Limejuice
Well-Known Member
I'd pay to watch that.
F1 2021
- Thread starter 1%er
- Start date
1%er
Well-Known Member
Hamilton takes top slot for F1 pole position sprint
The winner of Saturday's (early Sunday morning NZ time) 17-lap dash around the Silverstone circuit will take the official pole position for Sunday's main event in front of a sell-out crowd expected to number more than 140,000. Hamilton, who can count on the support of the massed ranks who rose to salute the Mercedes driver as he went top, will be joined on the front row by Red Bull's championship leader Max Verstappen.Verstappen leads Hamilton by 32 points after nine rounds but the Briton has won his home race a record seven times and will do all he can to give his army of fans another day of celebration. "I need to bring out the lion tomorrow and give it everything," said the 36-year-old Briton, whose once-dominant team have been beaten in the last five races. "I think I've got the car where I need it so we'll see. We've been missing this for a whole year," Hamilton said of the atmosphere. "To have a full crowd like this, to see the energy...this is down to the fans, I think. I could see the crowd and it was really reminiscent of my first pole here in 2007."
Points, awarded 3-2-1, are available to the top three finishers in the sprint. Verstappen had been quickest by a massive seven tenths of a second in the day's only practice session, causing some consternation at Mercedes. The Dutch 23-year-old said the car was "under-steering to the moon" in the qualifying session, however. "I couldn't really attack any corners, I was just waiting for the front to grip up," he said. "Bit of a weird feeling, to be honest, to drive. We were still quite close so it's alright.".
Hamilton's team mate Valtteri Bottas, who helped punch a hole in the air to give the Briton a slipstream, qualified third with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fourth. "There's all to play for," said the Finn. "Hopefully we have a good race pace." The new format is being trialled at Silverstone and two other circuits that have yet to be decided to provide more excitement over the three days. If deemed a success, it will be expanded to more rounds next season. "It's a bit of a weird feeling," said Verstappen. "You do qualifying, you go flat out and actually it doesn't really mean anything in terms of pole position feeling."
The feel good story of the session was Britain's George Russell, who drew a huge cheer when he qualified his struggling Williams a hugely impressive eighth. "It's such a special feeling," he said. "Every lap I could see them jumping up and cheering. I'm sure it was the same for Lando as well." McLaren's Lando Norris qualified sixth, behind Red Bull's Sergio Perez. Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo will line up seventh. The top 10 was completed by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, ninth, and Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel.
Friday's qualifying replaced the usual second practice session but there will be another chance on Saturday for teams to get laps in before the sprint.
2021 British Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying starting grid
| Row 1 | 1. Lewis Hamilton 1’26.134 Mercedes | |
| 2. Max Verstappen 1’26.209 Red Bull | ||
| Row 2 | 3. Valtteri Bottas 1’26.328 Mercedes | |
| 4. Charles Leclerc 1’26.828 Ferrari | ||
| Row 3 | 5. Sergio Perez 1’26.844 Red Bull | |
| 6. Lando Norris 1’26.897 McLaren | ||
| Row 4 | 7. Daniel Ricciardo 1’26.899 McLaren | |
| 8. George Russell 1’26.971 Williams | ||
| Row 5 | 9. Carlos Sainz Jnr 1’27.007 Ferrari | |
| 10. Sebastian Vettel 1’27.179 Aston Martin | ||
| Row 6 | 11. Fernando Alonso 1’27.245 Alpine | |
| 12. Pierre Gasly 1’27.273 AlphaTauri | ||
| Row 7 | 13. Esteban Ocon 1’27.340 Alpine | |
| 14. Antonio Giovinazzi 1’27.617 Alfa Romeo | ||
| Row 8 | 15. Lance Stroll 1’27.665 Aston Martin | |
| 16. Yuki Tsunoda 1’28.043 AlphaTauri | ||
| Row 9 | 17. Kimi Raikkonen 1’28.062 Alfa Romeo | |
| 18. Nicholas Latifi 1’28.254 Williams | ||
| Row 10 | 19. Mick Schumacher 1’28.738 Haas | |
| 20. Nikita Mazepin 1’29.051 Haas |
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
So I guess we can interpret the FP2 times as indicative of race pace? And with this weekend‘s race being a longer 400km one with an extended red flag period after the first 100km (as the Ferrari boss has described it), race pace will be even more significant to the weekend’s result than qualifying pace, compared to a normal race weekend.
1%er
Well-Known Member
The New Sprint Race Rules Explained
The British Grand Prix on Saturday will host the first of a series of three Sprint races that is being trialled in the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The 100 kilometer race is equivalent to seventeen laps at the Silverstone circuit where the lap distance is 5.891 kms. If we take the average lap time to be 1m30.000s, the duration of the race is likely to be under thirty minutes.If there is a red flag situation, the race can be stopped and restarted. The total race duration is limited to ninety minutes from the start of the race. The top three finishers in the Sprint race will be awarded points. The winner will get three points, second place will get two points, and third place will get one point. The full points will be awarded if atleast 75% of the race distance is completed. So the oft-repeated cliché that there are no points awarded on a Saturday at a Grand Prix weekend does not apply at the three Grands Prix with Sprint races this season. The Italian Grand Prix is likely to be the second race to experiment with this new format.
The Pirelli Tyre Choices
There will be 12 sets of the Pirelli slick tyres, instead of the usual allocation of thirteen sets. Every driver will have two sets of the white-striped hard tyres (C1), four sets of the yellow-striped medium tyres (C2), and six sets of the red- striped soft tyres (C3). In addition, up to six sets of Intermediates tyres and three sets of full wet tyress will be provided in case of wet weather conditions.
During the Friday qualification session only the soft compound tyres can be used. For the sprint race, the drivers have a free choice of tyres to start the race. The drivers are likely to choose the medium or hard compound tyres. A pit stop is not mandatory, but the drivers are allowed to make a stop in case of punctures or damage. In case of a wet Sprint race, the drivers can use the intermediate tyres and the teams can return the used set and it will be replaced with a new set. All the drivers are again allowed to have a free choice of tyres to start the race. But the rule of atleast using two different compounds of tyres during the race applies.
Starting Grid for the Race
The winner of the Sprint race will be officially awarded pole position for the race on Sunday. The grid for the race will be decided based on the results of this Sprint race. In case of drivers not finishing the Sprint race, they will line up behind the classified finishers in the order of most laps completed. When drivers have completed the same number of laps in the Sprint race, their starting position in that race will be used to determine the grid positions.
Parc Ferme Conditions
The car will enter Parc Ferme conditions when they start qualification on Friday. Some limited reconfiguration changes are allowed for the second practice session on Saturday afternoon (FP2), before the Sprint and Grand Prix race. For safety reasons, brake-related material and brake ducts can be replaced by new materials after qualification. If the ambient temperatures change by more than 10 degree C, adjustments can be made to the power unit and other cooling elements. If cars suffer damage, teams are allowed to replace like for like with new components. If they do not have the same specification of the component, they can ask for permission to replace it.
Between qualifying and the Sprint race, teams are permitted to change or adjust suspension elements, alter camber, alter toe or ride height of suspension components on the list in the regulations. The teams have been awarded an extra $ 500,000 for the cost of the sprint races with the cost cap in effect this season. The teams can also apply for permission for an increase on that allowance in case of significant accident damage.
The Strategy
This is a second opportunity for drivers who did not qualify well to aggressively make places to move forward for the starting grid in the main race. But if they are too aggressive, they are likely to end up at the back of the grid. For the top drivers starting in front, a mix of aggression and caution is necessary to protect their grid positions for the race. So this is an unpredictable new experiment for Formula 1. Based on the results of the three Sprint races this season, the plans for 2022 for this new format will be determined.
1%er
Well-Known Member
Teams don't have to pay (full) for possible damage during sprint race
On Saturday Formula 1 will organise a sprint race for the first time. Not all teams are happy about this, because there is more chance of damage. However, AlphaTauri team manager Graham Watson says that Formula One Management (FOM) can pay a part of the damage. The sprint race is a 100km race, which at Silverstone equates to 17 laps. Normally, most drivers don't make 17 laps at full speed during a qualifying session, especially the drivers who would be out in Q1. Also, there is actual racing going on and drivers are much closer to each other than in normal qualifying. So the chance of damage is a lot bigger.Teams can appeal to FOM
But Watson tells us that the FOM has given extra room in the budget. He also says that there is an 'accident damage clause'. "There is an agreement that if you have damage from an accident with another car you can make some kind of claim to the FOM." But he has to admit that there is a limit to how much money the teams can ask for. "Although a kind of maximum amount has been agreed upon. Fortunately the number of real incidents on a yearly basis is not that high, so the risk is not that big", he concludes.
1%er
Well-Known Member
Saturday practice
Max Verstappen led the way in the second practice session at Silverstone, with the Red Bull driver finding a narrow advantage over Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second. In response to Lewis Hamilton's pole lap yesterday, Verstappen clocked a 1.29.202 - setting the stage nicely for F1's first-ever Sprint Qualifying race later this afternoon. Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez, was almost a second down on the Dutchman in P4. Both men set their fastest laps on the medium tyres, in a possible indicator of the tyre choices that the drivers will make later today.The McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo were sixth and seventh respectively, with the Brit holding a narrow advantage on home turf. The surprise package of the session was arguably Alpine's Esteban Ocon, who finished the session in fourth on the medium tyres - just eight-tenths down on Verstappen. Mercedes appeared to have been running a slightly more conservative program, as Hamilton finished down in P8 - despite being on the soft compound.
Williams man George Russell, who impressively lines up in P8 on the grid for this afternoon's sprint race, ended the session in 11th on the mediums. Elsewhere, Ferrari showed good form on the soft tyres, with Charles Leclerc just 0.375 seconds down on Max Verstappen in second place. His teammate, Spaniard Carlos Sainz, was a further three-tenths back. Fuel loads were a big variable in the session, as some drivers and teams opted to prepare with Sunday's Grand Prix in mind. The Aston Martin duo of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll were a lowly P15 and P18, with both running high fuel loads - according to team CEO Otmar Szafnauer.
| 2021 F1 British Grand Prix - FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) | ||||
| Pos | Driver | Nat. | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1m29.902s |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m30.277s |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m30.507s |
| 4 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1m30.707s |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 1m30.800s |
| 6 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1m31.030s |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m31.034s |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m31.131s |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m31.180s |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m31.188s |
| 11 | George Russell | ISR | Williams Racing | 1m31.237s |
| 12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | GBR | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m31.263s |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | CHI | Alpine F1 Team | 1m31.289s |
| 14 | Kimi Raikkonen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m31.328s |
| 15 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1m31.337s |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m31.404s |
| 17 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m31.593s |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m32.041s |
| 19 | Nikita Mazepin | RUS | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m32.474s |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m34.017s |
1%er
Well-Known Member
I wonder which tyres the drivers will use, 17 laps is around the limit of the softs but will be the better starting tyre. Looking back at the last race here at Silverstone some drivers were able to stretch the softs for much longer than 17 laps, but they were not on the limit all the time.
I'm looking forward to see how this new format works out.
I'm looking forward to see how this new format works out.
souljacker
innit
I'm excited! Tea time racing on terrestrial TV. What's not to like?
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
Bloody hell, the cars actually look like they're going faster 
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
"Only Mazepin is behind him!" is the new metric for how bad things are going for a driver.
