[Monster Hesh]

Purely because of slick tyres painted blue, I'm going to be insanely pissed off the whole of the British GP weekend. It's just so ridiculous when we are never going to see the orange SuperHards tyre used, so just wasting the colour orange and eradicating any confusion.

[Jody Barton]

The less said about the bloody blue tyres the better... and of all places to bring them, they bring them to the track that has the highest proportion of wet races. Bloody stupid. I bet the other place we see them is Spa which is the second wettest track on the calendar.

[Monster Hesh]

So far we are in luck Jody, It is only Britain that has the Blue Hard tyre, and they have announced up to Japan. So probably the one and only time we'll see it. Which I'm sure Pirelli knew from Testing, so how in the hell they still progressed with SuperHards and just stupid colouring is beyond me.

[Jody Barton]

Hesh, I gave up long ago trying to work out Pirelli and the tyre situation. It's mental. No other word for it. Softer compounds but thicker gauge this year has caused so many issues for teams. Renault and Force India have had to radically rework how they run their cars, Mercedes of the big three seem hit the most, but Red Bull have also had nightmares in Australia where they couldn't keep surface temps up but we're overheating the core, and Baku where they were doing the opposite. Strangely it is the Ferrari powered teams that have come alive on these thicker tyres, yet everyone bangs on about the special "Mercedes" tyres for Spain, France and Britain.

[forzaferrari]

 yet everyone bangs on about the special "Mercedes" tyres for Spain, France and Britain.

Without getting into the whole thing again, I wonder how the thicker treaded tyres would have performed last weekend, the thinner tyres held on very well when you look at the length of stints completed by some...Kimi for one.

[Jody Barton]

I think given how long Kimi took the Ultra Soft tyres, and how they were actually hardest on them also, then the thicker tyres would have had extreme blistering as Pirelli predicted. I think after this weekend we can also say Ferrari's slump in Spain was clearly track specific and not tyre specific. They ran really, really well on the Softs.

[forzaferrari]

I think given how long Kimi took the Ultra Soft tyres, and how they were actually hardest on them also, then the thicker tyres would have had extreme blistering as Pirelli predicted. I think after this weekend we can also say Ferrari's slump in Spain was clearly track specific and not tyre specific. They ran really, really well on the Softs.

Without doubt the testing allowed Ferrari to better understand these tyres and work towards the necessary suspension changes to better suit the thinner tyre and as you say different circuit also made the difference.

[forzaferrari]

Formula 1 drivers will face the challenge of taking Silverstone's first corners with their DRS open, thanks to an extra zone being added for the British Grand Prix.
With the FIA continuing its push to try to improve overtaking opportunities, a third DRS zone will be added along the start-finish straight at Silverstone this weekend.
Its location is especially intriguing because, with the first Abbey right-hander and the following Farm left hander both being flat out on low fuel, it means drivers will have the option of keeping their DRS open through the turns.
Such a scenario could make things more on the edge for drivers because it will mean less downforce at the rear and therefore more risk of the back of the car getting out of shape.
F1 race director Charlie Whiting said: "It's not a big zone, but the interesting thing is that they could use it open through Turn One if they wanted to.
"Once they activate it after Turn 18, on the exit of the last corner, it only closes when they either brake or back off. They could potentially go through Turns One and Two with it open. Let's see."
It is the first time that such a scenario for DRS has played out in this way with drivers having the option to take a high speed corner with the rear wing open.
Back in 2011, the FIA banned use of the DRS through the Monaco tunnel because of the risk factor associated with the lack of downforce at the rear if the wings were kept open.
Reflecting on the Austrian GP weekend, Whiting believed the addition of a third DRS zone between Turns 1 and 3 had proved to be a success.
This came after a number of drivers voiced fears of a 'Mario Kart' scenario where overtaking could be too easy.
"I think it helped a bit actually," said Whiting. "It certainly helped in F2. But I believe it gave them a better chance of overtaking. You quite often saw cars were getting closer than they would have done into Turn 3.
"Then we would often see overtakes into Turn 4, wouldn't you? So I thought it worked quite well. It didn't make it too easy which some drivers thought it might."

[Monster Hesh]

Yep, somebody's going to have a nasty off. Turn 1 might be OK, but its the direction change into 2 that could cause issues.
Plus adding the high speed pit exit on the outside of the corner, having DRS cars side by side in turn 2, something bad could happen.

[NeilP]

Mercedes really need to get their act together after a massively disappointing race in Austria. I am sure there are many people on here who can point out how strong certain cars were in the race but tactical mistake and team errors aside I think they had the beating of Ferrari and Red Bull in that race and a Mercedes 1 and 2 was on the cards.

Its hard for me to understand how and why they do not change the strategy personnel, three huge mistakes on the year is unacceptable from such a high ranked team with so many staff. Maybe its just too close to the next race but either way they have to be on notice right now. The reliability issue does not concern me too much at this stage these things happen from time to time as long as they do not happen again. You have to expect some collateral damage during the season.

I think this race will be a real 3 way fight. Obviously as a Hamilton and Mercedes fan (and British) I would love to see him bounce back but can he really win 5 in a row that would be unbelievable! When will Bottas's luck change, the guy is due not just one but many breaks after what has happened to him this season.

Not loving a third DRS zone if you are going to add more zones to make overtaking easier then make the whole circuit a DRS zone!!! Not loving DRS either it is so artificial but I guess without it we will see virtually no overtaking at the lead of races.

I cannot say I am enjoying the virtual safety car either. Was there really a need for it this weekend, could the race not have managed with double waved yellows? I understand the safety aspect especially after Bianchi's crash and loss of life but it seems to me we are going to it a lot more often these days.

I do not think the weather will play a part in the race this year not from the liquid stuff anyway which to me is disappointing I love to see a wet British GP sorts the men from the boys!