[deetjohn]

It’s the British Grand Prix; a popular race on a much revamped circuit that saw plenty of drama with exploding tyres as well as a total of 49 normal overtakes and 35 DRS overtakes last season.

Silverstone this year will be interesting on a number of levels; with the teams using the hybrid turbo cars on the track for the first time, as it’s one of the lowest braking energy circuits on the calendar; only 9% of the lap is spent braking, so harvesting energy for the MGU-K unit will be an interesting challenge.

Track Layout


At the other end of the scale, it is a high fuel consumption circuit so making sure that the Energy Recovery System is working to its maximum capacity is also vital.



Silverstone has the fastest corner combinations on the F1 calendar and is loved by the drivers, but it can be a real headache for the engineers and strategists, as it shows up aerodynamic instabilities and it can be very difficult to get a good reading on the tyres, especially as there is usually some rain during the practice sessions.




Race Strategy Briefing




Number and likely timing of pit stops
Because the new pit lane at Silverstone is quite long, a stop is relatively slow by F1 standards at 25 seconds total pit lane time. This encourages teams to do less, rather than more stops.

Early predictions, show that two stops is the most likely scenario with the first stop between laps 10 and 15 and the second between laps 29 and 35. Drivers would do the first two stints on medium tyres and the last one on hards.

However as mentioned earlier there is scope for a counter strategy whereby a driver takes the hard tyre in the middle stint, rather than at the end, and runs a longer middle stint then has the faster tyres for the final stint of the race.

Weather Forecast
The weather in England, even in summer, is notoriously hard to predict. Last year saw rain affecting the practice days. It could be warm and sunny, or cold and wet. The long range forecast for this weekend is for temperatures around 19 to 20 degrees, with rain showers forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

TV Timings

Channels: SS4 and SS HD2
FP1 - 1:20 PM (Fri)
FP2 - 5:20 PM (Fri)
FP3 - 2:20 PM (Sat)

Q - 5:20 PM (Sat)
Race - 5:20 PM (Sun)

Courtesy: JA on F1, F1Fanatic

[vb-saan]

Interesting to see if Lewis can get back into winning ways here.
Last year it was all about the the infamous Pirelli blowouts

[parrys]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

TV Timings

Channels: SS4 and SS HD2
FP1 - 1:20 PM (Fri)

Its that game with racquets and a green ball on a green lawn on TV, everywhere.
FP1 not to be seen on the sports channels as of now.

I think the timings shared are incorrect.

[deetjohn]

Rosberg was a staggering 0.731s faster than Lewis Hamilton during FP1.

And Susie Wolff got only four laps when the oil pressure dropped in her Mercedes power unit. Feel bad for her.

British GP: FP1 Report

Originally Posted by parrys

FP1 not to be seen on the sports channels as of now.

I think the timings shared are incorrect.

Sorry! That looks like a typo. The official TV listings show a live telecast at 2:20 PM for FP1 on SS2 and SS HD2 today. Was it shown on TV during that time? L couldn't catch it.

[parrys]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Sorry! That looks like a typo. The official TV listings show a live telecast at 2:20 PM for FP1 on SS2 and SS HD2 today. Was it shown on TV during that time? L couldn't catch it.

Yes, it was.

Will be interesting so see if Williams can manage to get Massa back on track by FP2.

[deetjohn]

FP2

Lewis set the fastest lap before the engine gave up the ghost on him with just 14 laps done. Rosberg was second and Alonso third. The RedBulls were next with Ricciardo leading. Bottas took his car back from Susie Wolff and was 6th.

Some pics from Friday.

No, that's not Susie, but JB.


There she is.

[Octane_Power]

MAN!!! SS4 is not going to show the practice and qualifying today.

Checked their entire program list for today, and there was only "Inside Grand Prix 2014", rest cricket and tennis. The qualifying will be broadcasted tomorrow morning 4.30 and 7.

Couldn't see their tomorrow's list, I hope they don't discard the race broadcast altogether.

-Bhargav

[nipcarlover]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

MAN!!! SS4 is not going to show the practice and qualifying today.

Checked their entire program list for today, and there was only "Inside Grand Prix 2014", rest cricket and tennis. The qualifying will be broadcasted tomorrow morning 4.30 and 7.

Couldn't see their tomorrow's list, I hope they don't discard the race broadcast altogether.

-Bhargav

I think it's on SS2, not SS4. Do check it out.

[Octane_Power]

Originally Posted by nipcarlover

I think it's on SS2, not SS4. Do check it out.

O yes I just checked, its on SS2. So does this mean I now have to pay for SS2 also?

Just 4 days back I renewed my subscription for SS4, now have to pay for SS2 as well?

What about the race? Will it be shown on SS2 or SS4?

If the race will be on SS4, I won't pay for SS2 then..

Please reply asap guys. If race is also on SS2 then i will have to get it activated today, or else can do away with the quali and watch the race tomorrow.

-Bhargav

[nipcarlover]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

O yes I just checked, its on SS2. So does this mean I now have to pay for SS2 also?

Just 4 days back I renewed my subscription for SS4, now have to pay for SS2 as well?

What about the race? Will it be shown on SS2 or SS4?

If the race will be on SS4, I won't pay for SS2 then..

Please reply asap guys. If race is also on SS2 then i will have to get it activated today, or else can do away with the quali and watch the race tomorrow.

-Bhargav

Race on SS2 as well.

[sourav9385]

I don't know if it's just psychological pressure or something else, but Hamilton is losing his edge.

Rosberg is so much cooler under pressure. I think it's the third time on the row that Hamilton has messed up his quali position. If he doesn't pucker down, keep his cool during the race, Rosberg will keep on extending his lead. It almost seems like Rosberg has developed into a much more complete driver.

So disappointing to watch Lewis mess up another race. Really sad. Good position for Button & Vettel. Hopefully they'll have a good race tomorrow. Both Ferraris are stuck in P19 & P20.

[Octane_Power]

@nipcarlover thanks! Subscribed to SS2 as well now.. And the subscription is available for 3 months directly, 1 month subscription isn't available.

Hamilton was so dejected. I personally do not think that Button will be able to hold on to P3 for long..

Rosberg performs much better under pressure than Ham. It is weighing heavy on Hamilton, he is so desperate just to be ahead of Rosberg and the pressure is mounting so much on him that he just isn't able to perform.

-Bhargav

[amitoj]

Epic battle between Alonso and Vettel for the fifth!
Vettel was complaining like a little boy that Alonso didnt leave him room!!

[GullwingGT]

One of the best races of the season I believe. Luck on Hamilton's side and keeps the championship battle open and its great

Loved the wheel to wheel racing between Alonso and Vettel, would love to see more of that in coming races.

[sourav9385]

Finally some bad luck for Rosberg. Hopefully this win should help Lewis calm his nerves and give him the much needed confidence boost! Let's see how he fares in the upcoming races.

Alonso you cheeky sly devil! What an epic wheel to wheel action between him and Finger Boy! Lap 35-48 was just epic! Both of them were consistently going off the track at corner 9. Wonder whether the stewards will do something about that.

Good solid drive from Bottas and Daniel as well. Pity though that Button wasn't able to overtake by the last lap. Would have loved to see him on the podium.