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[LewEngBridewell]

Hello folk, this is the first time I've logged on since going to Silverstone.

Just reporting that it was a tremendous couple of days and I'm overjoyed that I went. After years of watching F1 solely on TV, this was my first proper Grand Prix visit.

It was not the result that myself, and the vast majority of the excellent, packed-out home crowd, wished for. But looking back, I wouldn't have changed anything (apart from Button's pitstop ).

I was lucky enough to witness a really exciting Grand Prix, and see the finest drivers (Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Vettel and Webber) altogether battling tooth-and-nail at the front. What a treat.

Hamilton's overtake of Fernando Alonso happened right in front of me at Copse. The whole grandstand erupted. It was such a magical moment. I jumped up, yelled and waved my large McLaren flag. Seriously fantastic times.

Well done to Fernando Alonso...fantastic drive.

[racechick]

I think all the grandstands erupted at that point!!

[andrew]

It was a racing incident. Thats agreed by all concerned and all experts.The reason lewis was struggling to make that corner was because he'd been conserving fuel for ten laps, his breaks and tyres had lost heat, he said that on stage after the race. Just be glad he had to conserve fuel otherwise it might have been Alonso he was getting on the last corner not Massa!

That's fair enough, but I'm not looking at the who was/wasn't at fault.

It's the fact that Schumacher was condemned straight away, despite gaving himself a penalty which ruined what would have been an excellent race for him, yet a very similar incident with di Resta was ignored as was Hamilton connecting with Massa. Just more inconsistant race stewarding I guess.

I'm not saying penalties should have been handed out for the hamilton/di Resta incidents should surely these should have been looked at by race control but they were not. Just seems a bit strange and inconsistant to me.

Actually I'd pay good money to see Alonso and Hamilton connect on track, but I would want a refund if both continued unhindered.

[racechick]

Ive already stated Schumachers penalty was too harsh. You're right there are too many inconsistencies. Too many penalties.

[andrew]

I guess it is the joys of different stewards at each race. Different interpretations and all that.

The most annoying thing was that Schumacher seemed to have found Big Joy and was the fastest guy out there, yet virtually none of his racing was broadcast.

[racechick]

I guess it is the joys of different stewards at each race. Different interpretations and all that.

The most annoying thing was that Schumacher seemed to have found Big Joy and was the fastest guy out there, yet virtually none of his racing was broadcast.

He did look good at the track. It was a shame cos he was first out on slicks and could have doen really well, all the others followed when they saw the time he was setting. We were robbed by the stewards.
Mind you he'd already blown it himself by then. Still a shame though.

[vaptin]

He did pretty well to come back and finish 9th though, hardly any of his moves were shown on the broadcast.

That's one thing you can say about his comeback, its no longer leading from the front, he's always worth watching just to see what the hell he's going to do next on track.

[smokin]

He did pretty well to come back and finish 9th though, hardly any of his moves were shown on the broadcast.

That's one thing you can say about his comeback, its no longer leading from the front, he's always worth watching just to see what the hell he's going to do next on track.

Unfortunately it's more likely to be to see who the hell he's going to do next on the track.

[spankyham]

I found this Reuters article on the race to be a really good read.

Analysis - Ferrari victory good for F1 as a whole

(Reuters) - Ferrari's first win of the Formula One season owed something to luck, something to changes in the engine regulations and a lot to hard work and the sheer talent of Fernando Alonso.

Was the British Grand Prix simply a one-off, gifted by a rare Red Bull pitstop problem? Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali hoped not.

"Honestly, today the race pace was good. Even without that mistake...we could have won the race in any case. Today we were very strong," he told reporters after celebrating a victory on the 60th anniversary of Ferrari's first at the same Silverstone circuit.

"I really hope that after this one some others will come."

Alonso, a double title winner with Renault, has been close already this season. In Monaco he might have forced his way past Red Bull's world champion Sebastian Vettel, on worn tyres, in the final laps if the race had not been halted.

In Canada, he might have won had he not tangled with McLaren's eventual winner Jenson Button.

Sport is full of ifs, might haves and should haves but Ferrari's win was overdue and good news for F1 as a whole.

They are the original glamour team, on the Formula One scene since the very first championship in 1950 and the sport needs them to be competitive.

In a season dominated by Vettel, whose 80 point lead means he could afford to go away until September and still lead the championship, a different winner is welcome.

BIT LUCKY

"I think it was a little bit lucky," said McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh. "To be honest, we aren't on the pace of Red Bull and nor are Ferrari at the moment.

"But racing is about taking your chances. Fernando is a phenomenal competitor as we well know in this team, Ferrari is a great race team. It's good for them, good for the sport."

Formula One's governing body clamped down on the engine regulations for Sunday's race, after banning changes to engine maps between qualifying and the race at the previous grand prix in Valencia.

At Silverstone, teams were no longer allowed to use engine electronics to ensure exhaust gases flowed constantly through the rear diffuser for aerodynamic gain even when a driver was off the throttle.

Did Ferrari benefit more from the change than others?

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth, had no doubt that Alonso -- whose team were the last to agree to the rules ultimately being restored to the pre-Silverstone situation -- had been hit a whole lot less than him.

"We lost a lot this weekend, and Fernando told me they did not lose anything, and the Red Bulls clearly didn't lose anything either," he told Reuters.

Whitmarsh hesitated: "I think it would be unfair to say that (their win was due to the engine clampdown). I think there will be people who conclude it.

"But Ferrari have been pushing this year, pushing hard, they deserved a win. I'd rather we had it but I think it's good for Ferrari, good for the sport that they had their first win this year.

"It breaks up the story a little bit, keeps it interesting. It was a great race and was, for the sport, a good outcome."

Domenicali said he simply did not know the answer: "I think that anyone can say something different because no-one really knows what they are speaking about," he declared.

"I hear in this period so many things, from one second to three tenths...it's like playing with dice."

Ferrari were so far off the pace four races previously in Barcelona, a circuit where Pirelli brought the same mixture of soft and hard tyres, that Alonso was lapped despite finishing fifth.

They have been working feverishly at Maranello to rectify a pre-season problem in the wind tunnel and the improvement at the weekend was so marked that even Domenicali was astonished.

"It was an incredible performance. We were expecting an improvement, for sure. That it was so big, to be honest we need to be cautious, we need to understand the data, we need to understand what the others were doing," he said.

"The performance of our car during this weekend was really good in all conditions, wet, soft tyres, hard tyres.

"We need to bring home race-by-race the result, and try to understand because maybe it will be different for the next grand prix."

Ferrari are third in the constructors' standings, the same position that Alonso occupies in the drivers' championship, albeit 92 points adrift of Vettel.

"I want to be cautious but never say never," Domenicali said when asked whether Ferrari could do mission impossible and get back into the championship reckoning.

"I don't look at the classification at the moment, we need to push and never give up. If in the next couple of races we are able to achieve good results, we will. At the moment we need to stay focussed on our job."

[bud]

I think that was nice of Martin to say, what I like even as a McLaren fan that Ferrari won 60 years to the day at the track they won their first race at. I like things like that

[Hammer278]

That's nice of you bud. I just like it when they never win.

[LewEngBridewell]

I think that was nice of Martin to say, what I like even as a McLaren fan that Ferrari won 60 years to the day at the track they won their first race at. I like things like that

That's nice for them. What's interesting about Ferrari is, while I don't like the team, I always want them to be there on the grid. It's good to have the perceived "bad-guys". F1 just wouldn't be the same without Ferrari.

[What's Burning?]

I think that was nice of Martin to say, what I like even as a McLaren fan that Ferrari won 60 years to the day at the track they won their first race at. I like things like that

That's nice for them. What's interesting about Ferrari is, while I don't like the team, I always want them to be there on the grid. It's good to have the perceived "bad-guys". F1 just wouldn't be the same without Ferrari.

Your answer is identical to what a Tifosi would say about McLaren.

[texasmr2]

Your answer is identical to what a Tifosi would say about McLaren.

Profiling is not an acceptable fashion of 21st century PC so on that note "In your face RB" .

in_reuters_com_.jpg

[kerc]

I've never understood why people say they would want team X or Y off Formula 1. Every team adds color and texture to the racing experience, even the backmarker teams (which sometimes are fun to watch grow, i.e., Force India). The statement makes even less sense when they refer to the big dogs: Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull.