Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

Newsflash !!!! :

Red Bull's engine maps referred to German Grand Prix stewards by FIA :
The FIA has referred Red Bull to the stewards of the German Grand Prix for a suspected breach of Formula 1's technical regulations.
A statement released by FIA Formula 1 technical delegate Jo Bauer said that the matter related to the engine torque maps on both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber's cars.
The FIA highlighted that the reduced torque in the mid rpm range on both cars was a breach of the regulations in itself, but also because it could offer an illegal aerodynamic benefit as well.
This suggests that the FIA suspects that there could be a benefit related to the exhaust blown diffuser technology that was effectively curbed at the start of the season through a package of regulations that included those covering engine mapping.
"Having examined the engine base torque map of car numbers 01 and 02 it became apparent that the maximum torque output of both engines is significantly less in the mid rpm range than previously seen at other events," said Bauer in the statement.
"In my opinion this is therefore in breach of article 5.5.3 of the 2012 Formula 1 technical regulations as the engines are able to deliver more torque at a given engine speed in the mid rpm range.
"Furthermore this new torque map will artificially alter the aerodynamic characteristics of both cars which is also in contravention of TD 036-11. I am referring this matter to the stewards."
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner sayd: "I'm not aware of any irregularities. The result was declared after qualifying."

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Does anybody know anything of an investigation to Red Bull?
It seems that something happened in the yesterday qualification.

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Here are the results of the qualification :

1. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:40.621 -
2. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:41.026 + 0.405
3. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:41.496 + 0.875
4. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:42.459 + 1.838
5. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:43.501 + 2.880
6. Pastor Maldonado : Williams : 1:43.950 + 3.329
7. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:44.113 + 3.492
8. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:44.186 + 3.565
9. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:44.889 + 4.268
10. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:45.811 + 5.190

Q2
11. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:39.789 + -0.832
12. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:39.933 + -0.688
13. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:39.985 + -0.636
14. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:40.212 + -0.409
15. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:40.574 + -0.047
16. Bruno Senna : Williams : 1:40.752 + 0.131
17. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:41.551 + 0.930

Q1
18. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:16.741 -
19. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:17.620 + -23.001
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham 1:18.531 + -22.090
21. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:19.220 + -21.401
22. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:19.291 + -21.330
23. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:19.912 + -20.709
24. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:20.230 + -20.391

Qual: 1:40.621
Pole : Alonso
Rain : yes

So after this qualifying Grosjean will end up at the 20th place ( 5 place grid penalty ) & Rosberg on the 22nd place ( 5 place grid penalty )


Comment of the qualification :
Fernando Alonso secured his second straight pole position as German Grand Prix qualifying at Hockenheim became a last-minute scramble on a wet track. The 10 drivers in the pole shoot-out were all delivering quicker and quicker times as they acclimatised to the circuit conditions in the final moments, and it was Alonso who handled it best, putting in a 1m40.621s to take pole for Ferrari. World champion and local hero Sebastian Vettel was Alonso's nearest challenger, lapping 0.4 seconds slower than the current points leader as he took second ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, who will drop five places due to a penalty for a gearbox change. That will move Michael Schumacher into the top three on the grid on home ground. The German legend was on provisional pole for a while before ending up fourth quickest for Mercedes.
Three of the top four places on the grid will go to German drivers, as Force India's Nico Hulkenberg delivered a spectacular fifth-fastest time to give himself a season-best starting spot on row two. His team-mate Paul di Resta also reached Q3 and was ninth. Pastor Maldonado completed the top six in his Williams, ahead of the two McLarens. Jenson Button was quicker than Lewis Hamilton, as the 2009 champion delivered his best qualifying performance since Bahrain in April. Kimi Raikkonen was the final Q3 qualifier and rounds off the top 10 for Lotus. The rain had arrived just before Q2 began, leading to a scramble to get a quick time in on the one or two laps that were always going to be the fastest of the segment. Among those who missed out were two of the men with five-place gearbox change penalties: Romain Grosjean (Lotus) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes). They were 15th and 17th respectively. Felipe Massa slithered off the road on his first Q2 lap and rejoined in Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso's path. Being blocked did not stop Alonso reaching Q3, but Massa's error consigned him to 14th. Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo almost made it into the top 10 as the rain he wanted arrived, missing the Q3 cut by just 0.06s. Also out in the middle segment were the two Saubers and Bruno Senna's Williams. Q1 was fully dry and relatively predictable, although Schumacher, Button and Webber all cut it a little fine in either timing or pace terms. In the event, the eliminated midfielder was Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne, for the sixth time in his nine grands prix.
Heikki Kovalainen was nearly a second quicker than Caterham team-mate Vitaly Petrov, while Timo Glock found himself outqualified on home ground by Marussia stablemate Charles Pic, despite the rookie's lack of practice mileage.


Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Rain again! Again Alonso!

Here are the times of the 2nd practice session :

1. Pastor Maldonado: Williams : 1:27.476 -
2. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:27.564 + 0.088
3. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull Racing : 1:27.902 + 0.426
4. Sergio Perez : Sauber : 1:28.402 + 0.926
5. Romain Grosjean : Lotus : 1:28.420 : + 0.944
6. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India : 1:28.495 + 1.019
7. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso : 1:28.513 + 1.037
8. Jenson Button : McLaren : 1:28.516 + 1.040
9. Mark Webber : Red Bull Racing : 1:28.877 + 1.401
10. Kimi Räikkönen : Lotus : 1:29.327 + 1.851
11. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso : 1:29.364 + 1.888
12. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1:29.719 + 2.243
13. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber : 1:29.785 + 2.309
14. Charles Pic : Marussia F1 Team : 1:30.090 + 2.614
15. Timo Glock : Marussia F1 Team : 1:30.220 + 2.744
16. Bruno Senna : Williams 1:30.291 + 2.815
17. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham : 1:30.331 + 2.855
18. Paul di Resta : Force India : 1:30.437 + 2.961
19. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren : 1:30.617 + 3.141
20. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1:31.207 + 3.731
21. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham : 1:32.241 + 4.765
22. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT F1 Team : 1:32.349 + 4.873
23. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes GP : 1:32.777 + 5.301
24. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT F1 Team : 1:42.566 + 15.090

Info : Nico RosBerg & Romain Grosjean will be put 5 places back on the grid after qualifying because of changing gearbox !!!!

Short Comment of 2nd session :
Pastor Maldonado emerged fastest from the second Friday practice session for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, as rain showers meant the order was largely decided by who was on track at the right moment.
Heavy rain before the session meant a distinct lack of Formula 1 cars on track at first, bar Bruno Senna doing an installation lap in the Williams that Valtteri Bottas had crashed in the morning.
It was 20 minutes in before Jean-Eric Vergne, Charles Pic and Nico Rosberg came out and got the afternoon underway in earnest. Conditions were steadily improving at this stage, and a quarter of an hour later Rosberg switched from full wets to intermediates on his Mercedes, a move everyone else soon followed.
With the track getting quicker by the moment, the top spot then changed hands constantly after the next 25 minutes before the rain returned, ending the run of relatively quick times. Maldonado put his Williams on top with a 1m27.476s just before then, and that stood as the fastest of the session.
Most drivers came back out after the second shower passed, but found the track too wet to improve their times. There was still time for some incident though, as Michael Schumacher crashed the other Mercedes on the way into the stadium section, prompting a red flag with four minutes left that effectively ended the session. Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo also hit trouble late on, sliding into the gravel at the Sachs Kurve and getting beached.Rosberg ended up classified second, ahead of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, Sergio Perez's Sauber and Romain Grosjean's Lotus. Everyone managed a reasonable amount of running despite the conditions, with the exception of Pedro de la Rosa, who spent a long time in the garage while HRT worked on his car's brakes, meaning he missed the best of the weather.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

ps: sorry for the delay ...but i have some private stuff at home to do....so it could be that i'm going to post tomorrow's result also a bit later

FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2012
free practice1
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.595 27
2 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:17.093 0.498 22
3 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:17.370 0.775 21
4 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:17.382 0.787 20
5 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:17.413 0.818 28
6 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:17.599 1.004 17
7 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.915 1.320 27
8 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:17.995 1.400 22
9 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:18.020 1.425 20
10 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:18.130 1.535 21
11 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.226 1.631 22
12 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:18.339 1.744 21
13 19 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:18.422 1.827 28
14 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:18.709 2.114 30
15 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:18.831 2.236 14
16 11 Jules Bianchi Force India-Mercedes 1:18.972 2.377 21
17 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:19.039 2.444 34
18 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:19.674 3.079 24
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:19.963 3.368 24
20 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:20.122 3.527 27
21 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:20.169 3.574 20
22 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:20.539 3.944 18
23 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:21.138 4.543 24
24 23 Dani Clos HRT-Cosworth 1:21.740 5.145 27

Alex Yoong 20th July 1976
(Former Minardi Driver in 2001/2002)
[Versteckter Link - Registrierung notwendig]
Happy Birthday to your 36th anniversary

The German Grand Prix alternates between two famous circuits, Hockenheimring and Nürburgring. This year the race takes place in Hockenheim. In the past the old circuit was characterised by long high speed straights followed by slow chicanes. Unfortunately, ten years ago the track was redesigned and lost much of its character. In the old circuit, the aerodynamic downforce was very low, because was necessary to be very fast on the long straights through the forest. But with that set-up was very difficult to drive in the slow "Motodrom" sector. In this way you could see the skill of pilots. Now instead of long straights, there is a new sector, rather anonymous and not very interesting. The current configuration is shorter(4.5 km instead of 6.8 km), but remain unchanged the Motodrom stadium section and the start-finish straight. In the last one edition(2010) the result was a one-two for Ferrari and in the last three editions of the Grand Prix of Germany, held at Hockenheim (2006-2008-2010) Massa has always been on the podium. This week end the Pirelli tyres will be Soft (option, yellow) and Medium(prime, white). DRS: only one zone, but very long.
A step back, Silverstone Circuit(two weeks ago). Saturday's qualifying: the current Formula One cars are not drivable in heavy rain conditions; it would be necessary a rule to increase the ride height of the cars. Of course even in dry conditions. Sunday's race: strangely the hard tyres proved to be faster than the soft tires. Maybe they were convinced it would be a wet race, with cold temperatures. For that reason the teams have chosen a set up to warm the tyres early, but the race remained dry, with temperatures higher than expected. So, the hard tires (with their higher working temperature) have been more efficient than soft tires. The problem was not the degradation, but the loss of performance, maybe there was an excessive overheating on soft tires. In the last stint Alonso(soft tyres) was 0,5 - 0.6 sec. slower than Webber on used hard tyres.
Podium 2010: Alonso – Massa – Vettel – fastest lap on race: Vettel – pole position : Vettel 1'13''791
Last year the race took place at the Nürburgring
2012 wins: Webber Alonso (2), Button, Rosberg, Maldonado, Vettel, and Hamilton.
2012 second place: Alonso and Raikkonen(2), Rosberg, Vettel, Button, Perez and Grosjean(1)
2012 third place: Hamilton(3) Alonso, Vettel, Raikkonen, Schumacher, Perez and Grosjean(1)
2012 pole: Vettel(3) Hamilton(2), Rosberg, Maldonado, Alonso and Webber(1)
2012 fastest lap: Raikkonen Vettel(2), Button, Rosberg, Perez, Grosjean and Kobayashi(1)

Eric Brandon
[Versteckter Link - Registrierung notwendig]
Born : 18th July 1920 - Died : 8th August 1982

Short News :

Marussia rules out car failure in Maria de Villota's accident :
Marussia has ruled out a problem with its car as the cause of Maria de Villota's recent testing accident, after concluding its own investigation into what happened. De Villota lost her right eye and suffered facial and head injuries in the incident at Duxford, when she crashed at slow speed in to the back of a truck as she conducted straight-line aerodynamic work. Alongside an investigation being conducted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and another commissioned by Marussia for an independent forensic body, the team has also completed its own in-depth look at what happened. And although the specifics of what caused the accident have not been confirmed yet, Marussia issued a statement on Monday revealing that the crash was not caused by a failure on the car.
Team principal John Booth said: "We are satisfied that the findings of our internal investigation exclude the car as a factor in the accident. We have shared and discussed our findings with the HSE for their consideration as part of their ongoing investigation.
"This has been a necessarily thorough process in order to understand the cause of the accident. We have now concluded our investigatory work and can again focus on the priority, which continues to be Maria's wellbeing. In that regard, we continue to support Maria and the De Villota family in any way we can."
De Villota is now out of sedation in hospital and able to talk to her family as she continues her recovery.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

News Round Up Part 4 :

Grosjean to get grid penalty in Germany :
Romain Grosjean will have a five-place grid penalty for the German Grand Prix. The Lotus driver suffered a gearbox problem on the final lap of the previous race at Silverstone. Lotus technical director James Allison said: “It was a gearbox problem and we are very fortunate that Romain didn’t have the problem earlier in the race.
“Unfortunately for Romain it means he’ll take a five place grid penalty at Hockenheim, but he certainly showed at Silverstone that dropping down the order won’t stop him challenging at the sharp end.”
Grosjean also had a technical problem in the previous race, retiring from second in Valencia with an alternator failure. Allison confirmed the team had changed how they ran the car at Silverstone in order to alleviate the strain on the alternator.

Mercedes will not consider other options until Schumacher decides on F1 future :
Mercedes insists it will not consider any other options on the grid until it has sorted out whether or not Michael Schumacher is staying with it for next year.

Despite Mark Webber's new Red Bull Racing deal meaning that Mercedes is left in a strong position to lure Lewis Hamilton if the Briton elects to leave McLaren, the Brackley-based team says its priority instead is to work out Schumacher's next step.
Team principal Ross Brawn said ahead of the British Grand Prix that he wanted to make progress on Schumacher's situation by the end of the summer break - and he has now made it clear that he will not think about any other drivers until that matter is finalised.
"We are focused on Michael for as long as it takes - and for whatever it takes," explained Brawn. "Then we will see where we are elsewhere." Schumacher is driving at his best since he returned to F1 at the start of 2010, and he delivered the first podium finish since his comeback in the European Grand Prix.
Brawn reckons that there was every indication Schumacher was enjoying his time in F1, which would point towards the German electing to sort out a contract extension when his current deal comes to an end this year.
"We haven't discussed it, but he enjoys himself and, if he enjoys himself, why not?" said Brawn about the prospects of Schumacher's continuing.
Although Brawn has said he is happy to wait, he does concede that matters will have to start moving fairly soon – because of the length of time it can take for contracts to be sorted out.
"Inevitably you come to a point where you have to say: let's have the discussions because these things can sometimes take some time, and you have to have the discussion and you have to reach a conclusion in order to plan for the future.
"But there is no deadline or critical point where he or we have said that we must have a decision by then. It must be the right decision: that is the most important thing.
"It will be a mutual decision, I think when the time is appropriate we will sit down and we will go through all the considerations and come to a conclusion," he said. "I think knowing Michael as I do, it will be a logical and sensible conclusion, driven by passion of course because he enjoys what he does."
Should Schumacher elect not to continue, then Mercedes' options appear to be either making a big-money swoop for Lewis Hamilton – whose contract with McLaren runs out later this year – or opting for a promising youngster like Paul di Resta or Nico Hulkenberg.

Caterham sure it is closing the gap to the cars in front :
Caterham technical director Mark Smith is confident the team is making the progress it needs to if it is to secure that elusive first point, even though a big upgrade package at the British Grand Prix did not deliver all that was expected. The team had high hopes that aerodynamic developments introduced at Silverstone could help it challenge the outfits ahead - but the mixed weather conditions over the weekend meant its full potential could not be seen. Even so, Smith believes that the team has been making more progress than it has been given credit for – which leaves him optimistic for the second half of the campaign.
"The gap between the guys behind us and the guys in front has been quite a big gap," Smith sayd . "Everyone has bunched up at the front, and there is this big gap, and that makes it difficult to demonstrate that you have made progress because people see progress by position, and it hasn't translated in to that yet.
"But we are fairly confident that we are closing the gap, and that is statistically a fact. I think we have quite a lot of momentum behind us now, so we feel that Toro Rosso are right within our sights.
"But we cannot control how they develop and I have no idea what they are doing or what they are planning to bring to races. I think we are closing the gap and I think the things that we have in mind going through to the second half of the season will keep us going in the right direction.
"We want to get one or more points this season, and we want to race with people like Toro Rosso and maybe one or two others on merit consistently. I think then we will have established ourselves at least as part of the tail end of that group."
Analysis of the Caterham qualifying times shows that the team has improved its performance compared to the fastest time in Q1 at every venue other than Malaysia and Britain this year.

Sauber: No excuses for not scoring in every race given car's potential :
Sauber says there are no excuses for its car not to be delivering points at every race, after it left the British Grand Prix with neither of its drivers in the top ten.
The Swiss-team's C31 has proved to be quick at most circuits, but Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi have struggled at times to capitalise on that performance - either through poor form in qualifying or getting involved in incidents in the race.
And although Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn says there is little point ruing over what might have been in previous races, she suggests that there is no reason why the team should not deliver on all occasions going forward.
"We have failed to score points this season several times and for a variety of reasons," she said. "In hindsight it doesn't help to pine for those points, as now we have to move forward.
"The Sauber C31 has proved to be quick on all types of circuits. Plus we've got two strong drivers – Sergio has been on the podium twice this year, and Kamui has been able to shine with a fourth in qualifying and a fifth in a race. Both have a fastest race lap to their names.
"We have everything it takes to wind up the first half of the season in a positive way, and that's our aim for Hockenheim."
Sauber introduced a car update at the British Grand Prix, but the team does not know how much of an improvement it is because bad weather at Silverstone hampered running.
Kobayashi said: "We are not totally sure how the updates we took to Silverstone work, as we haven't really been able to confirm these in practice in dry conditions. Maybe we need to do some more fine-tuning on these, so it will be interesting to see how this happens in Hockenheim."

Lotus plans 'interesting' updates for the German Grand Prix :
Lotus will try out what it calls some 'interesting' developments at the German Grand Prix next weekend, as it bids to find that extra element to help it deliver a victory.
The Enstone-based team has challenged near the front of the field several times this year, but has never quite put together all it needed to come out on top. However, with the Hockenheim layout and weather set to play to the strengths of the E20, the team has revealed that some updates could boost its chances.
Technical director James Allison said: "I'm quite excited about it. The season seems to be getting stronger for us race-by-race. We should see pretty warm weather conditions in Germany, and nothing about that track should do anything other than fill us with confidence, so I'm feeling positive in that regard.
"I'm excited too because we've got some interesting new updates for Germany and we're looking forward to see how they work out." With Romain Grosjean facing a five-place grid penalty for the weekend because of a gearbox change, the team's best hope of getting a car near the front of the grid will rest with Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn is upbeat about being able to produce good form there - even though he has never won in Germany during his career.
"We've got a good car, we understand the tyres quite well, we've shown that we can be fast and race well... there's no reason why we shouldn't be fighting for another podium," he said.
"Some hot weather would be good. Usually in Hockenheim it has been very hot and everybody has had problems with the tyres going off. Obviously, for us, the hot weather suits the car fine. Our car prefers the hot temperatures and in the long runs it's not that hard on tyres. Let's have some real summer weather in Hockenheim."

Jenson Button admits next two races crucial for McLaren F1 team :
Jenson Button thinks it vital that McLaren makes the most of the next two races as it bids to get itself back to the front of the grid. The Woking-based team has endured frustrating weekends in Valencia and Silverstone, and is keen to ensure that it delivers in Germany and Hungary so it does not lose any further ground in the title battle. With F1 teams facing a summer shutdown after Hungary, Button says there is added significance to the next two grands prix.
"The final back-to-back before we head into the summer break will be important for the whole team: coming off the back of a couple of disappointing weekends," explained Button. "It's important that we capitalise on the opportunities available in Germany and Hungary." With the team convinced that recent difficulties owe more to set-up issues that a performance deficit with the car, Button too thinks that a clearer picture of where McLaren stands should emerge.
"Performance-wise, I still think it's difficult to accurately predict where we stand in the competitive order - Valencia and Silverstone were certainly difficult races for us, but I don't think they were truly representative of our pace," he said.
"This year, you really need a problem-free build-up to the race if you're going to maximise the car's potential – and that's exactly what we'll be hoping for in Germany next weekend."
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh claimed that everyone at the outfit was focused on ensuring the team delivered better performance in Germany.
"There is a huge resolve within the operation to ensure that our aggressive development strategy is upheld across the summer," he said. "We are determined to narrow the gap to the championship leaders before the start of the summer break."
Lewis Hamilton will celebrate his 100th grand prix in Germany.

'Belgian Grand Prix secure until 2015 season' :
Jean-Claude Marcourt, Minister of Economy of Wallonia, says the Belgian Grand Prix has secured its place on the Formula 1 calendar for the next three seasons. Following talk of the circuit losing its permanent slot and signing a biennial deal with Paul Ricard, the 45-year-old explained the situation to local media.
"We were able to negotiate a contract extension for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 where there will be a race at Spa-Francorchamps," Marcourt told broadcaster RTBF.
"What we really want is for the Grand Prix to play a part in the economic development of the region. We want to increase the exposure of Wallonia (mainly French-speaking area of Belgium). What I wanted to do was reduce the size of the expenditure in the budget of the Walloon region, and when comparing what was taken in the previous contract and the new, I would say it is a mission accomplished."
"There was no way we could continue to lose as much money as we lost in previous years. This is the mandate I gave to Étienne Davignon (Belgian Grand Prix Chairman). This circuit is an expense but it is not as much. What we will do is increase the attractiveness of Belgium."
Marcourt went on to talk about the extensive negotiations that took place, admitting that it was a fairly straightforward process after a deal with France was abandoned.
"The negotiations were not difficult," he added. "We had one for a while when France wanted an alternation. They said they were open because it was an opportunity. The negotiations were long. (Bernie) Ecclestone is someone who is extremely difficult to deal with, but was very respectful of the commitments made to us."


Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

News Round Up Part 3 :

FIA issues new clarification on defensive driving :
FIA race director Charlie Whiting has given drivers further guidance on the limits they must respect when defending their position.The document seen puts in writing several points discussed with drivers on the Friday of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. In it Whiting states that: “Any driver defending his position on a straight and before any braking area, may use the full width of the track during his first move provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his” (emphasis as in original document).
“Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason.”
Whiting goes on to define the term “significant portion”, stating that this applies if the car attempting to pass gets any part of its front wing alongside the rear wheels of the car in front.
The rules on defensive driving were previously clarified during the off-season. The previously accepted convention that a driver must leave room for a rival when returning to the racing line between braking zones was codified in Article 20.3 of the Sporting Regulations. The document also addresses cases where it is not clear whether a driver has gained an advantage by going off the track. Whiting states: “we feel the stewards should be encouraged to use their discretion in cases where it is not entirely clear whether or not a driver has gained any direct or immediate advantage”. This relates to article 20.2 of the Sporting Regulations which includes this stipulation: “Should a car leave the track the driver may rejoin, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any advantage.”

Lotus 'not frustrated' by wins getting away, insists Eric Boullier :
Lotus team principal Eric Boullier insists there is no sense of mounting frustration at his outfit, despite another weekend where it failed to deliver on its full potential. The pace of Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen in the British Grand Prix suggested the car had the potential to fight the Red Bulls and Ferraris for victory - but both men were too far down the order to make the most of their chances.
Raikkonen's efforts in qualifying were compromised by a KERS problem that cost him lap time, while Grosjean had a spin in Q2 and then damaged his front wing on Paul di Resta's rear tyre on the opening lap.
Although both men recovered to finish fifth (Raikkonen) and sixth (Grosjean), their pace suggested that more could have been possible if Lotus had got everything right on each day.
But Boullier says that despite the fact the team could be left ruing another opportunity slipping through its fingers, he says there is no annoyance at what is happening.
"I have to say there is absolutely no frustration," sayd Boullier . "It's just the ninth race of the season. There are 11 races to go, it's going to come. Every race we are there, so it's going to come."
Boullier remains convinced that Lotus just needs to sort out qualifying to finally be able to deliver on its quick car in the races.
"We needed better qualifying from both cars actually," said Boullier, looking back at the British GP. "If we had put the tyres on earlier, maybe Kimi would have qualified better - in the top four - and starting in a higher qualifying position would have allowed us to win this race. And this is definitely the key.
"Again, our guys are fast in the race. We build up on a good strategy, but if we don't qualify better we won't be able to be stronger in the race." He also thinks that qualifying further up the grid will minimise the chances of his drivers getting caught up in incidents - as has happened to Grosjean a number of times this season.
"If you start lower you cannot help getting involved in these issues," he said. "Each one was a different incident, with different reasons."

McLaren says its pitcrew now hitting target :
McLaren sporting director Sam Michael says the team's pitcrew has reached the speed and consistency that he wanted - but he concedes the pressure is now on for it to stay at that high level.
Michael set an ambitious target at the start of the season for his outfit to achieve an average pitstop time of under three seconds in a race. That feat was achieved at the British Grand Prix - where the fastest stop of 2.66 seconds was also just slightly slower than the record-breaking 2.60s stop that it did in Valencia a fortnight ago. Michael is delighted that the crew has now got under that three-second average time, as he looks for it to now produce that performance on every weekend.
"We knew we were there in Montreal, but we had a couple of races with hiccups, where things failed and had problems," sayd Michael . "In terms of the pace and the consistency of the pace, we knew it was coming – and we said that.
"Now, we are definitely there – but we have got to keep on it. If you look at some of the problems that teams had at Silverstone - Mercedes had the wheel nuts again, Sauber with Kobayashi, and Red Bull had a problem as well – it is hard out there.
"So if we can stay away from the problems and average those sorts of times, then we can be there to make sure that we are fast enough when the car is quick enough to win. Then it will become a differentiator. It wasn't at Silverstone, but it can be." McLaren's pitstop performance at Silverstone was boosted by the late return of its star right rear wheel gunner – who was injured after being cut by Lewis Hamilton's front wing during a stop in Valencia and had looked set to be forced to miss the British GP.
"He was better, he came in on race morning," explained Michael. "He came on Saturday, did that morning's pitstop practice, did 10 stops and was the quickest on those!
"He didn't work [on the car] Saturday, didn't work on Sunday, but came in for the race and we used him. He was good to go!"
Although McLaren was the fastest pit crew at the British GP, Ferrari retains the best average over the season so far.

Webber says he does not intend his latest contract with Red Bull to mark his final year in F1 :
Mark Webber says he has no plans to retire from Formula 1 at the end of his contract with Red Bull Racing, having just extended his deal for another year. The Australian, who turns 36 in late August, secured a new one-year deal with Red Bull on Tuesday and will continue to drive for the squad he joined in 2007 at least until the end of 2013. Webber, however, insists that despite his age, he is not seeing next year as his last season in F1 and says he wants to continue racing after that.
"Because I'm 36 this summer, people are always asking me when I'm going to retire," Webber wrote in his column for the BBC. "But I'm not thinking about that at all. The contract is just for one year, but I'm looking to stay in F1 for longer than that.
"You know you're closer to the end than the beginning, so you want to make the most of the situation you're in.
"You try to do that bit more, you perform better because you're that bit wiser and you get better results, so you end up staying longer anyway.
"It's an immensely challenging job trying to get the best out of a Formula 1 car and I'm competing with the best drivers in the world." Webber, the winner of the British Grand Prix last weekend, admitted he was in talks with Ferrari over a possible deal, but said there were too many pros to not continue at Red Bull.
He also said that having the full support from the team to fight for this year's title was a major factor in deciding to stay on.
"I'm sure everyone understands the lure of racing for Ferrari, but in the end there were just too many pros to staying at Red Bull Racing - it was as simple as that," he added.
"I've been there since 2007, just two years after the team was formed, and we have built a fantastic team.
"We've won the last two drivers' and Constructors' Championships and we're right in the fight again this year. It's very hard to turn your back on that sort of performance.
"The fact that I am trying to win the championship this year was also a consideration - it would have been that bit harder to keep the momentum going if I was moving to a rival team. That was a factor, but it was certainly not the biggest one."

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner not worried about potential friction between Vettel and Webber :
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner says he is not worried about the prospect of any potential friction between his two drivers later this year - with it looking likely the pair are going to be involved in a tight world championship tussle. With memories of the troubles of 2010 still fresh - where Webber and Vettel clashed on track in Turkey and had a row over a front wing at Silverstone - team chiefs are mindful about the potential troubles that could lie ahead. But Horner believes that the situation between his two men is much better now, which means both they and the team will be better able to cope with any difficulties that could come their way.
"It is a nice headache to have," explained Horner. "But just as we always do – we will do our best to support them and it is down to what they do on the track at the end of the day. Mark won the race [British Grand Prix] because he deserved to win it." Horner suggests that life has moved on for both drivers since the flashpoints of 2010 – and their increased experience will help defuse any potential trouble.
"I think they have spent more time racing each other. They sit in hundreds of hours of meetings together, working on developing the car. They work as team members and then it is down to what they do on track.
"There is a genuine respect between the two of them. Sebastian has achieved so much in such a short space of time, but he knows in Mark that he has got a very genuine competitor. And Mark knows that Sebastian is the benchmark, or has been the benchmark for the last few years.
"It is a healthy situation for them, and it is a healthy situation for the team."
Horner, whose team has just extended its deal with Webber for 2013, has praised the manner in which the Australian has recovered from a disappointing campaign last year.
"I think 2011 was a very tough year for Mark but, all credit to him, he has gone away, reflected on that season and come back and got himself in great shape," he said. "I think he is very comfortable in his approach and in his mind.
"Possibly some of the regulation changes have helped as well, but he is very much a championship contender. We are in a fortunate position where we have both of our drivers as genuine championship contenders."

Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn has dropped another hint Michael Schumacher will remain with the team for at least one more season. :
Although Brawn maintains no discussions have started with the seven-times world champion as to whether he will extend his stay with the team beyond this year, the signs are growing Schumacher will put pen to paper on another contract. Earlier this week the 43-year-old told Germany's Bild newspaper he is "not yet satisfied" with what he has achieved following his return to Formula One after three years in retirement.
Insisting he remains "highly motivated", the feeling of returning to the podium again, as was the case in finishing third recently in the European Grand Prix in Valencia, has stirred his senses.
As far as Brawn is concerned, the team are prepared to give the German as long as he needs to make up his mind, although there is a feeling Schumacher is having fun and so should continue.
Brawn said: "We are focused on Michael for as long as it takes, and whatever it takes. Then we will see where we are elsewhere.
"We haven't discussed it (a contract extension), but he enjoys himself, and if he enjoys himself, why not (continue)?"
Brawn, who has previously suggested talks are likely to commence before the end of next month's mid-season break, knows he has to sit down with Schumacher sooner rather than later.
Brawn added: "Inevitably you come to a point where you say 'Let's have the discussions' because these things can sometimes take some time.
"You have to have the discussion and reach a conclusion in order to plan for the future.
"But there is no deadline or critical point where he or we have said we must have a decision by. It must be the right decision. That is the most important thing.
"Knowing Michael as I do, it will be a logical and sensible conclusion, driven by passion because he enjoys what he does."

Force India duo say team making progress towards the front :
Force India's drivers are convinced the team is making forward progress and has improved its competitiveness in comparison to its immediate rivals Sauber and Williams.
Paul di Resta retired on the second lap of last weekend's British Grand Prix, while team-mate Nico Hulkenberg fell out of the points in the final laps having qualified fast enough to make it into Q3, though he would later receive a grid penalty for a gearbox change.
But both drivers recognised that Silverstone was not perhaps the circuit most suited to the VJM03's strengths and believe that they can replicate their Valencia from - where Hulkenberg finished fifth and di Resta seventh - in future races.
"Valencia we were very strong and in up and coming events we should be relatively optimistic that we can do something," di Resta sayd. "I think we have made step forward.
"The teams around and about us started very well but we are catching up and so long as we can keep the progression and the level going... the guys are working hard and trying hard to understand it all."
Hulkenberg agreed that the updates the team brought to Valencia have improved the car, but added that Force India must keep pushing if it wanted to stay in touch with Williams (which has won a grand prix already in 2012) and Sauber, which has been on the podium twice thanks to Sergio Perez.
"I would say we have improved step-by-step," said Hulkenberg. "In Valencia P5 was good, but there were four cars in front which dropped out - which normally would have been in front of us and that is also pretty clear.
"We are getting better, but we to as well if we are to compete with the likes of Sauber and Williams – who are our main rivals – and to stay close to them in the Constructors' Championship."

Maria de Villota out of sedation and talking to her family; recovery 'remarkable' says team :
Maria de Villota is out of sedation and talking to her family, the Marussia team said on Wednesday evening.
The team said that, despite the injures she suffered eight days ago in her testing accident, her recovery has been "remarkable".
"Following two successful surgical procedures in the days following the accident, last Saturday the medical team at Addenbrooke's Hospital began to gradually reduce the level of Maria's sedation," Marussia said in a statement.
"By Sunday morning, Maria was awake and able to speak to her family, which provided a very important - albeit early - indication that there were positive signs for Maria's recovery.
"Since that time, Maria has been making small but significant steps.
She was moved out of the Neurological Critical Care Unit on Monday and is no longer receiving sedation. Her family remain by her side and she is communicating freely with them and the medical team. Medical assessments are ongoing to monitor Maria's improving condition."
De Villota was involved in a freak accident while carrying out straight-line testing for the team at Duxford airfield on July 3rd. She lost her right eye in the accident.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

News Round Up Part 2 :

Ferrari: Title fight to remain wide open despite close battle with Red Bull up in front :
Ferrari expects the Formula 1 world championship battle to remain wide open, despite itself and Red Bull beginning to pull clear of their rivals. Fernando Alonso came close to becoming the first back-to-back winner of 2012 at the British Grand Prix, before being denied victory by a late charge from Mark Webber.
But on a weekend where both Ferrari and Red Bull delivered their biggest points haul of the season from a single race, it appears that unless McLaren can produce a big step forward in performance then the title battle could become a straight head-to-head fight. However, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali is not convinced about that being the situation, and he believes both McLaren and Lotus can still mount a challenge Asked for his feelings on the title fight, Domenicali said: "Very tough. It is great to see Fernando still leading the championship, and it was good from the sporting point of view to see Hamilton losing some points and Vettel too.
"If we look at the situation of Silverstone, with the first four cars, it means we have done a step in the right direction from the performance point of view. But it is a very open championship.
"I don't believe honestly that the others will stay behind. I am sure McLaren will fight to come back, and the others are very close.
"I was impressed by the pace of Lotus. If you look at Grosjean, if you look at the first lap he pitted and then he finished sixth. So the field is very tight."
Domenicali reiterated that even with the strong results Ferrari has managed so far this season, he will not be happy until he is convinced that the team has produced the fastest car.
"With such a tight competition if you are behind in one area, then it will be a problematic end to the season," he added. "I'm happy to see that the people are concentrated on the job, do not care what [distraction] is all around, and stay concentrated.
"I'm not happy, and [will not be] up to the moment when really our car will be the strongest. At the moment we are not there, but we are getting very close."

Pastor Maldonado sees no reason to change driving style despite incidents :
Pastor Maldonado sees no reason to change his approach to racing, despite falling foul of the stewards again for being involved in a collision during the British Grand Prix. The Williams driver was fined 10,000 Euro and given a reprimand for his part in a crash with Sergio Perez after their first pitstops.
But despite coming off the back of being punished for other clashes with Perez (Monaco practice) and Lewis Hamilton (Valencia), Maldonado says there is no indication from his team that he needs to do things differently.
"I have the team's support because they have the data and when we went to the stewards it is very clear that I lost the car," sayd Maldonado .
"I think I have been unlucky. I accept the penalty from [the clash with] Lewis, although I was a little bit unlucky because I had the kerb and no grip at the front.
"There, it was one and a half laps to the end and I was fighting but here the race was just starting.
"Today we were both racing and both had DRS open. I went to the inside of the track so the position was mine and he braked late, and I was on cold tyres and had no angle to turn and I lost the car and it is clear."
Maldonado also dismissed suggestions that his style is too wild for Formula 1.
"In the previous races at the start of the year I was very clean and I had no problem, and I was fighting more because I was in the middle of the grid," he said.
"Today I was even gentle with Raikkonen, giving him the position and I was driving carefully because the race is long and degradation is big and our car is good with degradation."

Singapore agrees new five-year F1 race deal :
The Singapore Grand Prix is set to remain on the F1 calendar after Bernie Ecclestone and the race promoters agreed terms for a contract extension.Ecclestone told the Singaporean newspaper Today the government will announce the deal shortly. The F1 boss said: “Everything that was in the way of the Singapore Grand Prix continuing for another five years has been cleared.
“I’m happy that this is out of the way because Singapore has been good to F1 and the night race has also been equally good for Singapore.”
The Singapore Grand Prix was added to the F1 calendar in 2008. The new deal will see the street race remain on the calendar for a further five years beyond the end of this season.

Webber will stay with Red Bull Racing for the 2013 Formula 1 season :
Mark Webber will stay with Red Bull Racing for the 2013 Formula 1 season, the team has announced, ending speculation that the Australian could be in line for a move to Ferrari. Webber has been on year-by-year deals with Red Bull for several seasons, and had been linked with a switch to Ferrari to partner Fernando Alonso in 2013. But the reigning champion team has now completed a contract extension with the British Grand Prix winner, who said staying put alongside Sebastian Vettel was the most logical option.
"I've been with Red Bull Racing since 2007 and have achieved nine grand prix wins during that time," said Webber.
"I'm high on confidence at the moment and firing on all cylinders. I know the team well and I'm very comfortable here; we have grown together over the years and it feels like absolutely the right thing to stay with Red Bull for another season.
"The team is constantly working hard to improve in all areas and we've shown that together we can win races.
"It's great to be able to make this announcement off the back of the win in Silverstone at the weekend and I'm looking forward to competing on the edge and pushing myself in every race again next season."
Team boss Christian Horner added: "Mark has driven very well in the first nine races of this season and his performance has been impressive. Much of his Formula 1 success has been during his time with Red Bull Racing and together we have achieved 10 poles, nine wins and 31 podiums.
"As there was a strong desire from both sides to continue the partnership, it was a logical decision to extend our relationship and it is with great pleasure that we confirm Mark will drive for us in 2013."
Webber joined Red Bull at the start of the 2007 season. The 35-year-old Australian has finished third in the championship for the past two seasons, and was a long-time points leader in 2010. Webber is currently Alonso's main rival for the 2012 title, closing to within 13 points of the Spaniard when he beat him at Silverstone.

Mark Webber says choosing Red Bull over Ferrari was an 'easy' decision :
Mark Webber claims it was an easy decision to commit himself to Red Bull Racing for 2013 - after confirming for the first time that he did hold talks with Ferrari. The Australian's British Grand Prix victory proved the catalyst for him and his Milton Keynes-based outfit to finalise a deal for next year, even though team principal Christian Horner suggested at the weekend that they would still hold back for a while before beginning talks. Webber says the prospect of fighting for the world championship this year, and his in-depth knowledge of the way Red Bull Racing operated, were key factors that made him choose to stick with his current team once again. When asked if that decision was ultimately an easy one, Webber said: "In the end, yes it was. It's been an interesting few months, but overall the continuity and desire for me to continue at Red Bull Racing was very strong.
"My main focus is on this year's championship, which is very important. In addition it's an amazing bunch of guys and girls at Red Bull Racing and I really, really like working with them. That has a huge effect on me and how I perform in the car and it helped me in my decision." Talking about offers he had elsewhere, Webber said: "There were discussions with Ferrari, but my decision was to stay here."
With Webber locked in a close title battle, he thinks there will be benefits to wrapping up his contract for next year right now.
"I've been hearing different rumours and reasons for a long time now," he said. "At the end of the day I know everything that has been going on. You want to make sure your focus is clearly on driving the car and the guys that you're working with. It's important the team knows you're 100 per cent with them, which, of course, I am." Webber also says his future beyond 2013 is open, and ultimately depends upon what he is producing on track.
"I've been asked this question for the past four years and my answer remains the same," he replied when asked if 2013 would be his last season in Formula 1. "It's a results-based sport at the front of the grid so the future lies in my own hands. It's down to me to deliver the on-track results."

Ferrari in no rush to decide Felipe Massa's future as Mark Webber rules himself out :
Ferrari insists it is no rush to finalise who will partner Fernando Alonso next year, with Mark Webber's decision to commit to Red Bull Racing taking away one of its most obvious options.
Webber held talks with Ferrari about a deal for 2013, but in the end elected to stick with his current team because of the benefits of familiarity. That move has left Ferrari with a tough choice now to work out who will be best to partner Alonso next season - especially because Felipe Massa has delivered a promising lift in form since the Monaco Grand Prix. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said that his outfit would wait before deciding on its plans, but he did suggest that Massa was now back to his best - which suggests he could yet be given another year's contract.
"I have said all the time that we are in no rush," explained Domenicali, speaking before news of Webber's contract extension with Red Bull Racing was confirmed.
"I am happy to see that Felipe was fourth [at Silverstone]. He was very unlucky in Valencia, so I think it [his struggle] is all over.
"I am happy to see after a very difficult start that he is in this shape and I really hope he can keep it up to the end."
Massa has also received some good backing from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, who noted that the Brazilian's points at Silverstone contributed to the team moving up to second place in the constructors' championship.
"I am very pleased to have seen that Felipe was very quick, fighting hard and consistently throughout the weekend," di Montezemolo told the Ferrari website. "It was very important for him and for us, because it is partly due to the points he scored that we have moved up to second in the constructors' classification."

Prost explains his objections to Senna film :
When the Senna film hit cinemas last year Alain Prost was widely reported not to have watched it.
This was despite Prost being interviewed for the film about his arch-rival, in which he featured heavily.
It now seems Prost has seen the film and, speaking to ITV during their coverage of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, he explained his complaints about the finished picture. Asked if he was happy with his depiction in the film, Prost said: “Absolutely not. No I don’t agree at all.
“I’m really, I would say, upset, in a way. I tell you why in 30 seconds. Because I spent a lot of time shooting for this. I spent many, many hours trying to explain things.
“We had one Ayrton Senna before Formula One, we had the Senna when we were fighting in Formula One and we had the Ayrton Senna when I retired
“And then comes back the human side of the story with two personalities and people would understand much more what happened when we were fighting, why he was fighting like this, and would have understood much more the last three or four months where he was calling me almost once or twice per week asking me questions, asking me to go back to the GPDA, asking questions about Williams, about safety, about personal life – very big secrets that I will never tell anoybody.
“It would have been good to have that, it was all in the rush that I have done. And at the end they wanted to do a commercial thing going to the good and the bad. I don’t care too much about being the bad boy.
“But what I care is look at that. We are here in Goodwood, we have a lot of fans, it’s history of motor racing. I would have loved to have this end of the story.
“At the end of the day all of what you can see is the human side. Otherwise you have no history, you have no tradition and that is really a big shame.”

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

News Round Up Part 1 :

FIA to disable use of DRS under yellow flag situations during F1 races :
Formula 1 drivers will no longer have the ability to use DRS under yellow flag conditions from now on, after the FIA acted to clear up the controversy around Michael Schumacher's final lap in Valencia.
Schumacher had to see the stewards after finishing on the podium in the European Grand Prix, when Red Bull Racing claimed he had used DRS after yellow flags had been shown. The stewards decided not to take action, however, because they judged that Schumacher had slowed down for the warning signals - even if he had used DRS for a short period of time before turning it off. With that situation prompting discussion among drivers - especially after Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa were punished for using DRS under yellow flags at the Spanish Grand Prix - FIA race director Charlie Whiting agreed to look into the matter over the Silverstone weekend. It is understood that Whiting informed the drivers before the race about how behaviour under yellow flags would be treated by stewards going forward. He informed them that from now on, drivers would primarily have to 'demonstrate' that they slowed down sufficiently - with the use of KERS or DRS of secondary importance. However, to limit the possibility of any confusion about the use of DRS in such a situation, the FIA said from now on it would disable the use of the overtaking aid whenever there was a yellow warning flag displayed in the DRS zone at each race.
The new ban on the use DRS during yellow flag periods was implemented for the first time at the British Grand Prix in the wake of the collision between Pastor Maldonado and Sergio Perez.
Before that ruling was laid down, Schumacher had said that he was always under the impression that as long as drivers slowed down for yellow flags then there should not be a problem.
"There are two basics to this one [yellow flags and DRS] and people seem to mix them up," he said. "There is no rule that says if you use DRS in a yellow zone that you automatically will be penalised. Depending on when it happens, you can prove that where the accident is you go slow and you significantly reduce your speed. Whether you use DRS or don't use DRS, that is another story.
"But obviously if you use DRS from points A to point B, and you use 100% DRS, then it is likely that you have not slowed down and therefore you get a penalty."

British Grand Prix 2012: Silverstone just about keeps its head above the flood waters :
“In the mind we want to go faster, higher, stronger, and it’s exactly the same mind as Formula One, going faster and better" .There are certainly areas in which Formula One has shown other sports how it is done but this weekend was probably not one of them. There were no feelings of “faster, higher, stronger” in the minds of the thousands of fans who sat all day in stationary traffic on Friday.
Nor the 30,000 who were “strongly advised” to skip qualifying on Saturday as British Grand Prix organisers desperately scrambled to extricate themselves from their muddy predicament.
In many respects, Silverstone deserves praise for the way in which it recovered from that dreadful start. A full house numbering somewhere in the region of 125,000 was present and correct to see Red Bull’s Mark Webber triumph yesterday; the park and ride system worked smoothly by all accounts; the traffic was just about tolerable; no one drowned. But the fact is that when the rain fell in such copious quantities on Thursday night and Friday morning, Silverstone was just not equipped to cope. The campsites flooded, campervans were turned away, the traffic management system went down the drain. Unlike the rainwater.
This is a place, remember, which was meant to have had its warning back in 2000 when the site turned into a quagmire and a furious Ecclestone labelled it a “country fair masquerading as a world-class event”.
It seems that not all the lessons were learned. While £40 million has been ploughed into giving Silverstone a facelift, with a spanking new pits and paddock complex and a new section of track, the event is still not weatherproof. Not many open-air events are, of course. The Silverstone experience was by no means an isolated case in a summer which has seen the weather wreak havoc across the country. It does not have a retractable roof like the one deployed over Wimbledon’s Centre Court on Sunday before Andy Murray turned on his own waterworks. But it can still do better. Richard Phillips, Silverstone’s managing director, promised that it would. “There is plenty to reflect upon,” he said, his bloodshot eyes betraying the sleepless nights he has endured since Friday.
“We need to put more roadways in, we need to sort out the campsites, we have learned that the park and ride has been a massive success and we can build on that" .Phillips, who was close to tears on Friday night, once again thanked fans for their patience and understanding.
“You could hit them with sticks, our fans,” he said. “They are so loyal. So resourceful. I was speaking to one lady today who was stuck in traffic on Friday and she was telling me how good her experience today had been. I mean, we sold £40,000 worth of tickets to next year’s race on Friday.”
Indeed, the unstinting support shown by fans is one reason not to get too worked up by this. Silverstone has character, it has life, even if it is a little damp around the edges. More fans turn up for practice on a Friday at this frankly fairly unattractive airfield in Northamptonshire than they manage during an entire race weekend at many tracks abroad. Better a rustic experience than a soulless one.
And the sight of thousands of them pouring on to a sun-drenched track at the end to watch the podium celebrations was impressive. But that does not mean that people paying upwards of £300 a ticket should have to sit in traffic for 10 hours. As Neil England, the chairman of Silverstone’s owners, the British Racing Drivers’ Club, said on Friday night, to let it happen again would be “criminal”.
Teams and drivers were largely supportive on Sunday. “It’s a shame that we’ve had this after 2000,” Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn said.
“I’m sure the group will look at it and see if they can or will improve the situation for the future. But all sorts of events have been cancelled this summer. Lots of music festivals have had to be cancelled so it is very difficult.
“I think the fans have been fantastic, which is one of the reasons we like racing here. It is a great place to race.” That it is. Silverstone just about escaped a bullet this weekend, regaining the initiative and putting on a decent race before heavy rain began to fall again last night.
But as the fans streamed away, and the campers waded through mud to pack up their tents, the roof of that spanking new media centre started leaking on to the rows of laptops below. There is still work to be done.

Silverstone won't cut capacity :
Circuit boss promises infrastructure upgrades to cope with future dire weather .
Silverstone chiefs won't consider cutting the capacity for the British Grand Prix in wake of the problems experienced at this year's event and have instead vowed to improve the venue's infrastructure to ensure there is no repeat of the traffic chaos in future. The heavy and persistent rain that hit Northamptonshire venue on Thursday and throughout the opening practice day on Friday played havoc with Silverstone's crowd arrival measures as waterlogged campsites and car parks caused major delays getting fans onto the site and triggered miles of traffic jams on the A43 bypass, which is the main access road for the circuit.
With some fans already unable to get into the circuit in time to see Friday's practice sessions, later that evening Silverstone advised ticket holders with passes for the public car parks for Saturday's qualifying day to stay away completely so that organisers could repair the ground in order to accommodate the expected 125,000 crowd on race day.Reflecting on the weekend's events on Sky Sports News the day after what ultimately proved a dry race on Monday in front of a near capacity crowd, Silverstone's Managing Director Richard Phillips insisted the Saturday stay-away plea had ultimately been critical to getting fans into the event on Sunday at all."The decisions we had to make were very tough," he said. "But if we hadn't of made then yesterday wouldn't have gone ahead and that would have been catastrophic for the fans for the event and for the business."
Silverstone had increased its capacity for this year's race following the construction of new grandstands but asked if a consequence of the subsequent problems at the start of the weekend could prompt a rethink for 2013, Phillips replied: "No. We've maintained the capacity, we've increased it a bit recently, but basically we've managed the capacity over the last few years.
"In the future we'd love to be able to increase the capacity but as this weekend's proven there's got to be some good background grounds in place to be able to do that."
With the official Silverstone campsite, car parks and footpaths reduced to quagmires as the weekend progressed, fans camping into Sunday were advised to delay their exit from the venue until Monday to ease traffic congestion at the end of the race.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, fans on the campsites raised the issues of drainage and improved communication as areas for Silverstone to improve upon and Phillips confirmed organisers were aware of the areas that needed attention.
"There is plenty to reflect upon," he was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph. "We need to put more roadways in, we need to sort out the campsites, we have learned that the park and ride has been a massive success and we can build on that." However, he added that success in circuit owner the British Racing Drivers' Club attempts to source external additional investment was key to further improvements.
"It (the weekend) makes it very important (to find new investment) but we have to get the right one," he added.
"The interest is there, these are very expensive places to run and having someone come in with some extra cash would be fantastic. It would enable us to do better things.
"We were in exclusivity with one particular party and that didn't work out, but the other people who were there prior to that are still there."

Sebastian Vettel says first stint cost him dear during British Grand Prix :
Sebastian Vettel said the ground lost in his first stint in the British Grand Prix was just too much to recover once he got up to third place. The world champion spent the opening laps behind Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa's battle for third. Although he jumped both his rivals in the first pitstops, Vettel could not catch Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso afterwards.
He said his Red Bull had not been comfortable on the soft tyres used for the first stint.
"It didn't perform very well," he said of the tyre. "I was struggling a lot. I was in traffic, which doesn't help, but I really couldn't go any faster than the guys in front.
"In clean air I think we could've done the pace of the leaders at that time, but like that it was difficult.
"We lost too much in the beginning and then we kept closing until the end but it wasn't enough."
Vettel praised his team for getting him ahead of Schumacher and Massa at the earliest opportunity.
"The start was not so good, I lost a little bit and then I got stuck behind Michael. It was a good strategy to come back - we decided to pit early and then use the momentum and came out ahead. So that was a good call," he said. "All in all, I would be a bit happier if I would have won. But nevertheless I think it is a great result for the team." With Webber first and Vettel third, Silverstone marked the first time this year that Red Bull got both cars on the podium. Many rivals had tipped the champion team to start dominating after Vettel's form in Valencia prior to his alternator failure, but despite Webber underlining Red Bull's potential with his win in Britain, Vettel said he had no sense of a definitive pattern forming.
"It's extremely different to years before," he said. "A lot of things might still happen. Obviously it will be key not to retire and make sure you always score points. We think there's still a long way to go."

Maldonado fined, reprimanded for Perez incident during the British GP :
Pastor Maldonado was handed a 10,000 Euro fine and given a reprimand by the race stewards for his part in a collision with Sergio Perez during the British Grand Prix. Perez was left furious after the coming-together - urging the FIA to teach Maldonado a lesson following a spate of crashes so far this season.
But after a detailed look at the incident on Sunday, the stewards elected to fine the Williams driver instead.
A statement issued by the stewards said Maldonado was guilty of causing a collision, and because of the serious nature of the incident it was decided he would be hit with two penalties.
Maldonado said the crash with Perez had not been deliberate, and that he had simply lost control of the car on the entry to the corner.
"I think it was unlucky this time because I lost the car on the entry to the corner, right on the apex with the front and then the rear," he sayd.
"It was before I got to the kerb, and it was after I came out of the pits with DRS open. I did the braking on DRS, and I even braked before my normal braking point, and the reason [for the accident is] I think because the angle I had on the inside of the corner was not enough for the tyre conditions."

McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh insists 'worrying about the car will not make it go faster' after Silverstone failure :
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is adamant morale is not an issue within his organisation following a wretched weekend at the British Grand Prix. Despite overwhelming support at Silverstone for home heroes Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, the McLaren duo trailed in eighth and 10th behind Red Bull's Mark Webber. Disappointingly for Whitmarsh, his team has now slumped to fourth in the constructors' championship behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus, a position the Woking-based marque are unaccustomed to.
Hamilton and Button were hopelessly off the pace, leaving them 37 and 79 points adrift in the championship standings respectively, with Fernando Alonso's lead cut to 13 by Webber.
It is hard to believe just over four weeks ago McLaren were celebrating a Hamilton victory in Montreal that edged him back in front in the title race.
Now, according to Button, they were only the sixth quickest team at Silverstone having also fallen behind Williams and Sauber in terms of pace. "It's tough, but we've been through all sorts of highs and lows as a team, and we're resilient enough," said Whitmarsh.
"But the drivers know, and we know, we need to work on the car, make it better, understand the tyres. Those are the things that are part of our job.
"So we'll be pushing hard. I don't think we need to build morale, everyone is going to be pretty focused to try and achieve that.
"At this time I'm not seriously worried. Being worried doesn't make the car go quicker. Of course I'm disappointed, but there's no magic." Whitmarsh has vowed a more visible upgrade package will be on the cars for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on July 22, notably pertaining to the top body at the rear.
However, he can offer no promises as to its performance, adding: "Anyone who makes predictions this season is very rash.
"Everyone knows this team is strong and committed to winning, and the drivers and team will be giving it their all. We'll see what we can do when we get to Germany.
"It's a decent upgrade, although I'm sure no-one is going to stand still and wait for us. You have to do a good job.
"We've been flat out as we always are. We're trying to pull them (the upgrades) through as quick as we can." For Whitmarsh, the Pirelli tyres continue to remain a mystery, as witnessed with Hamilton on Sunday. He used two sets of the same hard compound, each reacting differently.
"It is very tricky to go from being so strong in the first stint on one set of prime (hard tyres), then about 15 minutes later you put them on again and they feel different," said Whitmarsh.
"They responded differently, yet we set the same pressures and temperatures, so we have to understand them better because if you can get them working you can be a second up, as we've seen."

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi