British Grand Prix 2014, Silverstone - Race 9/19

mmj_uk said:
theoretically possible
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That is all it takes, just the fact that it is possible. Kimi isn't the only 'idiot' on the grid.

mmj_uk said:
without having sufficient time to prepare for the restart was probably far more dangerous.
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They had an hour to prepare, plus time to warm up behind the safety car?

Slam62 said:
At the end of the day, it was an hour, I had a grandstand ticket so went of to get some chips and lie in the sun.
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:D
 
mmj_uk said:
There are far more dangerous places around every race track than a barrier in the middle of a straight with a dent in it, if the barrier was on the outside of a corner then I could understand the lengthy repair but it's just madness to spend an hour repairing it when the whole reason Kimi hit it was being an idiot.

People claim not repairing it is putting drivers at risk but if we're looking at theoretically possible but highly improbable scenarios then keeping the drivers hanging around for an hour without having sufficient time to prepare for the restart was probably far more dangerous.
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And what happens then after they start, someone flukes another accident into the same spot, they go through the damaged incomplete barrier and get decapitated, the car plows on at 150mph and kills 5 marshals. The race is stopped, Silverstones insurance is invalid, they get sued, go bust, F1 leaves and never comes back and the rest of the UK circuits are closed due to safety fears and pressure from MPs over racing being dangerous?

Its a risk they won't take. The barrier has a purpose, and it dis that in keeping Kimis car within the track. To do it again it needed to be repaired, so it was.

The entire argument against it comes from people simply being impatient.
 
Skeeter said:
And what happens then after they start, someone flukes another accident into the same spot, they go through the damaged incomplete barrier and get decapitated, the car plows on at 150mph and kills 5 marshals. The race is stopped, Silverstones insurance is invalid, they get sued, go bust, F1 leaves and never comes back and the rest of the UK circuits are closed due to safety fears and pressure from MPs over racing being dangerous?

Its a risk they won't take. The barrier has a purpose, and it dis that in keeping Kimis car within the track. To do it again it needed to be repaired, so it was.

The entire argument against it comes from people simply being impatient.
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I completely agree.
 
Hamilton was on a one stop strategy with only a 4-6 second deficit. I don't see how Rosberg was ahead.

Rosberg would have had to overtake Hamilton at the end of the GP and that's if he remained within catching distance.
 
muon said:
Hamilton was on a one stop strategy with only a 4-6 second deficit. I don't see how Rosberg was ahead.

Rosberg would have had to overtake Hamilton at the end of the GP and that's if he remained within catching distance.
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Also with tyres that seemed to last very well. The pit stop at the end seemed very much a precaution.
 
muon said:
Hamilton was on a one stop strategy with only a 4-6 second deficit. I don't see how Rosberg was ahead.

Rosberg would have had to overtake Hamilton at the end of the GP and that's if he remained within catching distance.
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Hamilton wasn't on a one stop strategy, if he was he would have finished the race on one stop. Stopping the car has caused multiple problems for multiple cars this year, you're using probably a lower gear than anywhere else on the track, you're stopping the car preventing it cooling for a period which can overheat the engine, brakes, anything. We've seen multiple failures of brakes, engines, gear boxes all just after pit stops. They didn't pit Hamilton for the hell of it, it was because the tires were a bigger risk than anything else in trying to reach the end.

In terms of extra pitstops, presuming it was a one stop(which it wasn't) Hamilton would both have had to be on a slower target lap time to make the tires last and the tires would have been significantly slower(probably say 2 seconds a lap in the last 10 laps) while Rosberg would be on fresh tires that were much faster.

Riccy's tires lasted well but he was slowing down and being caught by a lets face it, not too impressive Mclaren. A Merc going massively faster throughout a stint wouldn't have the tires last as long and that drop off would have happened much much sooner.

If Hamilton was on a one stop Rosberg would almost certainly have won the race, but he wasn't on a one stop strategy. He was just doing the alternate strategy, medium, hard, medium. It's difficult to say if the hards were really faster as the main evidence for this was Hamilton catching Rosberg... but he caught him on mediums just as easily and Rosberg had a problem making it impossible to tell.
 
Hamilton went 24 laps on medium compound tyres with a heavy fuel load before losing significant time. Hamilton very much had a one stop strategy available to him. A pitstop takes what? 20 seconds?

They pitted him to minimise the risks associated with running tyres so long. Pitstops aren't that dangerous.
 
He had the option available to him, sure, but he wasn't going to. Look at his pace after he came out, there is no way he could just go 2-3 seconds faster than other drivers on those tires and make them last. Everyone else was in one fight, the Merc's were in a completely different race. They have a car, and most importantly, two competitive drivers trying to win the title, who were going flat out against each other. Hamilton went a little longer while the tire worked so he could come in and do two slightly shorter stints at just maxed out pace. Even with more robust tires, going 3 seconds faster than Riccy just for the 4-5 laps he did that before Rosberg was out, even those 5 laps made them think better than to risk going to the end.

Lets say Riccy's pace lets him do 35 laps, but you go 3 seconds faster than that, higher temps, higher wear with the temps, you might only get 15 laps out of the tire when it's going that much faster.

If he continued along as he would have absolutely expected when he pitted, fighting Rosberg every lap, knowing Rosberg has the life of two sets of tires to use up and the pace that can be achieved doing that, there isn't a chance in hell he was going to chase him around at that pace while thinking about saving his tires. Could he have one stopped, sure, he could have one stopped if he pitted on lap 15 probably... he just couldn't have raced at the pace he was racing at against Rosberg.

If Rosberg's car had died a few laps earlier it's likely Hamilton would have waited a couple extra laps, pitted and come out at a very safe pace and one stopped for a really exceptionally easy and risk free race. But he came out and went at tire destroying pace to catch Rosberg. You simply can't abuse the tire in that way and expect it to last, the plan was very clearly a third pit stop. The fact that even doing that pace for 4-5 laps made them stop him another time as a precaution should suggest what they were planning if he'd done that pace for 10 more laps.... another pit stop.
 
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muon said:
Hamilton was on a one stop strategy with only a 4-6 second deficit. I don't see how Rosberg was ahead.

Rosberg would have had to overtake Hamilton at the end of the GP and that's if he remained within catching distance.
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Soon after Hamilton's stop (and before Rosberg's retirement) Hamilton came on the radio to say:

"Don't worry about the pitstops guys, but lets get a good one next one, OK".

This was the different tyre strategy Lauda was on about before the race.
 
Skeeter said:
And what happens then after they start, someone flukes another accident into the same spot, they go through the damaged incomplete barrier and get decapitated, the car plows on at 150mph and kills 5 marshals. The race is stopped, Silverstones insurance is invalid, they get sued, go bust, F1 leaves and never comes back and the rest of the UK circuits are closed due to safety fears and pressure from MPs over racing being dangerous?

Its a risk they won't take. The barrier has a purpose, and it dis that in keeping Kimis car within the track. To do it again it needed to be repaired, so it was.

The entire argument against it comes from people simply being impatient.
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While I mainly agree I think an hour was to long to wait. They need some way of being able to repair the barrier more quickly, maybe some sort of temporary fix that could be put in place?
 
I can't believe people are moaning about an hour on safety grounds
Yes a new quicker system would nice but the argument it's an unlikely place to hit is stupid as it just got hit
 
There should be soft tyre barriers all the way around the track. Those metal barriers can't be good for the driver if hit at speed anyway.
 
Live Silverstone test..18" wheels!

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/f1-information/f1-live/f1-fanatic-live-2014-pre-season-launches-tests/

Team - Tuesday -- ------Wednesday
Red Bull - Daniel Ricciardo -- Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes -Nico Rosberg -- Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari - Pedro de la Rosa --Jules Bianchi
McLaren - Stoffel Vandoorne -- Kevin Magnussen
Lotus -Pastor Maldonado --Charles Pic
Williams - Felipe Massa --Valtteri Bottas
Force India -Sergio Perez --Daniel Juncadella
Toro Rosso -Jean-Eric Vergne --Daniil Kvyat
Sauber -Adrian Sutil --Giedo van de Garde
Marussia -Jules Bianchi --Max Chilton
Caterham -Will Stevens/Rio Haryanto/Julian Leal
 
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A really enjoyable event, even if there wasn't much sleep involved. If anyone is interested I can post a few pictures from the pit lane walk, heritage paddock, F1 parade, quali, race and ezone stage.

I don't think this has already been posted regarding whether Hamilton was one-stopping, but he said afterwards that he was on a two stop strategy from the start (http://www.espn.co.uk/mercedes/motorsport/story/166149.html).
 
Render of what the 18" wheels may look like tomorrow:

BsBH5pACEAIgsQy.jpg:large

BsBJBR_CYAA2k3l.jpg
 
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