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Nick_L

By Nick_L
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McCoy

McCoy

Posted
Posted

Are BBC viewing figures available somewhere? Basically, what the the figures for Songs of Praise versus F1?

Not sure about SOP, but good ratings for Sunday's race:

Button's thrilling last-lap victory in the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday gave the BBC its second best television audience since the sport returned to the broadcaster in 2009. The average audience for the race on BBC One peaked at 8.3m, just below the record of 8.9m for the Brazilian GP in 2009. The coverage of the race climax on BBC Two between 2100 and 2200 BST peaked at 6.1m.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9512406.stm

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Bruciebabie

Bruciebabie

Posted
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I know it's a C&P, but I found this to be excellent: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/formula-1/will-gray/article/5813/

It's been said already once this year but, once again, F1 produced one of its greatest ever races last weekend - so how and when did Jenson Button make the crucial moves that made the victory his?

A look at the FIA's official race lap chart shows just how complicated last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix turned out to be, with five safety car periods, one red flag, several big collisions and a large number of pit stops and penalties.

In an incredibly eventful race, Button used seven different sets of tyres, starting on a new set of wets and finishing on a used set of super softs, which he ran on for 19 laps at the end of the race. He also had to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding under the safety car and suffered not one but two punctures - one after colliding with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton and one after a clash with Fernando Alonso, an incident that put him dead last with 30 laps to go.

Having put on too much downforce for qualifying, Button was only able to manage seventh on the grid - but the team had taken the decision with one eye on the rain expected for Sunday and team boss Martin Whitmarsh promised: "Wet or dry, we know that Lewis and Jenson are both fantastic racers - and brilliant overtakers - and we therefore expect them to challenge competitively tomorrow."

After the safety car pulled in to start the race there was not much position movement for Button in the early laps, but there was one major drama when he and Hamilton collided. That incident forced him to make his first stop and he used the opportunity to take a gamble on intermediates as the safety car came out again.

The stop dropped him to 12th and in his haste to catch up the train under the safety car he went too fast, so just five laps later, with the race back under green, he was back in the pits again to serve his drive-through penalty, dropping him further down to 15th place.

The move to intermediates looked a good call at that time, and when the safety car came in again Button went from 15th to eighth through a combination of overtaking and other drivers' pit stops. Of the top 10 runners at that point, however, only Alonso and the two Mercedes drivers followed Button's earlier gamble for intermediates - but almost immediately they were all back in again for wets as the rain began streaming down once more. Button was forced in to change to wets and was back down to 10th when the race was stopped.

Several hours later, after the re-start, Button was once again one of the earliest to switch to intermediates, on lap 35, but he had to come in for another set of new inters just two laps later after suffering his second puncture in the clash with Alonso.

At that point, with plenty of exhausting racing already complete, Button's hopes of victory looked only just a little more alive than those of Hamilton's, who was busy showing pop star Rhianna around the McLaren garage.

He was dead last, one minute and 42 seconds behind race leader Vettel, with just less than half the race still to run.

The safety car that came out because of his incident with Alonso, however, was the catalyst for his dramatic comeback. It allowed him to close the gap right down to just 12 seconds when the racing began again and he quickly picked off the slower cars at the back of the field, with six passing moves in five laps, a few gains through other drivers' stops and a double pass on Pastor Maldonado and Jaimie Alguersuari.

Just nine laps after he was in last place, he was in tenth - although his fight through the field had lost him time and he was now 27 seconds behind Vettel.

At that point, Webber, Barrichello and Buemi took a gamble on dry tyres and Button made the move one lap later. Others came in a lap later still, but it was another two laps before Vettel took the same call - and by the time the leader's dry tyres had settled in to race pace, Button was in fourth and had closed the gap to 15 seconds.

On a drying track with wet patches off-line the limits are harder to find - because it's easier to overstep them - and Button was in the groove. He had more confidence in his car, and was lapping almost two seconds per lap faster than Vettel. He could potentially have caught up on his own, but a helping hand came when the safety car came out again to allow the clear up of Nick Heidfeld's crash, bunching the field up together yet again.

When the racing began again, with just 10 laps to go, Button began hounding the battling pair of Schumacher and Webber and once past them he put in two laps that were around 1.5 seconds per lap faster than Vettel, with the Red Bull driver apparently very late to catch on to what was happening.

When Vettel realised he had to push, he was far more ragged than Button, who may also have been benefitting a little from that extra downforce on some of the more slippery sections.

Vettel sped up but was still 0.3 seconds per lap slower than Button - and when he pushed too hard on the final lap, Button was there to take the spoils.

Ultimately, Button's fightback from last to first was part down to luck and part to judgement - as is often the case with wet races. The two safety car periods certainly closed the field up for him, but the team's good calls on early tyre changes, which turned out to be right, and Button's ability to push the car more to its limits than his rival is what steered him to victory.

And it is indeed hard to disagree that it was one of the greatest drives ever seen...

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Dudley

Dudley

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Posted

Not sure about SOP, but good ratings for Sunday's race:

Button's thrilling last-lap victory in the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday gave the BBC its second best television audience since the sport returned to the broadcaster in 2009. The average audience for the race on BBC One peaked at 8.3m, just below the record of 8.9m for the Brazilian GP in 2009. The coverage of the race climax on BBC Two between 2100 and 2200 BST peaked at 6.1m.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9512406.stm

Songs of Praise gets around 3m these days, half of what it got in 1998.

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morcs

morcs

Posted
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Where is the best place to get British GP tickets at this late stage? Not bothered about grandstands I'm happy to sit on a grass verge.

You've done this before I assume? I would never go General Admission again!

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kiroquai

kiroquai

Posted
Posted

I reckon we should have a RLLMUK F1 meet up at Silvy on the the Friday next year. Beer, sunshine, F1, awesome people.

I live in Banbury so I am more than happy for folks to kip over at mine as well; it's about 45-minutes through some quiet back roads to the circuit.

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morcs

morcs

Posted
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Yeah I have in the past. What made it so bad for you?

Maybe the fact that the year before I'd won free tickets to be in the Platinum Vodafone stand at Copse with park and ride included :D

I definitely wasn't going to turn up at 4:30am like they recommend you do to get a good spot, so I took a fold up stool and stood near the back on what is now the pit straight, but still could hardly see anything. I ended up watching the last half of the race on the giant tele behind the grandstands :hmm: Might work better if there's more than one of you - if I'd turned up at 4:30 and got a place I'd have lost it as soon as I needed the toilet.

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morcs

morcs

Posted
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Fair enouhh, I thought there might be a code of conduct but didn't want to gamble!

One thing I did find out was that parking at Silverstone Schools (see eBay) is a good way to beat traffic, if you don't mind walking a couple of miles to the circuit.

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mexos

mexos

Posted
Posted

I'm thinking i NEED tickets to british GP. gonna look at sunday only tickets & brave the traffic!

Let me know if you go, could grab a cheeky beer if you want.

Our tickets for Beckets turned up a week ago. A meer £350 inc camping each...

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kiroquai

kiroquai

Posted
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First time I went to Silverstone I was staying in Buckingham for the weekend with my mate, and on the Sunday we embarked on an epic A40/M40 avoiding journey through the country before parking in a village we thought was Abthorpe and walking up. We only found out the following year by chance that what we thought was Abthorpe actually was Silverstone Village :ph34r:, and yeah - it's about a mile along a road up to the circuit.

In my experience (full weekends in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Friday only in 2009), Friday and Saturday are actually the best days to be at the track. You don't need a car park ticket (well, you didn't at the time) - those were only in use on race day. Plus, you get a good couple of hours of F1 practice plus the supports, there are less traffic issues and the atmosphere just felt more relaxed and enjoyable.

Not to say that race day itself wasn't fun of course, but it very much felt like turning up, watching the race and then racing for the exit amongst huge traffic jams, whereas the prior two days felt like some sort of racing festival with a busy-but-managable drive home late in the day.

Will try and upload my home video footage to Youtube at some point :).

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mexos

mexos

Posted
Posted

Don't turn up at Silverstone with GA tickets unless:

* You've already picked your spot you want to watch from.

* Your prepared to be at the gates when they open and RUN to your spot.

* You're prepared to stay at that spot from 6am till the race finishes.

GA at Silverstone SUCKS HARD. Grandstand seats FTW. Places like Spa or Sepang are awesome for GA, but Silverstone sucks the fat one.

Believe it or not i've NEVER been to a GP. I NEED TO GO!!!

:o

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kiroquai

kiroquai

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yeah i'm certainly thinking about it. I had tickets last year & couldn't go cos of work at the last minute. Believe it or not i've NEVER been to a GP. I NEED TO GO!!!

You'll love it mate :), it really gets under your skin. Silverstone's a beautiful place to be on a sunny race weekend.

A few pictures I have found from my adventures!

Driving in on Friday in 2007 I went past this...

renaultruck.jpg

... and then got overtaken by this!

fordgt.jpg

This is what happens when a GP2 car loses control at Copse.

lapierre.jpg

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exwhyzed

exwhyzed

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Posted

The view from Vale doesn't seem that good to be honest cause you've got a massive lawn in front of you. And of course it's uncovered, if I get a grandstand I want to be dry if it rains.

it seems the best option going though.

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myoozikk

myoozikk

Posted
Posted

Found covered platinum tickets at club, that looks like a good slow corner onto the start finish straight. What does Platinum actually mean ticket wise, anyone know? Also any recommendations parking wise. I'd probably go Sat/Sun & drive home overnight.

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kiroquai

kiroquai

Posted
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The grandstands are colour-coded - Platinum ones offer the best views save for Club Silverstone.

I'm not 100% sure, but when I went I am convinced that having a Gold ticket for Luffield on the Friday and Saturday entitled me to sit in any gold/silver/bronze grandstands. For race day your ticket is only good for your specific seat, but on the other two days the colour coding means you can sit in any place that your ticket colour is high enough to gain you entry into. Platinum means you can basically sit wherever the hell you want all day on the Saturday.

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morcs

morcs

Posted
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Ah I'm not alone then, thank you mexos :D

Having done both, the extra £100 for grandstand is a no brainer. Silverstone aint good for spectoids.

Too late now but I always go to the FIA GT at Silverstone the month before. It's usually the first race on that year's layout (as it's changed the last couple of years) so lets you sit in almost all the grandstands and work out where you want to be for the F1. Plus GT1s make an amazing sound.

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mexos

mexos

Posted
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Platinum means you can basically sit wherever the hell you want all day on the Saturday.

Not sure if that's a Platinum only thing, but ours are and we can :)

Basically going to try all the grandstands over Friday and Saturday. If we get there early I *think* there is a Friday pitlane walkabout.

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morcs

morcs

Posted
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P.S. The best place to be for the GT this year was Village. The Arena stands seem to have gone giving you a clear view of the Arena complex, plus the ability to see Maggorts and Becketts over the fence.

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