Live Commenting: Spain - Free Practice 1
Blimey it’s been so long I’m not sure if I remember what to do here!
Formula 1 returns from its short, early season break, and we’re in Europe this weekend. The Circuit de Catalunya is the destination, the first of two Spanish GP’s in 2008.
Reports say the weather is lovely and there couldn’t be a nicer welcome home for the teams. At the moment, it seems unlikely that there will be any rain during the weekend, so performances here should make a fine barometer for the rest of the season.
The big news this morning is Super Aguri will race this weekend, but no-one is expecting them to do a lot of running today.
Free Practice 1 begins at 10am local time (9am in the UK). We’re following Formula 1’s live timing screens and watching ITV’s online coverage.
Christine will be at work for part of the day, with numbers, limited video access, but no audio, so as much as possible we’ll try and keep her in loop as to any excitement on track.
Please shout if you’re up and about, tell us what you’re looking forward to and where you’ll be following the action from.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:57 amChristine said:
Hello.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:58 amMichael Roberts said:
If you check out Autosport Live (http://live.autosport.com), they now have a section in the infobar that breaks down which engine/gearbox each driver is on. Very useful.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:00 amme said:
morining, first video short of the day shows davidson sat in his car. we might see more of aguri than expected!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:01 amScott Woodwiss said:
Morning everyone! I’m currently still in bed :S because I just woke up, but nothing like some F1 Free Practice to get you up and alert.
I think Ferrari will be a dominant force once again, and I’d like to see Honda do well too.
Looks like Rubens is sporting new colours on his helmet. Silver and green.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:03 amJourneyer said:
I usually do F1Fanatic, but since there’s no live blog there today, I’m camping here for the day.
Cars are out doing system checks.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:03 amme said:
is there a story behind that?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:04 amScott Woodwiss said:
Ooh, looks like Renault decided to run the engine cover fin after all.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:06 amJourneyer said:
It could be because this is his 256th GP (as deemed by Rubens after all that confusion with his GP participation numbers.
And I hate that engine cover fin concept. Blech.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:06 amChristine said:
How does the live timing decide the order of drivers who have been out but haven’t set a time yet?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:06 amScott Woodwiss said:
Erm…no idea? Could be in celebration of his record-breaking achievement. Or it could just be because he felt like a change of colours. I don’t know, I only saw a glimpse of it when they were looking in the Honda pit.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:07 amScott Woodwiss said:
The live video is a minute and a half behind the live timing on my laptop.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:07 amme said:
good question, don’t know, but i’m assuming it goes on how fast their out lap was?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:08 amScott Woodwiss said:
:O The Super Aguri are all white, except for the nose. Well, they are going to race, even though there’s no deal just yet.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:08 amJourneyer said:
Or it could be based on the order which they came out to do their setup lap.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:09 amme said:
big crowds in the stands, great to be back in europe isn’t it?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:10 amScott Woodwiss said:
Sutil’s sponsored by Capri-Sun. Do you think they give him free juice pouches (or whatever they are) if he’s a good boy and does well
April 25th, 2008 at 9:10 amme said:
that would also makes sense. never looked before, will have to watch next session
April 25th, 2008 at 9:10 amme said:
sshhhh, don’t tell davidson, he’ll want one too!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:11 amJourneyer said:
I like it… we’re back to civilized session times. Haha! Anyhoo, Ferraris have stayed in their garages, oddly enough. No setup laps from them yet.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:11 amme said:
bit of a lull in the session as all cars except for the ferrari’s have done an installation lap and headed back to the pits.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:12 amChristine said:
Am I crazy or did the STR have a hole in the nose too?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:12 amScott Woodwiss said:
Haha! I laugh at the F1 cameraman invading Alonso’s privacy
April 25th, 2008 at 9:12 ambrendan stallard said:
good morning all, no TV here in Atlanta: so I’m not getting the visuals you lot are……..
brendan
April 25th, 2008 at 9:14 amDank said:
14 minutes… no action!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:14 amScott Woodwiss said:
Nah, he’ll want free apple juice from Ron Dennis, though he won’t get it as he can’t afford it
April 25th, 2008 at 9:14 amme said:
as the camera pans over the paddock we get to see the force india motorhome next to the mclaren one. although fif1’s is higher, mclaren’s is almost twice the width.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:14 amme said:
yeah, that’s what testing at a track prior to a race does for you
April 25th, 2008 at 9:15 amScott Woodwiss said:
Hmm, didn’t notice. I’ll check that one for you.
Was that John Barnard talking to Domenicali?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:16 amme said:
morning brendan. you’re not missing a lot right now. lots of atmosphere shots and drivers sitting in their garages. the fans in the stands are getting irritable though.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:16 amJourneyer said:
I guess we’ll see a lot of glamour shots now… Oh well, at least I know I’m not missing anything because I can’t get the stream here.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:17 amScott Woodwiss said:
I hear an engine in the pits. Maybe some action at last!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:17 amBarry said:
Hello everyone, first post for me here, i’m from Netherlands. Very happy to have also ITV streaminging here (with some illegal stuff i guess :p) Hope to see some more action this morning…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:18 amScott Woodwiss said:
Is that a new rear wing on the Ferrari I see?
Look Christine, Bourdais fans! They’ve got the idea
April 25th, 2008 at 9:18 amMichael Roberts said:
Why do we keep coming back here? Surely the Valencia street circuit will be 10x better.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:18 amme said:
on the plus side, this gives us rare chance to look around the racetrack. the marshall’s at this race a looking ‘with it’ compared to the one’s in bahrain and the fans are packing the grandstands.
apparently even bourdais fans have arrived. wearing t-shirts bearing his name. sweet.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:19 amDank said:
Kinda ironic that the only time the ITV feed is pretty stable, there’s nothing to watch!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:20 amScott Woodwiss said:
Yeah, he’s getting popular already
April 25th, 2008 at 9:21 amme said:
not sure. they have a long term deal, and valencia is looking ropey after the EU have said they’ll investigate issues relating to the environment.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:22 amDank said:
They’re playing music to keep the supporters entertained now
April 25th, 2008 at 9:23 amme said:
bernie’s apparently been to look at the valencian track:
http://www.homeofsport.com/f1/news/item.aspx?id=21829
guess he’s just getting his eye in?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:23 amBarry said:
Look, the crowd even turns his back to the track
April 25th, 2008 at 9:23 amme said:
blimey! you’re right about the itv feed. although i am quite enjoying the scenery. i’m odd like that.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:25 amChristine said:
It is nice to see people enjoying themselves and cheering, just revelling in the atmosphere. Bahrain is so dry in all senses of the word.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:25 amScott Woodwiss said:
Why is that guy carrying what I can only presume look like Spanish bagpipes?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 amAlianora La Canta said:
Aha - Nakajima’s lap count is up to 2. Does this mean we’re about to see action again?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 amScott Woodwiss said:
Goddamnit, let’s see some cars out on track!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 amme said:
he’s on track
April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 amBarry said:
Jep I hear something…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:26 amDank said:
Mayday! Mayday! Car out on the track! Car out on the track!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:27 amScott Woodwiss said:
Nico’s complaining of his brake balance bar not working.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:27 amAlianora La Canta said:
Yet we’re watching Rosberg moaning about really bad brake balance…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:28 amAlianora La Canta said:
Kovalainen’s joining in the fun - the rest will be out soon.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:28 amScott Woodwiss said:
What a nice morning it looks to be out in Barcelona.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:30 amChristine said:
Who do we think will do better this weekend - Hamilton or Kovalainen?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:30 amJourneyer said:
Ah, the session starts to come alive.
And there’s still an hour to go!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:32 amBarry said:
I think Lewis will be back alive and kicking in Barca!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:33 amme said:
of note: last year hamilton finished FP1 with a time of 1:21.8, while pole position was massa on 1:21.4
April 25th, 2008 at 9:33 amAlianora La Canta said:
What happened to Rosberg? He’s done a 58.8 first sector…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:33 amDank said:
Kovalainen. Just a feeling more than an educated guess.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:34 amScott Woodwiss said:
I would hope Hamilton, he’s said he’s learnt from his Bahrain mistakes. But then again, talking about it is one thing, actually proving it is another.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:35 amScott Woodwiss said:
Hamilton just set a 1′21.4 so already they’re faster than last year.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:35 amScott Woodwiss said:
Le Seb, give us a wave, Le Seb Le Seb, give us a wave!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:36 amScott Woodwiss said:
Rosberg’s team just asked him to “box” but he carried on?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:37 amAlianora La Canta said:
Trulli has spun it!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:37 amme said:
for reference:
bahrain 2007 fp1 fastest time: 1:33.1
bahrain 2008 fp1 fastest time: 1.32.2
so at a guess we’re looking at a 1:20.8 in this session?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:38 amScott Woodwiss said:
Oops, Trulli’s dropped it. Wonder what mood he’s in today.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:38 amAlianora La Canta said:
He’s got it out again, but it sure livened up a dull session. At least the organisers aren’t having to play “Don’t Look Back” in Spanglish any more…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:40 amme said:
btw: if you have an insanely fast pc and a really big monitor, renault have live data coming from their cars here:
http://www.ing-renaultf1.com/en/
doesn’t fit on my screen, but might work for you.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:41 amAlianora La Canta said:
Since neither of the above apply to me, I’ll have to stick to standard live timing at http://www.formula1.com .
April 25th, 2008 at 9:42 amme said:
hehe, i guess they just changed tyres and sent him on his way.
i’m not a betting man, but i can already hear christine reading that quote out on the podcast later today
April 25th, 2008 at 9:45 amAlianora La Canta said:
I see Peter Sauber has given BMW one of his infrequent visits…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:46 amAlianora La Canta said:
Raikkonen’s setting purple times - he’s looking good.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:47 amScott Woodwiss said:
Wow, Kimi 8 tenths down on Lewis. Just how fast IS he going this weekend?!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:48 amAlianora La Canta said:
Nico’s complaining about the front and rear of the car? He really is not a happy bunny…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:50 amScott Woodwiss said:
Damn, Kimi’s really shifting that Ferrari now. Purple sectors in S1 and S2
April 25th, 2008 at 9:50 amMichael Roberts said:
Just about fitting on my 24″ monitor and it’s real slow.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:53 amAlianora La Canta said:
Massa’s looking good - but we’re too busy watching Piquet Jr!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:53 amAlianora La Canta said:
Well… …Massa was looking good until he made a total hash of the last sector. Wonder what the problem was?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:53 amme said:
what happened in sector 3?
April 25th, 2008 at 9:54 amScott Woodwiss said:
Ferrari off! It’s Massa, no surprise!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:55 amme said:
replay shows massa spinning in the final sector.
itv feed, i really far behind live timing right now.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:55 amAlianora La Canta said:
That explains everything… …Massa spun it on what I think was the penultimate corner. He tried steering it and it just went the other way. No wonder he was slow…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:56 amScott Woodwiss said:
He slowed right down….must have been to get some clear air.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:57 amScott Woodwiss said:
Nope, something’s not right with that Prancing Horse today…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:58 amme said:
glock goes wide and massa folllows him off track.
April 25th, 2008 at 9:58 amScott Woodwiss said:
HAHA! Glock and Massa both did the same thing. What berks?!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:01 amScott Woodwiss said:
Hey look at that Rolls-Royce on track…oh wait, that’s a Honda…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:01 amme said:
those honda dumbo ears look freaky don’t they? coupled with the wheel bins and the livery, that’s one ugly car.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:02 amAlianora La Canta said:
What is Alonso doing behind the Hondas and Force Indias?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:02 amme said:
massa did a ‘47 sector 2… more issues?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:02 amScott Woodwiss said:
He’s off again!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:03 amme said:
massa off track… oh.dear.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:03 amAlianora La Canta said:
Oh no, not again! Massa’s spun again. I’m glad I’m not going to be him in the debriefing session, because I think he might get a lecture…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:04 amme said:
if massa is doing that badly, and still second it bodes well for kimi this weekend.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:04 amScott Woodwiss said:
Massa’s just not with it today I don’t think. Looking at the replay, it looks like he took too much kerb and then just dropped it. Perhaps he’s a bit over confident after his Bahrain win.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:04 amScott Woodwiss said:
Wow, great camera angle in Alonso’s cockpit.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:06 amChristine said:
They do make a nice pattern with the upside down sticky out bits at the back.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:07 amScott Woodwiss said:
It looks like the Super Aguris arent’t trying very hard today. They’re 5 and a half seconds off.
Speaking of them, Davidson ran wide a bit at the new chicane.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:07 amAlianora La Canta said:
Davidson’s just given his Super Aguri a harmless but time-consuming wander across a run-off area. At least he won’t be using extra spares as a result of it.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:07 amme said:
STR don’t appear to up for a fight this session. only ahead of the aguri’s with vettel leading bourdais.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:08 amAlianora La Canta said:
Coulthard must have had a moment - he’s just turned in a really slow sector 2 time…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:08 amScott Woodwiss said:
Rosberg’s just set a purple S3.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:10 amme said:
good spot. impressive.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:11 amme said:
14 laps compared to his teammates 4. wassup with webber today then?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:13 amme said:
renault getting some much needed pit stop practice (new front wheel bins). using inters to lay some rubber down too.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:14 amAlianora La Canta said:
That didn’t go to plan for Fernando - he’s stalled in the pitlane. Meanwhile, Robert Kubica’s doing a personal best.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:14 amAlianora La Canta said:
And I haven’t got a clue what’s up with Webber today - but something’s clearly wrong because he’s set even fewer laps than Barrichello…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:16 amme said:
fissi goes super wide at turn 9, takes a bucket full of gravel back onto the track with him.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:16 amAlianora La Canta said:
Um… …Fisi, collecting dust from the gravel traps isn’t going to help you beat Sutil…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:18 amme said:
temperature slowly increasing throughout the session. kubica puts in his fastest first sector of the day.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:20 amme said:
5live report that rosberg’s fastest time has been deleted. they assume because he jumped the final chicane at t14.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:21 amAlianora La Canta said:
Nicely caught slide, Lewis
April 25th, 2008 at 10:22 amme said:
massa would’ve binned that
April 25th, 2008 at 10:22 amAlianora La Canta said:
Oops. Naughty Nico…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:23 amAlianora La Canta said:
I think so too, me.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:24 amme said:
vettel’s come alive in 20th place. a personal best 1st sector.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:29 amScott Woodwiss said:
Where was Vettel going?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:30 amAlianora La Canta said:
Unfortunately, he’s also come alive with a run off the circuit.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:30 amme said:
session ends.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:31 amme said:
oh
he finished 20th, not that alive then.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:31 amNONSENSE said:
So Little Red Felipe keeps spinning around again? I’ll leave you now, gotta go a prepare my morning coffee.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:32 amScott Woodwiss said:
FP1 is done. No surprise to see Ferrari fastest. I thought they would be.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:32 amme said:
what is up with 5live commentators bitching at each other? can’t believe they keep putting mark hughes in the box.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:33 amme said:
but not by that margin surely? mclaren never troubled them from the moment they left the garage. and kimi didn’t appear to be pushing. it’s looking ominous.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:35 amChristine said:
Who said what?
April 25th, 2008 at 10:35 amScott Woodwiss said:
Kimi’s had a haircut
April 25th, 2008 at 10:36 amme said:
oooh, kimi’s had a hair cut (apologies for going tabloid there).
April 25th, 2008 at 10:36 amme said:
that pretty much sums up the excitement of this session!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:40 amAlianora La Canta said:
I’ve completely missed the Five Live tiff (I’ve been watching ITV’s live stream - which finally works for me
- and F1 live timing). What happened?
And yes me, Kimi’s haircut pretty much sums up the session. It felt short, but wasn’t actually that exciting other than the odd straggly bit.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:40 amAlianora La Canta said:
The ITV stream is over.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:42 amme said:
alrighty, apart from the dominance of ferrari, it doesn’t look like the status quo has changed much as a result of last weeks test.
renault may have improved slightly given that piquet finished so high up the order.
massa embarrassed himself this session, but it could be in part a setup issue and it was nice to see the aguris do more than a handful of laps!
we’ll be around a while longer (well i will, seem to have lost christine somewhere) and will open an FP2 thread at roughly 12:40pm.
cheers all for contributing and throw us any post practice thoughts as always
April 25th, 2008 at 10:42 amScott Woodwiss said:
So we’re all agreed that the most exciting part of FP1 was -Kimi’s new hair…
April 25th, 2008 at 10:44 amChristine said:
I commented about 6 minutes ago. That’s hardly disappearing!!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:45 amme said:
everything croftie suggested was immediately put down by hughes.
dc: “i’m thinking xyz…”
mh: “f1’s always like that… just the way things are… i wouldn’t worry about it… well that’s an opinion…”
i get the impression MH was sitting on every fence he could find and at the end there was a really awkward silence. uncomfortable.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:47 amme said:
oh, hi! sorry, i was writing the comment when you said that.
allow me to rephrase that then:
“we’ll be around a while longer (well, i won’t because i’m now a dead man, but christine will hold the fort) and will open an FP2 thread at roughly 12:40pm.”
April 25th, 2008 at 10:49 amScott Woodwiss said:
Haha!
April 25th, 2008 at 10:52 amChristine said:
So, I think I was wrong about the Toro Rosso nose thing. Obviously half asleep.
April 25th, 2008 at 10:52 amme said:
bit of random nonsense for ya:
http://itn.co.uk/news/a1b631c357357c7412315867b4ffbce5.html
“Die Hard star Bruce Willis is tipped to play Formula One commentator Murray Walker on the big screen.”
April 25th, 2008 at 10:57 amScott Woodwiss said:
ROFLMFAO! And I thought the McLaren story was funny…
April 25th, 2008 at 11:00 amlou said:
Hey everyone! I have about 10 mins. Just wandered if i missed anything majour? not sure i have enough time to read the whole convo.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:07 amChristine said:
Just Massa being a bit of a loser, as far as I can tell. Spinning off all over the place.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:07 amme said:
in summary:
- massa’s in trouble, lots of unforced errors
- renault are looking better
- honda are looking ugly
- mclaren don’t appear to have the pace yet
- str are nowhere
April 25th, 2008 at 11:10 amlou said:
Thanks
much apreciated! So honda are running the new nose cone then?
gotta go back to lessons now
BUT will hopefully be here for some of FP2!
April 25th, 2008 at 11:12 amme said:
sadly. also the earth bins on the front. which now i see them i hate even more. the colours are too primary, it needs something more subtle so as not to distract from the earthdreams logo.
it looks like someone spilled a couple of tins of paint in the factory.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:21 amme said:
btw: totally random and off-topic, but we’re testing comment editing over at F1 Minute, with a plan to introduce it here before the next race.
given we now have the preview button, it seems like a bit of an overkill in terms of options, but feel free to give it a try at:
http://www.f1minute.com/
and let us know what you think.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:31 amScott Woodwiss said:
Not that it’s really relevant, and you guys probably know already, I’ve managed to find dates for all the mid-season tests this year.
14-16 May - Paul Ricard, France
11-13 June - Circuit de Catalunya, Spain
25-27 June - Silverstone, UK
9-11 July - Hockenheim, Germany
23-25 July - Jerez, Spain
27-29 August - Monza, Italy
April 25th, 2008 at 11:34 amJourneyer said:
Just got back from my meeting. Wow, McLaren pretty far off considering they’ve done more testing here than Ferrari have. Renault looking good as well. Hopefully, Alonso can get a top 6 finish in front of the home crowd.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:36 amScott Woodwiss said:
I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I’m going to the World Series event at Silverstone, but I’m starting to like Renault more
April 25th, 2008 at 11:36 amJourneyer said:
Oh, and although Massa’s been exploring every bit of the track, I’m looking at his fastest time more as an indicator. Expect him to be much cleaner with his laps tomorrow.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:37 amJourneyer said:
I need the edit button WAY more than preview.
Because even if I preview, I tend not to see my errors until it’s too late. 
April 25th, 2008 at 11:40 amScott Woodwiss said:
BTW, what’s everyone’s screen setup? Mine is:
Top left: ITV Live feed
Bottom left: F1 Live Timing
Right Side: Live Commenting
April 25th, 2008 at 11:46 amme said:
that is useful. any idea when the spa test is (or if there is one)?
April 25th, 2008 at 11:47 amme said:
noted
April 25th, 2008 at 11:49 amme said:
top left: live timing
top middle: live commenting
top right: live feed
lower (always): bbc radio player
lower (sometimes): renault live data
April 25th, 2008 at 11:50 amScott Woodwiss said:
Hmm, well it wasn’t on the testing schedule, so I would have thought not
I’ll go check on the Spa website.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:51 amScott Woodwiss said:
Just checked, nothing about an F1 test on their calender. So no Spa test this year
April 25th, 2008 at 11:52 amme said:
also i have the sidepodcast moderation window handy, to grab any stray comments that fall into that queue
April 25th, 2008 at 11:53 amme said:
shame, i wanted to go last year, but we ran out of time.
April 25th, 2008 at 11:55 amScott Woodwiss said:
I was thinking of grabbing a 3-day ticket for the Silverstone test, but since I live in Norwich, it would mean a lot of travelling. And the fact I can’t drive because I’m 17 and haven’t learnt to drive yet
April 25th, 2008 at 11:57 amScott Woodwiss said:
You can still go to Spa if you wanted. There’s the World Series by Renault doing a round there. Plus tickets are free.
I did suggest the Silverstone race yesterday, but that’s on the same weekend as Montreal all so :/
April 25th, 2008 at 12:00 pmme said:
it was a bit rubbish last year because mclaren mentioned (pretended?) that lewis would show up and the place went nuts with people. organisers couldn’t even remotely cope.
we looked into WSR last year but concluded we’re all about f1, so skipped it.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:04 pmChristine said:
Wasn’t it that by the time we even got round to thinking about it, the only one left clashed with a race?
In that sense, we definitely are all about F1
April 25th, 2008 at 12:07 pmScott Woodwiss said:
^^^ That’s a shame, but I can understand why you decided to miss it. I will say though that it is a great day out, the F1 demos are good, and the historic stuff is decent too. Hearing those turbo F1 cars was awesome.
Plus there was this nutter of a French rally driver called Jean Ragnotti who decided to do a 360 in a Renault rally car at high speed just before the Esses. Mad.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:15 pmScott Woodwiss said:
Having said that, can you guys recommend some good places to watch at Silverstone? I’m planning to take my video camera and film some stuff, as well as take some pics
April 25th, 2008 at 12:24 pmme said:
not really the authority on this one. we had grandstand seats for qually and the race. everywhere else looked busy, so whatever you do arrive early and don’t move
April 25th, 2008 at 12:35 pmShashank SK said:
here’s the final timings
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:20.649 17
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:20.699 + 0.050 9
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.192 + 0.543 20
4. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:21.568 + 0.919 20
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.758 + 1.109 10
6. Alonso Renault (B) 1:21.933 + 1.284 18
7. Piquet Renault (B) 1:21.936 + 1.287 21
8. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.118 + 1.469 20
9. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:22.278 + 1.629 24
10. Button Honda (B) 1:22.632 + 1.983 16
11. Glock Toyota (B) 1:23.002 + 2.353 21
12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.003 + 2.354 25
13. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.015 + 2.366 14
14. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.141 + 2.492 15
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.153 + 2.504 24
16. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:23.156 + 2.507 22
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:23.196 + 2.547 20
18. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:23.353 + 2.704 14
19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.952 + 3.303 15
20. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.082 + 3.433 15
21. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:24.278 + 3.629 14
22. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:25.068 + 4.419 10
April 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pmChristine said:
I did like where we were though - Woodcote. You can see all the twisty turns at the end, watch as the cars round the last corner before crossing the line, and see when they dive into the pit lane.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pmScott Woodwiss said:
OK, will do.
Not the authority? do you mean you’re not allowed video cameras, or you’re not sure how well you’re able to film there?
Sorry, I just got confused over that one
April 25th, 2008 at 12:40 pmScott Woodwiss said:
I was thinking of actually going on the banks at Woodcote to watch. I’m not sure the free tickets would allow grandstand access, I wouldn’t have thought so. There’s a big screen too, so if there’s any action we miss, we’re OK
April 25th, 2008 at 12:46 pmme said:
as in, we didn’t try.
you can take your video camera but cannot show the footage to anyone apart from yourself (e.g. not youtube). bernie owns the rights to everything you film.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:46 pmlou said:
Going back to the comment from hours and hours ago about testing
Does anyone know how much it costs? i fancy a trip to go see some f1, as a celebration for the end of exams!
April 26th, 2008 at 6:04 pmAlianora La Canta said:
My set-up for Friday practise is:
Top of screen, first tab: Sidepodcast
Top of screen, second tab: General browsing to keep myself amused in dull parts of session when nobody else appears to be talking either
Bottom-left hand corner of screen: Live timing
Bottom-right hand corner of screen: ITV player
In background behind the above: Paint, in case I see something worth screen-grabbing (this got used a lot for Friday practise 2 due to me being a bit of a Force India fan)
On lap: Paper notes area for recording engine failures, gearbox failures and other notable events (such as Massa’s pirouettes in Friday practise 1)
I would have the BBC player too, but I can’t process multiple simultaneous audio streams, even if my computer can…
Scott, teams may yet decide to test at Spa anyway if they have spare mileage; there just won’t be a general test there.
There’s a WSR round close to my house, but I’ll need to see if I can afford the train fare before committing myself to that event. The fact that East Midlands Parkway rail station is due to open in the autumn should help, since that will be at the airport close to Donington Park. It clashed with the Italian Grand Prix last year, but I don’t know if any clashes exist this time around. And don’t worry about not having learned to drive at 17; I’m 22 and haven’t even got a provisional license yet!
Last year, watching testing at Silverstone cost £12. If you book in advance, it’s still £12 this year.
April 26th, 2008 at 6:10 pmlou said:
Thanks Alianora! well I am certainly considering going! specially if its only £12!
April 26th, 2008 at 6:32 pmAlianora La Canta said:
You’re welcome, lou.