2012 Formula One Santander British Grand Prix

[homeforsummer]

Pretty good race today. Usual look at a few of the drivers who did something notable:

Webber - Good to see another Brit GP win. Also good to see him at a pace that challenges Vettel.
Alonso - Also glad to see him come 2nd - quite hoping he wins the title this year, as he's done enough great driving to deserve it. His battle with Hamilton was brilliant.
Vettel - Solid race. Gets brownie points for outrageous flirting with Lee McKenzie after the race
Massa - I was speculating on Twitter that Massa was actually replaced with a programmable robot a few years back, which explains his drop in form. The real Massa is recovering from his nasty spring/eye incident on a beach in Brazil somewhere, raking in the paychecks. Ferrari have finally found a software program that allows RoboMassa to drive well, hence his recent turn in form. RoboMassa or not, was a good drive today.

Others:

Di Resta - Unlucky. Consistent 10/11/12 qualifier with consistent bad luck in races
Hamilton - Good drive and good battle with Alonso, but don't really think the car is working for him at the moment.
Button - Likewise, only he's struggling even more than Hamilton
Grosjean - Great drive all race long
Raikkonen - Another good drive, save for his mistake on the last lap
Kobayashi - Big shame about the pit incident, and glad to hear the crew is okay for the most part. He was driving well up until then, and was great watching him monster Schumacher for a few laps

And also...

Maldonado - Seriously, what is he playing at? Fair enough, this one was definitely a racing incident, but then it wouldn't have been had the stupid nitwit actually been thinking about his car in relation to others on the track. It still reflects very badly on him if even when he isn't deliberately punting people off, he's too thick to avoid knocking people off accidentally. The other drivers deserve better, and Williams deserves better than someone who gets them one win and spends the rest of the season being an idiot.

 

[CinnamonOD]

Pretty dissappointed with maldonado, why don't they drop him? Oh yeah, oil money

 

[Alex.]

Great driving all race from everybody except Pastor Maldonadon't.

 

[Famine]

Apparently he's been fined 10,000 Euro and given a "reprimand". Which is odd as this was the least at-fault collision he's EVER been in...

 

[DaxCobra]

Apparently he's been fined 10,000 Euro and given a "reprimand". Which is odd as this was the least at-fault collision he's EVER been in...

10,000 euro penalty, what a joke.

That's like me getting fined £1.00

All he has to do is reach into his back pocket for some change...

 

[mattythedog]

Kobayashi fined €25,000 for 'dangerous pit-lane driving'

 

[Famine]

I guess Kamui should lengthen his surname to Kobayashi Maru - when it comes to the stewards, he's always in a no-win situation.

 

[Submerged]

Hm, punishment is a bit excessive for Kobi, because he would already have known that he made a very serious and potentially lethal error at that time. Additionally you could see that he was actually trying to avoid the end result (cadence braking and steering).

Wherelse Maldonaldo didn't really seem to be aware of what was actually going around him at that time.

 

[Robin]

I find the penalty for Kobi odd because its not like anyone intentionally tries to mow down their pit crew and stopping in such a tight box is hardly an easy thing. Very different to making potentially dangerous moves when on the track.

I saw nothing from his pit lane drive that looked 'wrong', it was purely an accident in judgement. I don't remember many other drivers getting similar penalties in the past of hitting crew members.

 

[Peasantslayer]

Gutted for Perez, he defintely said what he thought about Maldonado.

Grosjean's last stint was 2 laps longer, and it goes without saying that he was much faster on it. To the the tune of over 20 seconds faster, passing Hamilton along the way.

The last three races, Grosjean has been absolutely incredible, and in contention for drive of the day on all three occasions. It's only a matter of time until RoGro wins a race.

It must have a lot to do with the car because Grosjean was driving very aggressively when he was gaining on Hamilton, he was twitching all over the place but his tyres still had enough at the end of the race. I hope Mclaren do better next time, they probably will do better because they didn't have a good chance to evaluate their updates because of the weather.

I find the penalty for Kobi odd because its not like anyone intentionally tries to mow down their pit crew and stopping in such a tight box is hardly an easy thing. Very different to making potentially dangerous moves when on the track.

I saw nothing from his pit lane drive that looked wrong, it was purely an accident in judgement. I don't remember many other drivers getting similar penalties in the past of hitting crew members.

He was turning fully left throughout the incident so obviously he was doing everything he could to prevent going into the guys on the right.

 

[Robin]

He was turning fully left throughout the incident so obviously he is doing everything he can to prevent going into the guys on the right.

Exactly, I saw he also locked the wheels up obviously trying very hard to brake. The stewards should have taken that into account because the fine is slightly excessive.

 

[hornet_burnout]

You don't lift. If you're sideways and you lift, you go even more sideways. Once he lost the car, he was always going to go off on the outside. The question was whether he would go off sideways or backwards.

The issue was, he shouldn't have dived so deep and braked so late on the inside of the turn... Especially not while beside another car...

Actually I was wrong, it was a lot different from what I thought. He didn't power through. This replay shows he actually never accelerated.

But also shows he didn't brake too late and lost it accidentally. He just decided to let go of the brakes IMO



I see it as very deliberate. Honestly. No hating now.

 

[homeforsummer]

Exactly, I saw he also locked the wheels up obviously trying very hard to brake. The stewards should have taken that into account because the fine is slightly excessive.

And, though Kamui is essentially the person at fault here, Eddie Jordan actually said something on the TV coverage that made a whole lot of sense (there's a first time for everything, right?), which is that the big generators that Sauber use for their air guns are very badly placed in the pit lane - the pit crew are lucky they didn't get physically crushed against them when Kobayashi pulled into the box.

The wheel guys on the right hand side were already squashed into a tiny space between the correct stopping place and the air compressors.

 

[Omnis]

They got.... Kobasquashied.

Also, I didn't know they made bifurcated kilts. Jackie Stewart lol.

The on podium interviews are super dumb. They should handle them more like Indycar does, or did.

And those yellow soft tires were absolutely crap.

 

[Robin]

And, though Kamui is essentially the person at fault here, Eddie Jordan actually said something on the TV coverage that made a whole lot of sense (there's a first time for everything, right?), which is that the big generators that Sauber use for their air guns are very badly placed in the pit lane - the pit crew are lucky they didn't get physically crushed against them when Kobayashi pulled into the box.

I did feel that the guys were much too squashed right up against the lines of the box and usually there should be some room given as a car is very unlikely to come in dead centre. Eddie does have a good point about those huge units which you never usually see so close to the box.

 

[Saidur_Ali]

Well done to Mark Webber 👍, a driver who lives in Britain, wins the British GP with a team based also in Britain .

Anyway, it was a bit surprising how slow the McLarens were today. Hopefully they get the performing again for next GP as performance from car today was pretty poor.

This is Lewis's comments a week or so back regarding Pastor.

“Regardless of the comments he has made about me I still respect him and I think he’s a great young driver.”

I like the way he referred to him as a young driver, when he is only just over two months younger than him.


Back to the actual penalties today, the ones handed out are a bit strange I thought but they are the F1 race stewards after all.

 

[zippy_the_cat]

Great drives from Webber, Alonso, Massa and Grosjean. Vettel and Schumacher put in good work too. Raikkonen, well, he should have been farther up the road.

Zeros of the race were Maldonado and Kobayashi. Maldonado to my eye mis-drove that entire corner -- he early-apexed the turn and then I thought deliberately let the car go wide to close the door on Perez. Boneheaded on his part. But of the two Kobayashi more obviously put lives in danger by botching his approach to the box. Him getting the larger of the two fines was definitely merited in my view.

McLaren fans best hope they had a wet set-up on the car that didn't respond well in the dry. Otherwise it appears they're losing the development war.

Edit: I'd add Rosberg to the zeros list. Just an all-around mediocre drive on his part.

 

[Blaze_409]

Once again. Its all about the PASTOR, Pastor, Pastor, pastor, fastor, Maldonado...
In the thick of it every weekend. I feel as thought Williams is only defending him because he brought them a long overdue victory...
Then again then dumped Hulkenberg after he brought Williams a pole.

He drove Raikkonen off the track and almost into the wet grass...He gave Hamilton a quick scare. Then he just clobbers Kobayashi. This man is reckless and has no respect for other drivers. I wish he would realize this isnt some cheap spec series and that people are putting huge investments down for him and everyone else to finish these races so he should think twice when he decides to wreck a competitors car because its not cheap. And drivers are priceless. They cannot be repaired back in a factory.


FIA needs to have a remote ignition switch installed in his car. To shut his car down when he goes quack each weekend.

The Lotuses. When are they going to win? Once again both cars had the best tire wear and fastest race laps at the end. Such a shame that they cannot have a straightforward weekend.

 

[PeterJB]

That was so good! Great comeback from Mark, and a lovely craptastic drive from the McLarens! I was just about able to keep up with what was going on, considering I had virtually no commentary and the sunlight was blocking the screen out, but the weather was great! I'll write up a proper report tomorrow with plenty of pictures!

 

[hornet_burnout]

Just re-watched the race properly, and this is what I think...

a) Silverstone
It had already been a great track for MotoGP this year. I was reminded of how awesome some sets of corners are and how a non artificial track is so much better than fabricated and boring ones. Today again, the track allowed for great racing moments. There is no denying this is an absolutely great track that MUST remain in the calendar. Hope they get the money to improve infrastructures and avoid this weekend's havoc for the fans.

b) Drivers
Everyone did his utmost best to get ahead, almost everyone fighting hard but fairly, there was lots of side by side action and I really enjoyed this race because there were good overtakes, comebacks and generally just great driving.
(with the above mentioned exception which, correct me if I'm wrong, was the only one pushing other people off, and the common denominator in those "incidents")

Hard to point out a drive of the day really. Yes I liked immensely Grosjean's race. But can't discard Alonso holding on to P2 and a discrete but effective Webber taking the win.

Hamilton gave us some great moments, but his finishing place...

Bring on the next one!

 

[Ardius]

I love how utterly forgettable Rosberg has become. He has a terrible weekend like this one and people barely even mention it. The commentators and pundits only seemed to mention it when they did a run-down of the starting grid but other than seems everyone just doesn't read past 10th place . Maybe its down to a lack of fans or something.

Pretty good race, much better than previously this season and the strategies were at least a bit easier to follow but still uncertain which would work out best.
I'm not sure why McLaren opted to go for softs twice for Lewis when the hards were clearly the way to go.

Some good drives all around but one can't but help feel the Lotus really should be on the podium every race as it always shows good race pace but ends up stuck behind other cars or on inferior strategies. Both Kimi and Romain have the ability but it just never comes together..

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

I thought it was a good gamble with the strategy for Alonso. But I thought they should have gone deeper on either the first or both hard stints. Maybe the Ferrari is better with more fuel, but overall it seems like Red Bull have the fastest car.

I love how utterly forgettable Rosberg has become. He has a terrible weekend like this one and people barely even mention it. The commentators and pundits only seemed to mention it when they did a run-down of the starting grid but other than seems everyone just doesn't read past 10th place . Maybe its down to a lack of fans or something.

I noticed that Schumacher has now seem to have got his groove back. Probably a more interesting talking point than Rosberg.


I like how Webber got a real trophy.

 

[homeforsummer]

But of the two Kobayashi more obviously put lives in danger by botching his approach to the box. Him getting the larger of the two fines was definitely merited in my view.

Really? He's shown remorse for the incident, but at the end of the day it was an accident that's easy to make - many drivers have done the same before. It's been wet all weekend and this was his first stop on a dry surface. He simply misjudged it, and luckily nobody was seriously hurt.

I'd certainly not call him a "zero" for it - his actual on-track racing was excellent.

And yes, with Schumacher showing a greater turn of speed I'd virtually forgotten about Rosberg. Maybe it's a similar situation to Hamilton/Button, where one driver works well with a particular car and the other doesn't. Perhaps this year's Mercedes is more to Schumacher's liking.

I'd say the same is happening with Red Bull this year too. Mark appeared to have lost his mojo a bit last year where Vettel had incredible speed, but they're much more even this year.

And I'd love to know what they're putting in Massa's cornflakes at Ferrari. Where's this old pace come back from?

 

[Ardius]

Just goes to show that having a car (and tyres?) that behaves to your liking is very important after all and that perhaps we should not be so quick to judge certain driver's pace just because of one bad season. Makes me feel more than ever that spec series are hence not a fair comparison of talent.
Of course, some of the best drivers adapt regardless of car behaviour and are still fast. But even that is a compromise from what is possible when they have a car they do like.

I'd also say that I wouldn't be surprised if some of the teams went with a split-strategy on car setup, not just on tyres. We saw Grosjean with some epic suspension travel over the bumps so perhaps some teams had gone too far with a wet setup predicting rain all weekend (as setups are largely locked in once qualifying starts). Perhaps Rosberg and Button went too far into a wet setup or perhaps they are more sensitive to the lack of dry running and hence an imperfect setup?
Maybe even Hamilton's car didn't have a great setup for the dry. Who knows really.

 

[ENTERSANDMAN13]

That was so good! Great comeback from Mark, and a lovely craptastic drive from the McLarens! I was just about able to keep up with what was going on, considering I had virtually no commentary and the sunlight was blocking the screen out, but the weather was great! I'll write up a proper report tomorrow with plenty of pictures!

Where was you? i went for the whole weekend, camping was a nightmare, mud EVERYWHERE! but today was awesome along the pit straight! then climbing the pit fences afterward to see all the cars

 

[EDK]

And yes, with Schumacher showing a greater turn of speed I'd virtually
I'd say the same is happening with Red Bull this year too. Mark appeared to have lost his mojo a bit last year where Vettel had incredible speed, but they're much more even this year.

He's also remembered how to start a race this year. Remember how bad last year was, in that respect? He would qualify 3rdish and fall to 7thish by the first turn.

Webber - Great drive and even though I'm not a Red Bull fan per se, the driver I'm most rooting for to win the title this year. He's had a solid if not stellar career and thoroughly deserves it.

Alonso - The last stop seemed early to me, based on the timing of the first stops of those who started on the soft tires. You have to remember that they did not qualify on those tires, so most stops happening around 14 made 16 seem like a stretch. It was a great drive, with him dictating the pace most of the day. But the car did not work well on the softs and the early stop meant they paid the price.

Maldonado - Clearly steered into Perez and I could not agree more with Sergio's heated interview. The guy needs to shape up or ship out. Period.

McLaren - Mediocre performance at their home GP, for what looked like a promising 2012 campaign early on. Will be interesting to see how they respond.

 

[Pagey279]

Maldonado - Clearly steered into Perez and I could not agree more with Sergio's heated interview. The guy needs to shape up or ship out. Period.

At first I thought that's what happened as well, but the commentators said straight after that it looks as though Maldonado went too hard on cold tyres and the car oversteered upon entry, he counter steered to save the car (making it look like he steered straight into Perez)
And Maldonado said as much while being interviewed after the race.
And if you watch the replay you can just see at 0:04 seconds and 0:16 seconds the back end of the car stepping out. Just.

 

[EDK]

At first I thought that's what happened as well, but the commentators said straight after that it looks as though Maldonado went too hard on cold tyres and the car oversteered upon entry, he counter steered to save the car (making it look like he steered straight into Perez)
And Maldonado said as much while being interviewed after the race.
And if you watch the replay you can just see at 0:04 seconds and 0:16 seconds the back end of the car stepping out. Just.

I read what they said and what he said, but I still think he went in too deep and tried too hard to hold the position. Even if it was a mistake, that doesn't really make his contact record any better. He has very little respect for the other drivers, and it's obvious.

 

[zippy_the_cat]

I thought it was a good gamble with the strategy for Alonso. But I thought they should have gone deeper on either the first or both hard stints. Maybe the Ferrari is better with more fuel, but overall it seems like Red Bull have the fastest car.

I've been chewing this over since the race and am beginning to suspect this was just Red Bull's race, rather than one Ferrari kicked away with a strategy call. Remember that Webber had started putting the pressure on before Alonso's final stop, biting off about half a second per lap and closing on Alonso's pitstop delta time. At the rate he was coming, Ferrari perhaps could have left Alonso out two more laps, had the engineers been willing to make an all-or-nothing bet on the stop going perfectly. That perhaps would have been a good risk because Ferrari's stops have been pretty consistent (and good) all season long. But you'd like to give yourself a cushion and the softs in any event had seemed to hold up well, making the timing of the stop look like at the moment like the safer bet. Hindsight being 20-20 I suspect they'd wait the extra two laps had they to do it all over again. But given how strong the Red Bull was deep into a stint on hards, I'm guessing the result would have been the same either way, Webber just making the pass a few laps later than he actually did.

 

[Hun200kmh]

^^^ I think Webber would've jumped Alonso in the pits if Ferrari decided to keep him with the second set of tyres a couple of laps more. I agree with you though, it would take a miracle for Alonso to win.

MAybe, but just maybe, Alonso could've won if he also followed a S/H/H strategy but in that case I think Webber would've got him already in the first stint. With a H/H/S Alonso just delayed the inevitable (bar any problems for Webber).

In all, stellar performance by both Alonso and Webber, the outcome decided (I think) by the better car.

It's interesting to notice that Webber, in this GP, outperformed Vettel both in the dry and in the wet. I don't know how he worked his head around the 2011 season, but whatever he did is working.