2012 British GP - Silverstone Circuit

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

Easy to speak after the race but when i see Massa last stint, i think it was better for Alonso to start with the soft. Massa was faster than both RBR in the last stint, in fact, only Raikkonen and Grosjean was faster than him.

True, but ahead of the race I thought Alonso's and Hamilton's strategy to do Hard-Hard-Soft would be the perfect one. My thinking (and perhaps also Ferrari's) was that towards the end of the race, the track would be more rubbered in if it remained dry, hence the soft tyre would be able to last longer, or at least postpone the graining stage. That I think proved not to be the case.

Having the softer tyre go slower and be less durable is indeed something strange, but I think it was about the same for everybody. McLaren realised this to put Hamilton on softs only for 8 laps, but that meant his hard stints were a little bit too long to be optimal.

We should also not forget that Alonso was likely to pull the gap to everybody else by being on the harder tyre. Webber recovered that when the situation reversed, and passing the Ferrari to me showed that the Red Bull is the better car. Even Vettel was close to Alonso towards the end, and he was running the entire race with a damaged front wing.

Perfect post. During the first stint, i thought Alonso strategy was genius.

Alonso said during the PC that they knew since FP3 that the harder tyres will be the faster tyres. I don't know how the hell the softer was the slower, really Pirelli tyres are too strange.

[miguelbento]

Hi guys,

Is there a rule that prevents a driver finishing the race by going through the pits?

Why didn't, for example, Raikkonen dive into the pits on the last lap? He would've cross the finishing line before Massa, promoting him to 4th. This happens because the new Silverstone pits have this peculiarity.

The same was possible last year, so I assume there is some kind of rule preventing this...


Cheers,
MB

You can't finish a race in pitlane
Fia made sure no one copied the 1998 move by Schumy/ Brawn

Are you sure? Because I can't find anything in the regulations forbidding it. I can only find this:

F1 2012 Sporting regulations:
43) FINISH
43.1 The end‐of‐race signal will be given at the Line as soon as the leading car has covered the full
race distance in accordance with Article 5.3.

45) CLASSIFICATION
45.1 The car placed first will be the one having covered the scheduled distance in the shortest time,
or, where appropriate, passed the Line in the lead at the end of two hours (or more if the race
is suspended, see Article 5.3). All cars will be classified taking into account the number of
complete laps they have covered, and for those which have completed the same number of
laps, the order in which they crossed the Line.

But there is no definition of "Line", neither if it extends to the pit area.

Cheers,
MB

[thearmofbarlow]

Alonso said during the PC that they knew since FP3 that the harder tyres will be the faster tyres. I don't know how the hell the softer was the slower, really Pirelli tyres are too strange.

Which rolls easier? A baseball or a wad of Nutella?

Nutella might be softer, but it sure as hell won't roll easier. It just spreads itself out all over the place and makes everything sticky.

Take that to a less ridiculous extent and there's your answer.

[raymondu999]

Alonso said during the PC that they knew since FP3 that the harder tyres will be the faster tyres. I don't know how the hell the softer was the slower, really Pirelli tyres are too strange.

Which rolls easier? A baseball or a wad of Nutella?

Nutella might be softer, but it sure as hell won't roll easier. It just spreads itself out all over the place and makes everything sticky.

Take that to a less ridiculous extent and there's your answer.

So why does the softer tyre usually bexome the quicker tyre?

[ajdavison2]

Back from the grand prix. to sum up. wet but amazing

[zeph]

So why does the softer tyre usually bexome the quicker tyre?

Grip. Sticks to the road.

[Carbon]

Question about the Maldo incident and subsequent fine. Does the fine come out of Pastor's pocket directly, or does WIlliams buck up for the 'mistake?'

[siskue2005]

Exactly, that was my first season ....and my jaw dropped when I saw that =D>

[thearmofbarlow]

So why does the softer tyre usually bexome the quicker tyre?

Soft compounds are more often the faster ones but not always. They can actually be too grippy in some circumstances. This will cut down or eliminate that little bit of drift around corners. The grip level might not act consistent from one corner to another which will cause more caution on the driver's part. The rolling resistance could be such that it actually bogs the engine down slightly.

So yes, it can happen and does.

[raymondu999]

So why does the softer tyre usually bexome the quicker tyre?

Grip. Sticks to the road.

I was replying another comment. Please don't take my words out of the context of said quote.

Soft compounds are more often the faster ones but not always. They can actually be too grippy in some circumstances. This will cut down or eliminate that little bit of drift around corners. The grip level might not act consistent from one corner to another which will cause more caution on the driver's part. The rolling resistance could be such that it actually bogs the engine down slightly.

So yes, it can happen and does.

Looking at the laptimes, I actually don't think it was slower. It looks to me just that the Ferrari wasn't quick on the softs... Ie they had equal hard-tyre pace with the bulls, but their soft tyre pace wasn't as good.

[FrukostScones]

...........

Looking at the laptimes, I actually don't think it was slower. It looks to me just that the Ferrari wasn't quick on the softs... Ie they had equal hard-tyre pace with the bulls, but their soft tyre pace wasn't as good.

Massa who was on the softs would have been faster or on equal pace as Webber if he wasn't held up by Schumacher. Massa could have been third if they had pit him earlier for the first pit stop.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Here are some pitstops I filmed.

Silverstone GP 2012 - Force India Practice Pitstop [1080p][HD]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tBx81SQoNI[/youtube]

Silverstone GP 2012 - Ferrari, Fernando Alonso Pitstop [1080p][HD]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0w_XTy6tHI[/youtube]

Silverstone GP 2012 - Mercedes, Nico Rosberg Pitstop [1080p][HD]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7_KBgkyW7A[/youtube]

Silverstone GP 2012 - Force India, Nico Hulkenberg Pitstop [1080p][HD]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz5LhLhkzuk[/youtube]

For comparison here's a GP3 pitstop which is done with just 7 crew members.

Silverstone GP 2012 GP3 - Trident Racing, Giovanni Venturini Pitstop [1080p][HD]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtYi2RuTHc0[/youtube]

[cheapracer]

Massa .. would have been faster .. if he wasn't held up by Schumacher. .

... maybe he should have passed him then.

Anyway, good race from Massa, good to see him starting to go fast again.

[FrukostScones]

Massa .. would have been faster .. if he wasn't held up by Schumacher. .

... maybe he should have passed him then.

Anyway, good race from Massa, good to see him starting to go fast again.

he passed Schumacher on track and was instantly a second faster! But not before he lost lots of time behind him and this allowed Vettel to outsmart him. (check en.mclaren site for times, or official fia pdf's )

Ferrari stragey is always focused soley on Alonso (and they still f up constantly) so I assume for Massa they don't have a strategy at all, they only use him as guinea pig. I hope the next race he is two places or more in front of Alonso. What will Ferrari do? Be happy with many WCC points or call him to the pits or ask him t save fuel resulting him to lose the win and allowing ALO the podium? I think Massa should leave Ferrari and go somewhere else where he gets treated with respect, that would boost his morale, because I think he is a very sensitive guy and with alpha cock(the animal) Alonso in the team he's got nothing to laugh! Massa is still quick but psychologically frail.

[strad]

@FrukostScones

Massa should leave Ferrari and go somewhere else

Yes..somewhere far far from F1...Maybe scooter rentals in Sao Paulo