[Official] 70th Anniversary Grand Prix: Grand Prix Weekend - Round 5 of the 2020 Championship

[Born Racer]

The British Grand Prix has been one of two to have been a presence on the Formula 1 calendar since 1950 (along with Italy). The sport's development has also seen an impressive amount of engineering might developed in the UK, with the majority of teams based there. With such racing roots, it makes this race seemingly indispensable. Add in the fact that you have a super-fast and flowing circuit in Silverstone and a knowledgeable and keen crowd, and you have the sense that this is one of the elite events. In 2020, the circuit hosts a double-header and the second event, this weekend, celebrates its Formula 1 history with the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

Silverstone is a spectacular place at which to watch a Grand Prix car stretch its legs. The excellent corners are numerous. Copse is a rapid right-hander, and watching the cars approach head-on and then flick right gives an incredible sense of their cornering speeds. Cars need to slow significantly into Stowe following the Hangar Straight and yet the corner rewards those who can carry great speed into it. The Maggotts – Becketts – Chapel sequence is one of the best set of corners on the calendar, a wiggly left-right-left-right.

The inaugural British Grand Prix is often considered to be the 1926 event, known as the Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix, the first of two British Grands Prix to be held in successive years at the banked Brooklands track in Surrey. The layout was a mixture of the banking and a revised configuration in which the cars went straight on at The Fork and had two chicanes on the start-finish straight.

Only nine entries figured on the list, but it was a tough race for drivers and cars. Albert Divo took the lead from the start in his green Talbot GPLB, followed by Malcolm Campbell's Bugatti 39A and George Eyston's Aston Martin GP. It was soon a Talbot 1-2-3, although Jules Moriceau's front axle broke at the first sandbank. Divo's engine misfired and he fell to the rear, charging through the field, but later retiring with a supercharger failure. Robert Benoist led in the Delage 15 S 8, two laps ahead on Lap 15, but at a pit stop on Lap 81 with his exhaust overheating and 15 laps from the chequered flag, he gave up his car for André Dubonnet, who had never driven a lap of the track.

There were just 3 cars remaining and Louis Wagner was out front in his 15 S 8. He had taken over driving duties from Robert Sénéchal on Lap 83, having suffered a similar exhaust problem to Benoist. Due to the heat in his car, he had to make regular pit stops just to bathe his feet in cold water, eroding his lead. After 110 laps, Wagner won, followed by Campbell, who overtook Dubonnet, the latter having flames from his engine as he drove.

1927 saw an increased entry of 13 cars and a higher lap tally (125). Delage 155Bs monopolised the top 3, with Benoist winning from Edmond Bourlier and Divo.

Leicestershire's Donington Park hosted its own Grands Prix between 1935 and 1939, but the next race to have the designation of British Grand Prix was at Silverstone in 1948. The layout saw the start-finish straight head to Woodcote, before a shorter straight to Copse, the Seagrave Straight, followed by a 90 degree left and 90 right, and then a left kink which took cars onto the Hangar Straight. After a right and the Seaman Straight, cars went left towards Club, right towards Abbey and then went left to complete the lap.

The works Maserati 4CLTs got delayed and failed to arrive. The Monegasque Louis Chiron took pole in 2:56.0 by a second in his Talbot-Lago from Emmanuel de Graffenried's Maserati 4CL and Philippe Étancelin's Talbot-Lago. De Graffenried got off the line in 1st, but was passed by Chiron. Luigi Villoresi and Alberto Ascari got past Chiron in their Maseratis. They managed to extend a big lead over the others and changed places various times. Ascari then dropped back significantly from Villoresi during long pit stops to change tyres. Villoresi had his own dramas – the tachometer fell off and got stuck beneath the clutch, preventing him from using it for the remainder of the race. Nevertheless he held on to win from Ascari and Bob Gerard who was 3rd in his ERA B-type.

The following year at Silverstone, Villoresi won again, this time from the Maserati of Prince Bira, with Peter Walker 3rd in an ERA.

In 1950 the Formula 1 World Championship started, which was to become the biggest motor racing series on a global platform. The Northamptonshire circuit had the honour of being the first round of seven. It was actually titled 'The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix'.

The race was notable for the absence of Scuderia Ferrari. The grid was laid out with alternate rows of 4 and 3 cars and Alfa Romeos locked out the front row. The circuit consisted of a straight run from Abbey to the Woodcote right-hander, the right at Copse, before the fast left at Maggotts, the right-hander Becketts and the slight left onto the Hanger Straight, which was followed by the almost 90 degree right at Stowe and 90 degree Club corner, after which the left-hander of Abbey took cars onto the start-finish straight. Small variations of this configuration were used until 1990. Giuseppe Farina led away from Luigi Fagioli and Juan Manuel Fangio, the latter of whom retired with engine problems. Farina won from Fagioli and Reg Parnell in 3rd, a dominant performance for the Alfa Romeo 158s, as they filled the podium.

In 1951, Silverstone was the fifth of eight Formula 1 rounds and a 90-lap race. José Froilán Gonzalez took the first ever non-Alfa Romeo pole position in Formula 1 for Ferrari. Alfa driver Felice Bonetto shot from 7th on the grid to the lead at the first corner, but was overtaken on Lap 2 by González. Fangio passed González in his Alfa on Lap 6. González's Ferrari was significantly much more fuel efficient than the Alfas and he eventually overtook and pulled out a big lead to take the first non-Alfa victory in Formula 1 and Ferrari's first too.

Ferrari's Alberto Ascari took the lead near the start in 1952 and was thereafter never headed in the 85-lap race, while he won again in 1953 (this time over 90 laps).

In 1954, González won from his Ferrari team-mate Mike Hawthorn and Maserati driver Onofre Marimón. Fangio's fastest lap in his Mercedes exceeded 100mph at Silverstone for the first time.

The following year, the race was held at Aintree on Liverpool for the first time and was Round 6 out of 7 in the championship after the cancellation of the German, Swiss and Spanish Grands Prix due to the big Le Mans accident. Mercedes took the first four places and Stirling Moss his first Formula 1 win.

1956 saw Fangio win from fellow Ferrari drivers Alfonso de Portago and Peter Collins (sharing a car) with Jean Behra 3rd for Maserati.

Aintree bore witness to the 3rd and final time two drivers won a Grand Prix in a shared car, with Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks sharing the Vanwall. It was also a nice touch that the first win for a British-built car in a World Championship race came in a British Grand Prix.

1958 was back at Silverstone and Peter Collins beat Ferrari team-mate and eventual world champion Mike Hawthorn by 24 seconds. In 1959 at Aintree, Jack Brabham took his second win, in his Cooper T51, leading from start to finish, finishing 22 seconds clear of Stirling Moss in the BRM P25, who cleared Brabham's team-mate Bruce McLaren near the end of the race. McLaren became the youngest driver to set a fastest lap until Fernando Alonso in 2003.

World Champion Brabham won at Silverstone in 1960, while John Surtees, in his second F1 race, finished 2nd. Wolfgang von Trips took his second and final Grand Prix win at Aintree in 1961, in a Ferrari 1-2-3, from Phil Hill and Richie Ginther. The final race at Aintree was in 1962. Jim Clark took the first of his multiple British wins (and four on the trot) in the Lotus 25. John Surtees was second and Bruce McLaren was again 3rd.

In 1963, Clark won again and repeated the feat in 1964 at Brands Hatch in Kent, still with the Lotus 25. Graham Hill was 2nd for BRM and Surtees 3rd for Ferrari. Clark's win in 1964 was close. Hill was running in 2nd with brake problems, but Clark was losing oil pressure. He cut the engine in fast corners and managed to hold on by 3 seconds.

In 1966 the regulations stipulated 3-litre engines and Jack Brabham led home team-mate Denny Hulme at Brands Hatch in the Brabham BT19 for the first Brabham 1-2 after rain arrived part way through the race. Jim Clark won again at Silverstone the following year, with New Zealanders Hulme 2nd and Chris Amon 3rd for Ferrari. The privateer Rob Walker Racing Team took its final Formula 1 win in 1968 at Brands Hatch, with Jo Siffert in a Lotus-Ford.

Jackie Stewart lapped everyone at Silverstone in 1969 en route to victory, a race during which he had signalled to Jochen Rindt (with whom he had been battling intensively) that a rear wing end plate had worked loose and was rubbing on his tyre.

1970 saw a dramatic denouement, as Jack Brabham ran out of fuel in the lead at the final corner at Brands Hatch and eventual posthumous world champion Jochen Rindt came through to take his third win in a row. Brabham managed to grab second and his final Formula 1 points, with Denny Hulme 3rd for McLaren. In 1971, Jackie Stewart won at Silverstone in his Tyrrell-Ford from Ronnie Peterson in his March-Ford. There were some good battles between Peterson, Tim Schenken and Emerson Fittipaldi and between Henri Pescarolo and Rolf Stommelen.

In 1972 Emerson Fittipaldi won at Brands. When Ronnie Peterson had an engine failure two laps from the end, he crashed into the parked cars of Graham Hill and Francois Cevert.

At Silverstone a year later, nine cars were wiped out at Woodcote at the end of Lap 1, when Jody Scheckter spun across the track. Jackie Stewart had had a start that vaulted him from 4th to 1st in under half a lap. Beginning 4th again on the race re-start, he went up to 3rd. On Lap 6, as he tried to pass Peterson for the lead and was closed off, spinning into the grass. He ended up in 10th.

A year later, Scheckter made British Grand Prix amends and took the win, while in 1975, on a layout which now had a chicane at Woodcote, the race was defined by a hail storm which started on Lap 53. Jody Scheckter, James Hunt, Mark Donohue, Wilson Fittipaldi, Jochen Mass and John Watson were among the drivers to go off and the race was stopped. Emerson Fittipaldi took his final Grand Prix win and Carlos Pace and Jody Scheckter were classified in second and third in the results on countback, despite having gone out of the race.

1976 also had its share of drama, when McLaren's James Hunt was in a crash on Lap 1 that stopped the race. Hunt had taken his car back to the pits but had gone through an access road instead of following the track round and was deemed by the stewards to be ineligible to take the restart, as he had not been on circuit when the race was red flagged. The crowd chanted Hunt's name and the stewards reversed their decision. Hunt was allowed back in and won the restarted Grand Prix. The decision was overturned the next month after a Ferrari appeal and Niki Lauda was retrospectively declared the race winner.

In 1977, Hunt turned the tables to win from Lauda, with Gunnar Nilsson third for Lotus. Gilles Villeneuve made his debut for McLaren, only to soon move to Ferrari. 1978 was a race of attrition up front, as both Lotuses retired, Peterson with a fuel leak and Andretti with an engine failure after having also sustained a puncture, while various others retired near the front of the field. Carlos Reutemann passed Lauda on Lap 60 to go on to win. A year later, Clay Regazzoni took Williams's first victory.

The 1980s were characterised by Williams and McLaren success, as they took all the wins, bar 1983. Keke Rosberg's 160.02mph qualifying lap in 1985 stood as the record for 17 years. In 1980, the Ligiers of Didier Pironi and Jacques Laffite locked out the front row, but Pironi's tyre deflated while he led on Lap 19, while having taken over at the front, Laffite's then did the same on Lap 31. Pironi battled back from last to 5th, before another such failure, due to wheel rims cracking. Alan Jones took his third win in a row ahead of championship rival Nelson Piquet to extend his lead to six points, while Jones's Williams team-mate Carlos Reutemann was the only other car on the lead lap in 3rd.

In 1981, McLaren took their first victory since 1977 and John Watson his first since 1976. The Williams of Reutemann and the Ligier of Laffite completed the podium. This race marked the first win for a carbon fibre composite car.

A year later, the Grand Prix began to alternate with Brands Hatch (an arrangement in place until 1986) and Niki Lauda won in his McLaren from 5th, while Derek Warwick ran as high as 2nd in the Toleman before half-shaft failure. The Ferraris of Pironi and Patrick Tambay made up the podium.

In 1983, the Ferraris of René Arnoux and Tambay locked out the front row, and Tambay jumped in front off the start, while Alain Prost got ahead of Arnoux in his Renault. Prost overtook Tambay to lead on Lap 20 and won from Nelson Piquet's Brabham-BMW and Tambay.

A year later at Brands Hatch, Toleman driver Johnny Cecotto broke both legs in qualifying. Prost retired with a gearbox failure, and McLaren team-mate Lauda won, to close the gap in the title battle significantly. Warwick's Renault and Ayrton Senna's Toleman finished 2nd and 3rd. In 1985, Alain Prost's McLaren won at Silverstone, from Michele Alboreto's Ferrari and Laffite's Ligier, but not before Senna overtook Prost three cars to take the lead at the start and was later re-overtaken by Prost, before suffering a fuel injection failure on Lap 58. The chequered flag fell one lap early, after Lap 65. Prost had lapped everyone and the cars continued, but third-placed Laffite ran out of fuel. This would have promoted Piquet to 3rd, but the results stood as they were at the end of the penultimate lap.

In 1986, just like two years prior, another driver broke both legs at Brands Hatch. This time it was Jacques Laffite and like Cecotto, it ended his F1 career. Nigel Mansell beat pole man and team-”mate” Nelson Piquet by 5.5 seconds, while the McLaren of Prost finished a lap down in 3rd.

In 1987, the British Grand Prix returned to its permanent base of Silverstone, Piquet led Mansell most the way and after Mansell stopped for tyres, he was 29 seconds behind the leader with 28 laps to go, but he stormed up to catch and pass him with just 3 remaining at Stowe corner, sending him a dummy move before getting by.

1988 saw the first wet Grand Prix since Spa 1985. The Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Alboreto locked out the front row, but third-starting Senna took the lead on Lap 14 in his McLaren-Honda and lapped fellow McLaren driver Alain Prost at the same time. Prost was having a torrid time, eventually pulling out of the race on Lap 24, citing handling difficulties and being unwilling to take more risks. Berger slipped down the order with a lack of fuel, running out on the last corner of the final lap, Lap 65, while Alboreto had no more on Lap 63. The Williams-Judd of Nigel Mansell was 2nd and the Benetton-Ford of Alessandro Nannini 3rd, despite two spins.

A year later, Prost turned the tables to win, while Senna retired on Lap 12 after spinning off with gear selection difficulties. For the second year in a row, Mansell and Nannini completed the podium spots. Notably, the Minardis of Pierluigi Martini and Luis Pérez-Sala came home 5th and 6th, getting the team out of pre-qualifying duties.

Ferrari's Nigel Mansell led, before hitting gearbox problems and being passed by team-mate Prost, with the gearbox eventually giving up the ghost on Lap 57. He announced he would retire from the sport (although he later changed his mind). Thierry Boutsen finished almost 40 seconds back from winner Prost in his Williams, with Senna a few more seconds behind.

The 1991 race incorporated the new layout for the first time, with the Vale section and the Priory-Brooklands-Luffield complex added. Mansell officially led all of the 59-lap race from pole in his Williams-Renault. Senna had actually beat Mansell off the line, but was passed by Stowe. He ran out of fuel on the last lap, dropping him from 2nd to 4th, and was given a lift back to the pits by Mansell. Berger was 2nd in the McLaren and Prost 3rd in the Ferrari.

Riccardo Patrese beat Mansell away from the start in 1992, but was passed and Mansell won by 39 seconds, the Mansell-mania in force with a track invasion. Patrese finished 39 seconds down, with Martin Brundle placed 3rd in the Benetton.

In 1993, Tom Wheatcroft fulfilled a dream by ensuring a Grand Prix at Donington Park. It was the European Grand Prix and to be the only world championship Grand Prix to date to be held there, The race, on 11th April, was largely wet, but fans were treated to a stonker in terms of what is considered to be one of Ayrton Senna's masterclasses. He dropped to 5th at the start and was in the lead by the penultimate corner. He eventually won, but it was not without problems, as he slipped to 2nd, but he made fewer stops than his rivals in wet-dry conditions. The Williams cars of Damon Hill and Alain Prost were 2nd and 3rd, Prost lapped by Senna.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone, exactly three months later, was dominated by Hill, who looked set for his first win in Formula 1, until his engine blew on Lap 41. Team-mate Prost took the honours, with the Benettons of Michael Schumacher and Patrese rounding out the podium.

In 1994, unlike at Monaco, where his father Graham had various victories, Damon Hill achieved what his father never managed by winning the British Grand Prix. The win came after Michael Schumacher was black flagged, but ignored the flags and only served a stop-and-go penalty. The eventual world champion was later banned for three races. Hill made a misjudged manoeuvre on Schumacher a year later and took both of them out, leaving Benetton's Johnny Herbert to take his first win (after an attempted move by Williams's David Coulthard at Priory almost paralleled Hill's move).

Jacques Villeneuve won for Williams in both 1996 and 1997, before the heavy rain of 1998, when Mika Hakkinen spun off after Bridge. Leader Michael Schumacher was handed a stop-and-go penalty for overtaking under the safety car. He actually served the penalty after he crossed the line to win, but did not lose the victory. A year later, Schumacher broke his leg after crashing at Stowe and David Coulthard took the first of his two successive wins.

Hakkinen won in 2001, while in 2002, the Grand Prix eventually remained at Silverstone, despite plans originally announced to switch it to Brands Hatch. Schumacher won the event that year. The same happened years later for Donington, with a 17-year contract for the Leicestershire circuit from 2010. The sport stuck to Silverstone, though, and it is important that the other tracks are protected from financial danger due to failed attempts to host F1.

There then began eight successive years with different winners, between 2003 and 2010 – Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. In the first of those, there was a track invasion on Lap 11 by a laicised priest, which brought out the safety car.

Hamilton's first win in 2008 was delivered with a dominat display in the wet to win by more than a minute from Nick Heidfeld's BMW and Rubens Barrichello's Honda. In 2010, Mark Webber believed Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel had been favoured after he was given the new front wing design that Webber had tried. When he won the race, he declared over the radio “not bad for a number 2 driver”.

Alonso won again in 2011, this time for Ferrari, when the new configuration had the arena section, followed by Webber for his second victory and Nico Rosberg for his only one. Since 2014, with the exception of Vettel's 2018 win for Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have conquered every edition of the British Grand Prix, a successful highlight of which was the dramatic finale in 2020. Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture when about to start the final lap, after which he slipped out of the points, and Hamilton had the same on his front-left, on the last lap. Max Verstappen, who had pitted for fresh tyres and the chance to take the fastest lap, was closing in on him, but Hamilton controlled the gap and came over the finishing line, with the knackered rubber scraping along, but victory in the bag. Verstappen came 2nd and did get fastest lap, while Charles Leclerc finished an excellent 3rd for a struggling Ferrari.

A week later, we may be due the imminent return of Sergio Pérez, who has been out of action with the coronavirus. His return is pending a negative test, and Nico Hulkenberg is waiting in the wings, itching to get the chance to go racing.



Circuit length: 5.891 km
Number of laps: 52
Race distance: 306.198 km
Dry weather tyre compounds: C2, C3 and C4

Race Lap Record: 1:27.097 (2020 - Max Verstappen - Red Bull-Honda)
First British Grand Prix: 1926
First World Championship Grand Prix: 1950
First Grand Prix on current configuration: 2011



Join the fun in the Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155000

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155006

[Aysedasi]

Thanks very much BR. I'm actually hoping that the Hulk gets the nod. He deserves it after last weekend.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Thanks very much BR. I'm actually hoping that the Hulk gets the nod. He deserves it after last weekend.

It looks like you've got your wish Ayse, Perez is still testing positive apparently. Hopefully the Hulk has spend the past week hanging paving stones off the side of his head to strengthen his neck muscles!

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

It looks like you've got your wish Ayse, Perez is still testing positive apparently. Hopefully the Hulk has spend the past week hanging paving stones off the side of his head to strengthen his neck muscles!

Shame for Perez, but I am also happy that Hulk gets a proper go.

[tux]

Even the medium tyre this afternoon was blistering badly and that was with the same track temp as FP1. Leclerc was a prime example. Ricciardo looks competitive for P3.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Thanks very much BR. I'm actually hoping that the Hulk gets the nod. He deserves it after last weekend.

Perez has tested positive again, so yes Hulkenberg it will be ...

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...vid19-positive

[E.B]

Thanks BR.... wasnt expecting a double header preview as well, so much appreciated.
*Opens beer(7.00pm for me ) and settles into reading mode pre FP1*

Happy to see Hulk get another crack.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Excellent intro as ever.

Here we are again, though this time, as Pirelli have brought compounds C2, C3 and C4 as opposed to C1, C2 and C3, it should be quite a different race from last Sunday.

[S griffin]

So with Hulk back, let's hope he at least gets a chance at the race at the very least

[tux]

They’re going to change the compounds overnight aren’t they?

[Lancsbreaker]

Apparently everybody ran exclusively on the softest compound this morning - all trying to see what it could do......and in terms of distance the answer seemed to be: not much........


Hulk did himself no harm with fourth fastest, only half a tenth behind Max.....of course the "pink Mercs" have received an expensive smacked wrist and lost 15 points for the copied brake ducts....its an esoteric world, that's for sure.



My beloved Alfa Romeo only saved from the bottom by Magnusson in the Haas, with Kubica only 3 tenths down on Kimi.....


Lets see what the afternoon brings.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Apparently everybody ran exclusively on the softest compound this morning - all trying to see what it could do......and in terms of distance the answer seemed to be: not much........

But why did they do this? Pirelli give a window.

[S griffin]

Now that Hulk seems up to speed, hopefully we can see he has lost none of his racing ability

[Lancsbreaker]

Lewis and Valteri relatively in a world of their own, but an excellent 2nd practice for Danny Ric in 3rd, less than a second down on Lewis, followed by Max, young Mr Stroll and the Hulk.


Leclerc in 7th compared to Vettel in 14th looks tragic (for Seb), although in reality less than a second covers 3rd to George Russell in 16th, so its all a bit tight. Even Giovinazzi in 20th is only just over half a second further down the road.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Leclerc in 7th compared to Vettel in 14th looks tragic (for Seb),

Ferrari not looking good. If this is how good they are at producing F1 cars, I am not buying one of their road cars.

although in reality less than a second covers 3rd to George Russell in 16th, so its all a bit tight. Even Giovinazzi in 20th is only just over half a second further down the road.

Close!

[Greem]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Ferrari not looking good. If this is how good they are at producing F1 cars, I am not buying another one of their road cars.

How is the Testarossa, anyway?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Ferrari not looking good. If this is how good they are at producing F1 cars, I am not buying one of their road cars.

Close!

If you think Ferrari's cars are bad, look at the rubbish they give to their customers.

[GT6]

Originally Posted by wnut

If you think Ferrari's cars are bad, look at the rubbish they give to their customers.

I wonder how much those teams pay for those power units? Suspect they may be asking for some sort of refund

[wolfhound]

The teams have 2 sets of hard tyres (last weeks medium), 3 sets of mediums (last weeks soft) and 8 sets of softs that seem to be okay for about a lap but appear no faster than the mediums but last about 5 laps maximum.

As the teams have a lot of data on the mediums and hards from last they only get minimum running during practice to save them for the race.



I expect in Q1 all teams will run only softs so they can get rid of them. Q2 is going to be interesting as I expect most to run mediums so don't have to start on softs except for those who don't expect to make Q3. Q3 will probably be all soft to save mediums and hards for the race.
If somebody has over used their mediums and hards during practice and qualifying

they could be in trouble during the race as I suspect 2 stops will be the minimum required.

[djinvicta]

I cannot understand this "Hulk" hype...good midfield yes.. but not a front runner

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Greem

How is the Testarossa, anyway?

Slow.

Originally Posted by djinvicta

I cannot understand this "Hulk" hype...good midfield yes.. but not a front runner

For me, wanting him to get to race this weekend is nothing to do with any hype, or how good he is. It is just wanting him to have a go after missing out last week. He's a decent guy, I'd like him to not miss out.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Adam43

For me, wanting him to get to race this weekend is nothing to do with any hype, or how good he is. It is just wanting him to have a go after missing out last week. He's a decent guy, I'd like him to not miss out.

this. it'd be really cruel if he didn't manage to have a good stab in the pink merc.

anyone old enough to remember him before he was in f1 will know he always had the funds to get the fastest car on the grid. but they'll also remember he won in them - having the fastest car is one thing, winning in it is another matter.

[S griffin]

A driver who’s always had midfield teams yes, but never in a front running team.... until now

[gunlomboy]

I'd love to see the Hulk hitting his straps in a decent car.

.... and while I'm a huge Lewis fan and part of me wants him to win this milestone event, another part of me wants both Mercedes to grind to a halt on lap 1 ... they have taken all the interest out of F1. I notice that the Mercedes crew don't seem to celebrate much now, they just look relieved when they win.

We are based in Hanoi, and will be watching the race at a party in the newly built pit complex here. It really is quite something. Damn you COVID-19!!

[Lancsbreaker]

Well Hulk managed to pop it into fourth in FP3, just ahead of Stroll.....behind Lewis, Vattieri and.....Lando!


About a second covers the top 10, with another second covering the rest....Magnusson being tail-end charlie on this occasion. Danny Ric can only manage 14th after having to abort his really quick lap, which featured a first sector well up on Lewis, courtesy of Lando who was apparently doing a heavy fuel run. Danny wasn't as testing of the bleep button as Max was when Stroll got in his way through Beckett's though


The softs are looking very much a one-lap wonder.....