The BBC coverage was excellent. The gridwalk…not so much
We’ve always be fans of the BBC coverage. Despite the fact it’s working on a fraction of the budget of it’s Sky counterpart, it feels slick in it’s execution whilst also feeling like a familiar warm comfortable blanket.
But, we have one gripe with how the gridwalk has become the Eddie Jordan talk show. Don’t know what we mean? This image sums it all up.
Despite the fact that he’s surrounded by F1 legends and key personnel, EJ hunted down Goldie, Ian Poulter, Carol Vorderman and Chris Evans, all of which gave us no insight into what was about to transpire over the next few hours.
Coupled with the shambles that was the Canadian gridwalk – where EJ pointed the camera at Niki Lauda and Paul Hembery, before swiftly turning around to interview the cast of the new X-Men film – can we just have another 5 mins of David Coulthard in the Lotus 25 please?
Glorious Silverstone
But forget all that – how good was it to see F1 in Britain this weekend?
To see the sun shining on Sunday, with a massive passionate crowd, was a fantastic scene. And the noise they made throughout – from Hamilton’s last gasp pole lap, to Vettel breaking down – only added to the atmosphere.
We love Silverstone!
Mercedes have found that race pace
Getting back on point.
Forget the tyre failures for one moment – hard to do, we know – but one of the key things we’ve learnt from the racing on Sunday was the fact that Mercedes are now much more than a wonder on Saturday. They are real contenders each race.
Despite Lewis being a bit grumpy on Friday, he snatched pole position with a stunning lap, with Nico Rosberg alongside him. After previous outings this season, many thought this wouldn’t last.
But let’s look at the facts – Lewis was ahead by a few seconds after 7 laps, and was in a controlling position until that tyre failure. And Nico was on pace with Sebastian Vettel up until the Red Bull’s failure, and inherited the lead thanks to being in the right place at the right time.
Tyre degradation was Mercedes issue earlier in the season, and the high-speed corners of Silverstone might have been a worry for the Brackley based outfit. But all of a sudden it isn’t. Wonder how they got through this testing problem?
The title race just got a shot in the arm
Brace yourselves for picture of the weekend…
Sebastian Vettel’s gearbox failure has not only made a lot of people happy, but has also helped out the cause of both Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso in terms of the World Championship.
Although they could only manage 5th and 3rd respectively, it’s much-needed points in their challenges. Now Fernando is only 21 points behind, and Kimi 34, but if Vettel had won (which might have been a sure thing) then the gaps would be 49 and 61 respectively.
Maybe everyone was cheering because they want to see a close championship? Was that it?
Pirelli need support. And fast.
As much as people wasnt to rush towards Pirelli HQ with pitch forks and flaming torches, we need to take stock of a few points.
Yes, Pirelli are providing a product that doesn’t meet the standards fans and drivers expect, but they can’t just run one set of compounds for the season. There has to be development and change, because the teams always get on top of the degradation. It happened in 2011, and then 2012, so it was bound to happen this year eventually.
Pirelli have been tasked with adding strategy to races, without having access to a relevant car and failing to get all the teams to agree to tests, in case vital information isn’t shared. We get that. But try to do your job with on hand tied behind you’re back and blindfolded, which is basically what Pirelli have had to endure. Bet you won’t get much done either.
They’ll be an enquiry into all six tyre failures, but the teams have to be held into account. They’ll run the tyres to the razor’s edge (pun intended) to get the maximum out of them, despite Pirelli’s protests.
Everyone needs to come together to find a solution about this, not point fingers and play the blame game. Let’s all work together now people.
