About the race it was just one word ' awsome '
I mean never in my life i think ive seign so many mistakes and people going into the gravel trap and crashin in one race.(Felipe Massa )
For mere second i tought like OMg am i spectating CTRA Race1 !?
It was just sheire crazyness and I loved every second of it
Who was your driver of the day in the British GP? Lewis Hamilton
30.93 % (1688)
Nick Heidfeld
4.84 % (264)
Rubens Barrichello
23.57 % (1286) Kimi Raikkonen
39.03 % (2130)
Jarno Trulli
0.55 % (30)
Kazuki Nakajima
1.08 % (59)
LOLOL U GOTTA LOVE THAT!!!! Get beaten by over a lap and still driver of the day! Can Kimi do no wrong???
One of the best GP threads I've read in a long time. Been thoroughly entertained through the first half of my work day. Please keep up the good work guys
On a slightly more related note, Honda was not the only team to utilize the extreme wets. They were, however, the only team at the front to do so. Here's a full breakdown.
Lewis was good i'll give you that but the best driver of the british gp was without a doubt Barrichello. At his age still able to give the young guys good old beating with a totally inferior car. I mean the guy started all the way from the back and took the 3rd place with 1min 22s difference, even with the wet tires somebody still needs to drive the car . Flawless performance in my opinion by Rubens. Good solid drive by Lewis and then third Heidfeld with his great manouvers.
Quite an interesting GP with too many incidents to take them all into account.
It was a good race for Hatemelol, a good comeback by Half-field and an awesome comeback by Barrichello. Not much to say from the rest, maybe Long-so's performance with a car that has known traction problems (already slippery on dry tarmac, must have been hell on those wet conditions), a little sad about Heikki's performance and the tactics both from Rant-ault and Fear-carry.
About Massa's performance, wasn't his first car totaled before quali and thus he had to use the spare car? That would explain why he was spinning so much, at least partly (not like he's that good on wet, but would have prevented him from spinning once or twice, maybe).
With the edited stuff on, I would have thought you were speaking of anti-Alonso's movement last year, reinforced by the fact that he usually talks to the press in spanish thus there is a language barrier that most english people just can't cope with (number of english peeps speaking spanish is so close to null it hurts) and that media did effectively exploit so attention would go to Hatemelol once they killed any sympathy towards the other guy.
Just going to say that opinions are like those things you have on the low end of your back, everyone has one of it, some might smell good, some might stink, but you can't force everyone to have yours.
So please, people, don't try to force anyone to have the same oppinion as you do.
I think you'll find theres more to it than Honda being the only team to think its a good idea to put full wets on, they took a *gamble* on full wets when it was the correct call, but i doubt many expected the rain to be as heavy as it was. It became fairly obvious full wets were best within a couple of laps, but at the same time having to stop TWICE is costly, it wasnt just a case of making an unscheduled stop for full wets, it was the cost of a full wet stop AND an intermediate, because they knew it wouldnt be a long shower and the track would begin to dry out.
So, then your left with a matter of risk, when your leading by just 10sec over your title rival, do you risk that lead by pitting in so soon after the last stop to put on tyres which may only be an advantage for 10 laps, and then pit for inters again?
Perfect example of the uncertainty of the weather (maybe a bad one seeing as they got the first call wrong but...) Ferrari felt the weather wasnt going to be bad enough to require fresh intermediates, and despite the rain coming down, Kimi stayed out for around 10 laps on half-worn inters. Ferrari arent n00bs, usually at least, but the information they had must have been so uncertain that they felt pitting for even Inters wasnt to their advantage compared to the time lost for making just 1 unscheduled stop, and im sure many other teams were in similar situations but most had previously made the call to change to new inters when it was still damp.
It takes balls to make those decisions, and Lewis has shown in the past he isnt afraid of taking a chance (the European GP last season being a good example, didnt ultimately pay off as when the track did dry up it wasnt long before it started raining again, but he risked running dry tyres in drizzle on a wet track because he felt it'd be to his advantage). Swapping to full wets was a big call, and one you cant make without risk, and when your already on fresh inters which can handle the wet weather when your not sure how long it'll last, you've got to be pretty sure its worth full wets.
Inters cant cope with standing water, and thats where the risk came along and why the full wets were definately the way to go, but considering both Kimi and Lewis had just pitted they would need 2 stops (inters to wets, then wets to inters later on) and thats 80sec lost, could they guarantee they'd regain that?? Kimi.. maybe he could have considering what it cost him, but Lewis? doubt it, not even with hindsight! Rubens was only 4sec faster per lap, while Lewis was also 3-4sec per lap faster than the rest.
Had Kimi pitted for full wets (apparently at Ferrari's say so, he's unable to make these decisions for himself according to some on here :really then you can be sure Mclaren would have followed the next lap.
Instead Lewis was pulling away from Kimi by around 5-8sec a lap when the rain started again, this still some laps from Honda making a call.
I still cant quite understand the stupidity of Ferrari though, Kimi had the final call of what tyres he wants, that much is true, but if Ferrari didnt think there was a sufficient likelyhood of further rain in the race, then whoever made that call should be sacked, instantly! Even James Allen knew it would start raining again way ahead of it coming down goodness sake.
Expecting such a heavy downpour would have been unlikely, but thinking worn intermediates would be sufficient says either they're incompetent or their intel was useless. Still, damage limitation could have been implemented sooner, Kimi has that call, so i'd say they're both as much to blame as each other. Ferrari for not knowing it'd rain again (the initial light rain was costing him 5+ sec/lap) and Kimi not recognising this probably isnt a good idea seeing your rival disappear from view within 2 laps, and continue to get worse.
For me, that was probably the best individual drive ive ever seen, i cant think of a better one right now. Had he started further back and overtaken a few people, it'd probably be put down as one of the greatest of all time, but i think the fact that he 'only' had to deal with the terrible weather while everyone else was flying off and spinning round, he barely put a foot wrong, 1 incident where his car control saved him, and barely cost him anything (wouldnt suprise me if he still lapped faster than the rest of the Inters pack that lap anyway!). One of my favourites was Mansell in Hungary, think it was his first year at Ferrari. I've been watching since the very late 80s (aged about 10), so ive seen Senna at his best, scrapping (squabbling!) with Prost as teammates and in rival teams, and there has probably been better races, with great drives in them, but individually, driving in those conditions, and putting everyone else to shame...
Senna comparisons... your always going to get them, rightly or wrongly. I dont think its wrong to compare them, thats typically whats always been done, Senna was an amazing driver, so is Lewis, so where is the harm in comparing them? Suggesting he's as good as, thats where i'd definately draw the line. I think Lewis could surpass Schumacher, and even Senna, but just 20-oddraces in, you'd be stupid to make any
Lastly.... Lewis & Ego's
Love the guy, but he's a bit too cocky isnt he? Love Ronaldo too, they're pretty similar, both think a little too much of themselves i think (with Ronny its fairly obvious). Lewis kinda likes to rub it in a little though, im not sure if he does that subconsiously or if its some psychological message to rivals that he's better than them...
If he was German, he'd be a cocky little tw..what-not, but he's British so we dont mind. I think he could tone it down a bit, he doesnt go around telling everyone he's the best and he's going to win everything, but his actions often suggest thats what he thinks. Thats my impression anyway, and i fcuking love the guy. I'd love to have seen him and Schumi together, not to mention other past greats, but its would have been interesting seeing that battle.
We've had some decent championships the last few years, it wasnt that long ago it was Schumi, Kimi and Alonso (iirc) who were extremely close with 3 races left. Last season we had a great season, 3 possible winners in the last round, and a great final race which decided it. This season looks the same, not sure if BMW can keep themselves in there, hopefully they will, but they always seem to be chasing Ferrari & Mclaren rather than the one to catch, but they're where they are on merit so whos to say they cant still be there come the end of the season.
Bring on the slicks next year, and the aerodynamic changes/reductions the following year??
Agreed, I've been watching F1 since 1998 and save for the three seasons of total Schumacher domination in 2001/02/04 the battles for the championship have been awesome. The Schumacher, Raikkonen and Montoya three-way title fight in 2003 and the similar situations last year and now this year have been the best from my point of view.
Paragraphs of the post, Paragraphs of the thread, Paragraphs of the Racing forum. They deserve their own thread! LOL.
In English (incase that statement forms some argument), its just MY OWN OPINION and i feel he sums up the whole senna and lewis's ego thing. Well said.
I really can't see how you people find him cocky O_O. All I see is confidence not being cocky. You don't see him say '' heh I beat all those people so easily it wasn't even fun''. You hear him say stuff like ''it was a great race for us and I'd like to thank the team for the great job they've done''.
No one has yet proven to me that Hamilton is too cocky. I find him confident but that's all. He believes in himself and that's what it takes to win. If you don't believe then you'll end up giving up quickly and probably lose. If he was cocky, he wouldn't win first of all because he'd think he's so good that he wouldn't need to try and he'd get his ass handed to him.
(Warning! Highly subjective opinion based on nothing but feelings following. Don't blow your headers Intrepid.) For me that's just it. He says that. Those exact words. Every time. I actually thought the same as you last year. Seemed a nice enough fellow, and man could he drive, but I don't buy it any more. Especially not after seeing him handle setbacks the last few races. During trouble is when you meet the real man, and I didn't like what I saw.
He has this clean cut, easy to digest media mask he puts on every time there's a camera about. I don't really get the feeling he's actually saying what's on his mind. Contrast him with other Brits like Coulthard and Button and I think it's obvious. In fact, I think I'd respect him more if he just went out and said that line you posted. I'd much prefer that to him holding back to remain media friendly. I can sort of respect a cock if he's honest about it.
Does it matter though? Not in the slightest. As long as the racing is good, I couldn't care less about who says what and how. Formula 1 as a spectacle would become a lot more boring if the entire grid was made up of media trained nice guys though.
I agree that he is really stupid when he's not in front. If he's making his way though the slower cars he's a plain ass (in his driving and overtaking methods). Maybe he doesn't think what he's saying, but how could we know if he is thinking it or not. How did he prove to you guys that he's jus bullshitin in front of the camera's and that he is actually a cocky bastard right when the camera's turn off? Have you seen him make cocky comments after an interview or during an interview? I don't think so.
After all those incidents and seeing him drive through the field and hitting the slower ones and passing them by cutting, etc. just made me lose so much respect for him. I started to like Kubica more for his consistency. But damn could the man drive in the rain (Hamilton). That takes pure skill. But I wouldn't call him a legend just yet. If he started 10th in the rain would he have made it to 1st? I doupt it. Chances are that he would've ended up hitting someone butt as he likes to do. Heck even in Silverstone he made a dangerous and stupid move agaisnt his teammate. When he passed all those people in T1, he hit his teammates rear wheel which almost got him to spin. That was totally not necessary. But man is he fast.
Is he a fast driver? Yes. Is he a great racer? Certainly not.
To be a great racer you'd have to know how to race with other cars around instead of lapping fast alone.
But for his behavior off the track, I have no idea why people hate him so much as a person. (some even say he's not human because he's too cocky and thinks he's supreme.)
a). if you look CAREFULLY, he didn't even touched Heikki, he was already way ahead as they turned into T1, but because he knew his teammate was there, he slowed and gave him enough room for Heikki to drive past round the outside again. Heikki had that slide because his left rear wheel touched the white line on the outside of the corner, not because Lewis touched him.
b). he passed only ONCE by short cutting, and that was a marginal call by the stewards already.
c). can you refresh my memory a bit here~? I can't remember when did Lewis actually punted someone off to pass them. I could be wrong through...
d). you need to watch that GP2 race in Turkey again...
oh that was just a straight up the ass moment, which he probably couldn't get round to doing it in person last year so have to do it this year when the opportunity suddenly came up~