2012 British GP - Race Thread

**khizerk** · 8th July 2012, 14:29

I dont think the strategy was wrong. Other cars did around 13 laps with soft tyres in the first stint. You could have expected Alonso to be able to do the same comfortably with the track rubbered up. I just think the balance wasn't there on the soft tyres. Plain and simple.

**Hornet** · 8th July 2012, 14:33

Originally Posted by Jose Lorca

A good result. Is Webber really a threat to the championship? Sooner or later, Vettel will overtake Webber in the standings so for us, extending our lead over Vettel was important. We also gained on Hamilton, now 37 points ahead of him (although McLaren are so bad at development, Hamilton might keep falling back).

To be safe, I'll assume that he is, we need to see him have a bad race or two while Alonso extend his gap again for me to feel easier.

Webber have been practically out of the WDC picture till Valencia where he suddenly gets second place in the WDC. IMO, that's because he's been consistent and so the moment Vettel and Lewis DNF, he jumps ahead.

At the moment, Alonso can have a bad race and still be safe from Vettel and Lewis, but Webber may jump ahead, which is what worries me most. I would prefer if Alonso have enough points lead that he can have a bad race or DNF (knocks on wood) and still hold the WDC lead.

**ClaudiuCojo** · 8th July 2012, 14:48

Originally Posted by Hornet

To be safe, I'll assume that he is, we need to see him have a bad race or two while Alonso extend his gap again for me to feel easier.

Webber have been practically out of the WDC picture till Valencia where he suddenly gets second place in the WDC. IMO, that's because he's been consistent and so the moment Vettel and Lewis DNF, he jumps ahead.

At the moment, Alonso can have a bad race and still be safe from Vettel and Lewis, but Webber may jump ahead, which is what worries me most. I would prefer if Alonso have enough points lead that he can have a bad race or DNF (knocks on wood) and still hold the WDC lead.

I don't think we can be so arrogant and expect that we have a 25p gap in such a tightly fought championship, lets be happy that we are in top spot and with a car that can fight for wins and pole positions.

Hockenheim should be good for us, we are the second fastest car right now and we just need some 2 - 3 tents to tie up with the RedBulls but the final step is the most difficult one to do, still massively proud of our team's achievements this season.

**JRX164** · 8th July 2012, 14:51

Great race, too bad we lost 7 points to Webber. But hey, we're still number 1 thanks to Alonso.

**anakin** · 8th July 2012, 14:53

bad strategy????
I read that it is not advisable to use the softer compound in the latter stages. but i really thought it would work. new soft tires, low fuel tank, track already has rubber. at least we have seen that F2012 is not chasing rb8 compared to valencia. f2012 is fast enough. and alonso is pulling away from hami and seb.

**Greig** · 8th July 2012, 14:58

Good result overall, very funny to see all the mclaren fans switch to red bull mid race, saddos

**Rishu** · 8th July 2012, 15:01

Originally Posted by Greig

Good result overall, very funny to see all the mclaren fans switch to red bull mid race, saddos

Yeah, I noticed that too. Ferrari is still their number 1 enemy

**wacc** · 8th July 2012, 15:01

F2012 was quick at Silverstone. Felipe was quicker than Webber in the last stint. Raikonen was even quicker then Felipe.

**Infi24r** · 8th July 2012, 15:03

Webbers had some bad luck this year

They ed his quali in spain and his wing fell off.

He had very bad strategy at Canada

and his car failed in quali at Valencia.

He could have alot more points than he currently does.

**Infi24r** · 8th July 2012, 15:04

Also great race. Great to build the gap to Vettel (I was hoping Vettel would get pushed back further).

Great Webber win, Glad to have Alonso there behind him, I wish Felipe made the 3rd spot and Kimi and Grosjean got Vettel.

I don't care who wins out of Alonso and Webber in the title, as long as its one of them.

**Rishu** · 8th July 2012, 15:07

Not so good day so far. Alonso missing out on win, Stoner crashing out in last lap, now I hope Federer wins the Wimbledon final

**racingbradley** · 8th July 2012, 15:09

I feel so much happier to-day. Both cars in the top 5.

Hopefully a double podium is not too far away.

The car looks good and this may be the beginning of great things to come.
Wonder if the Macca fans I know will switch their allegiance to RB --but they maintain that they are fans of British drivers first.

**fadyferrari** · 8th July 2012, 15:12

guys i am a bit worried... fernando looked quite sad after the race.i know it has to do,l in part with losing the victory,but we have seen in better mood even after much worse races.....is his patience finally breaking,with the team not being able to out do the competitors in terms of strategy???

**theforce** · 8th July 2012, 15:18

We could argue all day that Fernando could have won is Spain, Canada and Silverstone but I think regardless of the huge disappointment 3 laps from the end, there are plenty of reasons to be upbeat:

1. Car is showing great signs of speed every race
2. Alonso still in the lead
3. Felipe showing great form
4. Jumped McLaren for 2nd in WCC
5. Gap to other title contenders is increasing

2nd and 4th today is awesome considering what happened to Lewis, Seb and Romain towards the end of Valencia GP, us losing 7 points is not that much of a blow. We should learn from these early races and maximize on it for the 2nd half of the season. Plus Webbo is probably the one driver I don't mind losing to compared to the other title contenders

**Hornet** · 8th July 2012, 15:19

Originally Posted by ClaudiuCojo

I don't think we can be so arrogant and expect that we have a 25p gap in such a tightly fought championship, lets be happy that we are in top spot and with a car that can fight for wins and pole positions.

Hockenheim should be good for us, we are the second fastest car right now and we just need some 2 - 3 tents to tie up with the RedBulls but the final step is the most difficult one to do, still massively proud of our team's achievements this season.

Yeah, I agree it will be tight, and the gap currently to Vettel and Lewis is a blessing. At least now we can temporarily focus on covering Red Bulls first. But one can dream.

Originally Posted by fadyferrari

guys i am a bit worried... fernando looked quite sad after the race.i know it has to do,l in part with losing the victory,but we have seen in better mood even after much worse races.....is his patience finally breaking,with the team not being able to out do the competitors in terms of strategy???

No, not with the team. If Alonso were to lose his patience, that would have happened last year when the car was really rubbish and we were no where near the RB. Alonso is still leading the WDC, he is back fighting for the WDC again. There's no reason to be disappointed with the car or the team.

He's probably just disappointed not winning, as we seems to have everything under control, until the mysterious tire problem in the last stint.

**theforce** · 8th July 2012, 15:20

Originally Posted by fadyferrari

guys i am a bit worried... fernando looked quite sad after the race.i know it has to do,l in part with losing the victory,but we have seen in better mood even after much worse races.....is his patience finally breaking,with the team not being able to out do the competitors in terms of strategy???

It's only Human and Natural to be upset after doing everything right this weekend until the final 3 laps. If he wasn't upset, I'd be worried. He's much wiser and will come back even stronger in Germany.

**Grillo** · 8th July 2012, 15:21

Originally Posted by khizerk

I dont think the strategy was wrong. Other cars did around 13 laps with soft tyres in the first stint. You could have expected Alonso to be able to do the same comfortably with the track rubbered up. I just think the balance wasn't there on the soft tyres. Plain and simple.

That's not the problem. They should have never started on the harder compound to begin with. Never saw a team/driver gambling from pole. Massa was on the normal strategy as all others but Alonso and Hamilton. Difference was Hamilton started P8 not P1 like Alonso so it was understandale gambling.

Strategy was wrong from the beginning then the early pit-stops made it just worse.

**Dino** · 8th July 2012, 15:24

Originally Posted by MRRabbit

we extended our lead over Vettel which i still see as the main competitor from Red Bull,the amount of drama queens in here is staggering

More importantly the pace of vettel from valencia was not repeated here which is promising for the rest of the season.

The above is the best post out of 432 in this thread!!!
Has everyone allready forgotten Valencia???? Vettel leading by 19 Seconds by mid race?
Alonso losing by a couple of seconds to a Red bull and Massa chasing the other one is VERY POSITIVE!!!With Mclaren putting up such a bad show on their home track, and Lotus wasting so many chances with such a good car we should all be more than happy with this race.
Very close to a win but still a very good show by FERRARI.

**fadyferrari** · 8th July 2012, 15:24

Originally Posted by theforce

It's only Human and Natural to be upset after doing everything right this weekend until the final 3 laps. If he wasn't upset, I'd be worried. He's much wiser and will come back even stronger in Germany.

well i hope so....!!!would a love a repeat of hockenheim 2010(-the necessity for team orders)!

**fadyferrari** · 8th July 2012, 15:26

btw...was there no post race conference???

**Grillo** · 8th July 2012, 15:28

Originally Posted by fadyferrari

guys i am a bit worried... fernando looked quite sad after the race.i know it has to do,l in part with losing the victory,but we have seen in better mood even after much worse races.....is his patience finally breaking,with the team not being able to out do the competitors in terms of strategy???

Why? He decided to start on the harder compound, Massa on the softer like most others. That's the problem when you gamble from P1; if you win you're a genious, if you lose your face shows you think it was dumber than dumb. Massa was the clever man today and he did the job.

**Suzie** · 8th July 2012, 15:33

Losing the lead so close to the end wasn't nice but overall everyone should be HAPPY about today's result. 2nd and 4th is something we would have killed for at the beginning of the season. 2nd place for Fernando is still a great result - it's about consistency and regular large points hauls as well as wins.

I would have loved for Felipe to get onto the podium but I am really, really pleased for his 4th place. Four good races on the trot now (barring that stupid spin in Canada). I am so thrilled he has 'it' back.

Very happy - I hope the TSN'ers there feel the same

**Dino** · 8th July 2012, 15:35

Originally Posted by Grillo

Why? He decided to start on the harder compound, Massa on the softer like most others. That's the problem when you gamble from P1; if you win you're a genious, if you lose your face shows you think it was dumber than dumb. Massa was the clever man today and he did the job.

You keep forgetting that it was supposed to rain!

**Hornet** · 8th July 2012, 15:37

Originally Posted by Grillo

Why? He decided to start on the harder compound, Massa on the softer like most others. That's the problem when you gamble from P1; if you win you're a genious, if you lose your face shows you think it was dumber than dumb. Massa was the clever man today and he did the job.

Such decisions are jointly made by the driver and the team, as the team have all the data from tire degradation to weather forecast.

I don't know why we decided to start with the hard, but I doubt its because Alonso feel the need to do it to win. Maybe the team knew the soft tire degradation was inevitable?

In such scenario, its always best to run the soft at the end after the track had rubbered down, and keep your fingers crossed that its not as bad as what you saw on FP3.

Originally Posted by Dino

You keep forgetting that it was supposed to rain!

This is another good point. Had they predicted rain, you would want to be on the hard tires so to hold out as long as possible to avoid pitting before the rain.

**Voy** · 8th July 2012, 15:42

McLaren boys whining about their car today. This made my day. Alonso was very wise to not to do any stupid moves and let Webber pass him cleanly. I take second place without a blink of an eye. Still remembering the beginning of the season. Overall, very good weekend IMHO. Horner must wait a bit longer for his predicted 'Alonso's bad weekend'.

**chandran2313** · 8th July 2012, 15:42

I am a serious follower of this forum. I love reading you guys out...but I rarely post my comments, but I think this time I felt more to say than ever so here we go...

I am happy for Ferrari 2 & 4

Happy for Felipe... Finally he has shown where he belongs (top 5) and hope he continue to in this direction more often.

Little disappointed that Fernando couldn't win after leading 90 % of the race (Especially in front of British Fans once again). I do know that's racing, sometimes we win and other we lose. Make no mistake Ferrari was up on pace and wins like this is what Ferrari need to grab with both hands. They gambled hoping for rain. In a way its better to gamble and learn the lesson earlier in the season than in the final race like 2010. But I am also happy for the fact that he is still leading the WDC. Overall good day except Fernando did all he can and deserved the win more than anyone. Webber and Fernando are good friends ( I keep hearing this often) but I don't think he will move to Ferrari, especially as a number 2 driver, where he wont be better than Massa. Finally If it would rained from the start or even a SF things could have been worse, so from that prospect I think this is good result for Fernando and Ferrari. I am really looking forward for more upgrades on F2012 so we can be par with RB and dont have to cover anyone any more!!!

**racingbradley** · 8th July 2012, 15:45

Originally Posted by Suzie

.

Very happy - I hope the TSN'ers there feel the same

This one most certainly is Suzie.

**Grillo** · 8th July 2012, 15:47

1st chances of rain was rather slim for the race today.

2nd gambling from P1 is a no-no. How many times you see that?

You can celebrate Massa's race, Alonso's was a win missed. Don't cry about it but don't say everything's positive either.