British Grand Prix 2013, Silverstone - Race 8/19

I see Gary off the bbc has had a right go at McLaren http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23130753

" see McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has said there is a "danger" of a boycott of the German Grand Prix this weekend. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about"

"The best thing Whitmarsh can do is go and hide. Silverstone was another terrible race for McLaren and it's in their interests to get the rest of the

season cancelled so they stop embarrassing themselves" :eek:

About right I think.
 
deuse said:
I see Gary off the bbc has had a right go at McLaren http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23130753

" see McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has said there is a "danger" of a boycott of the German Grand Prix this weekend. This is the sort of thing I'm talking about"

"The best thing Whitmarsh can do is go and hide. Silverstone was another terrible race for McLaren and it's in their interests to get the rest of the

season cancelled so they stop embarrassing themselves" :eek:

About right I think.
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Did they run out of beer at the Hospitality tent when his was writing that?
 
2012 tyres, no doubt the whinging will start will Vettel runs away with it :D

Sensible decision, nothing more that can be done really and Pirelli should really look to get as far away from F1 as they can. This tyre rules and requirements have not been good for them and wouldn't have been good for anyone.

They have turned into F1's whipping boy.
 
Nismo said:
Reports that Kevlar will be used this weekend emerging across the usual sites (apart from BBC, Benson will probably wait to copy someone else's article :p)
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Most interesting thing that I've read about the Kevlar tyre is that it reduces the operating temperature by up to 10ºC – That's really going to screw over Lotus, Ferrari and FI. No wonder they were so opposed to it!

Should be good news for Merc though, although it's going to be a bit odd with the front steel and the rears Kevlar…
 
Did Merc test the Kevlar on the "pirelli" test day or were they testing something altogether new?

It is always hard to say, but I would venture that Merc now have the faster overall car compared to RBR. If Hamilton (could equally be Rosberg) put in two wins before the break, possibly as a one/two Merc finish, then it could reduce the gap to Vettel to only 20-30 points....

At the very least it would make for an interesting second half of the season.
 
The Kevlar/steel band is only a side issue - the tyres shouldn't be failing in the first place.
 
Tenzo said:
It is always hard to say, but I would venture that Merc now have the faster overall car compared to RBR. If Hamilton (could equally be Rosberg) put in two wins before the break, possibly as a one/two Merc finish, then it could reduce the gap to Vettel to only 20-30 points....
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I don't think they have a better car over race distance at all. You only have to look a webber closing the gap to think what vettel would have done had the race played out 'normally'. I think Hamilton might have held onto 2nd but I don't think he would have won.

I think it will only get worse for them as well when they revert to a tyre Red Bull did well on.
 
dannyjo22 said:
You only have to look a webber closing the gap to think what vettel would have done had the race played out 'normally'.
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To be fair, Webber was on mediums whereas Rosberg was on hards for the last stint. Not sure how much Rosberg was pushing either if he'd been told to look after tyres due to the previous imminent failure.

Webber's also a monster around Silverstone, so there were other factors at play other than just the core pace of each car.
 
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Nismo said:
To be fair, Webber was on mediums whereas Rosberg was on hards for the last stint. Not sure how much Rosberg was pushing either if he'd been told to look after tyres due to the previous imminent failure.

Webber's also a monster around Silverstone, so there were other factors at play other than just the core pace of each car.
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I think Red Bull might have purposely placed their car on the pit straight for that SC to benefit Webber but it infact caused him a hindrance. Just before the SC came out Rosberg's tyres were shot, especially his rear left, you could see the metal through the tyre. He was very lucky.

If the SC hadn't come out all I've no doubt at all that Webber would have mullered Rosberg... it's not just an inferior race car that Merc have got to RB, it's also still not quite there with it's tyre deg.

With Lewis we couldn't really tell how the tyre deg issue had progressed with his blow-out but with Rosberg it was obvious just before that SC played into his hands.

The SC was out too long for Webber, I couldn't believe how long it took them to clear Vettel's car, a shame really as we could have done with a few more racing laps at the end, laps which Webber could have done with as he was hunting Nico down like a fox on a rabbit.
 
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The thing with last year's tyres is that they are more of a known quantity. And Mclaren were performing like a beast on them. They had properly gotten around to know the tyres.

This weekend especially in the race Jenson was struggling on the tyres a lot - and his race was spoiled in Canada because the team underestimated the longevity of one of the compounds and as a result Jenson was told to drive to target. A target delta which they realised after the race was far too slow for the compound he was driving on.

He could have perhaps therefore achieved a much better result than the one that he did.

I don't see why going back to a known quantity won't help Mclaren improve their performances this year tbh. At least I hope!
 
smr said:
I don't see why going back to a known quantity won't help Mclaren improve their performances this year tbh. At least I hope!
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Their issue is downforce, and more specifically how the new front suspension interacts with the air moving over it which then messes up the rest of the aero towards the rear.

I doubt different tyres will help them.
 
Nismo said:
Their issue is downforce, and more specifically how the new front suspension interacts with the air moving over it which then messes up the rest of the aero.

I doubt different tyres will help them.
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I know this but it at least may bring out more performance, with the examples I gave previously for instance.
 
smr said:
I know this but it at least may bring out more performance, with the examples I gave previously for instance.
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Fair enough, but they will be a known quantity for every team so any performance gain will probably be nullified.

The fact the Mclaren changed their car so much compared to others won't help them either, as at least the ones that were more of an evolution will be closer to 2012 spec.
 
Will be interesting to see the effect of the 2012 tyres on 2013 cars. Doubt it will change the order, but anything is possible.

Will they then use 2012 tyres for the rest of this season?
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Will be interesting to see the effect of the 2012 tyres on 2013 cars. Doubt it will change the order, but anything is possible.

Will they then use 2012 tyres for the rest of this season?
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Yeah. I don't think Pirelli want any more moaning at them plus it would be getting silly to change the tyres after Hungary.
 
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