Santander British GP 2008 - Race Buildup, Testing Photos etc.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alex.
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Hah, I'm gonna be sitting in the Abbey grandstand too. I'm kinda worried my 200mm lens won't be long enough to get any close detail of the cars as they come through the chicane. :indiff:
 
You'll find there's a large fence in the way unless your high up. Check my shot of Vettel on the first page.
 
Everyone's brought upgrades and revisions - even Force India. The Silverstone tech-show begins:

McLaren will challenge with a brand-new front wing which boasts four main planes, plus two planes on the bridge-wing, as well as an updated rear wing:

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Ferrari tested with outside mirrors, and found a new mounting-point for their sidepod shields: (The yellow bit is something for Kimi? :p)

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While BMW Sauber, already with the sexiest car according to Blake and Nick Heidfeld, as well as one of the most aerodynamically complicated, has added another twist to their sidepod shields - they are now longer, and have additional elements between them and the sidepod:

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Red Bull are this season's undisputed kings of bizarre addons. This time, it's weird sidepod shields:

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Renault bring a revised rear (suspension, winglets, diffusor), as well as new fins and side-pod modifications:

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Toyota hopped on the bandwagon with a new sidepod connector to the bargeboards, and flipups behind:

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Honda are showing more confidence in their car, experimenting with a "limp dick" nose and an updated front suspension:

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Toro Rosso's car gets new wheel-covers for it's fourth race:

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Even Force India have finally updated something - and no, it's not a third plane on their wing (which even Aguri had), but a RossoRenaultBull engine-fin:

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TheCracker
I'll keep an eye out for you ;)
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You won't be able to find him if Heidfeld crashes in the vicinity...
 
Great post Metar, many thanks!👍

Many thanks for that, would love to see Force India get a much needed boost. Honda are looking more and more competetive too!
 
Good Ginther, F1 cars are getting ugly.

Of all the arbitrary F1 rules imposed over the years, why can't the FIA make that rule up? :dunce:
 
I spotted that fin on day 2, I thought it looked like a box when it went past and it turns out I wasn't far wrong :lol:
 
Cool beans. Thanks Metar. 👍 I've been wondering when extra planes would be added to the bridge wings. This year the teams are really going insane with cool bits and pieces, it's sad that we wont really see them around after this season.
 
Pupik
Good Ginther, F1 cars are getting ugly.

Of all the arbitrary F1 rules imposed over the years, why can't the FIA make that rule up? :dunce:
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Next year is supposed to be worse according to some managers, and better according to others. Brawn, Domenicali and Head agreed that the cars themselves looked sleek, but Symmonds and Brawn complained that the front wings are "weird and ugly", while Head disliked the rear area, saying it looked like a feeder-series car.

Jackington
Cool beans. Thanks Metar. 👍 I've been wondering when extra planes would be added to the bridge wings. This year the teams are really going insane with cool bits and pieces, it's sad that we wont really see them around after this season.
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McLaren introduced another element at Sepang (or even Melbourne?), and Renault "officialized" it when they even added small endplates between the two planes.

But yeah, it'll be a shame to see them go. It's those small bits of innovation that keep me looking for more pictures and details.. This, and the grooved tyres, will be missed by me - the grooves were just so unique.
 
I keep checking the weather forecast for this weekend, it still looks like rain for Sat and Sunday but it also seems to be pushing the rain further back towards the beginning of next week. Fingers crossed.

On another note, it looks like we might have some spare tickets for the weekend. My dad was going to just try to sell them on the day, but i suddenly thought that someone here may want to buy them instead.

They are competitors tickets so entitle you to the inside of the circuit. I've not been to a GP in ages so i don't know what the spectating is going to be like from there.

It now looks like we probably won't be racing due to a new problem with the car, but it's too late to get the entry fee back so he hopes to recuperate at least some of the cost by flogging some of the tickets we won't be using (3 or 4 of them).

If anyone is interested, drop me a PM.
 
Sureshot
A problem with your car? Surely not :(

What's wrong this time?
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The guy who built the engine wanted to see it on a rolling road before he looked at the flat spot in the power. It was taken to one but something went bang. He took the car back to his work shop but it all seemed to be running fine! :odd:

After the race at Brands last weekend and it losing oil through the sump the whole oil system (it's dry sumped) was drained, cleaned and re-filled. A new rear exiting exhaust was built and fitted too - the old side exiting one had split at the silencer and was burning a hole through the floor pan! You find that you fix/replace something only for it to have a knock-on effect onto something else. So the nature of the 'bang' is unknown, it's probably nothing major, it just gives us little time to do anything about it since the car is ment to be at the circuit today :rolleyes:
 
First free practice results:

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Massa crashed after spinning on oil left on the track by Alonso's Renault. The track was red flagged for 20 minutes.

Second free practice results:

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Now Trulli crashed after his car lost its rear wing.
 
Vettel and Piquet in Q3, very good to see! I think Lewis could take pole, but positions 2-10 is anyone's guess.
 
Holy Webber! What a session! :eek:

Kovalainen gets his first pole, Webber on front row (!!!), Piquet and Vettel in the top ten, Piquet just behind Alonso. Holy moly.
 
Webber certainly kept up his pace with a front row start tomorrow!
 
Aww, so close Webber.

Great lap by Heikki though. Congrats on his first pole. 👍

Massa and Kubica were nowhere, and Massa wasted a lap of fuel trying to get to the line in a hopeless dash for another flyer.
 
So near yet so far for Mark, unlucky. Fantastic to see Vettel P8, and Piquet aswell. What a fantastic session.

Where the hell is donnington now bernie you idiotic dwarf!?
 
Damn...... :eek:
That was a great session, with probably the biggest surprise was Webber qualifying in 2nd!!!!! WTF? That is probably one of his best qualifying effort ever!!!! Also, congrats to Heikki on his 1st pole of the season (or his career) and probably showed McLaren that he does have what it takes to be a champion. I just can't stop laughing at Hamiltons expression during the weighing process at the end of the session, he was just speechless and dumbfounded. :lol:
 
Dont hold your breath. Good quali means a helicopter will land on his car tommorow sometime during the race.
 
Muzaffar Musa
That was a great session, with probably the biggest surprise was Webber qualifying in 2nd!!!!! WTF? That is probably one of his best qualifying effort ever!!!!
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He qualified 2nd in a Jaguar back in 2004 (I think) at Malaysia. Also that same year he qualified 3rd in Suzuka IIRC.
 
Blake
He qualified 2nd in a Jaguar back in 2004 (I think) at Malaysia. Also that same year he qualified 3rd in Suzuka IIRC.
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Yeah, totally forgot about that one. :dunce: But to me, his qualifying effort today was better than it was back then. Weirdly enough, hes pretty much is in the same team as he was back then as well.... :lol: (sort of really, being that Jaguar was sold to RBR)
 
It could turn out to be an interesting race with the relative mix of cars at the front. The very end of qualifying was a lot of fun. Though I would have liked to see Kimi attempt one last flying lap instead of letting up, at least the SPEED commentators said he could have more one more lap (I missed looking at the clock). I have nothing else to say about qualifying because I only had woken for the last (about) five minutes.
 
Alex.
Dont hold your breath. Good quali means a helicopter will land on his car tommorow sometime during the race.
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if DC can do it from 13th on a high speed circuit like Gilles Villeneuve, then its more than possible for Webber to do it from 2nd here at silverstone, the first track he drove on in europe.

quote from his interview:

Q: Silverstone obviously means a lot to you as well as you started your F3 career with a team based not far from here.
MW: Absolutely, Alan Docking Racing was very close to here for me and this is the first track I drove on in Europe away from Australia, so having won here in Formula Ford, got pole in F3 and won in Formula 3000 and sportscars and now front row in F1, so it's been a good place for me and a happy hunting ground, so it's good.
 

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