The Official 2017 British Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[Andy S15]

Good race, some great battles, unpredictability and funny moments.

Robottas and Kimi doing as their Finnish programming dictates:

[oyster]

mattikake said:

entropy said:

HardtopManual said:

Leroy902 said:

Ok, just because something happened in the final lap by chance, that doesn't make it an 'exciting' race. It's been the most boring race since the season started.

Good riddance Silverstone.

It was better than Sochi, but that's not saying much. High speed circuits like Silverstone do no generate exciting racing under the current regulations.

I had the same thoughts pre-season but what about Spain?

Spoken like a true armchair "fan".

I'm sat at the gp party waiting for the drivers and more opportunity to roar, having watched an awesome race from the becketts grandstand. We were roaring on max in the first few laps, Lewis in between, bottas in the latter half, groaning when Kimi had a convenient puncture to promote vettel and going mental when Vettel got his! The time flew by. Seemed like a 10 minute race to us. Well except the Vettel fan Sat 2 seats away from me who gave me a nice glare when so many of us were yelling "wkaaaaa" at end if his run of ridiculous luck.

I guess you just have to be there to appreciate it.

Never thought crude vulgarity was part of F1?

Children nearby?

[bony_13]

My first time at Silverstone and watching F1 live and I loved it. We were heading towards maggots/beckets but ended up stopping at a nice spot on the entrance to copse and stayed there the whole day. I thought it was a great race, apart from Hamilton I have to say Ricciardo was so impressive and out of all the drivers seemed to be the only one genuinely enjoying the crowd on the parade lap.

The day as a whole surpassed my expectations, being used to BSB and BTCC I was worried that the schedule might be a bit lacking, but that was totally unfounded and the day zipped with always something going on. The last 10 laps of the F1 in particular seemed to pass within a blink of the eye.

My only criticism - why did the past F1 cars do so few laps? Surely there is a hugely disproportional effort and expense in flying/driving all those cars to Silverstone for them to drive 1 or 2 laps and not 5 or 6.

[Gary C]

oyster said:

mattikake said:

entropy said:

HardtopManual said:

Leroy902 said:

Ok, just because something happened in the final lap by chance, that doesn't make it an 'exciting' race. It's been the most boring race since the season started.

Good riddance Silverstone.

It was better than Sochi, but that's not saying much. High speed circuits like Silverstone do no generate exciting racing under the current regulations.

I had the same thoughts pre-season but what about Spain?

Spoken like a true armchair "fan".

I'm sat at the gp party waiting for the drivers and more opportunity to roar, having watched an awesome race from the becketts grandstand. We were roaring on max in the first few laps, Lewis in between, bottas in the latter half, groaning when Kimi had a convenient puncture to promote vettel and going mental when Vettel got his! The time flew by. Seemed like a 10 minute race to us. Well except the Vettel fan Sat 2 seats away from me who gave me a nice glare when so many of us were yelling "wkaaaaa" at end if his run of ridiculous luck.

I guess you just have to be there to appreciate it.

Never thought crude vulgarity was part of F1?

Children nearby?

Apart from the crudity he is spot on. Can't understand how anyone can call that race boring. Going to watch it on tv now to see how it looks.

[angrymoby]

Dr Z said:

A Mercedes 1-2! Who here saw that coming?

Joking aside, Vettel was controlling Bottas pretty well in the 2nd stint until he hit some tyre trouble (from lap 40 on, his pace dropped off), so a Ferrari 2-3 would have been the expected result. It would have been very difficult for Bottas to overtake Vettel as the tyre delta between soft and super soft was not straightforward on a 1-stop.

On the plus (or minus depending on who you support), the points gap to Vettel has been demolished, and Bottas too is within a race win of the top 2.

We're at the halfway point, and the Championship could go two ways from here on. On a more positive note, Ferrari delivered the expected performance improvements at Silverstone, and this means they're still in good shape and could fight for the WDC or if Kimi improves his race performances (he was doing well here), could fight for the WCC. It's going to be very tough, but the drivers and the team will have to raise their games.

For me, the next 5 or 6 races would determine if Ferrari fade away or not. Of the next 6 races, Ferrari have a reasonable chance at Hungary, Monza & Singapore and a pretty good chance at Spa & Suzuka in fighting for wins. Sprinkle it with some Vettel magic at Singapore, I can see Vettel in an epic back and forth fight till the latter part of the season with Hamilton. After that, I wouldn't like to guess which way things will go. Spa and Suzuka are Kimi tracks and it might hurt Vettel if he takes points off him. I could say the same about Hamilton & Bottas although we haven't seen them on the same bit of road much this season. How much is that Spain DNF going to cost Bottas?

McLaren's race pace has lifted the spirits somewhat. There was a tenth in it between Stoffel and the Williams/Force India cars. Again a 1-stop makes it a little complicated to read, but McLaren tended to lose a shed load of time to the rest of the midfield in the 1st stint and even more when the fuel loads get lighter. Glad to see it was not like that in this race where the power sensitivity is still quite high. I'm just going to sit back and watch Alonso race this thing for the rest of the year.

Funniest thing at this race goes to DC berating a McLaren driver taking weird lines when defending to Ricciardo, only to be told who it was and then back pedalling promptly. Watch and learn. The master at work.

Ferrari have been fading since Monaco, with Merc winning 3 out of the last 4 (should've been all 4) & Seb's points tally had been flattering them tbh ...not entirely sure they'll still be in it by Abu Dhabi, or that Seb will even bag 2nd- hope i'm wrong

[parabolica]

mattikake said:

48k said:

vonuber said:

I was at stowe, where most of the excitement as it was happened.
The grandstand wasn't full, and most people got up through the race for a wander about / drinks etc.
A thriller it wasn't.

If two people sat at the same corner can have polar opposite views of the race, no wonder TV viewers can't agree!

I call bs on this post. I can't remember any fans doing anything but being glued to their seats all race from a variety of grandstands over the last 5-30 year's at least.

I've been to 6 GPs now (S'Stone, Monza, Montreal, Sazuka, Spa and Germany) and fans milling about the site during the race/going out for drinks/food/ice-cream etc is not uncommon* - it is a long event after all. To suggest that this means they were not interested in the race is far-fetched at best. *Except Japan where they are so polite they sit there respectfully until the very end of the race.

That said we were at Canada this year and about half-way through the race I'd say around 1/5th of our grandstand got up, left and didn't come back. I assume some would have made their way down to the pit straight to get onto the track at the end, but the guy next to me was an ardent Vettel fan and when it was obvious he wasn't going to finish on the podium he told his wife to get up because they were leaving Fine by me; we were squeezed onto those benches so some extra space was welcome.

[WhyTwo]

DanielSan said:

You don't see much because Silverstone is crap for spectating, everything is massively overpriced and the traffic is a pain in the arse.

Once was enough for me I wouldn't rush back to Silverstone for the F1 again

I'd suggest your info is out of date.

I was there all weekend. I think there's plenty of good spectating at Silverstone. We sat in Becketts grandstand on Friday and various spots along the Hangar Straight for an incredible experience of how fast the cars are. We had a great view from the exit of Stowe down to Vale for quali and the race. Saw some incredible action there yesterday, none more so than Max and Seb battling it out. Loads of over takes.

Yes everything is riddiculously expensive but why would you buy a Lewis hat for £45 in the Fan Zone when you can buy one for £28 on line. I bought one of my kids a 2017 Ferrari hat for £13 from Fuel For Fans last week. £35 at Silverstone. Food and drink are also massively over priced but then you find that at all sporting events. This year it was €9 for a beer at Le Mans!!

There were no trafiic issues at all when we arrived on Friday or when we left. We left our Whittlebury campsite behind Becketts at 5pm. Didn't get stuck in any traffic at all.

[Vaud]

WhyTwo said:

I'd suggest your info is out of date.

I was there all weekend. I think there's plenty of good spectating at Silverstone. We sat in Becketts grandstand on Friday and various spots along the Hangar Straight for an incredible experience of how fast the cars are. We had a great view from the exit of Stowe down to Vale for quali and the race. Saw some incredible action there yesterday, none more so than Max and Seb battling it out. Loads of over takes.

Yes everything is riddiculously expensive but why would you buy a Lewis hat for £45 in the Fan Zone when you can buy one for £28 on line. I bought one of my kids a 2017 Ferrari hat for £13 from Fuel For Fans last week. £35 at Silverstone. Food and drink are also massively over priced but then you find that at all sporting events. This year it was €9 for a beer at Le Mans!!

There were no trafiic issues at all when we arrived on Friday or when we left. We left our Whittlebury campsite behind Becketts at 5pm. Didn't get stuck in any traffic at all.

Do they have a replacement for FanVision yet at any circuit?

[parabolica]

Vaud said:

Do they have a replacement for FanVision yet at any circuit?

Canada had the big screens at every grandstand and an English/French commentary running through loud speakers the whole weekend; was very good. We had FanVision at Monza a few years ago and it wasn't up to much TBH.

[anonymous-user]

Vettel vs Verstappen was the highlight. Bottas did well but he is in the Mercedes. Ricciardo would be expected to make his way through the field considering he is in the Red Bull.

Kyvat needs a good talking too and Palmer had a nightmare.

McLaren again not even worth talking about.

Hamilton is near unstoppable at Silverstone so at least the home crowd had a good day.

But a great race it was not.

[deadslow]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

But a great race it was not.

yep, roll on the London street race.

[Leroy902]

deadslow said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

But a great race it was not.

yep, roll on the London street race.

Another borefest street race? No thanks.

[Vaud]

Leroy902 said:

Another borefest street race?

Like Baku?

[l354uge]

angrymoby said:

Ferrari have been fading since Monaco, with Merc winning 3 out of the last 4 (should've been all 4) & Seb's points tally had been flattering them tbh ...not entirely sure they'll still be in it by Abu Dhabi, or that Seb will even bag 2nd- hope i'm wrong

Few hotter tracks coming soon, which favours the Ferrari. Hungary will be the true test to see A. if merc have pulled away from Ferrari B. Red bull and McLaren really have a great chassis.

[Derek Smith]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

But a great race it was not.

So what would have made it better for you? Perhaps more excitement at the start with, maybe, Verstappen getting between the Ferraris? That would have dictated the race to an extent. I bet you'd have liked a couple of cars making their way through the field after being out of place on the grid. One thing that would have been great would have been one of the podium hopefuls pitting early, maybe even too early, for tyres. Such a risky move would have increased the excitement towards the end of the race.

Wouldn't it have been great if we had had the two fastest cars on different tyre strategies.

If all that had happened, the start and the middle of the race would have been exciting and interesting. All we've had needed then would have been, for instance, three cars in the top 10, or even 8, closing on the car in front with most predictions giving one car certainly to pass, one probably and the third unlikely, although there was tyre degradation to consider.

And if that wasn't good enough then perhaps some factor, or maybe even factors, to stir up the finishing positions.

That, surely, would have been enough to shut up even the most committed moaner. i mean, what could have made it better? Well, there was always the possibility of having one of the fastest, some say the fastest, drivers on the grid, one at the peak of their abilities, driving a car which was also at the peak of development, hammering around one of the fastest circuits on the calendar at a speed that was awe inspiring.
But what was the chance of such a masterclass?

Mind you, what were the chances of all those factors in just the one race, eh? So until we have such an event, we'll have to put up with disparaging comments.

[VladD]

Derek Smith said:

So what would have made it better for you? Perhaps more excitement at the start with, maybe, Verstappen getting between the Ferraris? That would have dictated the race to an extent. I bet you'd have liked a couple of cars making their way through the field after being out of place on the grid. One thing that would have been great would have been one of the podium hopefuls pitting early, maybe even too early, for tyres. Such a risky move would have increased the excitement towards the end of the race.

Wouldn't it have been great if we had had the two fastest cars on different tyre strategies.

If all that had happened, the start and the middle of the race would have been exciting and interesting. All we've had needed then would have been, for instance, three cars in the top 10, or even 8, closing on the car in front with most predictions giving one car certainly to pass, one probably and the third unlikely, although there was tyre degradation to consider.

And if that wasn't good enough then perhaps some factor, or maybe even factors, to stir up the finishing positions.

That, surely, would have been enough to shut up even the most committed moaner. i mean, what could have made it better? Well, there was always the possibility of having one of the fastest, some say the fastest, drivers on the grid, one at the peak of their abilities, driving a car which was also at the peak of development, hammering around one of the fastest circuits on the calendar at a speed that was awe inspiring.
But what was the chance of such a masterclass?

Mind you, what were the chances of all those factors in just the one race, eh? So until we have such an event, we'll have to put up with disparaging comments.

[NM62]

Derek Smith said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

But a great race it was not.

So what would have made it better for you? Perhaps more excitement at the start with, maybe, Verstappen getting between the Ferraris? That would have dictated the race to an extent. I bet you'd have liked a couple of cars making their way through the field after being out of place on the grid. One thing that would have been great would have been one of the podium hopefuls pitting early, maybe even too early, for tyres. Such a risky move would have increased the excitement towards the end of the race.

Wouldn't it have been great if we had had the two fastest cars on different tyre strategies.

If all that had happened, the start and the middle of the race would have been exciting and interesting. All we've had needed then would have been, for instance, three cars in the top 10, or even 8, closing on the car in front with most predictions giving one car certainly to pass, one probably and the third unlikely, although there was tyre degradation to consider.

And if that wasn't good enough then perhaps some factor, or maybe even factors, to stir up the finishing positions.

That, surely, would have been enough to shut up even the most committed moaner. i mean, what could have made it better? Well, there was always the possibility of having one of the fastest, some say the fastest, drivers on the grid, one at the peak of their abilities, driving a car which was also at the peak of development, hammering around one of the fastest circuits on the calendar at a speed that was awe inspiring.
But what was the chance of such a masterclass?

Mind you, what were the chances of all those factors in just the one race, eh? So until we have such an event, we'll have to put up with disparaging comments.

Take a bow Derek!

[Leroy902]

Those claiming it was a 'cracker' of a race would be the first on here if the exact race was run in abu dhabi or somewhere similar.

Sorry but stop trying to fool yourselves, it was one of the dullest races of the season. Mind you, that wouldn't have much to do with the actual track itself, but just so happened there wasn't any action on the day.

[Nigel_O]

Leroy902 said:

just so happened there wasn't any action on the day.

Really? What were you actually watching? You dozed off after half a dozen laps and woke up for the podium, didn't you?....

Admittedly, it wasn't wall-to-wall action, but the last few pages of this thread clearly demonstrate that there was a whole lot going on, including some proper edge-of-seat stuff with Max & Seb

I'll conceded that some aspects were a bit "slow-burn" (ie Valtteri reeling in the Ferraris) but there was some decent action elsewhere (mostly involving Max or Danny)

We hardly saw anything of Lewis all day, but that doesn't matter a) because he won and b) there was plenty of action elsewhere

[anonymous-user]

Derek Smith said:

So what would have made it better for you? Perhaps more excitement at the start with, maybe, Verstappen getting between the Ferraris? That would have dictated the race to an extent. I bet you'd have liked a couple of cars making their way through the field after being out of place on the grid. One thing that would have been great would have been one of the podium hopefuls pitting early, maybe even too early, for tyres. Such a risky move would have increased the excitement towards the end of the race.

Wouldn't it have been great if we had had the two fastest cars on different tyre strategies.

If all that had happened, the start and the middle of the race would have been exciting and interesting. All we've had needed then would have been, for instance, three cars in the top 10, or even 8, closing on the car in front with most predictions giving one car certainly to pass, one probably and the third unlikely, although there was tyre degradation to consider.

And if that wasn't good enough then perhaps some factor, or maybe even factors, to stir up the finishing positions.

That, surely, would have been enough to shut up even the most committed moaner. i mean, what could have made it better? Well, there was always the possibility of having one of the fastest, some say the fastest, drivers on the grid, one at the peak of their abilities, driving a car which was also at the peak of development, hammering around one of the fastest circuits on the calendar at a speed that was awe inspiring.
But what was the chance of such a masterclass?

Mind you, what were the chances of all those factors in just the one race, eh? So until we have such an event, we'll have to put up with disparaging comments.

Wheel to wheel battling for the lead of the race would be a huge start. Having a number of teams being able to go for the win also would make a refreshing change.

Anyone who watched the GP at the weekend thinking it was a great race are easily entertained.

If you are a Mercedes fan then you will be very happy with the result. Having Hamilton win also is great for his fans but the race itself was poor.

It all depends on how your driver did rather than what the event was actually like. I am sure if Hamilton had not won views would be very different.