The 2012 British Grand Prix

[Quiet One 15]

one thing TF1 has over other forums is the relatively low level of whingeing it has. One thing I do to amuse myself is tring to imagine what will cause t he next cataract of "I'm sick of all this" around the web.

Currently we have two possible scenarios:

1) After all this waiting, qualy goes on and some other guys besides McLaren win: "This was all orchestrated by FIA, they were waiting to allow ALO/MSC/GRO (make your pick there) to get into Q3. In any other case they would have stopped the qualy altogether! A farce, I tell ya!"

2) Or...qualy gets effectively stopped at this time. Then you will hear "No respect for the public! They drove all the way there, they should have waited all day, all night, the whole month of July if needed! A farce! I tell ya!"

3) In both cases, peoople will mention that they have been watching F1 since middle ages and it has never been this bad, that they don't know why are they bothering about anyways and that they will stop watching, much to Bernie's chagrin.

I tell ya!

[Quiet One 15]

ALO made it to Q3 on the last dying second and with yellow flags due to GRO going off track. Not sure if ALO time is valid.

GRO goes thru, though, as well as all the usual suspects (except ROS). Damn, this is both confusing and thrilling.

Lewis made it comfortably to Q3 and looks well posed for pole, unless VET can do his Q3 magic.

[AleHop 0]

I don't know how ALO did it with the yellow flags on last sector.

[AleHop 0]

OMG!!!

ALO P1!!!

THANK YOU CW!!!

[Quiet One 15]

HAM 6 and ALO P1???

A farce I tell ya!

Anyways, Nando will probably face an ivestigation by FIA for Q2.

Macca can't sort their balance issues. It seemed like a great opportunity for Lewis.

ANd despite nobody talking about him, Webber is 2nd in the championship, currently P2 and probable P1 for tomorrow. What if he gets his WDC while we are all talking about the other past WDCs and their geniuses?

Ahhh...hope this season never ends!

[Massa 0]

Who sucks in the wet?

Not Felipe.

Please keep it within the boundaries tomorrow...bring it home exactly where you start it and mission accomplished...

Also, this Webber guy, he's going to win the title. Nothing fazes him. He's just there, every single week. If he could win one more race this year, boom, it's over.

Button...whatever he's trying to do to solve his problems, it's bad and wrong.

I love watching wet qualifying...they're just sliding all over the place...reminds me of racing on dirt, where you're sideways most of the lap and can't see anything...how do they do this...it just gets me every time. I could see hundreds of wet races, but every single time I'm just going to be so damn amazed at how they do this because it's absolutely incredible to watch. These guys are very, very good, all of them...

...but especially Massa.

EDIT: It was early...I confused phase and faze...

EDIT 2: I confused me being stupid with it being early, which it isn't and wasn't at all...

[Quiet One 15]

OMG!!!

ALO P1!!!

THANK YOU CW!!!

Argentinian TV said that ALO times in the yellow flagged sector was 6/1000s slower than his best so maybe no penalty for him. If he brings in 6/10s why can't he take away 6/1000s?

[Quiet One 15]

Who sucks in the wet?

Not Felipe.

Please keep it within the boundaries tomorrow...bring it home exactly where you start it and mission accomplished...

Also, this Webber guy, he's going to win the title. Nothing phases him. He's just there, every single week. If he could win one more race this year, boom, it's over.

Button...whatever he's trying to do to solve his problems, it's bad and wrong.

I love watching wet qualifying...they're just sliding all over the place...reminds me of racing on dirt, where you're sideways most of the lap and can't see anything...how do they do this...it just gets me every time. I could see hundreds of wet races, but every single time I'm just going to be so damn amazed at how they do this because it's absolutely incredible to watch. These guys are very, very good, all of them...

...but especially Massa.

You kidding, right? Massa was no good! He was told to crash and look what he did!

[Massa 0]

As for Alonso's investigation...

Would Massa not also be subject to that (though he was in anyway before his final time)? And maybe one other who I can't quite recall (could it have been Vettel)? I don't think Alonso was the only guy to set a time after the flags waved, but maybe he was the only guy who was actually in the flagged zone at the time.

[Massa 0]

If Alonso was within the rules by .006 seconds, he's the greatest driver of all time. That's a real master of exploiting the rules for all they're worth (and to me that's a tremendously great thing for a driver and team to do) if he made that work...

...or he just had a lot of dumb luck and didn't even make a conscious effort to slow down at all. But shhhh.

[Massa 0]

Why is Hülkenberg listed as P14 on the starting grid, and di Resta P10? Did Hülkenberg get a penalty?

[AleHop 0]

If ALO didn't improve, as Andrés said, the last sector in Q2 then he's fine.

[Quiet One 15]

Why is Hülkenberg listed as P14 on the starting grid, and di Resta P10? Did Hülkenberg get a penalty?

Yes he did I can't remember why at the moment.

Correction: Hamilton is P8.

As for the yellow flags, yes there were others but the only one that was clearly visible in the TV shot was ALO, IMHO.

And if he makes that 6/1000 stick...then it is because it was planneed of course! How dare you mention "dumb luck"?? We ALonsosterics do not know the meaning of that phrase

Good news for Jenson: chances of him blubbing like a little girl for tomorrow are small...

[Massa 0]

Good news for Jenson: chances of him blubbing like a little girl for tomorrow are small...

Perfect.

Though even if he did win, will he have much of a home crowd to celebrate with? Turning people with parking passes away...that's just not good...

[AleHop 0]

They showed a replay of ALO's lap for P1 and it was amazing from Copse to Becketts.

AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHLONSOSTERIC!!!!!!!

[AleHop 0]

Many people reckon ALO's lap in Q2 not clear. If he didn't improve, even by such a narrow margin, he's fine, right? So he's fine.

[Ikyrotz 0]

The only question (regarding Alonso's Q2) IMO is whether he slowed down or not. If he didn't, then certainly he should get some kind of penalty. Whether the penalty is to strip his pole away from him or something else is another matter. If he didn't improve his time during the yellow flag period then taking his pole away would seem a bit harsh, but certainly there are other options too.

[Massa 0]

The rule, as I understand it, is that your sector time has to be slower than your previous one. There is no minimum margin. .001 seconds (unless FIA timing goes out further; I know in a lot of series, timing goes out to more places but usually only thousandths are officially reported, except in IndyCar, where they report ten thousandths on oval races) slower would be within the rules, as I understand them, which is probably not as well as some others do.

I would think it would be a pretty simple procedure for the FIA to compare the two sector times and decide. I realize that it's possible Alonso could have not slowed down and still been slower in the sector, but the rule is, to my knowledge, enforced by sector times, so they can't enforce it based on anything else. I'm surprised (well, sort of) that this hasn't just been clarified by the FIA...all they need to do is report his two sector times and we're out of here.

Right?

[AleHop 0]

According to what people have posted about yellow flags the rules don't mention sector times.

5.5.4.3 Should the use of yellow flags be required, the following procedure is to be adopted:

d) On passing a displayed yellow flag, the driver must immediately reduce speed, maintain this reduced speed until the end of the special stage, and follow the instructions of any marshals or safety car drivers he/she encounters. Flags will be displayed at all radio points preceding the incident.

Failure to comply with this rule will entail a penalty at the discretion of the stewards.

They'd have to have a look at Alonso's telemetry to know that. I think his P1 is set on stone.

[Quiet One 15]

Tomorrow's grid, according to my high tech Batracer Santander Grid Calculator Supercomputer ™

[AleHop 0]

Actually the grid positions are very interesting. I hope Alonso has a clean start if they don't procession behind the SC at the start.

P1 could mean very little under changeable conditions. A pity Silverstone ain't Monaco.

[JHS18 0]

Perfect.

Though even if he did win, will he have much of a home crowd to celebrate with? Turning people with parking passes away...that's just not good...

That was only for today. Apparently everyone is welcome tomorrow.

Funny. Not many tracks does F1 get such a crowd that they have to turn people AWAY...

Good qualifying session, apart from the red flag. I'm undecided on whether they should have red flagged it. It would have been cool to have seen such a mixed up order, Perez on pole...Vergne fourth etc. But whatever, that decision is history now.

Alonso - I get more and more impressed with the guy every race. He's on a roll. Yes, points are awarded Sunday, but wow...

Pleased to see Schumacher back near the front again. Should it rain tomorrow then he could be a contender, I hope.

[Massa 0]

That was only for today. Apparently everyone is welcome tomorrow.

Funny. Not many tracks does F1 get such a crowd that they have to turn people AWAY...

Alonso - I get more and more impressed with the guy every race. He's on a roll. Yes, points are awarded Sunday, but wow...

Pleased to see Schumacher back near the front again. Should it rain tomorrow then he could be a contender, I hope.

No venue should ever, under any circumstances turn people who paid money away. That's horse**** to me. If I had been turned away for Saturday, I sure as hell wouldn't be coming back Sunday, or ever again...that's up to each individual to decide; I've refused to go to a certain race track and a certain sandwich shop for years now after bad customer service experiences. I take my dollar vote seriously and don't use it to support stupidity.

I'm just a strong believer in everyone is welcome for every day they paid for and it looks like unprofessional, unprepared, bush league garbage to turn anyone away. Not cool for a race as important fan-wise as Silverstone is...but I'll let it go since it didn't impact me...

My prediction a few days ago was that if it rained, Schumacher would win. I think he'll have another fine day. What I would give for an Alonso versus Schumacher fight all race long...that would be a lot of fun...I know having two hundred million guys who can win is fun, too, but I've always loved a good one-on-one battle. Those two are a great match, and while Schumacher and Mercedes have looked better, I do think a wet race is the best chance they have to make a lot of noise.

Also watching Grosjean and Hamilton tomorrow. Grosjean had more left today. He'll be hungry (and luckily for him his sponsor makes mayonnaise and ice cream and pasta sauce and spreads and yogurt drinks and microwaveable chicken alfredo in a resealable bag, all of which might not be any more appetizing than a mouthful of CLEAR is). I bet Hamilton will be, too, and he can get it done in the wet. But both drivers can also screw it all up, badly, so it'll be fun to see them charge. I'm not a Grosjean fan, but I'll give him his due for admitting he made an error in his interview on SPEED this morning. A lot of drivers just kind of dodge fessing up. I've heard "I haven't seen the replay" a million times when the look on the face says "I know it's my fault," and I've heard just generic "it's a tough day, not the result we want, we will work hard" without ever addressing the incident. So good for Grosjean...now I hope his countryman Vergne, the one I sort of like, not be a dumb*** like he was in Valencia (and he admitted as much, sort of, maybe, I forget) and get a point.

And I'm always watching Massa like a hawk. And I always end up disappointed. But he gives his all and he leaves nothing on the track when it's all said and done. Unfortunately he rarely leaves his car on the track, too. Oh well, GO FELIPE GO!

[Massa 0]

Also: I'm horrible with visuals. It took me maybe twelve years to figure out that this logo was an NJ and not just a stupid looking devil. So horrible, in fact, I couldn't figure out what part of the track was the "new" (for me) Arena Circuit and what wasn't. Consider that I've played the pre-Arena Silverstone course hundreds of times in rFactor and that's really a bad sign. Just never tell any girl I call beautiful how bad I am with picking up on things visually.

[JHS18 0]

I think it speaks volumes that Bernie, who has criticised Silverstone for anything and everything in the past (not least for the BRDC not selling it to him, but that's another matter...) hasn't criticised them this weekend. To be fair it was a very difficult situation with all the rain they've had - the last time they faced something similar was in 2000, so it is a rare incident and not one that really characterises the circuit at all.

It is unfortunate that it happened - but telling people to not to up was the best for everyone's sake. But it was unavoidable. The fact that they've seemingly fixed the problem for tomorrow and the potential for a great race should hopefully go some way for making up what happened yesterday and today.

But anyway. The forecast looks interesting. May not be raining constantly all afternoon but looks like it'll come and go. That'll mean it turns into a competition of being on the right tyre at the right time which is always fun. Just really hope that it isn't so bad that we see a red flag.

Not really a fan of the "throw a red everytime there's rain" concept F1 has gotten into lately. Let's face it, sitting around and not doing anything is not good for the fans at the track or those watching on TV. Get on with it. You are supposed to be the best in the world - get on with it. You have to wonder whether other famous wet races (Spa 1998 springs to mind) would have gone ahead if it was run today...obviously no-one wants to see crashes or people hurt - but it does seem a bit ridiculous how long some stoppages go on for. Might as well ask Pirelli not to produce any wet weather tyres and save some money if that's the way it is going to be...