Red Bull’s advantage cut in Silverstone qualifying

28 comments on “Red Bull’s advantage cut in Silverstone qualifying”

1. 

   SamC
   9th July 2011, 18:03

   Trouble with all this with the rules mess is that I can see lots of teams asking for the points for the British Grand Prix this year not to count in the drivers or constructors championships, especially if the rules are going to go back to the way they were before, in a way I think it would be the sensible thing to do.
   1. 

      F1Andy83
      9th July 2011, 23:56

      I agree, this race is a joke. the FIA is out of control.
2. 

   Steph (@)
   9th July 2011, 18:53

   The top 8 really impressed me today. JB, not so much I’ll admit but he has a lousy record here and at least he outqualified Lewis. Massa was still well off Fernando but he didn’t make the most of q3 and had looked a lot more on it before then so I’m stilly happyish with him. It was great to see Mark have something to smile about!

   I’m not really surprised Red Bull still seem so quick but now Mark’s turned up hopefully he can take some points from Seb. I think Mark’s finally getting to grips with the tyres (no pun intended) too regardless of this rule change as Newey commented at Valencia.

   What on earth is happening with Renault this season?
   1. 

      Fixy (@)
      9th July 2011, 19:20

      What on earth is happening with Renault this season?

      If they go on like that, they will be beaten by HRT soon.
   2. 

      RIISE (@riise)
      9th July 2011, 19:25

      Renault have certainly been dicing with different ends of the spectrum this season huh? From getting 2 podiums to fighting with with non-points scorers, I was expecting them to have a steady development rate but they’ve stood still which has inevitably made them fall backwards. It’s not like they can really blame the rule changes either since the past few races have yielded low points or less.

      Although I think the lack of consistency may have something to with Heidfeld and Petrov. Poor quali performances have forced them to make up positions which is putting them at a serious disadvantage straight away.
      1. 

         Steph (@)
         9th July 2011, 19:34

         Have Renault been bringing many updates this year? Last year there was a new front wing every session it seemed and yet I’ve heard almost nothing from them.
         1. 

            RIISE (@riise)
            9th July 2011, 19:46

            I think they brought new Front and Rear wings for Turkey, but then again a lot of teams did, other than that I can’t remember any announced upgrades.

            Perhaps someone else can fill in Renault’s development path this season?
            1. 

               geo132 (@geo132)
               9th July 2011, 20:12

               You can see here for Renault’s updates. They did have something new..
         2. 

            LiteralF1
            9th July 2011, 19:55

            Last year pretty much every single update (even big ones like F-Duct) they brought on to their car worked. This year… it seems few and far between. Rumors of financial trouble might be true…
   3. 

      BasCB (@bascb)
      9th July 2011, 20:08

      Actually I think Button did a good job today, their car clearly suffered in Silverstone (a bit like it did last year here!). Mercedes also seems to have suffered from the rules gulash.

      I think both the Ferrari’s did a solid job, and if they can keep up tomorrow it might get interesting. Especially if they can do the super starts they have been doing lately.

      Webber hopefully keeps this going for a strong run mid season, that would get it a lot more exiting as well.

      Memorable effort from Team Lotus as well to get Heikki into Q2, now he is really in the mix to battle to would be lotus/jps cars on track!
   4. 

      AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
      11th July 2011, 22:42

      Not alot it seems! Disappointing, really disappoining. They peaked too early.
3. 

   RIISE (@riise)
   9th July 2011, 19:14

   I’m still amazed that Schumacher was 4 tenths off 5th yet still ended up 13th. No doubt it was a wrong place wrong time situation in terms of tyres but I’m quite excited for some potential close racing tomorrow. Especially since the Red Bull’s seem to have lost ground on Ferrari.
4. 

   LiteralF1
   9th July 2011, 19:35

   I am not impressed with Quali result, and I was there. Ferrari seems to have gotten an advantage (WHAT a surprise…) but that doesn’t bother me. Why O Why have we had SEVEN (I count them… here different changes to blown diffusers, MID SEASON?

   They are worth SO much lap time, this Quali session and sadly, even the race looking forward seems to be artificial, so much more so than the DRS overtakes at Canada. I simply won’t cherish it.

   Well done Webber though, probably coping with the 10% off throttle diffuser better than Vettel.
   1. 

      LiteralF1
      9th July 2011, 19:54

      Sorry I messed up the link, it’s kind of all over the same now :S
      1. 

         BasCB (@bascb)
         9th July 2011, 20:13

         Never mind, good read anyhow.
5. 

   steve
   9th July 2011, 19:55

   Is it just me or is the new Silverstone:
   (1) a souless mess of wide expanses of tarmac?
   (2) almost impossible to work out where the cars are?
   (3) the most fan-hostile pit straight in the world?
   (4) the track with the ‘impossible to see’ pits?
   (5) a great venue wrecked?
   1. 

      RIISE (@riise)
      9th July 2011, 20:07

      I’m not being so quick to judge it, well not until tomorrow anyway.

      I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to the pit straight being between Club and Abbey, but tomorrow shall prove interesting seeing the cars bullet through the kinks and up to the tight Turn 3.

      It’s the same Silverstone that we’ve had for years with the exception of the Bridge section (Although the straight isn’t a bad replacement). So as for your points:

      1) – Disagree
      2) – Some may find it different but I can always tell which part of the track a car is on.
      3) – How is it fan hostile?
      4) – The low stand doesn’t aid the fans at all but the extra build developments should take car of that.
      5) – Absolutely not, Silverstone will always be up there with the likes of Spa, Monaco and Montreal as a fantastic venue and I don’t think it will ever change.
      1. 

         BasCB (@bascb)
         9th July 2011, 20:20

         I agree, I think its an exiting way to rejuvenate a track that has been part of F1 since the very beginning.
         1. 

            BBT (@bbt)
            9th July 2011, 20:25

            I love the new track, although I loved the old one as well.
   2. 

      Laranja Mecanica
      9th July 2011, 23:46

      Agreed. But it’s not the “new” Silverstone, it was ruined 20 years ago, until 1990 Silverstone was a extremely fast, exciting circuit. Only Monza and Spa survive, all the rest are terminally bland.
6. 

   VXR
   9th July 2011, 20:21

   (6) Some people will moan about anything and everything.
   1. 

      Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks)
      10th July 2011, 4:11

      +10!
7. 

   BBT (@bbt)
   9th July 2011, 20:24

   Overall RBR have more of an advantage (or at least the same), look at the gaps to other teams.
   The only exception is Alonso in this particular race (where they have good upgrades anyway). Hamilton was as close in Malaysian(0.1s) but again that was a one off. There is no strong evidence that the gap is smaller.
   I hope Alonso can win tomorrow but the rules should revert to the previous rules and the attempt at race fixing by the FIA should end.
8. 

   verstappen (@verstappen)
   9th July 2011, 20:53

   Vettel did say he changed gear on the revlimiter, if I heard him correctly when he talked to Massa at the weigh station. Add to that the drizzle which meant the track got worse instead of better and he aborted his last run and there you have a potentially bigger gap than one tenth.
9. 

   John Cousins
   10th July 2011, 1:53

   I’m sorry but I have to say “I told you so”.
   FIA you are pathetic! I said it would be impossible to fairly control the OTEBD half way through a season…
   Well done for spoiling what should have been a special race!
   1. 

      Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
      10th July 2011, 8:57

      I said the same John, the FIA could not of handled this any worse.

      As for Redbull losing their edge, I can only say you’re clutching at straws Keith. Considering the conditions I am surprised to see you write such a thing. Ferrari have been closing the gap on their single lap pace for a while now and the limited time of clean running during qualifying is hardly a gauge.
      1. 

         BBT (@bbt)
         10th July 2011, 9:27

         Me too. We are in agreement.
10. 

    BBT (@bbt)
    10th July 2011, 12:26

    Apparently Ferrari and Sauber have refused to sign up to the rule implementation being reverted. What a surprise, all teams will look after their best interests.

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