2017 British Grand Prix - Silverstone, 14-16 July

[Wynters]

Vettel told them 5 laps earlier that his tires had been blistering for 20 laps already.
RedBull covered for an issue that happened on another team's car, yet Ferrari didn't bother to bring Vettel in knowing what had happened to Raikkonen.
Looks to me like a huge Ferrari pit wall mistake, their place is at the casino, not in a highly competitive environment.

I think it's an indication of Ferrari's mindset and (now) total focus on the WDC. With Verstappen having pitted there was definitely a window to drop Vettel into. However, if they did that, he would finish behind Kimi who came out only 7 seconds behind. So, they kept him out and paid the likely penalty. I think it probably shows the desperate straights Ferrari are in.

[Moose]

High speed and high downforce track all in one, in Hugaroring?

That's not what I said - I said a medium/high speed downforce track - i.e. a track that requires downforce at medium and high speeds. It certainly isn't a high speed track (i.e. one with lots of straights).

To clarify this further - Mercedes were absolutely dominant through the Maggots/Beckets complex - they were reliably pulling out 0.3 seconds in those 3 corners alone. The Hungaroring has 5 corners (turns 3, 4, 10, 11, 12) that require similar characteristics from the car.

[Wynters]

As an aside, what on earth does Kvyat think he is doing? I particularly loved his "He steered into me!" defence just as the replay showed him on hard right lock in the middle of a left hander. Maybe he 'forgot' it was a left hander? He nearly managed it in Canada but he learnt from that and absolutely nailed Sainz this time around. The Sauber guys have issues with each other but I can only imagine how incendiary the team debrief will be for TR.

Good race for Hulk and Renault too. Kept ahead of the Force Indias preety comfortably. Looks like they are definitely going in the right direction with their aero philosophy shift.

[Jano11]

I think Merc are going to be clearly ahead in Hungary too - it's a medium/high speed downforce track, and Merc's big advantage today was through the high speed downforce section.

I think the only track that Ferrari can expect to mount a serious challenge at at this point is Singapore.

High speed and high downforce track all in one, in Hugaroring?

That's not what I said - I said a medium/high speed downforce track - i.e. a track that requires downforce at medium and high speeds. It certainly isn't a high speed track (i.e. one with lots of straights).

OK, it makes more sense when you put it like that.

[Moose]

As an aside, what on earth does Kvyat think he is doing? I particularly loved his "He steered into me!" defence just as the replay showed him on hard right lock in the middle of a left hander. Maybe he 'forgot' it was a left hander? He nearly managed it in Canada but he learnt from that and absolutely nailed Sainz this time around. The Sauber guys have issues with each other but I can only imagine how incendiary the team debrief will be for TR.

Yeh, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the move that got Kvyat dropped from RedBull's driver program. I wonder if they have a new young talent waiting in the wings.

[Vasconia]

Mercedes has smashed Ferrari on this race. A PU update and we already know which one is better.

Since the Spanish update and since Mercedes understands the tyres they look like the strongest ones, by far. Hungary should be better for Ferrari but the season doesnt look good right now.

[Jano11]

High speed and high downforce track all in one, in Hugaroring?

That's not what I said - I said a medium/high speed downforce track - i.e. a track that requires downforce at medium and high speeds. It certainly isn't a high speed track (i.e. one with lots of straights).

To clarify this further - Mercedes were absolutely dominant through the Maggots/Beckets complex - they were reliably pulling out 0.3 seconds in those 3 corners alone. The Hungaroring has 5 corners (turns 3, 4, 10, 11, 12) that require similar characteristics from the car.

Indeed. Quite obviously the Mercedes is excellent when it comes to direction changes and generally stability during cornering. Their new suspension made a big difference.

[JonoNic]

Mercedes has smashed Ferrari on this race. A PU update and we already know which one is better.

Since the Spanish update and since Mercedes understands the tyres they look like the strongest ones, by far. Hungary should be better for Ferrari but the season doesnt look good right now.

It would have looked better if Raikonnen was able to get better results when Hamilton had issues. It's rather Bottas that is able to do this. Has Rai finished ahead of Hamilton in a race this year? (Taking points from Hamilton)

[Wynters]

Also, kudos to Vettel. His interview with Pinkham was a study in magnanimity.

[PlatinumZealot]

#da BOSS!
#BLESSED!

Smashing GP! It was poetic justice for the championship battle. Hamilton the most succesful driver at silverstone. A dominant race from lights to flag. Wonderful. Great drive by Bottas too.

Kimi was great. He was quicker than Vettel today despite power issues. And those tyre delaminations were due to how the drivers managed the tyres because it was always a marginal two stop. Was't very wise of them to lean so hard on the left front on a track like this. The tyre carcass is hard so temperature dissipation in them is not as good as the supersofts so you have to bring them into temperature zone carefully on the warm up lap. But all the same I am #blessed today that the battle is reset for the secon half of the season!

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Well...well... well... The grand plan of Ferrari to swap the drivers came to a naught once Bottas was at Vettel's tail. Kimi was maintaining a 4.5 second gap for a long time thinking it would be an easy swap. But as soon as Ferrari realized that, both position would be compromised as Bottas came in, Bingo... Kimi opened a big gap and by the time Bottas cleared Vettel, the gap was 8 seconds!!!

Bottas saved face for Ferrari.

[Just_a_fan]

Hey now buddy watch it... I said this early on in the thread and took a tongue lashing from the mods for it. Tread carefully you bigfannyboy.

Indeed so. All we may say is that a racing driver won a race against other racing drivers. No judging of any sort is allowed.

[foxmulder_ms]

Well...well... well... The grand plan of Ferrari to swap the drivers came to a naught once Bottas was at Vettel's tail. Kimi was maintaining a 4.5 second gap for a long time thinking it would be an easy swap. But as soon as Ferrari realized that, both position would be compromised as Bottas came in, Bingo... Kimi opened a big gap and by the time Bottas cleared Vettel, the gap was 8 seconds!!!

Bottas saved face for Ferrari.

100% true.

[evered7]

I don't think a swap was in place. It was gone as soon as Vettel was not able to clear Max quickly in the first stint. The gap was steady after the pitstop and if there was a planned swap, it would have reduced each lap. Vettel did a couple of laps in the 1:34 after he was caught by Bottas. He made a mistake first to allow Bottas to close the 2 sec gap in a lap.

All that doesn't matter now. Ferrari need to find pace and quickly if they are to be involved in the WDC fight. Marchionne's words seem to have a triggered something or is it just Kimi doing well at Silverstone. We'll know in the next race.

[matt_b]

Well...well... well... The grand plan of Ferrari to swap the drivers came to a naught once Bottas was at Vettel's tail. Kimi was maintaining a 4.5 second gap for a long time thinking it would be an easy swap. But as soon as Ferrari realized that, both position would be compromised as Bottas came in, Bingo... Kimi opened a big gap and by the time Bottas cleared Vettel, the gap was 8 seconds!!!

Bottas saved face for Ferrari.

Great spot, I did wonder why Kimi wasnt pulling a gap on much fresher tyres than Seb but like you said as soon as Bottas got by he was flooring it.