British GP 2011 - Silverstone

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

They will be no drive through this weekend, only stop and go.

[myurr]

They will be no drive through this weekend, only stop and go.

Not true, on the BBC they said that Charlie had said they'd be more inclined to give a stop and go to ensure a proper penalty but that doesn't mean they won't also use drive throughs depending on the situation.

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

#F1 One team source tells me that today the FIA ruling changed from 10% throttle to 68%, which he says is 'close to full cold blowing'
Adam Cooper - Twitter



Martin Whitmarsh discussing with Stefano during FP2 that "they doing exactly what they were doing before its extraordinary"

That's mean nothing will change...

[myurr]

So Redbull crying all morning has moved the FIA to all but abandon their rules clarification. Utter shambles.

[djos]

Looking forward to RedBull win! I think I am starting to like Vettel a lot now..

Number ONE!! In your face FIA!

And so far Mark has comprehensively out paced Seb in the wet conditions. =D>

[raymondu999]

You mean like he outpaced Vettel in FP1 and FP2 Korea last year? By a good few seconds too

[Joie de vivre]

PM me if you know where to watch live stream of free practice online.

[Just_a_fan]

Nice to see a decent number of people in the stands for FP1 in the rain

On Friday many of the stands are open to "roving ticket" holders. This is great because it means that the fans get to sit down and the TV picks up full grandstands. Fans and Bernie happy!

It was pretty unpleasant yesterday. It rained over night so the track was wet at the start of FP1. No real rain during FP1 so the line dried quite quickly. Everyone still tentative in some corners though - I was at Becketts and no one was really flat chat through there which is a shame because it's amazing in the dry.

The track dried further during the GP2 and GP3 sessions and it was looking good for some dry FP2 running. Literally 5 minutes before FP2 the heavens opened for a brief but very heavy shower. Track was like a boating lake. I was by now in Woodcote B Grandstand and watching the Torro Rossos snaking and sliding along the old pits straight was interesting. Short shifting very early out of Woodcote and never anywhere near full throttle and they looked an absolute handful.

Once the rest of the F1 cars did come out the track dried fairly well. Still interesting to note at least 2 downchanges in to Copse (some were doing 3 I think). So in the wet it was 5th (or even 4th) gear whereas in the dry it's 7th gear with a lift or maybe a late change to 6th. That's a good indication of how the wet kills lap times.

I saw the GP2 guys going around Abbey and the bump is very noticeable just before the apex. The irony is that the guys doing the best line were getting the worst bump. I thought the F1 guys were just moaning last year but I can see why now.

New pits look good from the other side of the track. Still not sure about the roof design though. Sadly didn't get down to the new Vale/Club section as I had to walk back the meet someone elsewhere on the circuit. Maybe next year...

It was nice to get some live F1 engine noise again although many of them are quieter than they used to be with the exhausts generally hidden by the rear wheels. The Mercedes did sound particular though. You could tell it was the Merc even before you saw it. Odd. The Renault too but to a lesser extent. The McLaren and the Red Bull were very quiet in comparison to the Sauber for example.

Had to laugh at the start of FP1 as the saftey car and the medical car were doing some laps. Let's just say they weren't hanging around and appeared to be racing each other. The SLS (safety car) was slightly sideways coming out of Maggotts at one point! And the noise of those AMG V8s on full throttle!!! Like a WW2 fighter aircraft. I'd happily listen to them for hours!

[kalinka]

Thanks JAF for the insight !

PM me if you want to watch FP3 online.

[djos]

You mean like he outpaced Vettel in FP1 and FP2 Korea last year? By a good few seconds too

Even Vettel can make mistakes in the wet - remember Canada?

[kalinka]

Here comes the rain again....
EDIT : And now stopped again Oh, that English weather Hope it'll be the same unpredictable for the race too...

[i70q7m7ghw]

Red Bull are really really upset by this rule change... are they really affected that much?

McLaren also look screwed. Ferrari win?

[i70q7m7ghw]

Hmm, and Vettel goes instantly P1, Red Bull are just bleating.

[djos]

Red Bull are really really upset by this rule change... are they really affected that much?

McLaren also look screwed. Ferrari win?

Maclaren still get Fired over-run so I dont know what they are complaining about - on the other hand Renault powered teams are screwed as "cold blowing" has been part of the V8's design and operation since at least 2009 and actually cools the valves down. Losing that is going to kill Renault's reliability and severly hurt their excellent heat rejection properties!

[djos]

Hmm, and Vettel goes instantly P1, Red Bull are just bleating.

Huh? P3 isn't for another Hour??