This is where it started. Over 60 years ago, people got
together with their cars and raced around an old WWII airfield across the
border between Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire. This is where the first
Formula 1 race took place.
There was a different set of issues back then, when
tracks were lined with straw bales and drivers weren’t strapped into their cars
for what equated to a safety reason (better thrown away from a burning wreck
then be stuck in it), but Silverstone remains another highlight of the sport.
I said that about the last race. After that, things can
only really get better in terms of interesting racing, so what will be dealt
this time?
Circuit: Silverstone
Circuit
2012 Winner: Mark
Webber
2012 Pole: Fernando
Alonso
2013 Tyre
Compounds: Medium and Hard
It was apparent this would be an interesting weekend
before the action kicked off as Mark Webber announced his retirement from the
sport to help lead Porsche’s return to the top flight at Le Mans. After being
forced into the number two position at Red Bull for so long, I imagine Webber
likes the idea of saying ‘screw you’ to the statistic obsessed Vettel by going
and winning the Triple Crown of motorsport, a feat achieved only by Graham Hill
before, appealed.
Naturally, the talk of the paddock was Webber’s
replacement in the Red Bull. Riccardo and Vergne have both looked solid with
the Frenchman currently slightly ahead in the points standing while names like
Raikkonen and Felix De Costa were thrown around as well, though I personally
suspect someone who’ll just be happy to be there and gladly follow orders will
get the seat.
Elsewhere in the paddock, Williams were celebrating their
600th race. This session has been pretty atrocious for the team so
far with no points on the board at all. It’s not looking likely this race will
change anything, but it’s always nice to see the team for any reason.
Friday practice one enjoyed the wonders of the British
summer weather with the entire track water logged. Only eleven cars set times
after most only finished installation laps before sitting the rest of the
session out. For what it was worth, Riccardo set the fastest lap, which may
factor into his push for the Red Bull seat.
Things started to dry out during practice two, the track
soon dry enough for slips as the Red Bulls and Mercedes showed they were top of
the field as usual. Ferrari and Lotus looked slightly out of sorts as Force
India and the Toro Rossos put in some good laps before Massa crashed heavily
for the fourth time in three meetings after clipping a wet curb. Rosberg set
the fastest time as the Brazilian sat out the rest of the session.
Lotus remained out of sorts as they continued to tinker
with an idea they’ve run on and off for over a year in the form of a passive
DRS (which is basically an automatic F-Duct if you remember those). Rosberg and
Hamilton topped practice three ahead of qualifying but the biggest story was
from Perez’s rear right tyre delaminated and causing heavy damage to this car’s
floor. Pirelli was quick to say it wasn’t their fault as another mark was added
to the tally of tyre failures this year.
What turned out to be a shock to everyone, the weather
remained quite bright as Qualifying one began. After his run ins with Webber
and Hulkenburg in Canada, Van der Garde had a five place grid penalty waiting
to be applied, guaranteeing he’d be plum last on the grid. Hamilton however was
very relaxed as he stood on the pit wall and waved to the crowd not long into
the session.
The top teams all waited to go out, letting the other
teams run around a bit. When they did go out, the Ferraris still didn’t look
great as they twitched through high-speed direction changes while the Lotus’
continued to leave masses of sparks in their wake (which looked awesome). The
Mercedes immediately went to the top when they eventually went out on track
with the Red Bulls while the Williams and Saubers struggled, leaving Bottas and
Gutierrez to join Pic, Bianchi, Van der Garde and Chilton to get eliminated.
The Mercedes waited in the pits as Qualifying two started
with Webber out straight away. For reasons on the FIA understand, several
drivers were pulled into the weigh bridge during a session (which I think
shouldn’t happen).
When they eventually went out, the Mercedes still looked
good even on used tyres, though they didn’t top the session as others went out
on fresher tyres but they didn’t drop far. The Ferraris and Lotus’ continued to
look in danger as well as McLaren, both of their cars eventually getting
eliminated along with Massa, Vergne, Hulkenburg and Maldonado.
Surprisingly in Qualifying three, it was the top cars to
go out first as the Force Indias and Raikkonen waited in the pits. The opening
‘salvo’ from the Mercedes and Red Bulls left the Silver Arrows ahead of the
Bulls with the same happening on the second set of times laps with Hamilton
flattening the opposition to take pole. Rosberg completed the silver front row
lockout with Vettel and Webber taking the second row ahead of Di Resta,
Riccardo, Sutil, Grosjean, Raikkonen and a disappointing Alonso.
However, after Q3 it was found Di Resta was a full 1.5kg
underweight and for the third race in a row he was doomed to start at the back
of the grid for reasons totally out of his hands.
As always, Eddie Jordan dived into the grid to see who
was about, catching a few celebrities before bumping into Nigel Mansall.
Without his moustache, he’s hard to spot (and for some reason makes me wonder
what Super Mario would look like minus a ‘tache). The weather remained nice,
but a strong wind threatened to cause problems on the exposed circuit.
The wind had no bearing on the start as Rosberg and
Webber both suffered poor starts while Sutil, Massa, Alonso and Raikkonen
jumped up the field. Grosjean also got a good start but clipped Webber on the
way past, damaging the Australian’s front wing as Hamilton bolted with Vettel
in tow.
The lead three quickly pulled away from Sutil in forth
who seemed to create a natural blockade. Surprisingly, the Mercedes were easily
able to keep Vettel between them but they soon got strung out enough to not be
able to attack each other.
As Webber saw to his recovery, getting by both McLarens
without major difficulties, disaster struck Hamilton in the lead as his rear
left tyre completely disintegrated. With the incident happening not far into
the lap, forcing the Briton to slowly crawl back to the pits and re-joining
plum last, the tyre issue was almost put down to just one of those things that
just so happens to only occur to people ahead of Vettel.
That was until the exact same thing happened to Massa,
the same tyre disintegrating at the same point on the track. There were
concerns of debris but none could be seen on track, so the curbs started to
take the flack as Alonso and Webber pitted (the latter having his front wing
changed), followed shortly by Raikkonen and Riccardo.
The four, while spaced out, soon dispatched the cars that
hadn’t stopped while the yet to stop Vergne tried to get away from the Lotus’
after they evaded his team mate Riccardo. Things didn’t quite work as at the
end of the back straight, Vergne’s tyre disintegrated as well, showering debris
right into Raikkonen’s face (though that’s nothing compared to the burning fuel
he got in 2009).
Seven laps and three rear left tyre failures left a huge
amount of debris and the Safety car was called out. The drivers who hadn’t
suffered issues pitted and were warned to stay away from the curbs with Vettel’s
first stint tyres showing signs of damage after they’d been removed. The safety
car also gave Hamilton, Webber and Massa a chance to catch back up with the
field while the lead three remained as Vettel, Rosberg and Sutil.
Naturally enough, Vettel bolted the moment the Safety car
went in while Webber set about dispatching Perez, Alonso looked to get by Sutil
and Hamilton got stuck behind Gutierrez for longer than he really should be.
Vergne on the other hand, unlike fellow disintegrating
tyre friends Hamilton and Massa, seemed to have suffered additional damage as
he struggled to hold back Bottas and Massa, eventually getting levered out of
the way as his struggles got worse.
As Alonso drifted away from and re-caught Sutil over and
over, Grosjean started to slide backwards as Riccardo and Webber squeezed past.
Hamilton didn’t seem to make much progress as the next round of pit stops
progressed while his team mate engaged Vettel in a game of ‘who can set the
fastest lap’, which they both traded every few laps.
Alonso, Webber and Raikkonen circulated quite close
together after their pit stops, getting squeezed together as they negotiated
their way past Hamilton and Di Resta after the Mercedes driver had spent
several unsuccessful laps trying to get by the Force India.
Massa too joined in on the slipping backwards before he
pitted as Perez, Grosjean and Button dispatched him while Vergne became the
first retirement of the race due to his floor damage.
Almost as if the race just wanted to keep the viewers on
their toes as the race threatened to turn into another easy Vettel victory, the
German’s gearbox packed in and he coasted to a halt on the start/finish
straight. The cheer from the crowd speaks volumes for many people’s opinions of
him, but it meant the safety car had to be deployed again to recover him.
As the Safety car was deployed, Rosberg, Alonso and
Webber all pitted for fresh tyres, a lucky move for Rosberg as his old set
showed signs of damage ahead of another possible tyre failure. This latest
safety car benefited many of the drivers as Hamilton was back in the top ten,
along with the McLarens and Di Resta. Raikkonen was less pleased as his team
elected not to pit him.
With only six laps to go once the Safety car pulled in,
Rosberg tried to bolt as Hulkenburg and Maldonado scuffled and let Di Resta
through. It didn’t take long for Webber and Alonso to dispatch the cars ahead
of them on older tyres, but another tyre failure struck Perez, making that two
tyre failures for the Mexican during the weekend and forcing him to retire.
The Safety car wasn’t dispatched however as his teammate
Button slide back down the order while Hamilton latched onto the back of Alonso
and followed the Spaniard through the traffic.
As soon as Webber dealt with Raikkonen, the Australian
set his sights on Rosberg who hadn’t quite eluded the pursuing pack, the two
exchanging fastest laps as the laps ticked away. Raikkonen slipped behind
Alonso and Hamilton while Massa dispatched Sutil after a few laps.
The heart beat raced as Webber closed to within half a
second of Rosberg on the final lap, but it was too late to prevent the Mercedes
driver taking his second win of the year ahead of Webber and Alonso.
The top ten was closed out by Hamilton after a great
recovery drive, Raikkonen who’s tyres started to give up towards the end, Massa
after a great recovery drive as well, Sutil, Riccardo, Di Resta and finally
Hulkenburg, piping the two Williams to the last point while Pic beat off the
Marussias and his team mate Van der Garde, all of whom had been quiet all race.
After what was a terrible race in Canada, the British
Grand Prix was tense and exciting to watch, if mostly for the wrong reasons. I’m
looking forwards to Pirelli’s excuse as to the tyres disintegrating but at the
time of writing they haven’t fully worked it out but are suggested a
combination of low tyre pressures, slightly higher temperatures then expected
and curbs may be to blame. If anything though, it shows how flawed the idea of ‘improving
the show with quick degrading tyres’ is, especially when the exciting action
was between cars with equal tyres.
Hopefully, good racing can continue at the Nurburgring
next week in Germany.
| Driver | Constructor | Race Time | Grid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32:59.456 | 2 |
| 2nd | Mark Webber | Red Bull | +0:00.765 | 4 |
| 3rd | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | +0:07.124 | 9 |
| 4th | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0:07.756 | 1 |
| 5th | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | +0:11.257 | 8 |
| 6th | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | +0:14.573 | 11 |
| 7th | Adrian Sutil | Force India | +0:16.335 | 6 |
| 8th | Daniel Riccardo | Toro Rosso | +0:16.543 | 5 |
| 9th | Paul Di Resta | Force India | +0:17.943 | 21 |
| 10th | Nico Hulkenburg | Sauber | +0:19.709 | 14 |
| 11th | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | +0:21.135 | 15 |
| 12th | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | +0:25.094 | 16 |
| 13th | Jenson Button | McLaren | +0:25.900 | 10 |
| 14th | Esterban Gutierrez | Sauber | +0:26.200 | 17 |
| 15th | Charles Pic | Caterham | +0:31.600 | 18 |
| 16th | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | +0:36.000 | 19 |
| 17th | Max Chilton | Marussia | +1:07.600 | 20 |
| 18th | Giedo Van der Garde | Caterham | +1:07.700 | 22 |
| 19th | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | +1 lap | 7 |
| 20th | Sergio Perez | McLaren | DNF (Damage) | 13 |
| 21st | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | DNF (Gearbox) | 3 |
| 22nd | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | DNF (Damage) | 12 |
Driver’s Championship:
| Driver | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Sebastian Vettel | 132 |
| 2nd | Fernando Alonso | 111 (-21) |
| 3rd | Kimi Raikkonen | 98 (-34) |
| 4th | Lewis Hamilton | 89 (-43) |
| 5th | Mark Webber | 87 (-45) |
| 6th | Nico Rosberg | 82 (-50) |
| 7th | Felipe Massa | 57 (-75) |
| 8th | Paul Di Resta | 36 (-96) |
| 9th | Romain Grosjean | 26 (-106) |
| 10th | Jenson Button | 25 (-107) |
| 11th | Adrian Sutil | 23 (-109) |
| 12th | Jean-Eric Vergne | 13 (-115) |
| 13th | Sergio Perez | 12 (-119) |
| 14th | Daniel Riccardo | 11 (-121) |
| 15th | Nico Hulkenburg | 6 (-126) |
Constructor’s Championship:
| Constructor | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Red Bull | 219 |
| 2nd | Mercedes | 171 (-48) |
| 3rd | Ferrari | 168 (-51) |
| 4th | Lotus | 124 (-95) |
| 5th | Force India | 59 (-160) |
| 6th | McLaren | 37 (-182) |
| 7th | Toro Rosso | 24 (-195) |
| 8th | Sauber | 6 (-213) |
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