# Spoiler: British GP



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

ok, I'll start it. 

Marc Gene is in again for Ralf.


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

:yikes: 

You beat me to the lunch!  


-


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Lunch? Huh? Where? :eeps:


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

LOL. I was actually have LUNCH when I wrote that ... must have been thinking of something else!










-


----------



## Mr. The Edge (Dec 19, 2001)

who's in for JPM?


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

himself, i assume.

he was driving yesterday in downtown london, so he can't be that messed up from his shunt.



-


----------



## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

Looks like the weather is forecast to be cold and rainy. Wow, cold and rain at Silverstone? Who could have seen that coming? 

http://www.planetf1.com/news/story_16392.shtml

Hey, at the very least this could shake things up a bit. Hopefully Michelin has improved the performance of their wet compounds.


----------



## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

Mr. E said:


> Hey, at the very least this could shake things up a bit. Hopefully Michelin has improved the performance of their wet compounds.


If they haven't you might as well give the rest of the field a couple lap head start over the red cars. The Bridgestones were over a second a lap better in the wet last year IIRC.


----------



## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

I love watching F1 races where it rains. There's usually lots of action and driver skill and bravery really come to the fore. Of course tires play a huge role as well...


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Practice 2... Ok, Fisi must've been on light fuel. Was Kimi? Stay tuned tomorrow. 

2004 British Grand Prix 


Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 

1 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:18.655 

2 11 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:18.660 

3 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:19.162 

4 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.287 

5 9 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:19.401 

6 2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:19.473 

7 4 Marc Gene Williams-BMW 1:19.540 

8 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 1:19.601 

9 10 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:19.611 

10 12 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 1:19.676 

11 3 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:19.746 

12 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:19.874 

13 38 Ricardo Zonta Toyota 1:20.095 

14 17 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:20.489 

15 16 Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:20.829 

16 35 Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda 1:20.861 

17 15 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:21.073 

18 14 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:21.352 

19 37 Bjorn Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth 1:21.353 

20 18 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:22.365 

21 39 Timo Glock Jordan-Ford 1:22.500 

22 20 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 1:22.516 

23 19 Giorgio Pantano Jordan-Ford 1:22.586 

24 40 Bas Leinders Minardi-Cosworth 1:22.792 

25 21 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 1:23.436


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

I like Button's new helmet! :thumbup: 


-


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Where? Got pics?


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Found it... but I don't think I like it better:

New









Old


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

I just think that it cool that DC has the flag from Scotland on his, and now Button has the St George's Cross on his lid. But apparently only for the British Grand Prix.

Anyway.


-


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

PhilH said:


> I love watching F1 races where it rains. There's usually lots of action and driver skill and bravery really come to the fore. Of course tires play a huge role as well...


 :thumbup:

Let's see if Alonso will mind the yellow flags, though. :eeps:

I like Button's new helmet better.


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Laren keep their feet on the ground
McLaren...

As always, McLaren were downplaying the significance of Friday’s result at Silverstone – but, for once, they were downplaying the significance of an excellent performance in what has been an otherwise grim 2004 season.

The team’s new charger, the MP4-19B, introduced last weekend at Magny-Cours, was an instant improvement on the malfunctioning MP4-19, and it continued to impress at Silverstone.

Kimi Raikkoen was able to take P1 with a lap time of 1:18.655, whilst team-mate David Coulthard was fourth with a 1:19.287. Make no mistake, the team are moving in the right direction – although for the moment the McLaren boys are keeping their feet firmly on the ground.

"I had a positive test here at Silverstone with the 19B a few weeks ago, so I was quite confident that the car would be good,” said Kimi.

"Hopefully we can continue to improve it during tomorrow's practice. We were quickest today, but there is nothing to celebrate yet -- Saturday and Sunday are the important ones."

DC also sought to downplay the story of the timesheets.

"An encouraging start to my home grand prix, but its early days and whilst it's looking good, tomorrow is another day. We have learnt a lot and will see what the next couple of days bring. MP4-19B is an improvement, and I feel that it should be possible to get on the podium, so that has to be the goal."


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

racerdave said:


> Practice 2... Ok, Fisi must've been on light fuel. Was Kimi? Stay tuned tomorrow.


Fisi got a new engine. He's starting from the back.


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Actually, it's -10 spots. So if he repeats his performance in qually, then he'll start 12th.


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I'm sticking with "he'll start from the back."


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Mumbles did it!

So is he running light??


----------



## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

McLaren's pace was quite good. :thumbup:

I thought Kimi could win the thing... but MS did. :thumbdwn:

But congrats again... holy shiite, 10 of 11. Amazing. Totally makes the rest of them look like a bunch of [email protected]

Did you US viewers catch the comentary from the Speed annoucers that Webber might be in the Williams as soon as Hungary??


----------



## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Hey...not that bad MS won. Cos I placed some good bets and I won as well. Hooray...

But still, much props to Kimi keeping up the pace. It's about time. I am still amazed at Kimi's qualifying time for sector 3 on Sat. How did he do that???

Yes, I caught that that comments about Webber being in Williams. It was just before a commercial break.

And oh, did you catch that clip when Peter Windsor asked Monty about his donuts in London?  And his answer : "What's wrong with that?"



racerdave said:


> McLaren's pace was quite good. :thumbup:
> 
> I thought Kimi could win the thing... but MS did. :thumbdwn:
> 
> ...


----------



## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Some pics from here and there:


----------



## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

> But still, much props to Kimi keeping up the pace. It's about time. I am still amazed at Kimi's qualifying time for sector 3 on Sat. How did he do that???


He was lighter than the red cars, especially than MS. Michael drove four additional laps after Kimi went in for his first stop.


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

Alex Baumann said:


> He was lighter than the red cars, especially than MS. Michael drove four additional laps after Kimi went in for his first stop.


On a side note, I "heard" Mobil is making fuel that is lighter than Shell, but not as light as ELF. Not sure if it is true though.

-


----------



## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

Well at least there's the driver speculation to keep things interesting for Williams fans. JPM had a good drive with a mediocre car.


----------



## tim330i (Dec 18, 2001)

British GP - Race 
07/11/2004 

Weather: Dry, sunny. Temp: 17-18°C Air, 28-31°C Track, Humidity 56-67% 
Silverstone (UK). The BMW WilliamsF1 Team had a trouble-free British Grand Prix, with Montoya claiming four World Championship points thanks to a responsive race strategy and efficient pit stops. Marc Gené finished 12th. 

Juan Pablo Montoya 5th Chassis: FW26 06
Best time: 1:1.19.968 min (lap 26, 6th overall)
I am satisfied with today's outcome. Although the car is not quick enough, it worked pretty well and I believe we got the best out of it today. At the start I made a mistake, releasing the clutch too quickly and it cost me a position to Sato.Then I tried to keep pushing but it was not possible to catch those in front. When the safety car came out, the team did a great job by calling me in and I had a pefect pit-stop. However, back on the track the backmarkers were frustrating and I lost a lot of time.

Marc Gené 12th Chassis: FW26 07 
Best time: 1:20.434 min (lap 58, 7th overall)
I had an average start, and Da Matta passed me, but I overtook him again in turn two. I tried to be aggressive from the start and in the first part of the race I fought with Alonso, but we were running at the same pace and it was impossible to get ahead. Alonso just passed me in the first pit-stop and from then on it was just a matter of fighting with Sato and Da Matta with our pit strategy as | simply didn't have the pace to improve my track postion. However, the backmarkers hampered me a lot. Depending on the set of tyres, the car's balance varied but overall it wasn't too bad. 

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
It was an encouraging race in terms of getting some points on the board, but obviously we have a lot of work ahead of us to improve the car. Our strategy helped Juan to move up the field and the pit crew did a good job. From where Marc was in the field it was difficult to make progress and although his ultimate laptime wasn't bad, it was not quick enough to make it into the points. I hope Jarno Trulli is okay after his accident. 

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
This was quite an exciting race for the spectators, thanks to Kimi Raikkonen's great performance. It's also positive that Jarno Trulli could walk away uninjured his huge crash. For our drivers it was thankfully an uninventful race which we haven't had for a while. Juan Pablo made the best of his 7th grid position and climbed to 5th thanks to a good strategy and three brilliant pit-stops. Marc fought for a long time with Alonso and Sato and delivered a consistent performance. Now that the new package has two races under its belt, we will be able to increase its performance at next week's Jerez test.

Test: Jerez, 14-16 July


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

:yikes:

<img src=http://www.formula1.com/photos/270x240/tvimages/2004/british/sunpic10.jpg>

<img src=http://www.formula1.com/photos/270x240/tvimages/2004/british/sunpic11.jpg>


----------



## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Only flying is better 


Seriously, it was a pretty scary sight.


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

It was. I was amazed to see him give the thumbs-up almost as soon as he came to rest. But he did seem a little unsteady walking off...

Kinda reminded me of Alonso's Monaco crash, and the gesture he gave. Maybe it's a Renault thing, and they just have different digit preferences. 

If someone can find a pic of the thumbs-up amidst the scrap, I'd like that as my new avatar.


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Oh - and does anyone have video of the pre-race donut session?


----------



## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

Williams and BMW were very impressed with Fisichella's performance. Sounds like he's in serious consideration for the seat next year.


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

SteveT said:


> Williams and BMW were very impressed with Fisichella's performance. Sounds like he's in serious consideration for the seat next year.


Ja, I was surprised to hear that at the beginning of the race. I have to say, if Montoya and Gene had identical cars, it points to a serious gap there - Montoya looked like he was flogging that thing as hard as it could go, and Gene was barely hanging on.


----------



## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

The Roadstergal said:


> Ja, I was surprised to hear that at the beginning of the race. I have to say, if Montoya and Gene had identical cars, it points to a serious gap there - Montoya looked like he was flogging that thing as hard as it could go, and Gene was barely hanging on.


Peter Windsor has been saying that Fisi was on the list for some time. He gets paid to have some insight. Gene got caught in the strategy and traffic. His best lap was only just behind JPM's, but he did it late in the race.


----------



## Mr Paddle.Shift (Dec 19, 2001)

Alex Baumann said:


> He was lighter than the red cars, especially than MS. Michael drove four additional laps after Kimi went in for his first stop.


That we all know already.

I was pointing out the fact that he was slow for the first two sectors, then did a stunning good job for the third sector. If you had played GP4 or F1 99~02, the third sector is mostly about pin pointing the exact turn-in and exit apexes. Apparently he did that very well for turns coming out of 10, 14, 16. C'mon, its 19.666s!

EDIT: I mean coming out of 14, 15, 16.


----------



## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

What is this crap? Last year I went on vacation and when I came back 2 Williams wins had been chalked up. This year I come back and 2 more Shumi wins are in the books.


----------



## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

berford said:


> What is this crap? Last year I went on vacation and when I came back 2 Williams wins had been chalked up. This year I come back and 2 more Shumi wins are in the books.


It's great, isn't it! :thumbup:

Formula One is great! 

The French and British Grand Prix were great! :thumbup:

I am looking forward to a lot of great racing in the next (great) 7 races! 

Great fun! 

-


----------



## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

Patrick 520iAT said:


> It's great, isn't it! :thumbup:




For awhile now I've been hearing about how Fisichella's career goal is to drive for Ferrari. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but if Williams gets their act together and takes the fight to Ferrari next year, would Fisichella have the stones to really challenge Michael and Rubens the way Montoya has? If he doesn't, I certainly wouldn't want him on the team.


----------



## pod13 (Dec 20, 2001)

Wasn't someone looking for this? I'm glad he was ok. That wreck looked pretty bad with the flipping and all.


----------



## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Mr. E said:


> if Williams gets their act together and takes the fight to Ferrari next year, would Fisichella have the stones to really challenge Michael and Rubens the way Montoya has?


I know that Montoya and Raikkonen will have the stones to take the fight to anyone and everyone, including each other, if Mercedes brings out a halfway decent car. :thumbup: I'm not a Mercedes fan, but that will be great to watch.

Thanks, pod!


----------



## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

Patrick 520iAT said:


> It's great, isn't it! :thumbup:
> 
> Formula One is great!
> 
> ...


Yeah. Really, really, REALLY great!!! :yikes:


----------



## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

I'm still hoping that Williams can pull something together for the rest of the season, but I must admit that I'm mostly looking forward to next year with JPM and Kimi driving a fast and reliable McLaren rig.

I think the walrus nose idea is not necessarily a bad one, but perhaps the team spent too much time getting that to work and not enough time on the rest of the car. As it is, they're occasionally able to put something together, but usually at least one part of the equation falls short. And without Ralf's help, there's even less consistency from race to race for the engineers to work with. I do hope they stick with their design for next year, though. I'd love to see it make a strong challenge next year.


----------



## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

There's no doubt that Williams hasn't been able to develop the FW26 at a fast enough pace to improve their competitive position. I hope they can make some quick progress here this week in preparing for Germany. Sam Michael says that they've changed the car substantially and really changed the underside giving them more downforce, but they haven't been able to use that yet to get more speed. The front really hasn't changed so much, they may still need to fully take advantage of what the front gives them.


----------



## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

*Reactions to the British Grand Prix*

From the BMW Motorsport Newsletter...

"I am satisfied with today's outcome," said BMW WilliamsF1 Team driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, after taking fifth place at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Juan Pablo Montoya: "I am satisfied with today's outcome. Although the car is not quick enough, it worked pretty well and I believe we got the best out of it today. At the start I made a mistake, releasing the clutch too quickly and it cost me a position to Sato.Then I tried to keep pushing but it was not possible to catch those in front. When the safety car came out, the team did a great job by calling me in and I had a pefect pit-stop. However, back on the track the backmarkers were frustrating and I lost a lot of time."

Marc Gené: "I had an average start, and da Matta passed me, but I overtook him again in turn two. I tried to be aggressive from the start and in the first part of the race I fought with Alonso, but we were running at the same pace and it was impossible to get ahead. Alonso just passed me in the first pit-stop and from then on it was just a matter of fighting with Sato and da Matta with our pit strategy as | simply didn't have the pace to improve my track postion. However, the backmarkers hampered me a lot. Depending on the set of tyres, the car's balance varied but overall it wasn't too bad."

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): "It was an encouraging race in terms of getting some points on the board, but obviously we have a lot of work ahead of us to improve the car. Our strategy helped Juan to move up the field and the pit crew did a good job. From where Marc was in the field it was difficult to make progress and although his ultimate laptime wasn't bad, it was not quick enough to make it into the points. I hope Jarno Trulli is okay after his accident."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "This was quite an exciting race for the spectators, thanks to Kimi Raikkonen's great performance. It's also positive that Jarno Trulli could walk away uninjured his huge crash. For our drivers it was thankfully an uneventful race which we haven't had for a while. Juan Pablo made the best of his 7th grid position and climbed to 5th thanks to a good strategy and three brilliant pit-stops. Marc fought for a long time with Alonso and Sato and delivered a consistent performance. Now that the new package has two races under its belt, we will be able to increase its performance at next week's Jerez test."


----------



## WileECoyote (May 7, 2003)

Patrick 520iAT said:


> I am looking forward to a lot of great racing in the next (great) 7 races!
> 
> Great fun!
> 
> -


Speaking of next year, is anyone keeping tabs on the code word for the Speed Australian F1 race contest?

I forgot to write this week's word down...


----------



## Raffi (May 18, 2002)

pod13 said:


> Wasn't someone looking for this? I'm glad he was ok. That wreck looked pretty bad with the flipping and all.


I didn't catch the discussions after the race, so is there any word on why he suddenly spun and crashed? Was there tire failure?


----------



## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

Mr. Know-It-All said:


> They added two winglets to the front to redirect airflow. That's a pretty significant change.


The winglets are there to direct the airflow towards the rear of the car. It's probably spilling onto the upper surface of the tub. They aren't doing anything for the downforce or the effectiveness of the front end aero concept. They might not even be permanent.

Why do you think they are significant?


----------

