2016 British GP

Pip pip cheerio...the 10th round of the F1 season takes us to Silverstone in Britain. The tire choices will be Soft, Medium, and Hard with all teams bringing a varied tire strategy. Here are the headlines entering Ben Atkins' homeland.

Here we go Again...

Well Mercedes, I am going to sit back and watch the team fall apart. Nico and Lewis are about ready to beat the living hell out of eachother and their bosses don't want to see it happen. If both Nico and Lewis are retained for 2017, it will be an absolute miracle.

McLaren's Comeback

Over the past few races, McLaren has slowly climbed their way back to the front of the field. With Jenson Button's very impressive weekend, McLaren seems poised to get back to the front of the field. However, rumors have swirled that Jenson may either leave McLaren or retire from F1 after this season.

Manor is on the Board

For the first time since Monaco 2014, Manor had a points paying race. Pascal Wehrlein took the Manor and had, in my opinion, the best race weekend that Manor has ever had. Pascal qualified the car in 12th and managed to finish 10th. Manor has been competitive with Sauber all season long and they may have an opportunity to be a decent midfield team for 2017.

Has Kimi Saved his Seat?

Kimi Raikkonen finished 3rd in Austria. However, this performance has not guaranteed where Kimi will be for 2017. If Kimi left Ferrari, there were 4 drivers rumored to replace him, Daniel Riccardo, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, and Romain Grosjean. It will not be Riccardo and Sainz as they are keeping their respective rides for 2017. Perez has proven he is the better driver at Force India but I have no clue if he wants to go back to a front-running team given his year at McLaren. Grosjean has done wonders this year with Haas and Lotus the past 2 seasons. We'll wait and see who goes where.

Here are the numbers for the British GP:

50: This will be the 50th race at Silverstone

1,060: Ferrari hold the laps led record with 1,060 laps led

365: Jim Clark has led the most laps in Britain

5: Jim Clark and Alain Prost hold the record with 5 wins in Britain

16: Ferrari has won the most wins in Britain

100: Kimi Raikkonen will start his 100th race for Ferrari this weekend

23: Of the 66 British GP's, 23 have been won by a Brit

1:33.401: Silverstone's fastest lap was delivered by Mark Webber in 2013

70%: The amount of time a driver spends at full throttle in Silverstone

7: Of the 11 teams, 7 are based in Britain

BREAKING NEWS: Kimi Raikkonen will remain at Ferrari in 2017.

racingfreak1999 wrote:BREAKING NEWS: Kimi Raikkonen will remain at Ferrari in 2017.

Well that kills the Perez/Grosjean to Ferrari rumor

Ferrari were always going to re-hire Raikkonen - there's nobody on the market that they haven't already had a chance to sign. Besides, Raikkonen has been closer to Vettel this year, and the two have a good working relationship.

Lewis Hamilton Grabs Pole

Britain's own Lewis Hamilton will start on the pole beating out his teammate by .3 seconds. Below is the starting lineup for the British GP.

Row 1: Hamilton - Rosberg
Row 2: Verstappen - Riccardo
Row 3: Raikkonen - Vettel(5 Spot Grid Penalty, will start 11th)
Row 4: Bottas - Hulkenburg
Row 5: Sainz - Alonso
Row 6: Perez - Massa
Row 7: Grosjean - Gutierrez
Row 8: Kvyat - Magnussen
Row 9: Button - Palmer
Row 10: Haryanto - Wehrlein
Row 11: Nasr - Ericsson(Will start from pit lane)

HAM had a time tossed earlier in Q3 for exceeding track limits, so him getting pole shows just how OP the Mercs are.

RyanB06 wrote:HAM had a time tossed earlier in Q3 for exceeding track limits, so him getting pole shows just how OP the Mercs are.

Formula 1 has always been in cycles for a dominant team. Right now, Mercedes is the team to beat. Before them, you had to beat Red Bull, before Red Bull, it was Renault. Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton, Lotus, they have had their time to shine.

I am hoping that McLaren will be the challenger to Mercedes next year but with the new car, who knows who the dominant team will be.

The_Wall_91 wrote:Lewis Hamilton Grabs Pole

Britain's own Lewis Hamilton will start on the pole beating out his teammate by .3 seconds. Below is the starting lineup for the British GP.

Row 1: Hamilton - Rosberg
Row 2: Verstappen - Riccardo
Row 3: Raikkonen - Vettel(5 Spot Grid Penalty, will start 11th)
Row 4: Bottas - Hulkenburg
Row 5: Sainz - Alonso
Row 6: Perez - Massa
Row 7: Grosjean - Gutierrez
Row 8: Kvyat - Magnussen
Row 9: Button - Palmer
Row 10: Haryanto - Wehrlein
Row 11: Nasr - Ericsson(Will start from pit lane)

Ericsson news to be cleared by Doctors first

The_Wall_91 wrote:

RyanB06 wrote:HAM had a time tossed earlier in Q3 for exceeding track limits, so him getting pole shows just how OP the Mercs are.

Formula 1 has always been in cycles for a dominant team. Right now, Mercedes is the team to beat. Before them, you had to beat Red Bull, before Red Bull, it was Renault. Williams, Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton, Lotus, they have had their time to shine.

I am hoping that McLaren will be the challenger to Mercedes next year but with the new car, who knows who the dominant team will be.

Manor has been doing well for them and they got their 2nd points finish last time, so I want Manor to do well so badly. But alas, it's not going to happen.

Looking like it's going to be VERY wet for the race, there is a lot of rain for the Porsche Supercup race for now.

EDIT: I was deceived, it's wet but not as overstated as above

I will do winners and losers later

Rosberg's been given a 10-second time penalty for the radio message telling him to just skip 7th gear. This drops him to 3rd, behind Verstappen, and cuts his point lead to 1, although Mercedes are appealing.

Feel asleep halfway through, feeling that burnout on F1 again.