2012 British GP - Silverstone Circuit

[WilliamsF1]

Not a big fan of the new arena layout. Preferred the 1993 layout.

[raymondu999]

93... that's quite a while. That's the year before they introduced the Abbey chicane, right?

[Hail22]

Qualifying if cold:

Alo
Ham
Web

Race if cold:

Alo
Ham
Rai

Qualifying if warm:

Web
Ham
Alo

Race if warm:

Alo
Ham
Schumacher

[raymondu999]

Silverstone? Warm? Are you mad?

In all honesty, it's been a while since a full-wet, no-slicks no-dries race. I want to see a race where the race goes only inters/wets from end to end, with no slicks/dries in the mix. Here's hoping Silverstone delivers on that!

Of course I intend no discomfort to spectators, but... well... yeah.

[WilliamsF1]

93... that's quite a while. That's the year before they introduced the Abbey chicane, right?

Bridge then was a heart-stopper

[raymondu999]

WilliamsF1, I think the picture you posted is of a newer layout than the 93 layout you speak of. 93 layout had no Abbey chicane... Abbey was a left kink midway between Club and Bridge if I remember correctly. You kinked left then went straight for the kill into Bridge.

[ArchAngel]

I looked into my crystal ball and saw something most of you guys will not be pleased with.

Khartikeyan FTW?? What's not to like?? That'd be brilliant! LoL!

Qual:
1. VET
2. HAM
3. ALO

Race:
1. VET
2. ALO
3. MSC

[myurr]

Those were the days, those cars look absolutely terrifying to drive on the limit. Whilst the cars of today are quicker, with all the downforce and stability that they have they just aren't as exciting to watch or as challenging to drive. You have to wonder just how many of todays F1 drivers would still excel in those old cars.

[myurr]

In terms of predictions, with the cooler temperatures and dependency on mid to high speed downforce then McLaren should dominate this race. But I predict they'll find a way to throw it all away.

[beelsebob]

My (nearly baseless) prediction is that Red Bull will take pole and the checkered flag. Vettel was murdering everyone in Valencia.

Dominating in valencia says nearly nothing about what will happen at Silverstone. The track requires entirely different properties in the car, and the temperature requires the tyres to have far more energy put into them. In my book, that's no longer RBR territory... But you never know, their upgrade could have done more than we thought.

[raymondu999]

Agreed with everything Beelsebob said.

The D-spec Red Bull is too much of an unknown to truly judge yet. After all we've only seen it for one race. The F2012 was good in Barcelona, but the latest exhaust iteration has only got mileage in Canada and Valencia - both traction-straight-braking circuits. It will be interesting to see how both fare here.

I wonder though - how much will the track surface and the long lateral loadings help to put the cars who don't go to well in cold (the Red Bulls/Lotuses) put more energy in the tyres? I remember in 2011 Suzuka - even in a Ferrari that was rubbish in cold, and rubbish on hard/medium tyres, Fernando was the happiest on the circuit on the hard tyres as the lateral energies put through the tyre just helped the tyre warmup massively.

[myurr]

Agreed with everything Beelsebob said.

The D-spec Red Bull is too much of an unknown to truly judge yet. After all we've only seen it for one race. The F2012 was good in Barcelona, but the latest exhaust iteration has only got mileage in Canada and Valencia - both traction-straight-braking circuits. It will be interesting to see how both fare here.

I wonder though - how much will the track surface and the long lateral loadings help to put the cars who don't go to well in cold (the Red Bulls/Lotuses) put more energy in the tyres? I remember in 2011 Suzuka - even in a Ferrari that was rubbish in cold, and rubbish on hard/medium tyres, Fernando was the happiest on the circuit on the hard tyres as the lateral energies put through the tyre just helped the tyre warmup massively.

It depends if they can put enough energy into the tyres to heat them through the core or if they just slide about over-heating the surface.

I guess it'll come down to how well McLaren's rumoured upgrades work out of the box and if they lose crucial setup time over testing them out. Looking at the calendar the next few races should all suit the McLaren car to a degree so hopefully it'll remain close at the top.

Edit: Interesting fact, in qualifying Vettel was only third fastest through sector three with both Maldonado and Hamilton being quicker. Even Button managed to be fifth quickest! This is the section with the high speed turns.

[raymondu999]

I'm not so sure about Hockenheim. I think Hockenheim as a layout will be a lot closer to Valencia. The weather is a different issue.

Interesting fact, in qualifying Vettel was only third fastest through sector three with both Maldonado and Hamilton being quicker. Even Button managed to be fifth quickest! This is the section with the high speed turns.

As beelsebob and I have mentioned earlier, I'm not sure this is really relevant. The tyres are never on the limit of fast-corner lateral grip there - and that's what you need in Silverstone. You also have 2 places where there is extreme braking in S3 Valencia - which again isn't present in Silverstone.

[Nando]

WilliamsF1, I think the picture you posted is of a newer layout than the 93 layout you speak of. 93 layout had no Abbey chicane... Abbey was a left kink midway between Club and Bridge if I remember correctly. You kinked left then went straight for the kill into Bridge.

There´s an even better layout, it´s called historic in iRacing but it does have the left kink, but no chicanes from Stowe to Bridge.

After Stowe you had a super fast left hander right into a right hander, flows much better then todays layouts.

[beelsebob]

Agreed with everything Beelsebob said.

The D-spec Red Bull is too much of an unknown to truly judge yet. After all we've only seen it for one race. The F2012 was good in Barcelona, but the latest exhaust iteration has only got mileage in Canada and Valencia - both traction-straight-braking circuits. It will be interesting to see how both fare here.

I wonder though - how much will the track surface and the long lateral loadings help to put the cars who don't go to well in cold (the Red Bulls/Lotuses) put more energy in the tyres? I remember in 2011 Suzuka - even in a Ferrari that was rubbish in cold, and rubbish on hard/medium tyres, Fernando was the happiest on the circuit on the hard tyres as the lateral energies put through the tyre just helped the tyre warmup massively.

I would tend to suggest that it won't have that much impact – Spains enormously fast right handers didn't seem to do serious damage to which cars were quick in that temperature range.