2013 British GP - Silverstone

[Hail22]

I'm hoping for a Vettel DNF and Raikkonen / Alonso to gather a 1/2 going into the summer break to make it a juicy championship rather then another boring runaway.

Qualifying:

1. Ham
2. Alo
3. Ros
4. Rai
5. Vet
6. Web
7. Sutil
8. DiR
9. Ric
10. But

[raymondu999]

I can see Alonso taking this race, easily. I can't see Vettel off the podium though.

[Vasconia]

Last two years Ferrari and Alonso haven been very strong there but this season I have my doubts. The cars peformance seems to vary a lot and if the temperatures are low or it rains they could struggle.

I see Mercedes for the pole and Rb for a victory, I dont want to see it because I would like to see Alonso reducing the gap with Vettel but RB looked surprisingly fast in Canada so they could perform better than the previous seasons, specially Vettel who is showing a spectacular regularity.

Webber is usually very strong there so we could see a 1-2 if Mercedes struggles with tyres and Alonso dont qualify very good.

[Racer X]

1. Perez
2. Button
3. Ham
4. Alo
5. Vet
6. Web
7. Sutil
8. Hulk
9. Rai
10. Ros

This is what I predict will happen in The New Season of TOONED which premiers that weekend.

In the race I see the usual top 4 fighting up top and the midfield filled with the usual teams. Nothing changes
So Vettel could win Ham or Ros or Web or Alonso or Kimi. :/ this season is boring for McLaren fans..... :/ its sad to see our cars behind the midfield.

[SilverArrow10]

I can see tire problems affecting Mercedes in Silverstone with the long sweeping corners. fighting for a top five finish I think. Alonso and Ferrari for the win with Red bull in there making it difficult for them. Unsure about Lotus they could bounce back and steal a podium but im not sure about the win. A better McLaren I think but still only fighting for the lower points.

[SamH123]

How do the Pirelli's hold up around Silverstone normally?
I don't think it's as tyre heavy as Spain?

[Chuckjr]

I can see Alonso taking this race, easily. I can't see Vettel off the podium though.

Why do you think it will be an easy win for Alonso, and not RB? Though I'd love to see a Vet DNF or at least not on the podium, I have a hard time believing RB wont be fighting for the win as the car seems just so strong. I'd love to know why you think Ferrari have this one virtually in the bag.

[godlameroso]

I can see tire problems affecting Mercedes in Silverstone with the long sweeping corners. fighting for a top five finish I think. Alonso and Ferrari for the win with Red bull in there making it difficult for them. Unsure about Lotus they could bounce back and steal a podium but im not sure about the win. A better McLaren I think but still only fighting for the lower points.

The turns aren't very sweeping, no where near the endless curves of Barcelona, there are a lot of high speed turns though.

[godlameroso]

I can see Alonso taking this race, easily. I can't see Vettel off the podium though.

Why do you think it will be an easy win for Alonso, and not RB? Though I'd love to see a Vet DNF or at least not on the podium, I have a hard time believing RB wont be fighting for the win as the car seems just so strong. I'd love to know why you think Ferrari have this one virtually in the bag.

Ferrari has the fastest race car this year in Alonso's hands. In China which is a front limited circuit similar to Silverstone, Alonso was untouchable, just like in Barcelona.

[dave34m]

Btw, it´s not summer break now is it? 18 days??? crazy..

I know, its a weird calendar this year, we have this 3 week break and another before the 4 week summer break, crazy stuff

[raymondu999]

I don't think it's as tyre heavy as Spain?

Right, though I'm still expecting Pirelli to choose Hard/Medium compounds.

It's less heavy.

Very visible in 2012 comparison. Barcelona was OPPP for Alonso and Maldonado, as well as Webber. All 3 guys did OPP (or for Alonso, PPO) in Silverstone. This was with the same tyre selection. Maldonado was an extreme one where he showed OP was possible. He didn't complete every lap, but he started with an 11 lap option stint, 1 lap hard stint and 39 laps on the next set of hards, which brought him to L51, one from the end. I can see him eking out 12 laps on the options and 40 on the hards in that race.

The Lotus which did OOPP in Barcelona 2012 showed that they could do PP in Silverstone. Grosjean did only 2 laps on the options before he did 2 prime stints.

On this basis, I'm expecting most will go OOPP, with perhaps Lotus capable of going OOP or OPP. Some might want to get the undercut early and go OPPP.

I can see Alonso taking this race, easily. I can't see Vettel off the podium though.

Why do you think it will be an easy win for Alonso, and not RB? Though I'd love to see a Vet DNF or at least not on the podium, I have a hard time believing RB wont be fighting for the win as the car seems just so strong. I'd love to know why you think Ferrari have this one virtually in the bag.

Ferrari has the fastest race car this year in Alonso's hands. In China which is a front limited circuit similar to Silverstone, Alonso was untouchable, just like in Barcelona.

In front-limited circuits, I agree. I'm not sure I agree they have the fastest car for rear-limited circuits though. But yes Chuck, I'm basing my predictions on how well Ferrari performed (relative to Red Bull) at those two circuits.

I can see tire problems affecting Mercedes in Silverstone with the long sweeping corners. fighting for a top five finish I think. Alonso and Ferrari for the win with Red bull in there making it difficult for them. Unsure about Lotus they could bounce back and steal a podium but im not sure about the win. A better McLaren I think but still only fighting for the lower points.

The turns aren't very sweeping, no where near the endless curves of Barcelona, there are a lot of high speed turns though.

The corners ARE very sweeping - they're just not long.

[Chuckjr]

In front-limited circuits, I agree. I'm not sure I agree they have the fastest car for rear-limited circuits though. But yes Chuck, I'm basing my predictions on how well Ferrari performed (relative to Red Bull) at those two circuits.

I can see tire problems affecting Mercedes in Silverstone with the long sweeping corners. fighting for a top five finish I think. Alonso and Ferrari for the win with Red bull in there making it difficult for them. Unsure about Lotus they could bounce back and steal a podium but im not sure about the win. A better McLaren I think but still only fighting for the lower points.

The turns aren't very sweeping, no where near the endless curves of Barcelona, there are a lot of high speed turns though.

The corners ARE very sweeping - they're just not long.

When one says, "This is a front limited circuit" as opposed to a "rear limited circuit", what exactly does this mean? Does a front limited track mean it takes everything from the front traction avail on the car to get a good lap? If so, then what makes the Ferrari's design better in front limited tracks like Silverstone as opposed to rear limited tracks? What is the most rear limited track on the 2013 calendar?

How do you know these factors about the cars? What chassis refinements do you engage to conclude these factors? Are these aero dependent issues or a mechanical grip dependent issues?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I hear these terms constantly on this site and I would like to better understand, or at least understand what one means in their own mind when they emphatically state these proclamations.

[raymondu999]

When one says, "This is a front limited circuit" as opposed to a "rear limited circuit", what exactly does this mean? Does a front limited track mean it takes everything from the front traction avail on the car to get a good lap?

In short - you need a strong front end to get the car turned (and hence carry speed) on front-limited circuits. Rear-limited circuits is less about carrying speed but more about putting power down on exit of the corner. That's determined by circuit layout, really.

A general rule of thumb is fast corners = front limited and slow corners = rear limited. That isn't always the case though. For example Hungary isn't super fast, it's more medium speed - but it's still front limited. As is somewhere like Melbourne.

If so, then what makes the Ferrari's design better in front limited tracks like Silverstone as opposed to rear limited tracks?

I wouldn't know that - but what we have seen is a trend that the Ferrari has liked front-limited circuits more than the Red Bull so far.

What is the most rear limited track on the 2013 calendar?

Tough question. Canada? Monza? Singapore?

How do you know these factors about the cars? What chassis refinements do you engage to conclude these factors? Are these aero dependent issues or a mechanical grip dependent issues?

Again - we don't know *why* the cars perform that way, but what we *do* know is that in the tracks we've seen so far, Red Bull has the advantage at rear-limited, Ferrari at front-limited.

[Intermedius]

What is the most rear limited track on the 2013 calendar?

Tough question. Canada? Monza? Singapore?

I think that probably the most rear limited track is Singapore followed by Canada and Monaco.

I also don't find Monza to be rear limited track - both lesmos and parabolica (and curva grande if you count it as a corner) are medium to high speed corners. And even Acsari is not your typical chicane.

[banibhusan]

I wouldn't know that - but what we have seen is a trend that the Ferrari has liked front-limited circuits more than the Red Bull so far.

Again, isn't it mostly because of the tyres?? What I mean is the Red Bull supposedly suffers a lot on front limited tracks because of the excessive degradation whereas the Ferrari seems to handle these forces quite well preventing excessive degradation. This is just my interpretation of what has happened so far.