The 2008 British Grand Prix Thread

[Snowy]

Phew! I've bitten my nails off!

Lewis was mighty today, as was Rubens.

[Ed]

Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen are now on equal points at the top of the championship ladder!

Kubica is just 2 points behind

[Ed]

An impressive race by Hamilton and a well deserved win. To win by such a margin is very impressive.

Good race from Heidfeld and finishing second is a great boost to his confidence and his chances of staying with the team.

Also a good race for Barrichello for finishing on the podium. Putting on the extreme wets was a very clever decision and Ross Brawn shows again that he is a master strategist.

Raikkonen and Kovalainen had their share of problems with strategy and spins but managed 4th and 5th.

Alonso had a bad call on keeping the intermediates at his first stop which compromised the rest of his race.

Trulli did well to finish seventh and an impressive result from Nakajima in 8th even though he lost 7th place on the final lap.

There were many spins, some drivers survived others retired among those were Kubica, Button, Piquet, Fisichella and Sutil.

Massa had a very bad race finishing 2 laps down and spinning numerous times.

Your thoughts and the driver of the day ?

[jido]

I feel sorry for Kubica, but at least Heidfeld was there to compensate. Hamilton was great.

Good drives for Barichello, Alonso and Trulli (with Rubens on the best strategy)

[mabs_nsx]

Go Honda!

Nice drive by Hamilton to

Webber 2nd-10th

[Ed]

Team by team summary following the race (GMM)

MCLAREN-MERCEDES

One grassy moment aside, from the moment he burst off the grid, Lewis Hamilton's drive to an ultra-dominant win in the treacherous wet conditions was peerless; more than a minute ahead of second placed Nick Heidfeld, and joined by only one other rival - Honda's Rubens Barrichello - on the lead lap. The result sets up a tantalising three-way tie, with the two Ferrari drivers, for the lead of the drivers' world championship, with BMW's Robert Kubica only two more points back. Hamilton's teammate and pole sitter Heikki Kovalainen was less impressive in the wet, spinning twice and finishing a lap down and fifth. "He shouldn't feel too disappointed because he demonstrated that his racing skills are beyond question," said team boss Ron Dennis.


BMW-SAUBER

Heidfeld drove well, executing some spectacular passing moves and enjoying good strategy decisions to secure his third second place of the 2008 season, albeit more than a minute behind the winner. "Qualifying went well and in the race we did everything right," said the German, who has often struggled for pace in 2008. Conversely, Kubica's ultra-consistent season so far hit a snag at Silverstone, and he terminally aquaplaned into the gravel in the race, but he is now just 2 points behind the trio of championship leaders.


HONDA

At the wheel of the unlikeliest of cars - the mediocre RA108 - Rubens Barrichello drove through the British spray to the 62nd podium of his long career, aided by the astute decisions to switch to the right wet tyres, that meant he even passed winner Hamilton at one point. He might even have finished second, if not for a faulty fuel rig. Jenson Button spun on a puddle and into retirement at Bridge corner.


FERRARI

Disaster is an extreme word, but the reality of Ferrari's day and weekend at Silverstone was not too far away from that description, with Kimi Raikkonen's fourth place the only consolation -- not to mention both his and Felipe Massa's joint lead with Hamilton in the drivers' championship. Raikkonen set the fastest lap of the race and looked on course to challenge Hamilton, until the misguided decision was made to not change his tyres at the first pitstop. Massa's race was an unmitigated disaster; he spun at least five times and finished dead last, the only runner to be lapped twice. "I could hardly keep the car in a straight line," the Brazilian rued.


RENAULT

Fernando Alonso finished sixth with poor pace late in the race, also lamenting the decision to keep the same tyres on his car at his first pitstop. "We could have probably had a better result today," he said. Teammate Nelson Piquet did change tyres at his pitstop, but he aquaplaned into the gravel in the downpour.


TOYOTA

Jarno Trulli finished seventh but regrets not joining Barrichello in switching to the extreme wet tyres amid the hardest rain. "We should have gone for it. It's a pity because I was driving so strongly that we could have made the podium," he said. Timo Glock struggled on the standard wets in the rain, spinning twice and finishing second to last.


WILLIAMS-TOYOTA

Nico Rosberg started from the pitlane and had an unscheduled visit to the pits to replace a damaged nose after he rain into the back of Glock, finishing ninth. Kazuki Nakajima did better to collect the final point, meaning he and teammate Rosberg have each scored 8 points so far this year, but the Japanese was on course for seventh at Silverstone until he was passed by Trulli on the very last lap.


RED BULL-RENAULT

Mark Webber started on the front row of the grid but admits to having "dropped it" on a white line at Becketts on the first lap. He was tenth at the chequered flag after a second spin, which was better than David Coulthard's first lap clash and retirement along with Red Bull stablemate Sebastian Vettel. "I'm sorry for him that we made contact and went into the gravel, I'm sorry for Red Bull too, as it was two cars out in one hit," Coulthard, at his last home grand prix as a driver, said.


TORO ROSSO-FERRARI

Vettel got stuck in the gravel following a hit from the rear by Coulthard. Sebastien Bourdais, who spun once, crossed the line eleventh of the thirteen finishers.


FORCE INDIA-FERRARI

Adrian Sutil aquaplaned on a puddle and spectacularly spun into retirement on lap 11. Giancarlo Fisichella followed suit with a spin into the Becketts gravel on lap 27.

[JayVee]

I must say well done to Hamilton. He drove well and was fortunate with the tyre call. Raikkonen and Alonso weren't.

Barrichello was impressive and I think Ross Brawn had something to do with getting him on full wets. It is a pity that not many of the other drivers/teams took that gamble. It would have been interesting!

Don't know what to say about Massa but all his concerns about struggling with traction control in the wet were so evident here! He has no hope if it is wet.

Its an interesting championship!

[RE30B#16]

Superb race and win for Lewis Hamilton!! Bravo, Hambone!! He made a brilliant Senna-esque start, and never looked back after passing Kovalainnen. The McLaren team did a brilliant job getting him out in front of Raikonnen after the first pit stop despite Kimi not taking new tires.



3 drivers deserve to be Driver of theDay, but I will cast my vote for Nick Heidfeld for not one, but two brilliant double passes to climb into 2nd place. Well done, Nick!!!



Hambone, Heidfeld amd Rubens Barichello all deserved to be considered DoftheD. Rubens made the Honda look like a real contender unlike his hapless teammate. Bravo, Rubens!!



Hats off to Jarno Trulli and Kazu Nakajima who both drove well again this weekend in most difficult conditions.



What was up with Kimi and Alonso not getting tires on the first pitstop? That move ruined both of their respective races. I fault the team managers for a blunder like that.



Too bad for Robert Kubica who was looking at a certain podium finish before he hydroplaned off the track and got beached in the gravel. Other than that, another great drive!



Several drivers drove like crap: Heading this list is Felipe Massa. What an awful performance for a driver some on this board speculated will win the championship this year!



Mark Webber gets the dunderhead of the week award. He may as well have qualified solidly in the middle where he usually ends up. Then his result would have seemed decent.



Jenson Button!!!?! He is the UK driver that should retire at the end of the season, and David Coulthard should take his place. I'm afraid JB is finished.



Nelsinho Piquet looks no better than the man he replaced at Renault. That said, Heikki Kovalainnen did not drive very well after Hambone got around him. He is definitely a number two.

[mlittle]

Barchello got my vote for Driver of the Day; granted, it could've gone to either Hamilton(for winning by over a minute!) or to Heidfeld(for finishing 2nd and making those 2 passes during the race) but the vote went to Barrichello because, seriously, everyone, even with it raining and all, did anyone expect Honda, of all teams, to have one of their cars finish 3rd?

[Jim Watt]

This was a race to remember! From the beautiful start (except for poor old Webbo! ) to the fantastic finish. There is so much talk on this and other forums about the relative status of drivers being obscured by the strong difference in machines. This showed us EXACTLY what it means to be a champion driver.

But Lewis showed he is not merely the Driver of the Day, but probably the Driver of the Coming Era!

I ask doubters to consider what the response would be had the current WDC (my favorite driver, Kimi) or the two-time WDC (Fernando) driven anything LIKE the race Lewis did. Remember: Lewis didn't just win the race, or even win it "conclusively": he spanked the field, lapping BOTH his closest points competitors and finishing more than a MINUTE ahead of second place [the only machine he DIDN'T lap!]

Now someone out there will probably be able to say when the last time anyone did anything like this; but I will guarantee it was a LONG TIME ago!

But back to my point: had either Kimi or Fernando put on a master class like Lewis did, there would be a ton of crowing here and elsewhere about how true 'quality' is shown under adverse conditions like these And also there would probably be remarks about how much of his incredible record Lewis owes to luck. And it is truly INCREDIBLE; better than either Ayrton or Michael at this point! Inevitably he will leave those two great drivers in his dust. Probably Michael will be around to congratulate him, too. And, like he usually does, graciously, with a smile that causes his detractors to overdrive their bile ducts.

What Lewis showed was that he is on a different plane. I'm not even mentioning the stress level on him, by the way: the thousands of British fans ready to either love him or loathe him. But what Silverstone 08 means is that Lewis will now (like Schumacher before him) have to get used to being attacked by the advocates of other drivers for ANYTHING they can put on a U-tube 'loop' and crow about.

(Look for repeated analysis of his smashing into Kimi in the last race; soon it will be darkly suggested that he did it on purpose because he 'knew' he couldn't beat Kimi on the track ).

On the positive side, though, those who claim that F1 isn't exciting enough and doesn't have enough over-taking and is all decided by the money and qualification day need to be forced to watch this race in its entirety.

My personal favorite moment in the Speed Commentary was when Matchet (or Hatchet or whatever his name is) practically melted down because Lewis didn't change his tyres to full wets when Rubens started his charge.

Ron Dennis knew how many laps were left and he knew how fast Lewis could go if he had to and he knew that there was NO WAY Rubens was going to take the lead from Lewis --even if they GAVE him all the time back and put him on Lewis's back wheels. The wets made Rubens look terrific. Lewis WAS terrific.

It was, of course, Ross Braun's genius that put Rubens on the full wets. I have always thought that Ferrari lost more when they lost Ross than when Jean Todt retired and Silverstone supplies me with more reason to believe it.

Poor Felipe. Things look dim indeed for him. However, he DID finish the race which is more than Robert Kubica can say. What I am wondering his how much cash FIAT is willing to put up to purchase themselves the number one driver at McLaren?

Ron Dennis --not one of my favorite people-- was correct in his estimation of Heikki, by the way. Comparing him to Lewis is unfair. It is extremely unlikely that either Kimi or Fernando in the 'other' McLaren would have been able to challenge Lewis. Keep up; maybe. Challenge or overtake. No way.

And no one else would even have been able to keep up.

So. You read it first today. Jim Watt says --alas!-- Kimi will not match Fernando's 2-time WDC this year. He probably will retire at the end of his contract next year, happy to have won the WDC even once.

With a little luck, he might have gotten WDC twice, but unfortunately for him when he drove for McLaren the car wasn't up to it.

Who, then, will be WDC in 08? Not even close. Lewis Hamilton --and with a percentage of victory to starts that is unmatched not only in F1, but probably in any form of racing!

Jim Watt

[JayVee]

Jim,

Hamilton's win was impressive yes and I stated that already but what made it look so impressive was him switching tyres at the first stop where Raikkonen and Alonso and Webber didn't.

Remember that before the first stop Raikkonen was catching Hamilton.

Once Raikkonen and Alonso kept their tyres, it was all over, they went into damage control and both made early second stops and fuelled to the end which compromised their race.

Hamilton had his day in Silverstone, he delivered and good for him and his fans but lets not make him a god even before he wins a championship!
And given his big stuff up in Canada, this is merely a makeup to his damaged reputation post Canada and France.

The great drivers in the wet have had even more impressive races in the past, this one was impressive but to Hamilton's fortune, all those close to him chose not to swtich tyres (don't know if that was driver or team decision) and that made Hamilton look superficially more impressive than he should.

As for the championship, I don't think Hamilton has a chance, I still think Massa will do it but Raikkonen maybe. I think Kubica without that spin would have been leading it - again!

[Jim Watt]

Jay Vee:

As soon as I posted my rhapsody I realized that, in point of fact, Rubens actually passed Lewis while he was on full wets. Of course it would have been really stupid for Lewis to contest him, since all he was doing was un-lapping himself.

I think you're remembering that when Kimi and Fernando decided to stay on their worn inters (because they gambled that the course would dry out before it got wetter again and they would be, on the worn tyres, almost like on slicks) and Ron D. put Lewis on new inters and it got damper, THAT was when Lewis made his terrific lead.

And you're right, of course, he was getting two or three seconds or more a lap. But his mates, all around him, were spinning off and aquaplaning in all directions and, as the chaps doing the commentary pointed out, Lewis was in real peril of a safety car episode (which would have evaporated his big lead and given Kimi, and the others, a chance to switch tyres and close the gap.

And when Ross Braun put Rubens on full wets, as I pointed out, they were frantically calling for Ron Dennis to call Lewis in again to protect his lead. But he didn't. Lewis drove smoothly and calmly while all around him people were losing their heads (and machines).

We'll see in the German G.P. whether this was just a lucky break. I think it will show us Lewis putting the lid on his competitors' dreams of a WDC and nailing it down, point by point. I wish Kimi had stayed on at McLaren; but even if he had, I don't think he would have been any more able to stop the kid this year than Fernando was last year. (and, yes, I know, Fernando tied him, he didn't LOSE to him. but come on, Fernando was the defending two time WDC and Lewis was a rookie!)

cheers and best wishes. maybe 'evil' Lewis will 'defect' to Maranello --and then those who believe he is luckier than gifted can all campaign against him like so many did against Michael.

Oh yes, btw, wasn't it interesting how LITTLE the T.V. feed focused on Lewis? Can you imagine French TV ignoring Bourdais should he be leading the French GP? Or Italian TV ignoring a Ferrari that was busy nearly lapping the entire field at Monza?!!

[jacfan]

And it is truly INCREDIBLE; better than either Ayrton or Michael at this point!

Since neither Ayrton or Michael started their careers in the top teams I think this comparison is not viable.

[jacfan]

For anyone who has any interest in my opinion, I have given my DotD to Rubens. I agree with Mlittle totally and it certainly was great to see Rubens up there again.

[Jim Watt]

Dear Jac Fan:

In fact, Michael started with Jordan. That he moved rapidly to Benneton and on to Ferrari could be called lucky. Could be. But in F1, drivers either 'cash in' on their talent, or not. Whether that is a matter of luck or personality I couldn't say. But I'm serious about Ferrari offering Lewis a ride. If it hasn't happened yet, it will, you can bet on it. They are also interested in Kubica and watching Heikki. Why? Because they know how important it is, once you have made the best possible machine, to put the best possible driver in it.

As to comparisons of driver's records being rough and probably not very significant, I couldn't agree more. The only comparison that makes much sense --and even it is imperfect-- is a driver's record vis a vis his teammate.

People who saw Ayrton or Stirling or any of the 'greats' in action will never be convinced by another driver's statistics. And rightly so. I only got to really watch one driver through his racing career. Rick Mears. I saw all his Indianapolis 500's and can remember each of his four wins. My favorite was the last one. I still enjoy the race and love to watch the last 100 miles, but I won't change my mind no matter how many races some other guy wins. Should Helio, for instance, win three or four more times, I would never admit he was 'better' than Rick.

I suspect (from your handle) that you are the same in your loyalty to the fine Canadian (or Canadien) driver.

So here's to Jacques (and Gilles, his dad); long may they be honored!

Jim Watt