2011 Formula 1 British Grand Prix

  • Thread starter Peter.
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Bit off topic I know, but this has just come to my attention. I live in Toronto which is only an hour or so by bus from Missisauga. Nice chance to see a formula 1 car up close, even if it is just a show model.

Edit: Tomorrow is the last day for it.

damn i saw it too late. i so would have gone to check it out :s
 
damn i saw it too late. i so would have gone to check it out :s

I was going to go, but I'm the sentimental type and my girlfriend is in Prince Edward Island right now. She wanted to go and was upset that she missed it. So for that reason, I decided not to go. She flies back tomorrow morning. If only it was today, as that dealership is right next to Pearson International and I'm going to pick her up anyway.

Edit: was going to make a thread to try and get the attention of the Torontonians on here, but I knew it would have sunk pretty fast.
 
I think due to the nature of the circuit and the results from the previous two years, the Red Bull will be the pacesetter, in qualifying. In the Race i'd probably give the Mclaren a good chance, and possibly the Renault and Mercedes too. These new rules could skake up those teams behind Red Bull and Mclaren. I don't think Ferrari have a great chance due to the tyres, but they could be a surprise this weekend.

Overtaking will be relatively easy here with the DRS, so race pace is everything here in my opinion. Hamilton to break his front wing on Vettel's rear tyre and give him a puncture into turn one (A bit like last year) and Webber to be a sitting duck to Button's Mclaren. Rosberg to fill the final place on the podium :)

So Button, Webber, Rosberg, followed by Hamilton and Vettel :)
 
According to the BBC F1 blog, Adrian Newey thinks Red Bull could lose the most from the new rule changes. He thinks the changes are baffling. I cant wait for a Red Bull not to win!
 
It would be strange if we didn't even see a Red Bull on the podium. 👍
 
Truthfully we won't know how the rule change affects any team until Practice 3 at the earliest.

I suspect that it will just close up the field a little bit with HRT taking a jump forward since they didn't use this system anyway.
 
I'm actually starting to wonder if with Liuzzi/Ricciardo that Hispania will now qualify consistently ahead of Virgin? Liuzzi was already doing so and surely Ricciardo will be close(r)?
 
Can't wait for Saturday, going to qualifying and seeing F1 for the first time.
For anyone who has been, is it true they hand out ear defender things??

F1 cars aren't loud. You'll be fine.


Looking forward to this, even more so than normal.

👍 to having a world class race track with world class facilities.

Any news on DRS zones? I'd say Hanger straight and the one before Brooklands? Always overtaking in to Stowe, so that's the obvious choice. Double zones would be pretty cool.
 
I will be particularly interested in how mclarens aero package suits these new rules as I'm doing work experiance their aerodynamics department next week.

Awesome! :drool: :drool: :drool:.....






































....:drool:

I thought I had a good work experience working for a football team. But the Mclaren HQ is like a starwars movie set, rather than a factory. My dad has been there, he said it was the coolest car facility he'd ever been to.

I'm green with envy. :P
 
I'm actually starting to wonder if with Liuzzi/Ricciardo that Hispania will now qualify consistently ahead of Virgin? Liuzzi was already doing so and surely Ricciardo will be close(r)?

Give Ricciardo a few races and he probably will.
 
Can't wait for Saturday, going to qualifying and seeing F1 for the first time.
For anyone who has been, is it true they hand out ear defender things??

They dont hand them out for free, but you can buy them for about a tenner from all of the merch stores around the place, of which there are about ten for each team. I bought Red Bull and McLaren ones last year and they come with a lanyard and a ticket holder thing. Not a bad buy really. I couldnt believe the amount of Poms I saw last year without them in. Even GP2 race was pretty unbearable without them in.

Another thing that I cant recommend enough if you are going to be trackside, is Kangaroo TV. Im pretty sure its only 55 pounds for the whole weekend and it is well worth the price. They give you everything you need including charger etc. But dont worry if you are camping because they give you another battery if yours runs out free of charge. It makes the race so much more enjoyable. It is also especially good in the practice and quali sessions because you actually know what is going on.

Apparently its now called 'FanVision'
 
A bit of a left field question on the 'new' Silverstone layout - in the MotoGP recently, the old start finish was just another straight and actually looked pretty horrid, with barriers lining the old pit wall.

Is that the same layout for the F1 track?
 
So where is the new start finish? The track map in the OP I think has it in the original spot of old.
 
:grumpy:

I read now that the Bridge complex has been permanently decommissioned too, which is a great pity. I must be an old fuddyduddy. Like Hockenheim after they butchered it up, to me this isnt 'Silverstone' anymore.
 
:grumpy:

I read now that the Bridge complex has been permanently decommissioned too, which is a great pity. I must be an old fuddyduddy. Like Hockenheim after they butchered it up, to me this isnt 'Silverstone' anymore.

Ha. I said that when they put the chicane in Woodcote!
 
I read now that the Bridge complex has been permanently decommissioned too, which is a great pity. I must be an old fuddyduddy. Like Hockenheim after they butchered it up, to me this isnt 'Silverstone' anymore.
It was a good section to watch the cars go through but come on, this isn't the first time Silverstone has had a massive upgrade (remember this is how the circuit originally looked). The new Abbey, along with an overtaking opportunity into Brooklands more than make up for Bridge.
 
:grumpy:

I read now that the Bridge complex has been permanently decommissioned too, which is a great pity. I must be an old fuddyduddy. Like Hockenheim after they butchered it up, to me this isnt 'Silverstone' anymore.

I liked the original Hockenheim more too. You can still see faint lines of it on Google Earth. Im surprised that they let it just get as overgrown as it has. I dont think Monza is like that.

Im not too sure on the new section of Silverstone. The Arena seems a bit clumsy too me compared to the great right-left that used to be there. Still, at least its not at Donington.
 
I think DRS detection zone will be the penultimate corner with the pit straight and the bit after T1 as the deployment zones.
 
:grumpy:

I read now that the Bridge complex has been permanently decommissioned too, which is a great pity. I must be an old fuddyduddy. Like Hockenheim after they butchered it up, to me this isnt 'Silverstone' anymore.

I miss Bridge (and Priory!) and the whole section that made up too, but to say Silverstone is butchered and dead is a little dramatic! There are still plenty of great corners that still make it one of the fastest circuts on the calendar. I mean pretty much the whole point of this track is the Becketts/Maggots section!

I personally quite like the "Arena" section because although we lose Bridge and Priory, they have at least replaced them with quite a challenging little sector (and another great long straight for some more speed!). The new layout also makes Brooklands a far, far better corner than before.

Hockenheim wished it was the new Silverstone.
 
Bridge and priory have been lost, but they weren't the best for overtaking and racing.
It has been replaced by what will probably be the best first corner in the world and two very good overtaking spots.
 
dcd1106jy58.jpg


Does anyone have a high-res image of this? It's the starting gantry in Silverstone. I'm just curious what all the buttons do.
 
Bit offtopic but the Virgin car's livery is pretty damn good-looking!
 
👍 to having a world class race track with world class facilities.

+1 on the track part, but do you actually care about the facilities part? Spa's facilities pale in comparison to Shanghai's, but I'd take Spa over Shanghai anyday.

I liked the original Hockenheim more too. You can still see faint lines of it on Google Earth. Im surprised that they let it just get as overgrown as it has. I dont think Monza is like that.

It's not overgrown. The track was torn up. It's current condition was purely intentional. I miss the old Hockenheimring. I don't care what Martin Brundle says about it being a contest to see who has the best engine package. Monza is largely the same but no one ever speaks ill of it. The old track gave us far better racing than the new track.
 
Well I do in this instance as it was the facilities that put the British GP in jeopardy.

I'm asking whether or not you actually care about the facilities. If Bernie wasn't so obsessed with the facilities, I'd wager that no one else would really care providing they have adequate safety measures and a decent medical centre.
 
I'm actually starting to wonder if with Liuzzi/Ricciardo that Hispania will now qualify consistently ahead of Virgin? Liuzzi was already doing so and surely Ricciardo will be close(r)?

The HRT's can outqualify the Virgins by a fair amount, but in the races, they are bricks. Their race pace is too slow to do much more beyond that. However, they are bringing a new package to Silverstone, contrasting Virgin who have stopped developement on their car now. HRT will do so as well in the coming future, but this big package might be able to permanently cement themselves ahead of Vrigin on speed.
 
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