Jul 08 2012

F1 2012: Silverstone

Rolling in the mud

So one of the features of my “vacation” is working in large unpaved parking areas in the rain which comes down quite heavily at times.  I solve this problem by not worrying about it (Oh, what a world) and bringing a change.  I think I’ve told you about hip deep (no shit) Valet Parking but maybe not about the upper and lower lakes which are basically huge bowls that won’t drain until the water reaches the top of your door locks.

The sad fact is that when it gets dark they bring in the skip loaders and chains and yank them out any old way they can (hey, it was a total loss to begin with.  Call your insurance company.) and tape off any water still standing.

So I have some sympathy for the poor sods at Silverstone-

A Soggy Return to ‘The Home of Motor Sport.’ Why?

By BRAD SPURGEON, The New York Times

July 7, 2012, 12:27 am

Overnight things went from bad to worse at Silverstone as the track director decided to tell ticket holders not to show up on Saturday for the practice and qualifying session. The public parking lots on grass and soil were so badly flooded that they decided to prevent ticket holders from driving to the track, in order to allow the parking lots to be in better conditions for Sunday’s race.

But will anything improve? It rained massively on Saturday afternoon, causing a 1 hour and 30 minute pause during the qualifying session. Furthermore, the forecast is for one month’s worth of rain falling over Saturday and Sunday. In fact, some 60 areas of the country are under severe flood warnings.

Seriously, this is like the #1 topic, how sucky the parking and traffic situation is in the midst of this mid-summer English monsoon.

Silverstone invokes "Dunkirk spirit" after rain chaos

By Alan Baldwin, The Star

Sunday, July 08, 2012

“We had to make a difficult decision yesterday which was really upsetting but I have to say today has been a much better day,” he told reporters after another big turnout for a rain-delayed qualifying session.

“A remarkable number of people actually got here somehow, I’m not quite sure how…and we are very grateful to the people who did stay at home. At least it’s given us breathing space now and we are looking forward to tomorrow.

“The fans seem to be very supportive and there’s a bit of a Dunkirk spirit about this one,” added Phillips.

Never wear anything you’d be afraid to throw away.

British Grand Prix events are regrettable but the blame must be shared, says Damon Hill

By Damon Hill, The Telegraph

9:00 PM BST 07 Jul 2012

Damon Hill was, until last year, president of BRDC, the owners of Silverstone.

It’s a great shame what happened on Friday but finger-pointing does no one any good. Clearly the British Grand Prix is a big event of massive importance to the sport and what has happened is regrettable, but I think it’s important to point out that the efficient running of it is not just an issue for Silverstone, or Formula One, or Northamptonshire, but for everyone.

What happened here is not an isolated case this summer. So many events have been hit. Together we need to work out how to make this, a premier national event, work smoothly, so we’re not embarrassed and people don’t suffer.

We are going to have wet weather; we are going to have wet races. So there needs to be a sensible analysis of how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

And it’s a good thing they have that to talk about too because everything you thought you learned in Practice and Qualifying you really didn’t because for the first time in 2 days we’re going to start dry.

Pretty tables below.

Starting Grid

Grid Driver Team Q-Time Q-Laps
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:51.746 25
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 01:51.793 23
3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:52.020 22
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 01:52.199 23
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:53.065 24
6 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 01:53.290 24
7 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 01:53.539 25
8 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:53.543 25
9 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 01:54.382 22
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 01:56.388 20
11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 01:57.009 19
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 01:57.071 18
13 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:57.108 17
14 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 01:57.132 18
15 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 01:57.426 19
16 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 01:57.719 18
17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 01:57.895 19
18 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:48.044 12
19 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 01:49.027 10
20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 01:49.477 10
21 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 01:51.618 10
22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 01:52.742 11
23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 01:53.040 10
24 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 01:54.143 10

Driver Standings

Rank Driver Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 111
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 91
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 88
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 85
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 75
6 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 73
7 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 53
8 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 49
9 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 39
10 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 30
11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 27
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 21
13 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 17
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 17
15 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 15
16 Felipe Massa Ferrari 11
17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 4
18 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 2

Constructor Standings

Rank Team Points
1 Red Bull 176
2 McLaren 137
3 Lotus 126
4 Ferrari 122
5 Mercedes 92
6 Sauber 60
7 Williams 45
8 Force India 44
9 Toro Rosso 6

rustymancuso581

61 comments

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  2. Pre race is on Speed.

  6. Totally set for a wet race you are.

  9. 8:03

  14. Alonso

    Webber

    Schmacher

    Massa

    Vettel

    Maldonado

    Raikkonen

    Hamilton

    Senna

    Perez

  17. Alonso

    Webber

    Schmacher

    Massa

    Vettel

    Maldonado

    Raikkonen

    Hamilton

    Perez

    Senna

  24. Alonso

    Webber

    Schmacher

    Massa

    Vettel

    Maldonado

    Raikkonen

    Hamilton

    Perez

    Senna

  33. Hamilton

    Alonso

    Kobayashi

    Webber

    Hulkenberg

    Vettel

    Button

    Rosberg

    Massa

    Scumacher

  37. Alonso

    Hamilton

    Webber

    Vettel

    Massa

    Schumacher

    Raikkonen

    Grosjean

    Kobayashi

    Hulkenberg

  40. Alonso

    Vettel

    Webber

    Massa

    Raikkonen

    Hamilton

    Schumacher

    Grosjean

    Kobayashi

    Hulkenberg

  44. Alonso

    Vettel

    Webber

    Massa

    Raikkonen

    Hamilton

    Schumacher

    Kobayashi

    Hulkenberg

    Senna

  49. Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Raikkone

    Vettel

    Schumacher

    Kobayashi

    Hulkenberg

    Hamilton

    Grosjean

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