2008 British Grand Prix - Race 9/17

EddScott · 4 Jul 2008 at 12:30

Doesn't make a bit of sense. Donnington needs a complete overhaul yet Silverstone needs tweaks to please "His Lordship"

I agree with the Olympic comments - complete waste of tax payers money. Better to spend on sports events that happen more than once and the facilities fall into dis-repair afterwards. Olympics = Millionswasted Dome.

Peg · 4 Jul 2008 at 12:47

Donnington must be giving Bernie a bigger sweetener than Silverstone.

steve45 · 4 Jul 2008 at 12:49

i'm actually happy to hear this, a bit of change every now and then dosnt go a miss.
i cant say i'm suprised, especially after Tilke took a trip there.
i guess this forces silverstone to up there game and really go to town with upgrades if its ever going to secure another GP.
lets face it, in the end we end up with 2 world class GP venues in the UK, surely it cant be that bad???

Matt · 4 Jul 2008 at 12:52

Donnington is going to need so many changes though... Its not even vaguely ready for F1.
- Its short
- Not very wide
- Minimal facilities
- Lacking grandstands
- Not that great to get to
- etc...

JUMPURS · 4 Jul 2008 at 12:52

I am not bothered who gets the British GP, but i do like silverstone as a track.
I am a bit annoyed though, the government/councils etc ploughed money into silverstone improving access and stuff, yet they wont pay a few more quid to ensure it stays there, or the GPDA didn't get the finger out and sort it. Now seems like all that tax payers money has been wasted.

Is Donington building a new track for it? Wasn't that what rhey where talking about when it was all just rumours?

GravyMonster · 4 Jul 2008 at 12:56

JUMPURS said:
I am a bit annoyed though, the government/councils etc ploughed money into silverstone improving access and stuff, yet they wont pay a few more quid to ensure it stays there

They shouldn't have to pay extra money to ensure the Grand Prix stays there. All the new Asian circuits are paying an extortionate amount of money to Bernie to host a GP (IIRC Malaysia pays well over $100m a year to host it, Silverstone pays $3m) and because of that the old European circuits, which aren't flushed with cash from their governments, can't afford to keep pace with them.

JRS · 4 Jul 2008 at 13:06

Matt said:
- Its short
- Not very wide
- Minimal facilities
- Lacking grandstands
- Not that great to get to
- etc...

So what you're saying is.....it's just like Monaco.

They've got two years to make some changes anyway. And there's rather more likelihood of the Donny team doing that than getting the Silverstone mob to make improvements to their track.

Overlag · 4 Jul 2008 at 13:08

chrislusty said:
Donington track is much better than silverstone, but the facilities andparking are much better at silverstone. The racing will be better at donington too.

not at all, theres no straight worth a name there (for a f1 car) they will aways be turning through the curves line a stern 1second appart due to aero.....

.... This is a SAD day for British Motorsport to loose Silverstone.

cheets64 · 4 Jul 2008 at 13:21

The British Grand Prix will return to Brands Hatch after an absence of over a decade.

Karen Haynes: "The racing will start in 2002"
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone made the announcement in Monaco on Friday afternoon.

The race has not been held at the Kent circuit since 1986, with Silverstone in Northamptonshire enjoying an exclusive deal since then.

That contract with the Formula One Authority expires in 2001, and Ecclestone negotiated the move with Brands Hatch Leisure Group in 2002.

Hmmm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/formula_1/344179.stm

leaskovski · 4 Jul 2008 at 13:21

Donnington is going to be a disaster like when they decided to do the silson gp in april. I think Bernie has finally lost the plot, but you are right. I see there being too much work to be done in 1.5 years before the start of the 2010 season.

Duke · 4 Jul 2008 at 13:32

Matt said:
Donnington is going to need so many changes though... Its not even vaguely ready for F1.
- Its short
- Not very wide
- Minimal facilities
- Lacking grandstands
- Not that great to get to
- etc...

Just ripe to be remade into an F1 suitable track

EddScott · 4 Jul 2008 at 13:47

cheets64 said:
Hmmm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/formula_1/344179.stm

They never got planning permission - I remember that.

IIRC the woman running the leisure group was a bit a battle axe.

webmonkeyuk · 4 Jul 2008 at 14:27

lol @ heidfelds comment, "the marshals were waving yellow and green at the same post thats not very clever is it" on the radio

webmonkeyuk · 4 Jul 2008 at 15:03

big crash for trulli, looks like a rear wing failure

rpstewart · 4 Jul 2008 at 15:38

Code:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:19.989            35
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:20.520  + 0.531   32
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:20.543  + 0.554   31
 4.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:20.589  + 0.600   36
 5.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:20.748  + 0.759   43
 6.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:20.805  + 0.816   43
 7.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:20.929  + 0.940   39
 8.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:20.943  + 0.954   18
 9.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:20.985  + 0.996   18
10.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:21.002  + 1.013   34
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:21.023  + 1.034   33
12.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:21.275  + 1.286   31
13.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:21.453  + 1.464   36
14.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:21.472  + 1.483   18
15.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:21.511  + 1.522   27
16.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:21.520  + 1.531   42
17.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:21.634  + 1.645   39
18.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:21.642  + 1.653   45
19.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:21.756  + 1.767   30
20.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:22.196  + 2.207   23

<(Multi)> · 4 Jul 2008 at 16:13

Great news about Donington Park, it, along with Brands Hatch are by far the best circuits in Britain. I went to the 2005 British GP at Silverstone and thought it was aweful as a track, I've since returned there maybe 10 to 15 times and its truely the worst circuit I've ever attended, good vantage points are nill.

I just hope the redevelopment of Donny doesnt affect the tracks MotoGP status.

NathanE · 4 Jul 2008 at 16:17

I hope they redevelop Donny in such a way that it can keep a "historical" circuit for those events that want to use it.

Skeeter · 4 Jul 2008 at 23:49

<(Multi)> said:
Great news about Donington Park, it, along with Brands Hatch are by far the best circuits in Britain. I went to the 2005 British GP at Silverstone and thought it was aweful as a track, I've since returned there maybe 10 to 15 times and its truely the worst circuit I've ever attended, good vantage points are nill.

I just hope the redevelopment of Donny doesnt affect the tracks MotoGP status.

TBH, the GP should be held at Castle Coombe then. You can stand on a bank and see most of the track. Good enough reason for me!

Overlag · 5 Jul 2008 at 00:22

frakker said:
Early (track-side) observation: both Red Bulls look relatively fast round Silverstone. Wouldn't be surprised to see them gaining a horde of points on Sunday (well outside the Ferrari/McLaren lot), especially if it tips it down as promised.

thing that makes me laugh is they was absolutely no where in the 3 day test, yet now are up the top?!?!

Duke · 5 Jul 2008 at 08:16

Skeeter said:
TBH, the GP should be held at Castle Combe then. You can stand on a bank and see most of the track. Good enough reason for me!

That would be great heh.