F1 Digest - Britain GP
- Length: 9:53
- Size: 9.1 MB
- File: digest36.mp3
- Transcript: digest36.pdf
- Torrent: digest36.torrent
It was wet and cold and for those of us camping, not a particularly pleasant experience. But what a race! Every single second of that Grand Prix made up for every drop of rain, and today’s F1 Digest aims to cover all the action.
The Race
What a stunning mix of strategy problems, tyre issues, and overtaking maneouvres. I don’t think I’ve ever seen quite so many spins in my life, and poor Massa’s reputation is ruined once more.
Conclusions
Interestingly, many of the drivers out there seem to have had a bad day. Even race winner Hamilton says that it was one of the toughest races he’s ever driven. Only Nakajima seemed to enjoy himself, but that’s okay, because I know the crowd did even more.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:48 pmIan Lockwood said:
Those breadbin tents are obviously not good for your health! - Get better soon Christine!
July 11th, 2008 at 5:03 pmRich said:
Good summary - but should mention that when Kovy took Kimi but BOTH were overtaken by Nick in one move. There is a video of Nick overtaking on drop.io - Hamilton was brilliant with respect to speed, Heidfeld brilliant with respect to overtaking and Rubens brilliant with respect to strategy. Apparently it was Rubens and not Ross that decided to go for the extremes!
July 11th, 2008 at 6:07 pmScott Woodwiss said:
Just a quick note
My laptop has decided to die with no warning as such, so I’m afraid the interview will have to be put back until further notice. I’m also likely to miss the Live Commenting for Hockenheim since it needs to be sent off and the repair process takes 10 - 14 days. Sucks, I know, but there’s nothing I can do.
I have access to my mum’s laptop, but it’s limited, and I mean LIMITED. She’s a bit over-protective of it, but I’ll use it a little bit while she’s at work during the day, so I’ll be around somewhat.
Sorry for any inconveniece it might cause, and like I said, I’ll do my best to be around. Have fun over the German GP weekend
July 11th, 2008 at 6:12 pmAlianora La Canta said:
That’s a shame, Scott. Hope the repair people do their job properly and get it back to you in a reasonable time-frame.
July 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pmScott Woodwiss said:
well, they’re collecting it on tuesday, and in some cases, depending on how serious the problem is, it’s not uncommon for them to get it back quicker than they said it would.
but for now I can’t do anything to change it so
July 11th, 2008 at 7:00 pmme said:
tis true. they were bloody freezing. i’m sure they’d be wonderful on the continent, but useless in this country.
July 11th, 2008 at 7:24 pmScott Woodwiss said:
http://www.autosport.com/news/grapevine.php/id/69061
heh, mclaren stole vodafone, so ferrari get their revenge! (sort of)
July 11th, 2008 at 7:28 pmLadySnowcat said:
I nearly said a bit like the Hondas…. but Rubens proved me wrong… or should I say Ross….
Sorry guys I found the race pretty frustrating…
The only guy taking great chunks out of Hamilton handicapped, which ensured Lewis could swan around without having to make one overtaking manoeuvre without benefit of blue flag…
Unsurprisingly…that doesn’t do it for me…
July 11th, 2008 at 7:35 pmme said:
makes a heck of a lot of sense. what of kimi now then?
July 11th, 2008 at 7:43 pmScott Woodwiss said:
well if all these rumours of alonso to ferrari eventually become true, my guess is that massa will get dropped in favour of Kimi, and then Felipe might find himself at Renault? Senna’s tipped to go BMW, so I couldn’t see him going there, could you?
July 11th, 2008 at 7:50 pmme said:
after last race, no question. but would kimi want to go side-by-side against alonso? i’m not suggesting ones better than the other, but it seems like a lot of aggravation being fernando’s teammate.
if senna goes to bmw, where’s kubica going, unless ferrari drop both drivers. or the kub takes kova’s place.
in short, i have no idea.
July 11th, 2008 at 7:51 pmme said:
no, but that wasn’t lewis’ fault. if the opposition can’t fathom the british weather, and there’s no-one out there to challenge him, what’s he gonna do?
July 11th, 2008 at 8:14 pmLadySnowcat said:
Why win with ease of course…
As he did….
But I wouldn’t enjoy a 100m race where the main competition was in bedroom slippers either….
July 11th, 2008 at 8:19 pmme said:
sadly it’s up to ferrari and bmw to offer more competition, not for macca to screw up and make their lives easy.
kubica binned it, while kimi spun twice and massa five times.
truth is, the red car was undrivable, whether it was a setup issue or something to do with water running up the holey-nose, is anyone’s guess, but you can’t blame hamilton for that.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:25 pmLadySnowcat said:
But me… You are missing the point…
I just don’t race the race that highly… but perhaps lotteries aren’t my style….
Although the fact that Kimi (and Alonso) managed to keep going on what were effectively slicks on a track that offered less than zero adhesion for lap after lap was pretty mega….
July 11th, 2008 at 8:33 pmme said:
new game to play:
http://games.ing-renaultf1.com/default.asp?NumLangue=2
although i can’t seem to register at the moment.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:37 pmme said:
fair enough, i thought i was an awesome race. maybe not the best of the season, but then it has some mighty competition on that front.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:39 pmSteven Roy said:
I can’t register either.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:45 pmme said:
renault have some seriously innovative people dreaming up fantastic ideas. and then they pay a bunch of fools to implement those ideas!
have mentioned the fault on their blog, will keep trying. looks fun, but as first impressions go, that’s not great is it?
July 11th, 2008 at 8:52 pmSteven Roy said:
On the bottom left corner of the page I am getting - Error on page.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:55 pmme said:
amc just mentioned on the renault blog that you don’t actually have to register.
apparently “jouer” means “play” or something, so just hit that button and go.
thanks amc
July 11th, 2008 at 8:57 pmSteven Roy said:
jouer is the French verb to play but I assumed I had to register first. I will go play now.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:19 pmJordan Allen said:
You can play by selecting “jouer” but you are not able to save your score until you have registered.
Mine is 4:01.579 for a race time and 258421 for points.
The time and score are teh reasons why I am a race engineer.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:25 pmJordan Allen said:
I am getting better.
3:32.029 for the time and 287971 on the score.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:29 pmScott Woodwiss said:
you know if you click play at the top, you can select any of the circuits on the calendar
July 11th, 2008 at 9:30 pmSteven Roy said:
I tried Monza and regardless what how many laps I did it kept the clock running on the first lap.
I accidently switched to Hockenheim and did a monster first lap and won the race despite my second and third lap being more than a minute slower than my first. I actually had to do four laps before it counted three I assume because of a minor shortcut.
Race time 4 min 57
July 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pmme said:
nice one. is there an oval? i can’t brake.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pmRich said:
I beg to differ - and rated the race very highly. However, it does raise some very interesting perspectives. Firstly Hamilton is damn good and Kovy simply lacks something, in fact quite a bit (like being able to defend or overtake a position). Although not a great race from Kimi - I do not believe him when he says they lost the race due to one mistake - he got lapped and spun twice! He did make poor Massa look very second rate. Heidfeld always looked better that Kubica and pulled stunning overtaking moves on two world champions. Lets hope this rejuvenates his challenge. Frankly I did not see that it was such a good race for Alonso and felt sorry that PK got caught out by conditions. Of course Rubens drove superbly - but the strategy of using extremes helped but he probably was not going to make them last until the end of the race.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pmlou said:
Why am I aways so bad at these games? lol
July 11th, 2008 at 9:36 pmSteven Roy said:
July 11th, 2008 at 9:37 pmlou said:
LOL neither can I.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:42 pmRich said:
To be honest both Ferrari and BMW Sauber messed up with their strategy as well - I know colder tyres need more warming hence keeping Kimi on older, warmer tyres. If BMW Sauber had taken a bigger risk and used the same strategy as Rubens…. but at the end of the day we have to give credit to Lewis - his start was amazing as was his overtaking of Kovy. This dispels any doubts about how good Lewis is, just those mistakes. Now that Kubica has binned it all of the front runners have made mistakes as well.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:44 pmScott Woodwiss said:
Hockenheim:
race time: 2′09.286
score: 370714
July 11th, 2008 at 9:46 pmLadySnowcat said:
Actually Lewis had a great start and Heikki and Mark boxed Kimi in comprehensively…
I am coming to the opinion that wherever you start you best not be behind Heikki…
I am getting worried about the guy…. and I like him…
Ever heard the saying…”Nice guys come….”
July 11th, 2008 at 9:51 pmJordan Allen said:
THird attempt at the Hockenheimring.
3:26.473 score: 293877.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:53 pmSteven Roy said:
Is there any way we can race each other in this game? Or another game come to that?
July 11th, 2008 at 10:01 pmDom said:
When was the last time two drivers who had already won a championship ended up in a team together? Am I right in saying it was Senna-Prost in ‘89? Can’t see Fernando joining them until Kimi retires, which is entirely possible after 2009.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:10 pmSteven Roy said:
Monaco is very difficult
July 11th, 2008 at 10:15 pmme said:
well, the santander deal doesn’t start until 2010, so one more season for him at renault?
July 11th, 2008 at 10:16 pmSteven Roy said:
Senna and Prost were the last two world champion team mates although Senna had not won a world championship before he signed.
The last time I can think of a world champion joining a team that already had a world champion would be Keke Rosberg going to join Prost at McLaren in 1986 but I don’t know if Prost had already won the championship before Rosberg signed so it could be the last time a champion chose to be team mate to another champion was when Graham Hill joined Lotus as Jimmy Clark’s team mate in the 60s.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:18 pmRich said:
Macca must be looking at Kubes or Vettel - I just wish they would consider Nick - he is German, good at setting a car up and can overtake - possibly not in Lewis’ class but strategically it would be a good points scoring duo. If I am truthful though Kubes deserves the Macca drive rather more.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:23 pmJordan Allen said:
He guys! You gotta try Monaco!
It is nuts!
6:03.785 time points: 136215 points.
1st attempt.
But I lapped two computer cars that crash on the approach to Portier….
July 11th, 2008 at 10:33 pmLadySnowcat said:
Hmmm….
Any seriously talented driver wouldn’t touch Macca now… if they have another decent team on offer…
They are sooo centred on Lewis going there would be a nightmare….
Actually I don’t think Lewis would want Kubica there either….
Kubes would be better staying with BMW….
Vettel will either go to Red Bull or….BMW as I think they have an option if Red Bull don’t take it up….
July 11th, 2008 at 10:53 pmMattw said:
Sentander are really making the most of Hamiltion right now, so I cannot see them jumping ship unless Alonso was a definatye part of the agreement.
Maybe he will stay at BMW? I would be surprised to BMW run Senna next year, unless he really starts domminating in GP2. I can see Senna in a Toro Rosso, but he’s a bit of a risk for BWM. Nick or Vettel would be a better bet.
Sorry guys I found the race pretty frustrating…
July 11th, 2008 at 10:55 pmMattw said:
As a sporting spectacle it kept me hooked from beginning to end. But then I don’t mind who wins.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:58 pmRich said:
This would effect a younger driver more than an experienced driver. Mercedes have said they want a German driver. Personally I also think Vettel would be good at Red Bull or back at BMW Sauber. Still would like to see Nick at Macca. I am not sure they are quite as bad as this, although there is an element of truth.
I am not sure he would want that either.
Realistically there are only two teams with a good chance of winning a GP this season.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:58 pmDom said:
Possible Driver line-ups in 2010:
Ferrari
First Driver: Fernando Alonso
Second Driver: Robert Kubica
McLaren
First Driver: Lewis Hamilton
Second Driver: Nico Rosberg
BMW
First Driver: Nick Heidfeld
Second Driver: Sebastain Vettel
Unlikely that much would change but Kubica would like to race with Alonso, same with Hamilton and Rosberg. Dunno where Heikki and Felipe would end up with this arrangement, but Kimi would have had to retire. Pretty sure Vettel will turn up at BMW and Heidfeld won’t be offered a better place. One question: Would Alonso’s image fit with Ferrari or not? I would have said no. Not sure why Kubica isn’t there already though…
July 11th, 2008 at 11:01 pmLadySnowcat said:
But no seats this season Rich… in those two teams…
And the rule book is torn up next year…
BMW could be a good bet…
Especially if they turn away from this year before the other two… that’s how Macca stole a march for 2007…
I’d take Nick as a second driver any day… just not as the first… but Macca passed him over a long time ago so are unlikely to revisit old ground…
July 11th, 2008 at 11:04 pmLadySnowcat said:
Mattw…
Santander are only making hay in the UK… not in their main marketplace which is …Spain….
They are probably hurting at home from their Macca involvement…
July 11th, 2008 at 11:06 pmLadySnowcat said:
Errr….
2007?….
Oh and they already have two drivers…. one good and one terrific….
July 11th, 2008 at 11:12 pmDom said:
I said that because his non public personality and iceman image would suit Ferrari very well. Obviously he hasn’t been around long enough yet, but i reckon a Ferrari drive is highly likely in the near future.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:38 pmMattw said:
Santander are an interntional company who reconise what an asset Hamilton is.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:55 pmRich said:
and I think it is a pity. I am interested most people think Kubes is better for Ferrari than at Macca - Kimi and Kubes could be a good choice. I get the impression Kimi is less worried about his team mate than say Lewis or Fernando would be.
July 12th, 2008 at 7:33 amMattw said:
What makes you think the Lewis is worried about who his teammate is next year?
(At the moment I predict that McLaren will keep Hekki next year)
July 12th, 2008 at 12:08 pmRich said:
He would not want a driver as fast as himself - you will go back to an Alonso-like situation.
I like Hekki as a person, but I would not keep him if I were Macca, there are faster drivers and I include in that category Kubes, Vettel, Rosberg and Heidfeld. If Macca wants to win the constructors championship they going to need a driver that consistently scores points* - even Trulli would be better, he has nearly as many points driving a much slower car. Mercedes also wants a German driver, three of which I consider faster and the fourth (Glock) still needs experience.
*Heidfeld has the most number of seconds and is the only driver to have finished every race this year. Combine consistent scoring with a winning scorer like Hamilton will mean the most number of points without the two drivers taking points off each other.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:27 pmJoe said:
McLaren should keep Heiki for 09. He’s driven brilliant this year, but been unlucky a few times. In Silverstone he was poor though, although so were a lot of people. I guess Alonso will stay at Renault for an extra year.
Speaking of games, there’s an awesome F1 game that I play a bit with some mates. It’s called BATRacer, it’s a simulation game where you set your car up for practice, qualy and the race,you can share set-ups with your team-mate, and the game plays it out based on your set-up. I’m giving a crap explanation, so here:
http://batracer.com/-ph
If there’s interest, I’ll set up a private Sidepodcast game. I think we should be able to get a full grid of 22 people, but we can still start with less if we don’t.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:31 pmSteven Roy said:
I don’t think Lewis is remotely bothered who his team mate is. Personally I don’t think there is a driver who is as fast as him.
I also think Heikki will be in the other McLaren next season and will be close to Lewis’s pace. He has the potential to be a very good driver. Kubica would totally disrupt McLaren because the set up he needs is not at all like the set up Lewis needs so they would end up running two separate programs.
I don’t see BMW changine drivers next season either. Right now beyond Vettel to RB and Senna to STR the only big name I see moving is Alonso. Until that move is made it is impossible to say who will go where.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:33 pmme said:
sounds like last year then
July 12th, 2008 at 12:38 pmSteven Roy said:
I think Fernando likes controlling the driver market. The big question that has to be answered first is will he be prepared to make a third move in three years as the previous two haven’t exactly worked out well.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:45 pmLe BOL said:
I think Alonso is Ferraribound. He said the announcement should be made in Monza this year and it’s normally the time Ferrari reveals its drivers. Besides, let’s not forget that Maranello drivers are never safe, Lauda quit on his own because he didn’t feel like driving for the team and he was a champion with them, they got rid of Irvine and Rubens at the first sign of discontentment. So, you never know with Saint Luca, if little Felipe wins they’re ‘appy, if he spins they’re not ‘appy. And Kimi’s a viking, he couldn’t care less, he only enjoys winning and can’t be bothered even with 2nd place.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:47 pmLe BOL said:
Yeah, doesn’t look pretty, it seems he feels like changing teams every fortnight depending on which team won the last race.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:48 pmLadySnowcat said:
Maybe Mattw…
But in that case why are they jumping off the Macca ship after next year when Lewis will be on board there for at least another 3 years…
I need to be convinced…
July 12th, 2008 at 3:07 pmRich said:
I like to know more about this - does Lewis and Heikki like a similar set up?
July 12th, 2008 at 3:39 pmRich said:
True to a point. If there is truth to the rumour they are jumping ship to Ferrari there is no question that it would involve Alonso moving into a seat. They are a Spanish multi-national so obviously if there is choice of Lewis or Fernando to support (who are obviously close in their F1 driving abilities) they will go for the Spanish option.
So if and when Santander announced from 2010 they will be sponsoring Ferrari we will know Alonso’s moves if he has not announced them already.