2020 British Grand Prix - Silverstone, 31-02 July / August

[Just_a_fan]

1:24.3 for Hamilton pole, Verstappen about a second slower. Then .5 seconds behind once again in race pace. Hopefully Silverstone 2 will be better.

I wonder how far in to Becketts they'll get in 8th this year. In Q3 last year, Bottas was flat in 8th from the old start line, through Copse, Maggots and the first left hander of Becketts, before changing down for the right hander before the accelerating out through the left of Chapel. I wonder if they'll get through with only going down to 7th this year.

[zibby43]

Regarding the weather, we planned a barbecue for yesterday based on Monday's forecast of nice weather. It turned out to rain throughout the weekend and now the wind has picked up too. I live 30 minutes away from the track.

I'll believe the balmy weather when I see it..

I’m roughly 4,000 miles from the track, relying on forecasts (which are way too early anyway) from your neck of the woods.

Although I did get lucky and nail the Hungary weekend forecast last week, I’m always grateful when we have someone that is close to the circuit that can give us even better forecast information.

Especially considering England has some of the most erratic, unpredictable weather on the face of the earth lol!

I'm about 10 miles from Silverstone, had rain pass over us, during a race, headed straight for the circuit. And it's never got there. Alternatively, watched a soaking wet session on the TV with the curtains drawn to keep out the blazing sunshine.

Wow! That sounds like the wild variations we get here in Indiana. We have some of the most unpredictable weather of anywhere in the U.S.

We're situated in a place where warm, moist, tropical air approaching from the Gulf of Mexico is constantly mixing with the cold, dry, continental polar air mass coming from Canada.

Looking forward to whatever insights you can offer as we get closer to the weekend.

[falonso81]

Two boring races await us. Unless Hamilton hits trouble he may even lap Bottas.

[dans79]

Two boring races await us. Unless Hamilton hits trouble he may even lap Bottas.

I take it you only care about the racing at the front of the grid?

[LM10]

Two boring races await us. Unless Hamilton hits trouble he may even lap Bottas.

I don't know why, but I had to laugh reading that. Maybe because it sounds both unrealistic and not so impossible at the same time.

Mercedes will be a second faster than it's predecessor (in the hands of Perez), closely followed by Max and then the second W10. That's my prediction for the qualifying.
As for the race, Lewis will put it in cruise control and disappear into the horizon while his team tame will make the car look not so dominantly fast against the fastest follower (that being Max).

I'm glad we at least have a nice midfield battle this season. Hope Ferrari can beat the McLarens on race pace which I'm optimistic about.

[F1Krof]

Too early to say but. I expect RB to raise their game. I'm not buying this Mercedes dominance to be honest. They hit the sweet spot and it was just 2 different tracks remember. That RB looks handful in Qualy but very fast come race trim. So, let's just wait and see.

In Hungaroring most of us though it'd be Max on pole, it turned out to be different.

[zibby43]

Too early to say but. I expect RB to raise their game. I'm not buying this Mercedes dominance to be honest. They hit the sweet spot and it was just 2 different tracks remember. That RB looks handful in Qualy but very fast come race trim. So, let's just wait and see.

In Hungaroring most of us though it'd be Max on pole, it turned out to be different.

The number of circuits doesn't really matter. You can look at the data from corner types and straights and extrapolate. The W11's greatest strengths this year have been fast corners and straights. That's where they've been consistently faster than everyone in the field, including Red Bull. Silverstone is a power-sensitive track filled with fast corners.

Mercedes and its drivers still have to execute, but the car's performance should be very strong there.

Mark Hughes had an interesting article out today that touched on Red Bull's performance.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... -f1-rivals

Hughes spoke with an aerodynamicist to try to understand Red Bull's struggles:

“Since the regs changes of 2019 [principally the simplified endplates and the restriction of the under-nose vanes], the vortices you’re creating at the front end of the car can be quite unstable. Especially if you are running a lot of rake. The car is articulating around the front bib of the floor and that rake is increasing quite quickly as you slow down – and that makes that whole flow quite volatile. You can see in the tunnel the vortices can even suddenly switch from inboard to outboard. It could be the amount of steering lock or a crosswind – it’s so on the edge.”

[b2bL44]

Early forecast shows a warm Friday (80 F) and a mild weekend with high temperatures of 74 on Saturday and a balmy 67 on Sunday.

Excuse me, what are these numbers? Kindly convert them into values that actually make sense in the real world

[GPR-A]

In Hungaroring most of us though it'd be Max on pole, it turned out to be different.

Sorry, Who exactly is this most of us? Anyone who has learnt how to decipher Preseason testing, wouldn't have bet on anyone other than Mercedes to be on pole for the opening few races. After having seen two races in Red Bull ring, that outcome should have got more solidified.

Mercedes becomes dominant in Silverstone due the nature of the track that requires efficient aero which should allow a PU to be on it's own. Red Bull hasn't been the most aero efficient design in the recent past and looking at their current aero balance issues, it's difficult to put money on them to be second best ahead of Racing Point.

[zibby43]

Early forecast shows a warm Friday (80 F) and a mild weekend with high temperatures of 74 on Saturday and a balmy 67 on Sunday.

Excuse me, what are these numbers? Kindly convert them into values that actually make sense in the real world

A little update to those early numbers - now Friday is projected to be 31 C! 23 on Saturday and 21 on Sunday (all high temperatures).

[godlameroso]

Two boring races await us. Unless Hamilton hits trouble he may even lap Bottas.

I don't know why, but I had to laugh reading that. Maybe because it sounds both unrealistic and not so impossible at the same time.

Mercedes will be a second faster than it's predecessor (in the hands of Perez), closely followed by Max and then the second W10. That's my prediction for the qualifying.
As for the race, Lewis will put it in cruise control and disappear into the horizon while his team tame will make the car look not so dominantly fast against the fastest follower (that being Max).

I'm glad we at least have a nice midfield battle this season. Hope Ferrari can beat the McLarens on race pace which I'm optimistic about.

I remember McLaren racing against Ferrari 12 years ago.

[Big Tea]

Too early to say but. I expect RB to raise their game. I'm not buying this Mercedes dominance to be honest. They hit the sweet spot and it was just 2 different tracks remember. That RB looks handful in Qualy but very fast come race trim. So, let's just wait and see.

In Hungaroring most of us though it'd be Max on pole, it turned out to be different.

Have you been reading off Toto's script

[Just_a_fan]

I remember McLaren racing against Ferrari 12 years ago.

I remember McLaren racing only themselves over 30 years ago. Wow, where have the years gone?

[godlameroso]

Strong wind blowing towards the east on both qualifying and race day. This means tail wind into copse, and side wind through the esses. On Friday, very strong head wind into the esses.

[falonso81]

Two boring races await us. Unless Hamilton hits trouble he may even lap Bottas.

I take it you only care about the racing at the front of the grid?

No, not at all but i feel sad that the gap to the Mercs is even bigger this year. Looking forward to see the midfield battle. I could care less about even the Verstappen-Bottas fight for 2nd.