Vettel fastest as practice ends in Silverstone

37 comments on “Vettel fastest as practice ends in Silverstone”

1. 

   sam3110 (@sam3110)
   9th July 2011, 11:17

   So why is there different rulse for each engine, surely there should just be a blanket ban on all off throttle activities, so that no loophole can be exploited?
   1. 

      Eggry (@eggry)
      9th July 2011, 11:24

      because of reliability issue. engine manufacturers are using different kinds of method for reliability especially cooling. Renault said they used 50% cold blow in 2009 without blown diffuser. strict ban is easy but if there’s some engine failures, things would be much complicated.
      1. 

         fullthrottle
         9th July 2011, 12:04

         Overnight Charlie Whiting changed his position on the technology, and removed Renault’s allowance to use more than 10% of the throttle to feed the diffuser.
2. 

   Mark
   9th July 2011, 11:17

   Team mate Lewis Hamilton, running the team’s new rear wing, could only manage 12th.

   You mean 13th, I guess?
   1. 

      Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      9th July 2011, 11:19

      Indeed!
3. 

   ivz (@ivz)
   9th July 2011, 11:17

   All the fuss by Red Bull, Vettel is still going to take pole.
   1. 

      ivz (@ivz)
      9th July 2011, 11:20

      Is there any chance of rain tomorrow? Or forecast saying its going to be dry?
   2. 

      Fixy (@)
      9th July 2011, 11:31

      Yes – but you wouldn’t expect Maldonado to be so high, as the Saubers, and Hamilton so low. The battle could be great anyway.
4. 

   Eggry (@eggry)
   9th July 2011, 11:19

   Whoah! It seems like we would have first pole position battle of the season!
   1. 

      Eggry (@eggry)
      9th July 2011, 11:21

      and Ricciardo is faster than Liuzzi!
   2. 

      Enigma (@enigma)
      9th July 2011, 11:22

      Sepang had a great pole position battle
      1. 

         Eggry (@eggry)
         9th July 2011, 11:28

         oh sorry I forgot it. the second :D
         1. 

            Enigma (@enigma)
            9th July 2011, 11:32

            Might be the first time this year someone other than KERS beats Seb in qualy :)
5. 

   haujo
   9th July 2011, 11:22

   Petrov and Heidfeld are both pathetic. My god, so pathetic.
   1. 

      ivz (@ivz)
      9th July 2011, 11:25

      Looks like Sauber and Williams will be faster than Renault now…..
      1. 

         zecks
         9th July 2011, 12:04

         their aero set up is ruined
6. 

   Enigma (@enigma)
   9th July 2011, 11:23

   Any particular reason McLaren was so slow?
7. 

   Enigma (@enigma)
   9th July 2011, 11:24

   Any particular reason McLaren is so slow?
   1. 

      Younger Hamii
      9th July 2011, 11:27

      Maybe doing High Fuel Runs but its pretty strange and worrying that they’re doing that in FP3(meaning you would normally do Qualifying Runs in FP3 and Race Trims in FP1 and FP2) but with the Track being Wet and typical British Weather coming into play yesterday,that probably would explain things
   2. 

      Lemon (@lemon)
      9th July 2011, 11:37

      As a natural pesimist i’d imagine they have been hit the hardest by the off throttle blown diffueser restrictions. They seem to be showing similar pace to what they showed in testing so i’d of thought that all along they had a bad car, that was made acceptable by the blown diffuser setup they were using.
      1. 

         bosyber
         9th July 2011, 11:56

         I admire your pessimism, but I think it is wrong to compare with the testing.

         Then, McLaren were fiddling with an unreliable system, not running to see how the car performed, more often than not.

         They might have been unsure how their car would go when they actually got it to run more than 10 laps, but they weren’t bogged down like Mercedes, hiding that apart from cooling they also again didn’t get the car.

         Let’s not forget either that Ferrari in testing were consistently showing their speed and reliability but unaware they learned little about where their car would have more trouble, while Red Bull was shown just how much they had in hand over them.

         And how good Williams seemed to be working, if their KERS didn’t explode. So in the end the testing speed doesn’t mean all that much.
8. 

   streetfighterman
   9th July 2011, 11:26

   When you deny a manufacturer their request to make the necessary changes to able to handle this rule change because it’s a reliability concern in a map they’ve run for a long time, and they have to adapt to that within weeks, and then make this rule change and over night change your position on the dispension… It smells bad.
   And when Merc get to fire on the overrun..
   This is just ridiculous. FIA is a joke.
   1. 

      infy (@infy)
      9th July 2011, 11:57

      Both should not be allowed.
      1. 

         Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
         9th July 2011, 12:14

         Prove to me that Mercedes do not need the cocnessions granted.
   2. 

      Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
      9th July 2011, 12:14

      I’m reading your argument, and I’m seeing one major assumption that basically invalidates the whole thing. You’re assuming that Mercedes and Renault applied for and were given the same concessions by the FIA. They weren’t. Mercedes might get to fire on the over-run, but that does not mean that Renault ever asked to do the same thing.

      The thing about an engine is that it has a lot of moving parts. And the more moving parts a machine has, the more parts there are that can break. We know Mercedes’ issue relates to pressure within the crank case, but we don’t know what Renault’s issue is. And until we do, we can’t really pass judgement. For all we know, Renault’s reliability issues are only really a problem over extended periods of engine wear, or occur under highly-specific conditions and that the engines could actually be reasonably expected to run normally with 10% of the throttle without fault.

      Remember, the teams are heavily reliant on the OTBD to generate downforce. They’re not going to give that up willingly. They will go over the rules with a fine-toothed comb, looking for loopholes they can exploit. You call the FIA’s actions shady, but you know as well as I do that the teams will take whatever advantage they think will help them, even if it means racing in a grey area. How many times have we seen teams do this in the past?

      You’re assuming the FIA is guilty of tampering with the race outcome simply because they changed a rule. But they don’t just make these decisions on a whim; Charlie Whiting doesn’t spin a chocolate wheel to see who is going to take a penalty of some kind. The FIA evidently has good reasons for what they are doing, but we don’t know what those reasons are – and we probably won’t until such time as the dispute is resolved. So I ask you: where is your evidence that the FIA is trying to manipulate things? Unless you can show me that a) Renault absolutely need to run at 50% throttle or else their engines will spontaneously combust and b) the FIA knew this and revoked their concessions (for whatever reason) regardless of a), you haven’t got a leg to stand on.
   3. 

      bearforce1
      9th July 2011, 12:40

      +1
9. 

   Funkyf1
   9th July 2011, 12:05

   This exhaust fed rubbish is screaming boycott to me. I already find it unacceptable that the rules have been changed mid-season and now because of the effect this rule change will have, we have different rules for different teams. Absolute rubbish! This is no way to manage a sport! you cannot change rules half way through a race weekend.
   1. 

      zecks
      9th July 2011, 12:08

      anyone remember fan cars? this kind of stuff has happened before, and will happen again
   2. 

      Andy
      9th July 2011, 12:13

      I agree, there’s no safety issue here and everybody has enjoyed the season so far. Changing this halfway through the season is madness! What’s the point of outlawing mid-season testing then moving the goalposts mid-season?
      1. 

         Robbie
         9th July 2011, 12:37

         Not sure ‘everybody’ has enjoyed the season so far…lots of people don’t like to see one driver win all the time and run away with it unchallenged, and lots of people have a vested interest in not seeing the WDC decided with four races to go.

         I’ll not go so far as to cry conspiracy, and as Prisoner Monkeys has asked for, I don’t have proof, but because it does seem like madness to move the goalposts mid-season when testing has been banned, and because they have evolved F1 to using intentionally crafted tires that degrade quickly, moveable wings, and BE would love to have sprinklers at every venue, and given F1’s constant inconsistancy, is it so alarming to see this behaviour by F1/FIA?
   3. 

      Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
      9th July 2011, 12:16

      I already find it unacceptable that the rules have been changed mid-season and now because of the effect this rule change will have, we have different rules for different teams. Absolute rubbish!

      Where is your evidence that Mercedes do not need the concessions granted?
      1. 

         Funkyf1
         9th July 2011, 13:00

         PM I don’t need reasons, one championship, one rule! You missed the point, why does the rule HAVE to change and WHY now? Charlies decisions are generally agreeable, but this one reeks of influence.
10. 

    guido (@guidof1)
    9th July 2011, 12:08

    do we have the straight line speeds?
    1. 

       DeadManWoking
       9th July 2011, 12:16

       http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/861/6872/speed_trap.html
11. 

    Clay
    9th July 2011, 12:27

    Damn it, forgot predictions again!!! Anyway, imagine the uproar if the F-duct had been banned half way through 2010? To me that’s basically the same as the off throttle rule change in 2011. If the F-duct had been banned there would have been a huge outcry. People would have said that it was unfair in the extreme to ban the F-duct and penalise McLaren for being clever.

    I would agree.

    However Renault come up with the off throttle idea, build a car to specifically exploit it (however you feel about it’s effectiveness) then it gets banned for no apparent reason (at least none I’ve read) and then on top of that the rule gets changed again with little or no warning?

    This is crap. If the FIA let double diffusers through for two years despite very legitimate questions about their legality AND let the F-ducts run their course throughout 2010 despite the questions over them possibly being moveable aero devices then the precedents are there to have allowed the off throttle maps to remain in place throughout 2011.

    Sort it out idiots, or else we’ll be starting a campaign for Keith to be the next FIA president!!!
12. 

    AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
    9th July 2011, 12:29

    The practise sessions make it hard to be confident of qualifying times, especially this weekend. Definitely gonna be an RB7 on pole though!
13. 

    dragon
    9th July 2011, 12:37

    So PM, hasn’t taken Ricciardo long to get going ;)

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