ This is what i meant.

Also apparently he got away with it because it wasn't his fastest sector

by Critical_mass Sat 07 Jul 2012, 5:50 pm

ah vettel appeared to do the same too.

by Guest Sat 07 Jul 2012, 6:15 pm

They get away with it because there not sitting in a McLaren No.4!

Problem is the majority of the race is likely to be suited for intermediate tyres. If it rains heavily and the full wets are required, where McLaren appear strong, this advantage will be nullified because the safety car will be called because of the heightened driver safety nowadays until intermediate conditions have come about (as experienced today in qualifying).

by SteveG Sat 07 Jul 2012, 7:49 pm

Totally agree John. Every 'proper' wet race that used to separate the men from the boys is now over zelously controlled by a safety car until the track becomes intermediate territory. Another part of F1 that is fast becomimg just a memory.

As for Mclaren - I can't remember them putting on intermediates during p1 or p2. I distinctly remember Ferrai doing this. Is this another cockup or did Mclaren indeed gather intermediate data. Can anyone confirm?

by Critical_mass Sat 07 Jul 2012, 8:56 pm

sure they ran inters in q2?

by GSC Sat 07 Jul 2012, 9:02 pm

They were on wets in q2, Senna's engineer said it on tv

by SteveG Sat 07 Jul 2012, 10:11 pm

I'm talking about practice not quali. Did Mclaren run inters ? I can't remember if they did but I know Ferrari definately did. If not then has this lack of inter data bitten them in quali from a setup point of view as Hamilton just coudn't get any heat into his tyres wheras everyone else in Q3 had no such problems.

by Bull Sun 08 Jul 2012, 12:27 pm

where is the rain? lol

by SteveG Sun 08 Jul 2012, 12:55 pm

No rain is probably the best bet for Hamilton coz it looks lik they have a very fast car in the dry. Just needs to take a leaf out of Alonsos book at Valencia and marry skill with the waiting game.

by Bull Sun 08 Jul 2012, 12:56 pm

Come on Ferrari!! Yahoo

by SteveG Sun 08 Jul 2012, 1:25 pm

Maldonado again.

by SteveG Sun 08 Jul 2012, 1:56 pm

Unbelievable. Button hold up Hami for Groj and then lets Groj drive on by. They were on differebt strategies FGS. Whats going on Mclaren !!

by SteveG Sun 08 Jul 2012, 2:07 pm

I'm off to do a rain dance !!

by Bull Sun 08 Jul 2012, 3:37 pm

good race enjoyed it.

Happy with a second place even though if they where on the right tyre it may have been a win. but hey ho well done to Webber!

oh and good race for Massa good to see him back up there again.

Well done to Ferrari , red bull etc. Bring on Germany.

Very unlucky for Perez was hoping he would be near the top 5 again had that not happened. Pastor must be getting a pen this time again?

by Critical_mass Sun 08 Jul 2012, 5:40 pm

well an interesting race from start to finish and was suprised it stayed dry through out. A well deserved win for webber who was persistant in his attack on alonso who i thought had it in the bag pretty early on in the race.

Mclaren - once again they showed lack of pace regardless of what tyre they were on. what is going on?? Button has slipped further down the WDC standings for the last few races and lewis isnt looking too strong at the moment either. i believe mclaren took some updates to silverstone but they dont looked to have had much gain on performance with them. Apparently there are more to come at germany - can anyone confirm that?

Ferrari and RB are beginning to pull away in the race for the championship... mclaren need to get back in there. Lotus are looking to be the 3rd fastest team at the moment.

by SteveG Sun 08 Jul 2012, 7:25 pm

I reckon the lotus is the fastest car on the grid and has been for much of the season. They have an experienced driver who is still feelng his way back into F1 and a rookie - albeit a rookie who is doing a brilliant job (a great recobvery drive today).

Ferrari were quietly confident this weekend and had they started on options could have won. Red Bull as usual called it just right.

As for Mclaren where do you start. This should have been the perfect tonic after the nightmare in Spain - high speed corners, medium track temperature and an added bonus of no rain. And yet.....

I think the weather prevented them from using all their upgrades this weekend so hopefully Germany will be better. They've put alot of energy into pitstops recently and are now the quickest on the grid. Now lets see them do the same with the car. If its not already too late.

And lastly - its a good job Maldonado was able to carry on after his little 'incident' with Perez because looking ar Perez when he got out of the car there would definately have been a Piquet/Salazar moment. Very Happy

by Fernando Sun 08 Jul 2012, 7:42 pm

Currently i would put Mclaren as 7th fastest

Ferrari/Mercedes/Sauber/Lotus/Red Bull/Williams all look faster on race pace. which is worrying for them.

It's nice to see a Maldonado that was actually just an incident rear end got twitchy and unluckily collected Perez

by SteveG Sun 08 Jul 2012, 8:32 pm

Fernando wrote:Currently i would put Mclaren as 7th fastest

Ferrari/Mercedes/Sauber/Lotus/Red Bull/Williams all look faster on race pace. which is worrying for them.

One of the pundits summed it up perfectly when they commented that it's like there's a secret throughout the paddock in relation to the tyres and nobody's told Mclaren.

by Fernando Sun 08 Jul 2012, 9:10 pm

SteveG wrote:
Fernando wrote:Currently i would put Mclaren as 7th fastest

Ferrari/Mercedes/Sauber/Lotus/Red Bull/Williams all look faster on race pace. which is worrying for them.
One of the pundits summed it up perfectly when they commented that it's like there's a secret throughout the paddock in relation to the tyres and nobody's told Mclaren.

Don't worry they will steal it from a Ferrari file at some point Laugh

Sauber/Williams seem to have it figured more then anyone

by Critical_mass Mon 09 Jul 2012, 9:39 am

Mclaren are fading away this season, it started off promising, but race by race you can see them falling behind the other teams. Hopefully the Germany updates will help.

They really need to get on top of it.

by Bushys Mon 09 Jul 2012, 10:17 am

Apart from a few high points, it is my opinion that McLaren have been in a slow but steady decline for several years now. Always seem to be playing catch up with other 'big' teams (and now some 'smaller' teams too).

There appears to be a fundamental problem somewhere within the team, it may be one or two individuals, or a whole wrotten core, but whatever the problem is, its a growing malaise.

by Guest Mon 09 Jul 2012, 10:29 am

Abysmal performance by McLaren. 4th in the contructors championship is embarrasing. I do agree regarding Lotus, if they had good qualifying pace then they could translate that pace into the races they are having and they would be an incredible threat. McLaren could not get enough running with their new updates to understand them and gather data in practice but there's setups were horrific. They were carrying way too much wing, especially on Lewis' car in what looked like a wet setup from qualifying and would of been perfect had it rained but it didnt. Their straight line speed was woeful and that backs up that idea. I don't know why they keep banging on about being the quickest pit stop team now, that is completely pointless if you've got an uncompetitive car. They fix one problem and another arises. It was typical that Whitmarsh didnt do any interviews, he must be under immense pressure now and leaving Paddy Lowe and Sam Michael to answer the questions just emphasises his current predicament.

Congratulations to Webber for a superb drive. It looks like a three horse race for the title between Red Bull and Alonso with Hamilton & Raikkonen just struggling to hold onto them. Maldonado is an arrogant so and so but I do agree his reputation and previous didn't help him yesterday.

Bring on Germany. The constructors is gone for McLaren unsurprisingly but Hamilton is going to need at least a podium for me to actually believe McLaren have what it takes to turn this around.

by Critical_mass Mon 09 Jul 2012, 12:02 pm

Going by what ive read on the official f1 site, Mclaren were counting on a wet race and did indeed have a wet setup on. To be honest you cant blame them for going that way considering the weather here for the last few weeks.

Though im suprised no other teams had this apparent wet setup judging by their perforance in relation to the Mclaren.

by Critical_mass Mon 09 Jul 2012, 12:20 pm

AND reading this - http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/7883848/Hamilton-McLaren-In-Need-Of-Redesign

It looks like they're going to incorporate the stepped nose next season - shame as its a nice looking car and will be spoilt with the stepped nose. But i suppose function over form is paramount.

by Guest Mon 09 Jul 2012, 12:38 pm

I thought the stepped-nose design was being banned from 2013? McLaren have alot of issues and some of the qoutes in that link seem very negative. Lewis stating, 'it's too big a change' in reference to copying the nose design of it's rivals. McLaren went the non-stepped route because of the low chassis they already used prior to 2012 compared to the their rivals. It simply has not worked, it worked in Australia when the rivals were all still gathering data and did not truly understand the tyres. Now the teams are understanding their designs and the way to get the best out of the tyre, McLaren are simply being left behind. The win in Canada was really gifted to the team through Ferrari's foul up and did not really show a true reflection upon the cars ability. The way you can tell if a car is working is if both drivers are competitive. Look at Button this year......embarrasing. Whereas on the other hand look at Massa at Silverstone finishing 4th. That tells you all you need to know about the gulf in competitivness between Ferrari & McLaren right now.

Very worried and extremely surprised that Lewis seems to have decided to stay at McLaren.

by Critical_mass Mon 09 Jul 2012, 12:40 pm

Has he decided to stay at Mclaren? Article?

by SteveG Mon 09 Jul 2012, 1:34 pm

John wrote:The way you can tell if a car is working is if both drivers are competitive.

Indeed - Ferrari actualy brought a new front wing to Silverstone but it was only fitted to Alonsos car (of course) and yet Massa was still competitive.

Very worried and extremely surprised that Lewis seems to have decided to stay at McLaren.

TBH the only realistic seats available would be Williams or Sauber (unless Webber goes to Ferrari). Both teams seem to be on the up and he would get instant no1 status but the question is are they ready to build a car quick enough to challenge at the front? As much a I would hate to see Lewis leave Mclaren maybe stepping outside the bubble and breathing some new air is maybe what's needed.

by Guest Mon 09 Jul 2012, 8:09 pm

All this talk of a redesign is basically an admittance of error and judgment in the design of the MP4-27. They prioritised one-lap pace in attempting to tackle Vettel's qualifying pace but in reality this season has been defined by race pace and the ability to use the tyres effectively and getting them upto temperature. Also Vettel has not been the dominant qualifier so everything McLaren thought they were competing against in 2012 along with the importance of qualifying in 2011 has failed to materialise.

Hamilton will sign an extension at McLaren, I just don't see where he could go and further his career other than Red Bull. There is no way he will sign, at this point in his career, at a less competitive team in the form of Sauber or Williams. Secondly, financially it would not make sense for Lewis.

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