GOOD LUCK LEWIS, I WANT YOUR HELMET!

The British GP is coming up this weekend and promises to be a special race for British fans as there will be 4 British drivers on the grid. It will be a homecoming race for them all and especially interesting for Lewis Hamilton fans as this will Hamilton's first time racing in F1 at Silverstone not in a McLaren. Hopes are high that he can score massive points and maybe even win it after doing so 5 years ago in 2008.

In celebration, Mercedes Benz as most other brands and sponsors are running a host of competitions and promotions. This particular one is interesting as it is directed at you Lewis fans out there with the opportunity to win signed Lewis stuff. Mercedes-Benz is creating a virtual Silverstone racetrack asking the Twitter community to tweet #GoodLuckLewis messages in order to power his F1 car around the Silverstone track, to help him qualify for Sunday’s race.

They're calling on the F1 racing community to show their support for Lewis in full force and provide him with some extra luck before the British Grand Prix. Everyone who tweets a good luck message to Lewis using the specified hashtag will have the chance to win some exciting F1 prizes, including: signed steering wheels, signed race suit, signed gloves and boots and a signed replica helmet.

Example tweet: Give @LewisHamilton a virtual good luck boost at mbgoodlucklewis.co.uk for a chance to win amazing signed F1 prizes #GoodLuckLewis.

So Lewis fans, what are you waiting for? Tweet like mad for the next 2-3 days and push Lewis, will him to pole and the win. Nothing to lose and everything to go for.

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BRITISH GP 2013

The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship Grands Prix. It was designated the European Grand Prix five times between 1950 and 1977, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one Grand Prix race in Europe.

Silverstone Circuit is a British motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side. The Northamptonshire towns of Towcester (5 miles) and Brackley (7 miles) and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham (6 miles) are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes.

Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948. The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created Formula One World Championship. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987.

The circuit has been modified quite a bit in the last few years and changes to the pit lane have changed the strategy planning, as the time taken in the pits is now longer at 25 seconds.

TRACK CHARACTERISTICS

Track length : 5.891km
Race distance : 52 laps (306.227 km)
Corners : 18 corners in total. A high speed circuit based on an old WWII airfield. Lots of high-speed corners, aerodynamically challenging, very easy on brakes.
Aerodynamic setup : Med/High downforce
Top speed : 311km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 301km/h without
Full throttle – 66% of the lap (medium). Total fuel needed for race distance – 150 kilos (average/high). Fuel consumption – 2.36kg per lap (high)
Time spent braking : 9% of lap (very low). 9 braking zones. Brake wear- Low.
Total time needed for pit stop : 25 seconds
Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried) : 0.38 seconds (high)
Lap Record : 1:34.661 - K Raikkonen (2012)

WEATHER FORECAST

The weather in England, even in summer, is notoriously hard to predict. Last year saw torrential rains spoil the weekend. It could be warm and sunny, or cold and wet. Currently it is warm and sunny in the UK. There has been very little rain in the build up to the event, unlike last year. The long range forecast for this weekend is for temperatures around 18 to 19 degrees, cloudy, but no rain forecast for race day.

TIRES

Pirelli tyre choice for Silverstone: Medium (white markings) and hard (orange markings). This is a similar combination to what we saw at Malaysia, Bahrain and Spain.

Pirelli will give all the teams an opportunity to use the prototype hard tyres during practice at the British Grand Prix. The Formula One teams were originally given the prototype to test during Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, but no significant running was done when the session was hit by rain. The tire resembles the 2012 rubber and will be available during both sessions on Friday at Silverstone.
 
DRS

Silverstone Circuit have confirmed that there will be two DRS zones at this year's British Grand Prix located on both the Wellington and Hangar straights. The Hangar straight becomes the second of the DRS zones, after Wellington was the only zone in use in 2012. The DRS Zone 1 will be detected 25m before Turn 3 at Village with the activation coming into play 45m after Turn 4 at The Loop, which is the new section of the Silverstone layout. The DRS Zone 2 detection is just before turn 11 with the activation between turns 14 and 15.

CHANCE OF A SAFETY CAR

Silverstone is a fast, open circuit with lots of run off areas. So for marshals it’s relatively safe to recover a broken car. The chances of a safety car are 57%, with 0.6 safety cars per race.

Silverstone has always been an interesting race to watch, even with this new layout. This year there will be 4 British drivers racing here as well. Hopefully the weather holds and we don't see a Red Bull procession again. But Red Bull has been strong here and the circuit layout does suit them so fingers crossed.

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WIN VIP ACCESS TO THE BRITISH GP

Mercedes-Benz is searching for reporters to attend their sponsored events and report on it for the brand in their own unique and original way. Recognising we’re all Social Reporters these days, from Twitter to Facebook and Instagram, Mercedes-Benz are giving fans the chance to invigorate their timelines with amazing content opportunities at this years British Grand Prix and The British Open.

Launching with Formula 1, the winner will be able to attend the Silverstone Grand Prix and document the experience, a pretty great prize for any racing or sports fan. This would be a great competition for everybody so Mercedes Benz would love it if you could spread the word and inspire your followers to get out there, create and share their racing moments and become a Social Reporter for Mercedes-Benz.

The competition submissions end on the 19th, with voting commencing on the 20th – 24th June. Sorry about this late post but was busy. Enter #SocialReporter and you'll get VIP access, interview celebrities and be our voice at exclusive events.

Submit an entry by selecting content from your Twitter or Instagram accounts, or linking to a video or blog entry, and you'll be in with a chance to get the VIP treatment and cover an event as Mercedes-Benz's #SocialReporter. You and a guest will attend the AMG customer party at Woburn Abbey on 27th June, mingle with celebrities and members of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One™Team, be given tickets to The British Grand Prix at Silverstone and report back on the entire weekend.

Proceed HERE to register.

 If you enjoyed this posting, please do share it with your network so more people can enjoy it as well. Also, check out my t-shirt designs for Hamilton fans below, click on image.

WILLIAMS TO PROVIDE BATTERY SYSTEM TO FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP

Williams are to provide the battery system that will be used in the FIA Formula E championship which is set to debut in Autumn 2014.

Williams Advanced Engineering, a division of the Williams group which commercialises Formula 1-based technologies, will partner Spark Racing Technology to design and assemble the units.

The single seater fully-electric championship is set to start in September 2014 with 10 city centre races – eight of which have already been announced in the form of London, Rome, Los Angeles, Miami, Beijing, Putrajaya (Malaysia), Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Bangkok is under consideration for one of the remaining slots.Williams’ work with battery storage systems began with its F1 programme following the introduction or Kers (Kers Energy Recovery Systems) in 2009. Since then, the outfit develops both battery and flywheel energy storage systems for both motorsport and non-motorsport industries.

Read more..

MERCEDES HAVE DONE WHAT THEY CAN

Toto Wolff has reiterated that Mercedes will go into the FIA Tribunal hearing into their controversial Barcelona tyre test later this week ready to make the case that they have done nothing wrong.

Both the Brackley-based team and tyre supplier Pirelli are to face charges over their so-called 'secret' three-day test when the International Tribunal convenes to hear the case in Paris on Thursday, with both parties having welcomed the hearing in order to put their respective sides of the story across.

"We have prepared our documents, we can do no more," Wolff told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Read more..

INTERESTING STORIES #1

First off, to all readers of this blog I must apologise as I have not been posting as much as I normally do lately. In fact, I did not post a review of the last 2 races in Monaco and Montreal. Monaco was boring and I missed Montreal due to the time and my work. Plus there was nothing much to write about Montreal as Vettel won from lights to flag without much trouble from other drivers, accept he himself threw himself on the wall and slid around here and there. Yawn....excuse me.

So, I'm now going to try something new. I'm going to start a new series of posts which collects interesting stories from around the web. It's a bunch of stories I read, have an opinion about and want to share. So this is the first in the series. Hopefully it will be regular and be useful to most of you who might not read it or missed it or want to find it again.


My comments (if any) will be in blue.

SPONSORSHIP MARKETPLACE IN FORMULA 1 LOOKING “PRETTY GOOD”

The sponsorship marketplace in Formula 1 is looking “pretty good” at the moment with several new brands coming into the sport, according to Formula 1 business expert Zak Brown, however he adds that there remains a big pressure on teams to continue to find ways to raise money.

“When you get into banks, logistics or narrow consumer groups, they don’t tend to be mass market as much. I think the new trend is a win-win. It will be good cash for racing teams but also help extend the reach of the sport – which is only good for everybody."

PIRELLI ANNOUNCES COMPOUNDS FOR NEXT THREE RACES

The tyre construction will remain unchanged, contrary to Pirelli’s initial plans. This decision is due to the fact that the new tyres, which were brought to the Friday free practice sessions in Canada, could not be tested sufficiently due to rain - and that the teams failed to agree unanimously about introducing the changes. Instead a change in the tyre production process should now ensure that the delamination issue has been addressed.

IS NEW JERSEY HAPPENING AT ALL?

Over the last few days it has been widely reported that the organizers of the Grand Prix of America, scheduled to take place in New Jersey next June, have a "long-term agreement" with Bernie Ecclestone. Even this morning, Sky proclaims that the “contact is in place”.

Odd therefore that such a deal has not been mentioned by Bernie's own website, the official website of Formula One.

I don't forsee it happening next year. Anyway, Russia is there so no big deal, it will still be 20 races which is what the rules mention.

F1 RACE IN PHUKET?

"I was told yesterday about the new city planning law," added Somsak Phurisisak, of the Department for Sport and Tourism, according to the Bangkok Post. "Whatever is illegal we will not do, so we may have to cancel the proposed grand prix."

According to the Bangkok Post, Somsak suggested that alternative venues such as Khon Kaen or Nakhon Ratchasima may not be suitable "because they lack accommodation and facilities to house hundreds of people during the Grand Prix".

Hundreds?

Personally the idea of F1 cars racing in Phuket sounds like a good idea, better than in the smog of Bangkok.

USAIN BOLT IN AN F1 CAR?

Is this for real? It was a tweeted picture, so go check it out in the link above or HERE.

SERGIO CLOSELY EXAMINED AT MCLAREN

Sergio Perez feels his move to McLaren means his driving is now much more closely scrutinized than when he was at Sauber.

"So yeah, when you are at McLaren, the spotlight is on you, people comment a lot about what you do right, what you do wrong. You definitely get more attention."

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CANADIAN GP 2013

The Canadian Grand Prix (known in French as the Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual auto race held in Canada starting in 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario as a sports car event before it alternated between Mosport and Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Quebec after Formula One took over the event. After 1971 safety concerns led to the Grand Prix moving permanently to Mosport. In 1978, after similar safety concerns with Mosport the Canadian Grand Prix moved to its current home on Île Notre-Dame in Montreal.

In 2005, the Canadian Grand Prix was the most watched Formula One GP in the world. The race was also the third most watched sporting event worldwide, behind the first place Super Bowl XXXIX and the UEFA Champions League Final.

Montreal is always one of the most interesting races of the season from a strategy point of view. With a very high likelihood of safety cars, a low grip surface and very easy overtaking, it is always an entertaining race and hard to predict.

TRACK CHARACTERISTICS

Length : 4.36 kilometers
Race distance : 70 laps (305 kilometers)
Corners : 12 corners in total. A circuit made up of straights, chicanes and a hairpin.
Aerodynamic setup : Medium downforce
Top speed : 326km/h (with Drag Reduction System active on rear wing) – 316km/h without
Full throttle : 60% of the lap (quite high). 15 seconds unbroken full throttle on main straight
Total fuel needed for race distance : 142 kilos (average/high)
Fuel consumption : 2.0kg per lap (average/high)
Time spent braking : 17% of lap (high) 7 braking zones
Brake wear : Very High
Loss time for a Pit stop : 11.2 seconds (very fast)
Total time needed for pit stop : 15.2 seconds
Fuel effect (cost in lap time per 10kg of fuel carried) : 0.28 seconds (low)
Lap Record : 1:13.622 - R Barrichello (2004)

DRS

There will be two DRS zones for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix after the FIA reduced the number to one last year. The first year that DRS was used in Montreal there were two zones - one before Turns 13 and 14 (the final chicane) and one on the start/finish straight - but with only one detection point overtaking proved too easy, a number of passes were made in the first zone before being able to extend a large advantage in the second.

Having reduced the DRS to one zone in 2012, the FIA has now announced there will be two again this year. While there is still only one detection point, the first zone is located 55m before the right-hand kink known as Turn 12, making it 113m shorter than it was in 2011 and 63m shorter than last year. The second zone is again after Turn 14, and with an activation point 70m after corner it is just one metre shorter compared to 2011.

WEATHER

Government of Canada weather report is saying Montreal will be wet and cold this weekend from Friday onwards, so not so good for race setup and qualifying unless you're a Marussia or Caterham supporter. The weather report is as below.

Friday, 7 June - Showers. High 16.
Saturday, 8 June - Rain. Low 11. High 17.
Sunday, 9 June - A mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers. Low 11. High 20.

TYRES

Pirelli tyre choice for Montreal: Prime tyre is Medium (white markings) and Option tyre is Super Soft (red markings). Pirelli has stepped back from its original intention to bring revised tyres with a new rear construction for competition use in Montreal. Instead it will supply two sets of the revised tyres for test purposes only on Friday. Of course if I was Pirelli I would not go ahead with whatever changes I had in mind seeing as I was being blamed for everything and no contract agreed to for next year. F1 might find itself with its pants down next year as Bridgestone and Hankook has said they won't bother to supply if Pirelli jumps ship.

Montreal has been interesting the past few years due to the nature of the track and some unpredictable weather. Hopefully the 2 DRS zones won't dull the race. With Mercedes wanting another win and Red Bull not so strong here, plus Grosjean starting 10 places down, this should be a cracker of a race.

If you enjoyed this posting, please do share it with your network so more people can enjoy it as well. Also, check out my t-shirt designs for Rosberg fans below, click on image.