Not sure on that. Bottas was only quicker on the straights due to DRS, so if Massa had let him through, is suspect all that would have happened would be that Hamilton would have got right up to Massa whilst he let Bottas past, and then The train would have formed behind Bottas leaving Massa vulnerable - no gain.

Where they did let themselves down was the lack of clarity on the overtaking, and the pit stops.

That said, with the the rain it was probably all a moot point anyway as the Williams was visibly slower than Merc.

I'm quite interested in the Alonso situation though. McLaren are clearly a total mess, and I'd bet Alonso is working hard in the background for a Williams / Merc spot next year, hard as that may be. All the teams know he's a world champion in the right car and it's wrong seeing him so far back.

Same applies to Button, although to a lesser extent. I still believe he's a top 5 driver and can win, but I suspect he's not actively looking for a race seat next year. I'd love to see him in one of the top cars though.

 

I was at Silverstone yesterday and praying for rain to wake things up. Didn't really happen.


Typhoon flyby was awesomr though. Traffic out was fecking hell. 2 hours to do 1 mile.

 

Fastest laps:

1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’37.093
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’37.403
3 Felipe Massa Williams 1’37.466
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’37.493
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1’37.513
6 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1’37.707

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/07/0...k-in-the-damp/

Was Bottas really faster than Massa? I think it was just DRS. Reversing the positions wouldn't have made a difference, and it was inevitable that Hamilton was going to get past no matter what they did in the pit stops. However if it hadn't rained they may well have hung on to second and third which would have been a great result for them. It was quite sad to see Vettel on the podium considering how great Williams were at the start.

When Hamilton stopped for wets I was shouting "Noooo! Don't be so stupid". At that point Rosberg was catching him rapidly on a damp track; if it had stopped raining at that point Rosberg would have won by a mile and we'd have Lewis the Sulk all over again.

 

Race started well enough with the Williams boys jumping the Mercs. I thought we were in for a great race, but once those four pulled away it descended into follow my leader until the pit stops. Merc got Lewis's tactics spot on (makes up for Monaco), and he was lucky not to get stuck behind Perez when he exited the pits.

Once again Vettel and Rosberg prove that the German's are so lucky. Vettel did nothing all race, but due to a tyre change near the end some how ended up on the podium. Rosberg was also lucky to get second spot after staring at the back of those Williams for most of the race. Had the weather stayed dry, then I doubt either would have been on the podium.

 

By comparison with recent races it was pretty good from what I saw.

Mercedes poor off the line leading to a little squabble, Hamilton fighting back, another mistake at restart, another fightback. Agree its a shame most overtaking is done in the pits now, but from the teams perspective, that is the safest and easiest way and whilst the rules / regs are such that this is the case, then I can't see it chaning much. It does show how much Hamilton had up his sleeve in terms of raw pace.

A shame the rain didn't do more, would have been nice to see Kimi in the mix, he was just a few laps early.

Is it just me or is the BBC commentator a little slow on the uptake? He seems to miss so much which is clear to see, perhaps he does not have the same screen that we see. Always making mistakes. A funny point, when Kimi came in for his second set of inters, commentator asked pit lane chap if he could see the state of the old inters taken off? This all while the camera showed the stop and you could clearly see there was no tread left on the tyres coming off. I assume he wasn't looking at the screen at this point.

A small detail.

Maclaren on a charge... in the points and looking significantly quicker than the Manor cars this week.

 

I liked the fact that Mercedes fluffed the start. If they hadn't we would have had less to enjoy.

 

I think it's quite telling that 3 of the world champions made the right tyre call at the right time, Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso. I was so worried Hamilton had blown it, but he timed it to perfection.

Kimi blew it but was right to take a gamble. I think he needs to retire.

 

I love Kimi but when you look at the stats he's been shit for years. Time to hand in that super license

 

Is it bad when I want it to rain at every track in the middle of the race just to throw something in the mix? I have watched every P2, qualy, and race for the past 6 years and it is starting to get really boring for me.


I've heard rumors about them relaxing the fuel regs and making the cars wider and blah blah blah to make the cars more of a hand full to drive. Think it will change anything?

 

Ron Dennis on Eddie Jordan following his recent criticisms

Made me chuckle.