- 01 Jul 13, 17:39#364874Oh wow. I think I've done it!! I won't get in trouble for doing that will I?
Red Bull-Renault RB9
Start: 3rd
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 9
Vettel would have won the British Grand Prix but for his gearbox problem, no question, although it's difficult to make a strong case that he would have done so without Lewis Hamilton hitting trouble. But with the Mercedes clearly a little quicker than the Red Bull, Vettel did everything expected of him – a good qualifying lap and getting ahead of Rosberg at the start – before controlling the race well once in the lead. The result should have been a 30th victory, but turned out to be a rare nil points.
Red Bull-Renault RB9
Start: 4th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 8
Had this been a 53-lap race, Webber would very likely have won it. Had it been 54, it's hard to believe he wouldn't have found his way past Nico Rosberg to claim his third British GP victory. In qualifying, he was very nearly as quick as Vettel, but a terrible getaway and turning in on Grosjean at the first corner meant he completed the first lap 14th. Recovered excellently, pulling off some fine passes and showing he hasn't switched his focus to sportscars quite yet.
Ferrari F138
Start: 9th
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/hard/medium)
Rating: 9
The Ferrari was nowhere near as competitive as Alonso expected at Silverstone. Should have qualified two or three places higher, but in the race was his usual dogged self, particularly when capitalising on fresh rubber to climb from eighth to third during the sprint following the second safety car. Considering Vettel did not finish, not to mention the fact that the car was nothing special, Alonso can be very pleased with himself for pulling 15 points on his title rival.
Ferrari F138
Start: 11th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 4 stops (medium/hard/hard/hard/medium)
Rating: 7
Things didn't look particularly good for Massa during practice and qualifying, suffering both a lead-footed crash in the damp exiting Stowe on Friday and a failure to make the top-10 shoot-out. But a stunning start got him up to fifth and he surely would have been a very strong podium contender had his left-rear Pirelli not let go during the first stint. To his credit, he didn't let his head drop and managed to climb from last to sixth, picking up five places on fresh rubber late on.
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28
Start: 10th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 5
The McLaren hasn't showed many signs of being transformed into the victory contender the team has claimed it'll become, so it's difficult to judge Button's performance other than to say he outqualified his team-mate pretty comfortably but was on a pretty similar level during the race. Staying out on old rubber when others pitted under the final safety car was a legitimate, if ineffective, way to try to nab a point. Probably about a par weekend given the machinery.
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28
Start: 13th
Finish: 20th/DNF
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/medium)
Rating: 6
The Mexican had the odd spin and off-track moment on Friday and Saturday and complained that being called to the weighbridge during Q2 cost him tyre temperature and condemned him to a seventh-row start. In the race, he made more progress than Button early on and even briefly ran as high as third while others pitted. Was trying to hang on to a points position, ahead of Button, when he suffered his second tyre blowout of the weekend, which led to a 'tactical' retirement.
Lotus-Renault E21
Start: 8th
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 8
Qualifying was solid but unspectacular and Raikkonen ended up being outpaced by team-mate Grosjean for the first time in 2013. But the fact that the gap between the pair was tiny suggests it's more likely both turned in broadly par performances for a car that wasn't able to find the time gain expected of the medium rubber. In the race, Raikkonen drove very well, pulling a particularly impressive pass on Hamilton, but the failure to pit under the final safety car cost a potential podium.
Lotus-Renault E21
Start: 7th
Finish: 19th/DNF
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/hard/medium)
Rating: 8
Until his second pitstop, the weekend had gone very well for Grosjean. He beat Raikkonen in qualifying for the first time since last year's United States GP, ending a run of eight qualifying defeats, and shadowed his team-mate. Unfortunately became embroiled in traffic after his second stop. Was still on for a few points late on, but front-wing damage slowed him and the team retired the car once making the top 10 was impossible. Drove better than results suggest.
Mercedes F1 W04
Start: 2nd
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 3 stops (medium/hard/hard/hard)
Rating: 8
A creditable victory, but only the most partisan would argue that he was in the same class as his team-mate at Silverstone. Even so, it was a decent weekend's work from Rosberg, who wasn't a big fan of the oversteery car in practice and was more than 0.4s off Hamilton in qualifying. But having inherited the lead, he nailed it when he needed to in the final laps to keep the charging Webber at bay. That final effort turns a seven into an eight.
Mercedes F1 W04
Start: 1st
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 10
Considering Hamilton was far from happy with his "uncomfortable" Mercedes on Friday, his qualifying performance was stunning. Fastest in every sector, even team-mate Rosberg was surprised by his pace. After pulling out of DRS range in the first two laps, Hamilton was doing exactly what he needed to do when the blowout cost him victory. Had climbed to ninth by the time of the final restart and used fresh rubber to scythe through to salvage fourth. Deserved much more.
Sauber-Ferrari C32
Start: 14th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 3 stops (hard/hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 9
There was no obvious reason why Hulkenberg could have qualified any stronger than he did, as the Sauber certainly isn't among the seven fastest cars. But given the topsy-turvy race, he was able to stay closer to the points positions than he normally would have and was promoted from 11th to 10th when Grosjean pulled out with front wing damage late on. Only downside was a messy second restart, but his point was well earned.
Sauber-Ferrari C32
Start: 17th
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 4 stops (hard/medium/medium/hard/medium)
Rating: 6
Another weekend best described as 'character-building' for the youngest driver on the grid, who once again couldn't find the same turn of pace in the Sauber in qualifying as his team-mate and fell in Q1. But he was much better in the race, falling into line behind Hulkenberg, and without the front-left tyre failure, which wiped out a significant chunk of his front wing, would likely not have been too far off the points. So while Saturday was poor, Sunday was actually pretty good.
Force India-Mercedes VJM06
Start: 22nd
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 3 stops (hard/medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 7
It's still not clear what went wrong in qualifying regarding weight, although it was the driver, not the car, whose weight was lower than expected and led to the car being excluded. But that doesn't affect the fact that di Resta's qualifying performance was outstanding. Come the race, he cleared the Caterhams and Marussias immediately, proved to be Hamilton's toughest foe in battle and for the third race in succession came away with points from the lower reaches of the grid.
Force India-Mercedes VJM06
Start: 6th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 7
There's not a great deal to criticise about Sutil's performance at Silverstone. While he was beaten by di Resta in qualifying, he was within a couple of tenths of the Brit. A good start put him up to fourth, but while he spent a number of laps in positions higher than he finished, it's doubtful whether the circumstances of the race would have permitted him to cross the line significantly higher than he did. Was powerless to hold third in the final sprint thanks to old rubber.
Williams-Renault FW35
Start: 15th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 8
The Venezuelan at least had intra-team bragging rights after qualifying on the weekend when his team celebrated 600 grands prix, shading Valtteri Bottas on Saturday to be the only Williams driver to escape Q1. In the race, Maldonado stuck to his task and was in the hunt for points at the final restart, only to get caught up with Hulkenberg. Given he finished within a second and a half of the top 10, it's very possible that without that incident he would have nicked a point.
Williams-Renault FW35
Start: 16th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 7
An anonymous weekend for Bottas after his Canada heroics, but once again he plugged away effectively in an uncompetitive car. Wasn't quite on Maldonado's pace in qualifying, but drove consistently on Sunday. Was sent out on fresh rubber for the mini-race after the second safety car and did well to climb from 16th to 12th, overtaking Button on the last lap to finish 4s behind his team-mate. All in all, a decent weekend's work in an unpromising situation.
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8
Start: 12th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: retired (hard/hard/medium)
Rating: 5
With the pressure well and truly on both Toro Rosso drivers, it was Vergne who undid a little of the good work of the previous two race weekends by understeering off the track at Becketts while on target for Q3. A bad first lap didn't help, but Vergne can't be blamed for the tyre blowout that put him out of points contention and ultimately led to the team withdrawing him from the race thanks to the damage caused by flailing rubber.
Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8
Start: 5th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 8
After disappointing grands prix in Monaco and Canada, Ricciardo knew full well that with Webber's seat definitely open for 2014, he needed a good weekend at Silverstone. He qualified strongly, although the speed of the car perhaps meant he should have outpaced di Resta, and his race was strong even though the safety car cost him a position or two in the final reckoning. All things considered, very accomplished – but still needs to prove he can consistently turn around a weekend that starts badly.
Caterham-Renault CT03
Start: 18th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/hard/medium)
Rating: 7
Bounced back from a shunt on Friday morning to turn in what he rated as his best qualifying lap of the year. Considering he was more than 0.2s clear of the lead Marussia, there's no reason to doubt this, even though he was over a second off the midfield group. His race performance was convincing, keeping Bianchi comfortably at bay, and without the second safety car he might have beaten Gutierrez and Bottas. Friday morning aside, a very effective weekend's work.
Caterham-Renault CT03
Start: 21st
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 3 stops (hard/hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 5
Started the weekend both baffled and on the back foot thanks to the five-place grid penalty for a Montreal clash with Hulkenberg that he, understandably, remained puzzled by. Was miles off Pic in qualifying, but that was excusable given that he didn't have a serious attempt. But there was no sign in the race that he was at his team-mate's level and ultimately lost out – just – in his ongoing private battle with Max Chilton. Nothing special.
Marussia-Cosworth MR-02
Start: 19th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 6
Given the gap to Pic in qualifying was only around a tenth and a half, and that Bianchi didn't have the smoothest of weekends, it's plausible that he might have been able to take 'class pole'. In the race, he pressured Pic early on but the Caterham driver always looked to have him covered. It seemed a solid, rather than spectacular, weekend's work, although he comfortably got the better of team-mate Chilton on qualifying performance.
Marussia-Cosworth MR-02
Start: 20th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 5
Chilton's debut British GP weekend didn't go particularly well in practice, and he was unable to string together a representative lap in qualifying, languishing more than a second and a half off Bianchi's time. In the race, he gave a decent account of himself. While his pace wasn't as strong as Bianchi's, a fine start and a good rearguard action against van der Garde – who was on fresh rubber – in the closing stages netted him a perfectly acceptable result, even though he was more than half a minute off his team-mate
You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Abe Lincoln
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Abe Lincoln
