F1 Chat

[Danp]

So, Webber has confirmed he is leave Red Bull at the end of the season to join Porsche and race in Le Mans next year, good call do you think? I do. Who will take his seat, Kimi? Ricciardo?

[L3OUGH]

I'll be sad to see Webber leave!!! I hope Kimi gets it! He'll deffo shake Vettel up I think! Could make for an interesting season!

[synaesthesia]

I have a suspicion it will be Kimi. But he still won't be happy

 

Not sure he'll do any real shaking of Vettel. He is by far the faster of the two drivers, but he's also far less consistent in that speed/performance. I think very much like Lewis, Kimi wants to race and is fed up of the regulatory b*ll***s like tyre wear being so much of a factor. I'd personally be surprised to see Kimi stay in F1 beyond 2014 as a result.

Edited June 27, 2013 by synaesthesia

[DaveJ2717uk]

Don't see what other option he had. He's got a team mate whose backside the sun shines out of as far as the team and the team management are concerned. He's 37 so going to a new team and the time that would take to acclimatise, also new rules next year also to get used to. Clean break - personally good idea.

[L3OUGH]

I think Kimi will be around for the next few seasons at least. All this tyre wear/degradation has blown up in Pirelli's faces this year. Big chances for next season I see, new engines too! They sounds rubbish btw! Go to the Renault Sport website and you can hear what the new V6 Turbo's are going to sound like. Very disappointed if I'm honest! Keep the V8's!

[Danp]

I don't know if it would be best for Kimi to go there, yes the Red Bull is the best car in the paddock at the moment but I dont know how the team will cope with two drivers competing against each other. Kimi is not someone to take orders to back off and let his team mate take a win! I think it will be Ricciardo getting the seat.

 

Anyone see the picture of Webber's car pulling away from the hairpin at Canada and it leaving what looks to be traction control lines in the road?

[L3OUGH]

Nope, I haven't seen that image!? The back end of a Red Bull getting out of line! Good god! Tut tut.

 

If I had the choice of who to put in the seat it'd be Di Resta, without a shadow of a doubt. Sorry if you guys disagree but he deserves a quick car and could go so far with one!

[Danp]

Nope, I haven't seen that image!? The back end of a Red Bull getting out of line! Good god! Tut tut.

 

If I had the choice of who to put in the seat it'd be Di Resta, without a shadow of a doubt. Sorry if you guys disagree but he deserves a quick car and could go so far with one!

 

If Paul had more money behind him he would have ended up at McLaren

 

http://grandprix247.com/2013/06/19/is-red-bull-using-illegal-traction-control/

[L3OUGH]

Well I'm glad he didn't end up at McLaren, they're not doing exactly well... He's doing better at Force India. But I hope he gets the seat! That would be unexpected and good for his career. And that photo is an interesting one!! They won't get investigated though, any money! They always seem to get away with things....

[Danp]

Well I'm glad he didn't end up at McLaren, they're not doing exactly well... He's doing better at Force India. But I hope he gets the seat! That would be unexpected and good for his career. And that photo is an interesting one!! They won't get investigated though, any money! They always seem to get away with things....

 

Even as a McLaren fan I have to agree

[Disaster]

I'm going to Silverstone tomorrow. Rocking!

[L3OUGH]

I'm going to Silverstone tomorrow. Rocking!

 

First time going? I went a in 2010 and it's AMAZING. The tickets were too expensive for my liking this year. £145 for standing!? Pffft!

 

and @Danp it's a shame, but, the sparking rivalry between Perez + Button is getting heated!

[Danp]

I'm going to Silverstone tomorrow. Rocking!

 

Been before?

 

I went in 2011, stayed at Woodlands campsite from Thursday until Sunday evening, the best weekend I have ever had. Reserved seat opposite the new pits

[synaesthesia]

Wish I could go again. Went VIP style in 2011 after naming The Wing in a competition; would love to go again!

 

Yeah, saw those tyre marks Webber left. It just goes to show how much people will push the boundaries. No traction control allowed? No problem, we'll do some clever mapping of our engines to get roughly 80% of the effect.

[Disaster]

Nar went last year. Stuck around in a pub when they told everyone to go home. Managed to get in one of the campsites... can't remember which one though. In lively this year hopefully. Was a top weekend all round! I love the sound of the Lotus, more guttural than the other cars and watching the vintage cars was cool too.

[featured_spectre]

It would be good for webber to go. He is in a team where he gets treated as a second rate driver, despite having the experience and capacity to be better if his car were treated the same as vettels.

 

It would be good for him to do different racing where the cars are effectively built the same, just tuned differently.

[teejay]

I think Webber has made a good move there, he doesn't seem happy with the direction F1 is going with the tyres etc and has a new challenge with Porsche in endurance cars. I have to say, since the new tyres, DRS and Kers etc I've become less and less interested in F1, I much preferred it with fuel stops and tyres they could race on rather than having to manage them. I watched Le Mans at the weekend and really enjoyed it, the cars are basically doing a 24 hour sprint now and really push it. Watching the in car footage from the LMS P1 cars at night was just mind blowing and pretty scary, full respect to all the drivers in that race. It's a shame though that the race was overshadowed by the death of Allan Simonsen.

[Gibbo]

Kimi won't take it. He doesn't need it. Put him in a Red Bull and it will just be him and Vettel in a 1-2 finish and there's no challenge in that for him.

[synaesthesia]

Wouldn't be sure - there would be added pressure on Vettel, enough to rattle him into some mistakes IMO.

[XiJ]

Probably the right decision for Webber - though ill be sad to see him go.

 

Can see Kimi going unless he's doing really well with Lotus this year. Kimi would give vettel a run for his money - the only thing is whether he'd put up with golden boys antics / preferential treatment.

[laserblazer]

All I can say is it's a good job Pirelli don't make condoms!!!

[synaesthesia]

Absolutely.

I can't help but think we've been robbed of a very deserving British winner of the British Grand Prix thanks to this problem, but that's a tiny complaint compared to the safety of the drivers, teams, track staff and spectators which is paramount. Not that the FIA or Pirelli seem to care.

 

I got rather fed up of Gary Anderson, the ex Jordan "Expert" who went to Turn 4 where it kept happening and showed us the "Razor Sharp Edges" of those kerbs. They are no more razor sharp than the end of the kerb outside my house, and the kerbs themselves are not as pronounced as many others around the track - I was personally very amazed at just how high the ones on the straight/finish straight are - they're about an inch high! That's par for the course.

 

Plus of course those kerbs have been there longer than Pirelli have been in F1 this time around. The tyres have changed, the kerbs have not. Anyone therefore even thinking about blaming the kerb is either rather unintelligent, or is being told what to say by powers above.

I really hope this problem is fixed. I've been really peed off with Pirelli all year. Of course they're not the only ones involved. People will jump to their defence saying "They're just doing what FIA instructed of them". That of course is bovine poo, they ARE providing those tyres but even if it's not in any written agreement, the FIA haven't instructed them to forgo safety to get the results they want. The buck stops with Pirelli. It's their PR they are destroying, and I don't think there's anyone in the UK that saw the race that is likely to be putting Pirelli rubber on their car in the near future.

This is where proper testing should be revised. Here comes TestGate with Mercedes of course...

Then some muppet teams (Lotus, Ferrari among a few others) refused to let them change the compound mid season. Well done, guys, well done. Slow clap.

 

Politics aside, it was otherwise a reasonable race. Lewis still did us all very proud with a mammoth comeback, which for me puts him up for 50/50 driver of the day with Mark Webber, an honourary Brit of whom many of us rather like. Rosberg deserved his win and it's good to see Mercedes back up there in race pace too (no comments about whether testgate had any effect on that). Shame to see Vettel out - not. I sort of like the guy as a person but not a fan as a driver.

 

Brings me to the spare seat for next year. I'd be surprised to see it go to anyone other than Ricciardo who also had a strong showing all weekend. Many people are expecting it to be Raikkonen though, but personally I can't see someone like Kimi putting up with Vettel or Red Bulls crap.

[pcstru]

Plus of course those kerbs have been there longer than Pirelli have been in F1 this time around. The tyres have changed, the kerbs have not.

 

Lot's changes in F1 from year to year and the tyres haven't been exploding all year yet people have been running the kerbs at other circuits. Surely when you have a situation like this, then you look at all the possible contributing factors - including that teams may have been setting rather marginal tyre pressures.

[XiJ]

The only thing stopping Kimi going to red bull is whether he is comfortable in the team - I think he would be. If he wants a championship winning car and they want the fastest driver available, it's a perfect match. As much as id like to see Riciardo on there.

 

The race itself - Brundle summed it up perfectly "a great race for all the wrong reasons". Lewis looked a winner until his blow out and the Mercs look strong. Good point about Vettel - like him as a person, not a driver. Loved the reaction of the crowd to him and Webber calling him 'Michael'

 

Tyres - very easy to lump all the blame on Pirelli. I still wouldn't hesitate to put then on my car though - as I'd tend to run the correct pressures and try to avoid curbs - even if they should cope with most of that.

As much as I love excitement there is a big safety issue for me and that trumps everything else. These tyres should not be 'exploding' like that, full stop.

 

But Pirelli *did* try to change the construction and lotus and Force India blocked it. The teams have to take some responsibility here too. Similarly the FIA who have barely said a word. But as its now a safety issue and Pirelli will no doubt be blamed, they must act now.

Edited July 1, 2013 by plexer

[tech_guy]

Glad I don't have shares in Pirelli - huge PR/marketing disaster for them.