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Saturday, July 7, 2018
2018 British Grand Prix preview
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| Nino Farina in his Alfa Romeo. Silverstone 1950. |
Silverstone is one of the most legendary F1 tracks in the calendar. Did you know that the whole F1 series started back in 1950 at Silverstone? That's why this circuit is so important!
In the first GP Giuseppe "Nino" Farina won from pole position also setting the fastest lap of the race (1'50.600). The current lap record is by Mark Webber 1'33.401. The track has changed several times so it's hard to compare.
Who might be good here this year? The Mercs most definitely...
Remember how good Bottas was here in 2015 with Williams?
The start was amazing for both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Massa overtook both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and so did Bottas. He just couldn't keep his position and lost one spot to Hamilton.
On lap 3 Hamilton did a very stupid move on Massa and almost took both of them out of the race. Bottas was right behind and took 2nd place from Hamilton.
On lap 9 Williams told Bottas to back off and didn't let him overtake Massa even though he was faster.
Now I know it's easy to make race strategies at home while watching the race on TV but it doesn't take a genius to realize that Williams were making a big mistake. If you were in Bottas' shoes what would you do?! The two fastest cars of the grid are behind you and trying to overtake you and your own team tells you to slow down because the slower car must be in front. What is the point of this?! No wonder Bottas left the team when he got the chance!
I have criticized Williams before for making poor decisions but this was one of the worst in years. Bottas was braking behind Massa for several, several laps destroying his tires etc. and then suddenly they gave him the permission to overtake but it was too late. His tires weren't in good condition anymore and Massa didn't leave him any room to overtake. I understand why Massa did this because I wouldn't wanna let anybody pass me either but I can not understand why Williams were working the way they were. Just stupid.
If they had decided to move Bottas to the front right away he could have pulled away for 20 laps, maybe 0,5 sec per lap. Instead they wanted him to stay between a driver who was slower and the two fastest drivers.
When they finally pitted, Hamilton managed to overtake both of the Williams drivers which was no surprise for me. This was because they couldn't pull away in time and had Hamilton behind them from the beginning.
Rosberg didn't pass them during the pitstops but did that on track afterwards anyway. His new tires were working much better and when the rain started it was all over for Williams. The fight for the victory I mean. They didn't even get a podium.
This time Bottas is with Mercedes and the chances are much better. He has a chance to win! On the other hand Hamilton is always super good here in front of his own people. He has won the British Grand Prix 5 times! Mercedes is definitely going to be in front with Vettel behind them.
Here are my predictions for this year's Grand Prix at Silverstone:
Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
The race:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Surprise: McLaren might get some good points in Silverstone if they don't retire.
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