There was never very much doubt about this one… but that didn’t make it an easy run for Lewis Hamilton. The British Grand Prix was the typical story of an English summer. There was torrential rain as the cars lined up on the grid, but by the end of the race, it was a pleasant afternoon. Conditions were treacherous to begin with as the field set off being the Safety Car. That was dull. After five laps, the race got underway but two laps later Pascal Wehrlein went off and so there was a Virtual Safety Car. By then the track was OK for intermediates and so there was a rush into the pits. The order settled down with Hamilton just short of five seconds ahead of Rosberg, who sometimes seems less confident in the damp than his team-mate. he came under pressure from Max Verstappen and on lap 16, the Dutchman moved ahead with a great move around the outside of Rosberg in Chapel. The gap behind the three leaders was huge, with the chasers led by Sergio Perez and Dan Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen was there too, but Ferrari was nowhere. Vettel had various adventures and ended up with a five-second time penalty for rudely shoving Felipe Massa off the road. That was pretty lenient.As the track dried so Rosberg became more sure-footed and gave chase and duly began to put Max under pressure. It took Nico eight laps to find a way past Verstappen. Further back Ricciardo passed Perez for fourth and later the Mexican fell behind Raikkonen as well. So it ended up a Mercedes 1-2 with Verstappen third although after the race the FIA Stewards were looking at whether to punish Nico because the team radioed him to make an important change to his settings as the gearbox was about to blow… The team took the risk because the alternative was not great. It was an awful day for Ferrari with Kimi fifth and Vettel ninth. Red Bull has thus closed to within nine points of Ferrari for second in the Constructors’ Championship.
Also in GP+ this week…
– We look at Charles Leclerc’s first run in an F1 car
– We remember Carl Haas, a former F1 team owner from the 1980s
– We look at how the F1 circus raced from Austria to Britain
– We look back at the career of Herbie Blash
– We remember the controversial British GP of 1976.
– JS tells unlikely tales about Silverstone
– DT discusses team orders
– The Hack remembers Wattie and the first composite McLaren
– Plus the usual fabulous photography from Peter and Lise Nygaard
GP+ is the fastest F1 magazine. It comes out before some of the teams have even managed to get a press release out. It is an e-magazine that you can download and keep on your own devices and it works on computers, tablets and even smartphones. And it’s a magazine written by real F1 journalists not virtual wannabes… Our team have attended more than 2,000 Grands Prix between us.
GP+ is an amazing bargain – and it is designed to be, so that fans will sign up and share the passion that we have for the sport. We don’t want to exploit you, we want you to join the fun. You get 23 issues for £32.99, covering the entire 2016 Formula 1 season.
For more information, go to www.grandprixplus.com.
joeblogsf1 
Halleluyah. Merc baby.
Wow! Lewis’ first ‘Senna’ lap after the safety car pulled in. Reminded me of Donington.
Joe, a potentially strange question, but since you’ve been in the press conferences, do you have any idea why everyone’s skin looks so yellow on TV and in photos? Do they use some sort of strange lighting? I’ve been wondering this for so long now.
No idea. They were under lights
Photographs taken under halogen lighting, does give a yellow tint. Hope thats helps.
Colour temperature
Look it up in Wikipedia
Normally not an issue these days with electronic cameras as they compensate for the different temperatures
Lindsay, I am very aware of color temperature (I do a bit of photography and work with LED lighting), but the yellow skin effects are very strange. For example, Rosberg always looks like he has a mustard-stained beard! Photography bulbs are usually at least 5000K and shouldn’t be causing such a harsh yellow effect; and like you mentioned simply adjusting the white balance should fix it.
Graham, I doubt they are still using halogen bulbs rather than LEDs. But even so, halogens come in different color temperatures.
David Icke should be able to answer that question regarding the yellow tint (comedy statement before the X- Files posse get typing)
Great race great result. Great weekend for Lewis and the Home Crowd.
I was amazed at Mclarens Strategy.
Alonso had the right idea. They should have done something left field and gone with a different strategy instead of reacting like everyone else as the track dried.
Great to see Alonso attacking and defending .
A great pity he is lost in the mid field of the pack for most of the season. Mclaren need to raise their game.
Safety cars: you made a point in “what we think”; 5 friends and myself watch each race together & we all are increasingly annoyed with the FIA to choose to use a safety car for when it’s wet at the start of the race. We have been watching F1 for a while (since 93) & don’t remember it being this “nanny state” with regards to safety cars as it has been this recently. Surely we could agree when it’s enormously dangerous, pouring down like in Malaysia, with risk of aquaplaning prior to the start of the race to use the safety car for the first few laps. Yet in the last number of races the safety car started the race when it’s just wet, not even raining…. These drivers are supposed the best of the world… We as viewers are looking forward to see the top drivers being able to make a difference in the wet, yet they don’t get the chance… If they at all need to get the safety car out, please do it only for 1 or max 2 laps, don’t let it run the field for these many laps that the drivers go in immediately for inters, or even dry tires as happened in the last few races with safety car at the start. What is the point of using the wet tires if they immediately can come in to put on slicks or inters… It totally ruins what otherwise has the potential of being a very interesting race. Most of the drivers don’t really want to see the safety car, unless it seems to help their strategy. I hope someone can talk some sense in to the FIA/decision makers.
Can’t agree more! As a Dutchman i was really looking forward to a wet start, because plain power wouldn’t help the Mercs in that condition.
It would be more spectaculair to watch in my opinion.
Jasper E, that’s 21st century F1 for you I’m afraid… a victim of its own success. It used to be the mavericks that ran F1, then the big Egos, H&S, and the Eco brigade all got their paws on it
Probably less to do with H&S, or “nanny state” and more to do with Bernie trying to ensure it runs to TV schedule timeslots, perhaps?
I’m assuming the Jules tragedy has had a lot to do with how much more cautious F1 has become in terms of when they’ll go green? It’s disappointing. One of the things I and many others (especially fellow racers) have admired about F1 has been their tradition of racing in extreme rain. Something few top level Motorsport series are able or willing to do. If this trend continues, F1 will be abandoning another important tradition and draw and further sanitizing the sport.
Great race spoilt by starting behind a safety car and then having the safety car stay out so long that when the race started in earnest, half the field pitted for intermediate tires.
I do not watch to see anyone hurt but there has to be an element of risk involved to keep the sport exiting. To me the sport is going to far in reducing that risk, a creeping sanitisation. Come on those in charge, lets take a step back and keep some risk there.
Well done Lewis on a great drive.
Two things really annoyed me, the Safety car start and Rosberg’s radio problems. It seems like the drivers, teams, fans, track and even the weather are trying to make F1 exciting but the sport is doing everything it can to stop this. It’s happened a few times recently starting behind the safety car, on full wets then by the time the safety car goes it’s time for intermediates. If the cars are capable of running intermediates then the safety car isn’t needed surely. Just let the drivers race, to someone watching the sport for the first time they look like a bunch of wimps, let them show what they can do, when it rains it’s more exciting and looks far more impressive what the drivers are doing.
Then on the radio, I totally get the idea of stopping the driers being coached but how can Rosberg possibly know the nature of the technical fault, apart from the fact he can’t use 7th he can’t exactly diagnose the problem and drive round it.
Apart from that it thought it was great
Interesting piece about the logitics. I had no idea of the sheer number of trucks involved these days.
It seems to me that an alternative way to control the excesses of F1 instead of costs would be to mandate a centralised trucking service and a cap on the load – let’s see what teams can really do without.
Most of the trucks don’t directly support the race team. They support the commercial side of the teams. If teams were not as able to help sponsors get value out of them involment there would be even less money in the sport.
I my opinion the most hit would be the back 2/3 of the grid. Sponsors of the top teams get most of the TV. The rest have to find other ways to give value to thire sponsors.
Hi Joe, on the Ferrari situation: we don’t hear much from James Allison (understandingly). Do you know if there is anything happening behind curtains as it’s hard not to make a link between his personal situation and the issues Ferrari is facing. Thanks
Is your Silverstone article missing a page or two? Ends rather abruptly sans your usual summary paragroar?
I don’t want SC to stay out for so long, but drivers should be given proper wet tyres at first!
what happened to the (first) post from “jonathan” yesterday?
I’m not sure why my post was removed, it was not derogatory to anyone but understand it’s joe’s blog.
I’m a massive f1 fan but am disappointed the way f1 is heading.
I totally agree with your comments about the nanny state with regard to starts. These are grossly highly paid sportsman who have risen to the premier formula in their chosen sport and yet they can’t be trusted or don’t have the balls to start a race in the rain ??!!
Have they never heard of rolling starts?
One lap behind the safety car, which largely eliminates the first corner melee and away they go. Simples.
I suspect this stupid idea is a Jean Todt initiative, to support his desire to become the road safety czar. How do pinheads like Todt ever get into positions of power?
As with the ludicrous ship to shore limitations, the FIA seems to be hellbent on doing everything they can to turn people off F1.
I agree – one lap of SC would have been sufficient but the FIA have tied themselves in knots. If they lose the Bianchi lawsuit they may have to stop wet running altogether. So the existence of the FIA is the problem and their problems have become F1’s problems. Like most successful bureaucracies, the FIA constantly tries to broaden its remit, increase it’s size and consolidate it’s power base. F1 has been effectively ‘sold down the river’ and a more arms length approach to regulation is needed. However this is precicely what the sport will not get. Charlie is fiddling while Rome burns.
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MistralMike
Watching the Safety Car period which substituted the start of that Grand Prix, I noted that the driver with Nr.44 repeatedly attacked Bernd Mayländers Safety Car, which (at least in his opinion) was driving “too slow”.
The result of that reckless behaviour was a near-miss accident with the Safety Car.
So my question would be why nobody cared of that small rule in Art. 39?:
” 39.5 No car may be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person at any time whilst the safety car is deployed. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the
pit lane.”
Additionally, I must confess that, watching F1 since 1980 I have never ever seen a driver putting pressure on a Safety Car to increase speed.
Well, Taki Inoue had his moments, but this is unbelievable……:-)
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How about Imola ’94.
Watch Senna trying to ‘encourage’ the pace of the safety car…
Joe…with McLaren-Honda announcing a new deal with NTT, does this pave the way for a true title sponsor for them in the near future?
im not sure why they can’t just do a wet start procedure where they do 1 lap behind the safety car, followed by two Virtual safety car periods with each lap faster than the last. This should allow for the sighter for the drivers to spot the puddles, and then the opportunity to go at a more natural speed to allow for warm up and whatnot and then a rolling start at full speed.
under the current rules, a wet track followed by light rain for 30 minutes would leave us with no driving whatsoever with a safety car start.
Also think that the FIA should have delayed the start 10 minutes to give us a proper racing start.
Watching the Safety Car period which substituted the start of that Grand Prix, I noted that the driver with Nr.44 repeatedly attacked Bernd Mayländers Safety Car, which (at least in his opinion) was driving “too slow”.
The result of that reckless behaviour was a near-miss accident with the Safety Car.
So my question would be why nobody cared of that small rule in Art. 39?:
” 39.5 No car may be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person at any time whilst the safety car is deployed. This will apply whether any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the
pit lane.”
Additionally, I must confess that, watching F1 since 1980 I have never ever seen a driver putting pressure on a Safety Car to increase speed.
Well, Taki Inoue had his moments, but this is unbelievable…… 🙂
Probably because the Safety Car being driven too slowly had more probability to cause an accident than whatever you are on about, because of the Pirelli tyres being unable to warm up to aid grip at the velocity dictated by the Safety Car.
Was that Yoda on the back page of GP+?
for the second time this year I watched the first lap then gave up and went out.
Then unfortunately for you, you missed a cracking race. More fool you for “giving up”.
Jeez – and people like you are the ones who “complain about the state that F1 is in nowadays”.
I wasn’t complaining about anything. Merely stating the fact that after seeing the first lap I chose to go do something else and that it is the second time that has happened. Life is too short to complain. If something doesn’t work for me I go do something else. Simples 🙂
Safety car starts. If it was too dangerous to start the race in those conditions, and apparently the drivers agreed it was, why not give the cars two laps behind the safety car to check out the circuit, pull up on the grid and then go through the lights procedure so they can go racing. These guys are supposed to be the best and they’ve got wet weather tyres. Let’s see what they can do.
Meanwhile Pirelli have been able to give up on wet weather tyre development because they know that Charlie won’t pull in the safety car until it’s almost time for intermediates.