Still, you could bet on FP1. I think Gasly was something like 2000 to 1 to take the top position. Unfortunately I canāt find any historical odds.
2 Likes
Not able to watch FP2, so no idea if anything interesting happened. But the timesheet shows a return to normality with the Mercs on top (I think HAM is holding back a little still) followed by the Ferraris. GAS still best of the rest and good to see the Macca Bros holding on to their recent form. Down the bottom, Williams at 3.5 - 4 seconds off the pace is sad - would really have hoped that they would be starting to close the gap a little at this stage of the season.
3 Likes
FP3. Meh-ish.
- Session starts with sunshine. Both Williams get install laps in, RUS sets the first timed lap at 1:31.810.
- 10 minutes into the session it starts to rain. Ted Kravitz calls it āmizzleā (mist + drizzle) which sets in for a while.
- A handful of drivers (incl. HAM, VET, BOT and RIC) take the opportunity to grab a few laps on the Intermediate tyre - perhaps to get some benchmarks in case of damp conditions for the race.
- At 25 mins into the session, dry tyres back on and normal last practice session procedures resume. Rest of the session remains dry, but cold and cloudy keeping track temps only in the mid-20s.
- HAMs time-topping FP3 time last year was 1:26.722s - LEC finishes this year with the top FP3 time of 1:25.905.
- Nice bit of leader swapping towards the end of the session with just 4/100s separating the Top 3. And just half a second between P1 and P6.
- GAS tops VER again - obviously been paying attention to all the recent criticisms and working hard to stay off Helmut Markoās āWho can I fire now?ā list a little longer.
- Racing Point didnāt look to do any Qualifying laps and are well off the pace. And the less said about the Williams cars the better at this stage.
- So 3 different cars and drivers top each of the practice sessions. And none of them were HAM, although I still wouldnāt put money on him not filling the P1 spot after Qualifying.
3 Likes
BOT by 0.006s! His first pole since Spain. HAM literal milliseconds short of extending his British GP pole streak and record number. And another Merc 1-2 to add to the record books. LEC right on form too - 7/100s behind the Mercs. Strong Quali result for both the Red Bulls. And for VET a disappointing session all round, ending up P6 and half a second off his teammate. Nice for NOR to be ahead of one of the Renaults - P8 reward for his good efforts so far this weekend.
Ferrari race strategy a little different to the others - they used Softs for the Q2 runs while the Mercs and Red Bulls were on the Mediums. Presumably want to try jump the Mercs at the start and pit early for a longer second race stint. Donāt know if itās going to work, or even be enough to make a difference, but weāll see. What will be more interesting off the start will be seeing if BOT can stay ahead of HAM on the run into T1, and if LEC, on the soft tyre and the better side of the track can naybe manage to squeeze himself between the two Mercs.
4 Likes
Slightly disappointed with Sainz ending up in 13th (which goes to show how much McLaren has improved 
). Race pace should be good though.
2 Likes
I am not really too fond of the Red Bulls, but always like when things get mixed up a bit. I would love for Gasly to have a good race.
Norris will hopefully perform and climb a few places as I really like the Mclarens. Sainz can have another stormer and close the gap to his team mate.
Doubt Leclerc can top the Mercs, so hope they take each other out at turn 1 and let Leclerc through for his first win! Oh wait, this is not the MEWRL F1! So doubt it would happen! Still looking forward to the race!
3 Likes
I wouldnāt mind some retirements among the top six, nasty as that may sound. The top teams are just so boringly reliable these days. The smaller teams never get a shot at podiums any more.
3 Likes
A couple of very special Hot Laps with Lewisā¦
3 Likes
Tyre sets remaining for the race today:
I wonder if Ferrari will be brave enough to switch Vettel onto the Hard really early in the race and let him try run to the end? I wonder if anyone will use the Hards at all? That new set of Softs that Hamilton and Leclerc have over the other top runners could become important, but it sounds like the Mediums are the better all round race tyre, which perhaps gives Vettel a slight edge as heāll be starting on Softs and could take his new Mediums at the pitstop.
2 Likes
The softs have apparently been falling off quite quickly. I suspect that teams starting on the red will want to do a short first stint, and then run the hard to the finish. Assuming youāre one-stopping of course.
2 Likes
Yeah, that was my immediate thought as well. But then I realized that none of the top cars spent any time at all in any practice session or qualifying with the Hards. Thatās why I suggested that Ferrari will need to be brave to put him (or Leclerc) onto tyres they havenāt used at all this weekend, have little to no wear data for, on a cold day with cool track temps, on a newly resurfaced and barely rubbered in circuit.
Pirelliās pitstop strategy suggestions indicate the Hards could manage only half the race to be effective, and that a Soft > Soft > Hard 2-stop strategy is the quickest?
Could all be academic anyway if we get some rain 
3 Likes
Called it. (Not that it was all that surprising though, to be honest.)
Nice one Lewis. And another new record that will stand for a very, very long time. And the Fastest Lap on the final lap with 32-lap used Hards? Amazing. 
Leclerc my Driver of the Day again. Kid showed some real racing moxie in the fight with Max. And I think, after the shambles that was Sebs qualifying and his crash into the back of Max, his putting himself into contention to finish the season ahead of his (supposed to be) more experienced teammate.
Props to Seb though for immediately apologizing to Max after the race, and accepting his mistake in the interviews after.
How both cars managed to continue after that impact though amazed me. Try that move in the game and youād both have a āTerminal Damageā message on your screen 
.
On the subject of the crash, best Twitter account to follow during a race? GvdG. No contest:
If Seb has a repeat of his Germany nightmare in a couple of weeks, I think heāll be giving a lot more thought to his future. Bottas had a positive race despite the lack of a SC tyre change. Merc should keep him on board for 2020 if they canāt get Max.
Nice tussles all the way through the field for most of the race. Really enjoyed DRic and Sainz dicing. Lando got screwed by the SC, else he would have been right there too.
Happy that Gasly managed to have a decent day. He was plenty racy with the Ferrariās, and had a pretty solid weekend all the way through.
Excellent race. 7.5 plates of bangers and mash out of 10 from me. All it needed was a little bit of rain 
The Flying Dutchman
3 Likes
Was I the only one hoping both those cars had critical issues? I do believe Vettel had a brain fart, he was to close to Max and that was an accident waiting to happen. I do have to say Max was VERY aggressive. Gasly and LeClerc was amazing to watch - that is how you race and overtake - I hope the teams make Vettel and Max watch that.
I have no words for Haas.
I felt so bad for Norris, he was going well to defend but that safety car was so not at the right moment - but they never are for some.
4 Likes
Keep forgetting to post these very cool race visualizations after GPs. I remembered this time thoughā¦
3 Likes
What a great race! So glad to know that weāll come to Silverstone for the next few years. It is just a spectacular track and is so conducive to great racing. The whole weekend was great action and great racing from many people.
The Good:
Lewis Hamilton was so lucky with the safety car. Wow that worked out so well for him. And setting the fastest lap on the last lap on old hard tires is nothing short of astonishing! He had a great race and his battles with Bottas was intense.
Verstappen was my driver of the day. He is such a pure talent, such a great racing driver, and the future WDC for sure. His fights with Leclerc was nail biting and hard. It is such a shame that Vettel shunted him off the road.
Leclerc also had a fantastic race. Where I wondered about his racing craft in Austria, at Silverstone he showed why he and Verstappen will become the next Prost-Senna.
I am happy for Gasly on his performance. He finally showed up for a weekend, and was good. Still didnāt fight the other cars around him that hard, but was good to see him score some good points.
Carlos Sainz did really well to keep Danny Ric out for such a long time. He had a good race and well deserved win for F1.5 for him.
Great drive by Kvyat. From 17th to points, that is a strong race.
The Bad:
Vettel!!! WTF are you doing Vettel?! How is this the same guy that won 4 drivers championships? In all honestly he should just retire at the end of this year. His best years are over, and heās driving like an idiot. Such a bad qualifying, and such a bad race. That crash with Verstappen was just another one in a long line of mistakes heās made in the past year.
What the hell happened to Haas? Shame that team is in such disarray this year. If it is not their sponsors, its the drivers taking each other out on lap one.
The Meh (and unlucky):
Bottas had such a good first half of the race. His pass on Hamilton was amazing. But the safety car couldnāt have happened at a worst time for him. He luckily had the pace to put some distance between him and the squabbling pack.
I was really sad for Norris who also got screwed over by the safety car. McLaren shouldāve double stacked him, but alas.
The rest of the field were all between okay and meh.
3 Likes
Iām waiting for a rerun, had my oldest daughtersā 3rd birthday on Sat and she was still wound up on Sunday. So we watched Paw Patrol and had tea. lol
2 Likes
Was such a good race. Enjoyed it tremendously. Happy to see Renault in the points again. Itās a shame that Hulkenberg canāt keep up with Ricciardo.
I look forward to seeing the Netflix episode for this race. Haas cars taking each other out. All the stuff that happened in the front. Good stuff.
2 Likes
Easy, he had the fastest car on the grid lol. Now waiting for Hamilton to drive a slower car 
But yeah, heās really just out of it now, and LeClerc is outshining him more every race.
The young guns are really doing great, looks like the future of F1 might be alot closer than what we currently haveā¦ I hope at least.
2 Likes
I wish to be a fly on the wall in the haas garage.
Wait for Drive to Survive season 2. Ft Steiner āWhat the fuck are you guys doing!!!ā
2 Likes