Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Silverstone

  • British Grand Prix

    Once again it’s race week, and we have another double header upon us, with our first stop being at Silverstone for Round 10! The question is how will the British boys do this weekend?

    Can Max make it his seventh win of the season? Or will Ferrari have something up there sleeve? What can Mercedes do with their new upgrades, its going to be an interesting one for sure!

    Who needs a good weekend?

    The McLaren boys need a good weekend, Lando currently sits in 7th in the championship and Daniel in 13th. But I’d probably say Daniel more, as his only scored in 3 races this season… The Papaya team knows they can score good points this weekend if they qualify well, and hopefully put on a good show for all their fans attending and watching from home!

    Alfa Romeo will be looking to get another double points finish this weekend as they try and close down the gap to Alpine, who are just 6 points ahead of them.

    Ferrari’s Leclerc will be looking to take the win this weekend, and hopefully jump Perez in the standings, with the pair separated by three points. Leclerc, done well in Canada considering he started at the back of the grid and managed to finish 5th, what can he do this weekend…

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top five for qualifying are- Pole: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Sainz, P4: Perez and P5: Hamilton.

    Charles still keeps it consistent in qualifying, but I do feel like it might be closer this weekend. You can also never count out Lewis, especially at Silverstone, but another person not to count out is Russell, his on top form at the moment and he will be wanting to make up for his mistake in Canada’s qualifying.

    Hopefully we see a mixed top 10, with Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo and maybe a Haas thrown in there to shake it all up and which will make for an interesting race on Sunday.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 1st-

    • Free Practice F3- 09:35am – 10:20am (BST)
    • Free Practice F2- 10:45am – 11:30am
    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm
    • Qualifying F3- 14:55pm – 15:25pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm
    • Qualifying F2- 17:30pm – 18:00pm

    Saturday 2nd-

    • Sprint Race F3- 09:55am – 10:35am (BST)
    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 17:00pm – 17:45pm

    Sunday 3rd-

    • Feature Race F3- 08:35am (BST)
    • Feature Race F2- 10:05am
    • Race- 15:00pm

  • Silverstone Tyre Allocation

    It’s race week once again, and we have another double header! But this week we are going to Silverstone, the race which caused so much controversy last year…

    But, we have the tyre allocation for this weekend, with Pirelli choosing the hardest in the range C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft).

    Ultra-rapid and high-energy corners such as Maggotts and Becketts complex aren’t the only challenge, as the weather can be extremely variable from bright sunshine to heavy rain.

    Last year’s race was won with two tyre changes: one of them being taken under an early red flag period following the Max and Lewis collision. Nearly all the drivers competed two stints on the medium plus a final one on the hard.

    This year, the compounds and structures are different, and there’s no sprint qualifying either – which was a factor in last year’s strategy.

    The British Grand Prix was where the new show car for the 2022 season was displayed last year, to highlight the future direction of the sport that we have embarked on from this season. The latest aerodynamic regulations are designed to allow drivers to follow each other more closely for longer to give more chance of overtaking, as we saw in Canada, while the tyres are designed to provide less overheating, more stability, and increased driveability within a wider working window. All these aspects will be tested this weekend, on one of the most challenging tracks for tyres of the year.

    Mario Isla, Motorsport Director

    Formula 2-

    The hard and Soft tyres are nominated for this weekend at Silverstone, a change from last year when the hard and medium were used. The extra step between the compounds will provide additional one-lap performance and more strategic variability in the races.

    Formula 3-

    The hard tyre is nominated as the single compound: the third appearance in four rounds. The nomination is the same as Formula 3’s previous visits to Silverstone in 2019 and 2020.

  • Jonny Edgar returns

    Trident has confirmed that Jonny Edgar will be making his return to Formula 3 at Round 4 of the 2022 season after recovering from health issues, Edgar will be back driving for the team on home soil at Silverstone.

    The Briton underwent a recovery process that has been successful and his progress means that he will be fit enough to race next week. Edgar last raced with the time at the first round in Sakhir but was forced to step away from racing to focus on his health.

    His return means, that Oliver Rasmussen will depart but the Trident team thanked him for his work and wished him the best for the future and racing career.

    Only missing out on a total of 4 races, Edgar already can’t wait to get stuck back into as well as thanking his medical team to return to the competitive championship.

    I am extremely delighted to share this amazing news. I have no words to express how happy I am to welcome Jonny Edgar back and be able to follow him on track again. We are absolutely thrilled to know that the British racer, a Red Bull Junior driver, has finally overcome his health issues, winning a battle that will make him even stronger. Trident Motorsport will follow his return with its maximum commitment to help him recover the time he missed in two rounds he was forced to sit out from.

    Giacomo Ricci, Trident team manager.

    I am delighted to announce that I will be resuming my FIA F3 Championship campaign with Trident Motorsport next weekend at Silverstone. Following my Crohn’s diagnosis and period of illness, I have now improved sufficiently to make my return to racing.As well as my family and friends, I have so many people I would like to thank for making this possible, particularly Dr Helmut Marko and everyone at Red Bull, Trident Motorsport, Dr Phil Batty, Mr Mike Davison, Dr Ally Speight & his team at RVI Newcastle, Sam Village, Jeff Thorpe and The BRDC. Everyone has worked so hard to support me getting healthy again and their unwaivering support will always be appreciated.

    Jonny Edgar, RedBull Junior and Trident driver.

  • F2 Driver given race ban & paddock altercations

    Formula 2 Driver, Amaury Cordeel has been banned from the next round at Silverstone after accruing 12 penalty points on his license.

    The Van Amersfoort driver has gained penalty points for many reasons, including ignoring track limits repeatedly at Imola, failing to respect yellow and red flags in Jeddah as well as failing to complete the formation lap in grid order at Barcelona last month.

    His various offences had combined to 11 penalty points heading into the Baku weekend, and he notched that point after colliding with Olli Caldwell in Sunday’s Feature Race.

    Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined Car 14 (Caldwell) was behind Car 25 (Cordeel) between Turns 3 and 4. Car 14 chose an outside line and was alongside Car 25 on the straight approaching Turn 4. Car 25 was focused on the cars ahead and did not see Car 14 on the left. Car 25 moved across to the left, making contact with Car 14 and forcing them both into the wall. Both cars retired. Car 25 was deemed to be wholly at fault for causing the collision.

    The FIA’s ruling on the collision.

    Cordeel will miss Formula 2’s next race weekend at Silverstone as a result, becoming the first F2 driver to receive a race ban since Mahaveer Ranganathan in 2019.

    Not only this, a €5,000 fine has been given to Charouz driver, Cem Bolukbasi after his father was involved in a paddock altercation with Williams test driver and Dams driver, Roy Nissany and his trainer in the paddock.

    Nissany, called Bolukbasi an ‘idiot’ over team radio when the pair both retired after colliding with each other and the words continued as Bolukbasi’s father, Yavuz confronted him in the DAMs tent, which lead to a ‘heated verbal exchange’ between them and Nissany’s trainer, Francesco Martinez as he also got involved afterwards.

    Bolukbasi senior, has had his event credentials for Silverstone revoked as a result, whilst his son has to pay the €5,000.

    Mr Bolukbasi admitted he lost his temper when he thought Car 19 (Nissany) made a derogatory comment about his son. As the verbal exchange escalated, the trainer for Roy Nissany became involved and there was some pushing and physical contact between the father and trainer. No punches were exchanged and the unwanted guests were removed from the area. At no time will physical violence, nor the threat of such be tolerated.

    The FIA statement on the altercation.

  • Mazepin banned from British GP

    Russian Formula 1 driver, Nikita Mazepin is banned from competing in the British Grand Prix after Motorsport UK announced their response to the situation in Ukraine.

    On Tuesday the 1st March, the Haas driver looked likely to be allowed to compete in the sport this season after the FIA confirmed Russian and Belarusian drivers could race under a neutral flag.

    However, the chair of Motorsport UK David Richards CBE along with the board of the organisation has confirmed in a statement released today, that Mazepin would not be able to race at Silverstone in the beginning of July, unless the situation changes.

    The decision was made in full consultation with the UK Government and national sports governing bodies to ensure there is a unilateral response.

    “The entire Motorsport UK community condemns the acts of war by Russia and Belarus in Ukraine and expresses its solidarity and support towards all those affected by the ongoing conflict.” Richards said. “We stand united with the people of Ukraine and the motorsport community following the invasion and the unacceptable actions that have unfolded. This is a time for the international motorsport community to act and show support for the people of Ukraine and our colleagues at the Federation Automobile d’Ukraine (FAU). Motorsport UK stands united with Leonid Kostyuchenko, the President of the FAU, the Ukrainian motorsport community and the Ukrainian people and calls for the violence to end with a peaceful resolution.”

    FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem said in a statement on Tuesday: “The FIA is watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and I hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation. We condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and our thoughts are with all those suffering as a result of the events in Ukraine.”

    In the statement, the FIA added: “Russian/Belarusian drivers, individual competitors and officials to participate in international/zone competitions only in their neutral capacity and under the ‘FIA flag’, subject to specific commitment and adherence to the FIA’s principles of peace and political neutrality.”

  • F2 Silverstone- Review

    The weekend just gone we had Formula Two joining F1 at the British GP and what a weekend it was for F2!

    Friday- On the Friday we had free practice and qualifying, Dan Ticktum topped the charts in FP with Piastri behind in and Vips in 3rd. We had one red flag during the practice and that was due to Pourchaire, he got out of the car okay and racing went back to normal after this. Next up we had qualifying, Oscar Piastri got his first ever pole position in F2, and Lundgaard got reverse pole for the first sprint race.

    Saturday- First up we had Sprint Race One and Robert Shwartzman claimed another win, making it his second of the season. In 2nd we had Juri Vips, and 3rd was Christian Lundgaard. The trio managed to survive four safety cars in the order they finished in! One of the safety cars was needed for Guanyu Zhou after he spun which didn’t put a good start to his weekend… We then have the Second Sprint Race, and we now have a new F2 race winner and that was Richard Verschoor his first ever F2 win! Marcus Armstrong joined him on the podium in 2nd and the Brit, Dan Ticktum in 3rd. Verschoor led every single lap from lights out to the flag making it a well deserved win. Guanyu and Robert didn’t socre any points in the 2nd sprint race.

    Sunday- On a Sunday we only have the Feature Race, so lets get into it! Guanyu Zhou made a comeback on the Sunday and won the Feature Race making it his third win of the season. Dan Ticktum in second with Oscar Piastri in third. Towards the end Piastri had to hold off Verschoor who was on a late charge for a podium but wasn’t successful.

    Who impressed me the most this weekend?

    I’m really impressed with Dan Ticktum this weekend, he was nice and consistent and obviously got on the podium twice which is a very good points haul for him and the Carlin team. I’d also say Richard Verschoor, obviously his first win within F2 and he scored some good points on the Sunday too, it seems like his got lots of confidence in the car which is very good!

    Who needs to improve?

    We have a little while till were next on track with F2, and the people I think who needs to improve are possibly Liam Lawson, I think his a very good young driver and obviously his got to grips with the HiTech car very quickly, but I expected more form him at Silverstone, but maybe the track just didn’t suit him this particular weekend. I also think Marcus Armstrong, his with the Ferrari Driver Academy so obviously very talented, but I feel like this season was his chance to prove that to people but only at the fourth round he scored his first podium this season!

    The next F2 race is in Monza and on the 10th to the 12th of September, i’m looking forward to see if we have a new championship leader after the weekend their or if Oscar Piastri can extend his!

  • Round 10- Silverstone Race

    Silverstone did not disappoint!! What a race wow…

    Hamilton has grabbed his 99th win of his career and his 8th British GP win! Leclerc finishes in P2 and Bottas in P3.

    The rest of the top 19 are: P4- Norris, P5- Ricciardo, P6- Sainz, P7- Alonso, P8- Stroll, P9- Ocon and P10- Tsunoda.

    We only had two DNF this race and that was Max Verstappen due to contact with Hamilton early on in the race which gave him a 10 second time penalty, then the second was Sebastian Vettel due to an issue with the car. Max has ended up going to hospital so I wish him a speedy recovery whatever the injury is!

    Both McLaren and Ferrari boys done so well both finished in the points and Leclerc got his highest finish of the season so far! The constructors is going to be so close now!

    Now onto the last remaining Brit, George Russell, brought the car home in P12, so close to points but we’re all very proud of him for such an amazing weekend!

    We now have a two week break till the next race and that is at Hungary on the 30th July till 1st August. Will Hamilton get his 9th win at the Hungaroring Grand Prix, or will Max be as hungry as ever? It’s all to play for!!

  • Round 10- Silverstone Sprint Quali

    Well that is the very first F1 Sprint Quali done and what a 17 laps they were!

    Max got a very good start and took the lead from Lewis but the Brit wasn’t giving up that easy and kept pushing Max! However it wasn’t enough and Verstappen took P1, Hamilton- P2 and Bottas- P3!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4- Leclerc, P5- Norris, P6- Ricciardo, P7- Alonso, P8- Vettel, P9- Russell and P10- Ocon.

    It wasn’t Perez’s day as he spun on lap 5 and fell all the way down to P19, and then he eventually had to retire the car meaning he now starts the race tomorrow in P20. This shows how important the F1 sprint is, one little mistake and it could be all over for you and then you would have to do a lot of making up to do tomorrow in the race.

    There was an incident on lap 1 with Russell and Sainz, where they made a bit of contact and Sainz dropped back to P18, this is set to be looked at by the stewards afterwards, so hopefully more information coming soon! *UPDATE* – George Russell has a 3 grid place penalty drop for tomorrow’s race meaning he will now start P12. Ocon, Sainz and Gasly all move up one place!

    Predictions for tomorrow:

    My top 5 for tomorrow are, P1- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Norris, P4- Ricciardo and P5- Leclerc, with the fastest lap going to Hamilton.

    I’m going to predict that Russell will finish P7! Don’t know if that’s too out there but I’m very hopeful and his got the home crowd to cheer him on!

    All eyes onto tomorrow now and I’m very much looking forward to it!!

  • Round 10- Silverstone Quali

    GET IN THERE LEWIS!!! Pole on his home track and no better way to do it! P2- Verstappen and P3- Bottas!

    The rest of the top 10 are- P4- Leclerc, P5- Perez, P6- Norris, P7- Ricciardo, P8- Russell, P9- Sainz, P10- Vettel.

    Honestly, WOW I’m so glad George got into Q3! He was definitely right about the crowd because when he got into Q3, the roars around the circuit was unbelievable!

    Big well done to Daniel as-well! Mega day for him and to be right next to his teammate is the performance we want to see from him!

    The Mercedes upgrade definitely seem to work very well so far and it’s about time they brought something, it’ll be very interesting to see their plan for the rest of the weekend

    Red Bull I feel like had a good afternoon but when it went to the qualifying session in the evening they kind of lost their form and that ended up with Max not being first…

    My Predictions-

    For Sprint qualifying I think P1 will go to Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Norris, P4- Perez and P5- Ricciardo.

    I’m very much looking forward to seeing this Sprint Qualifying tomorrow and what drama it will bring to the track!

    Tomorrow we have Practice 2 at 12:00pm – 13:00pm (BST) and then Sprint Qualifying at 16:30pm – 17:00pm (BST)

  • Silverstone GP

    We are back racing this weekend and we are at Silverstone, the home of many F1 teams and three drivers, Russell, Norris and Hamilton! We have a big weekend coming up with 140,000 fans there and not just F1 there either, we have F2 and the W series this weekend.

    Can Lewis be victorious in-front of his home crowd? Or will Max extend his lead?… Will Lando Norris achieve another podium? Can George Russell score some points? SO many unanswered questions and I am here for it!!

    This weekend at Silverstone we have a special thing happening, on Thursday 15th July, F1 will be unveiling the life-size 2022 car, with a talk through on the machines revolutionary design. This will be streamed on F1’s Youtube channel and Facebook at 15:00pm (BST) and 14:00 (UTC).

    Who needs a good weekend?

    I would say Lewis, yes he has performed well recently but he really needs a win this weekend! So lets hope there is some upgrades to the Mercedes…

    I’d also say Pierre Gasly, he has had a good season and is currently 9th in the drivers championship but I feel like this weekend he will have something more to give. He has a fast car and he knows what his doing with it so I don’t see why not he will finish quite high up!

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top five for qualifying are Pole- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3-Verstappen, P4- Norris and P5- Perez.

    I’d like to see Daniel end up somewhere in the top 10 and close to his team-mate too, I think it would be a great start to the weekend for the British team. Again, I’d like to see George get into Q3, hopefully the crowd gives him that extra boost…

    I feel like Esteban Ocon needs a good quali, he hasn’t had very good past weekends, hopefully the two week break have let him chill and feeling fresh for Silverstone.

    Times for the weekend are-

    Friday- W Series Practice Session- 09:40am – 10:10am (BST) F2 Practice Session- 11:30am – 12:15pm (BST) F1 Practice 1- 14:30pm – 15:30pm (BST) W Series Qualifying Session- 15:55pm – 16:25pm (BST) F2 Qualifying Session- 16:50pm – 17:20pm (BST) F1 Qualifying Session- 18:00pm – 19:00pm (BST).

    Saturday- F2 Sprint Race 1- 08:50am – 9:40am (BST) F1 Practice 2- 12:00pm – 13:00pm (BST) W Series Race- 13:25pm – 14:05pm (BST) F2 Sprint Race 2- 14:45pm – 15:35pm (BST) F1 Sprint Qualification- 16:30pm – 17:00pm (BST).

    Sunday- F2 Feature Race- 10:50am – 11:55am (BST) F1 Race- 15:00pm – 17:00pm (BST).

    Come back here or my social media for more updates over the weekend! You can find my social media in the contact me section of my page :)

  • Tyres for Silverstone

    Pirelli have announced what tyres will be available this weekend at Silverstone which is holding the first ever F1 sprint.

    The hardest of the compounds will be used C1 (Hard), C2 (Medium) and C3 (Soft). They will also be supply 12 sets of slicks rather than 13 with two sets of C1, four sets of C2’s and six sets of C3s. The compounds are the same as last year apart from the new rear tyres from when Hamilton suffered a puncture on the final lap.

    With qualifying now taking place on Friday evening and a change to normal practice, all drivers must use the soft tyre for the session, which normally its a free choice. Now onto the Sprint on Saturday, the teams will have a free choice of starting tyres, with also a free choice for the race on Sunday too.

    The test tyres they used in Austria, will now be used from British GP till the end of the season, they have reconstructed the rear tyre making them more robust.

    We also have Formula Two back this weekend for Round Four, they have been allocated the hard and medium tyres, which is being used for the first time in 2021 for them.

  • How Silverstone will work

    This coming weekend we have the British GP, and this year is a little different than others… It’s the first weekend of this season to be trialling the sprint qualifying.

    Below is in detail of how it is set out across the weekend and the times for it. The only day which stays the same is Sunday.

    Friday- In the afternoon (as usual) we have a 1 hour free practice session. In the evening we then have the normal qualifying which is usually on a Saturday afternoon. The qualifying will give us the starting grid for Sprint Qualifying.

    Saturday- In the afternoon we have a 1 hour free practice session. Then in the later part of the afternoon/ early evening we have the new Sprint Qualifying, this will usually run for 100km so roughly 30 minutes. The top three finishers will be awarded points, 1st = 3points, 2nd = 2 points and 3rd = 1 point. The results from this will then be the starting grid for Sundays race. During the sprint qualifying, pit-stops and tyre changes are not mandatory however the pit lane is open, if drivers want to change tyres.

    The times for this weekend are: Friday: FP1- 14:30pm till 15:30pm (BST), Qualifying- 18:00pm till 19:00pm (BST). Saturday: FP2- 12:00pm till 13:00pm (BST), Sprint Qualifying- 16:30pm till 17:00pm (BST). Sunday: Race- 15:00pm till 17:00pm (BST)

    I’m very lucky to be there this weekend, and to see the new layout. It will be interesting to see how it could possibly change up the order, and with there a few points up for grab this could mean quite a bit to both the Drivers and Constructors.

  • Silverstone

    It’s been announced by Silverstone and F1 that this years British Grand Prix will have a full attendance of fans! It has became one of the the UK’s Government Event Research Programme.

    Silverstone will welcome a capacity crowd of 140,000 spectators on the weekend of the 16th-19th July, this crowd will be the largest for a sporting event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Silverstone has confirmed that all ticket holders will be asked for either proof of a negative lateral flow test within 48 hours of arrival at the grand prix or proof if full vaccination, the second dose having been received at least 14 days prior to the first day of attending the grand prix.

    My opinion-

    I am very happy about this! I think it’s such a good way to get back to reality as for most of the population going it will be their first time going to an event with such a big scale (myself included). Also for F1 it’s very good! We have seen this season that there slowly getting more fans and now Silverstone get full capacity.

    If you want to find out more about the Grand Prix at Silverstone then click the link below…

    https://www.silverstone.co.uk/news/silverstone-welcome-full-crowd-2021-formula-1-british-grand-prix

  • Pirelli tyres

    So following on from the weekend in Azerbaijian, during the race we have two high speed crashes from Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen because of tyre blowouts.

    Both drivers were on the hard tyre compound, Lap 30 of the race is when Stroll crashed and spun violently into the wall which could of been a lot worse! Verstappen was leading the race with only 5 laps to go and then he suffered the exact same.

    However, Pirelli’s Head of F1 and Car Racing didn’t believe that tyre wear had been the issue in either of the incidents Mario Isola told the media: “I don’t want to give any preliminary conclusions. But it seems that it is a cut due to debris, because as I said, it’s not the most stressed tyre… We had other cars with the same number of laps [on the] same tyres without any issue. So the preliminary investigation is that it is probably due to an external factor, or debris, or kerb or whatever.” Isola then went on to add “Another element was there was no sign, or any warning according to the teams, we have to receive the telemetry from them but what they told us was that there was no warning, no vibration nothing to seem that there would be something in the tyres.”

    Isola suggested that Verstappens crash could have been caused by running over debris from Stroll’s crash. Meanwhile Pirelli announced that they have also spotted a cut in the hard tyre of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, this was discovered when everyone pitted under the red flag.

    My Opinion:

    I personally have very mixed views on this, I think that Pirelli need to review there Hard compound tyre, I don’t think Stroll’s was due to debris as no one had crashed before him and to make that big of impact to the tyre and car you’d expect it to be a big piece of debris off a crash. Where as Verstappen’s could possibly be a bit of debris, when you watch the replay you can see no debris on the track big enough to cut the tyre but then again this isn’t the first time the hard tyre has had a blowout etc as last year at Silverstone’s first race, Bottas, Sainz and Hamilton all suffered tyre blowouts on the hard tyre.

    I’d love to know your view on this so I have added a poll and video below!

    Sky Sports Video on Youtube