Weather forecast is bright and sunny for the whole day.

Interesting to see if we see some 'twitchy' rear ends in FP1 with some teams/cars testing revised engine maps that would comply with the off-throttle restrictions due to come in for Silverstone.
I see that Pirelli have changed the option tyre for this weekend to the soft (it was supposed to be the supersoft).
Not expecting to learn too much from the times in FP1, this track has always started out very dusty.

Should be interesting to see developments on all cars as the weather is perfect for it. I don't think Ferrari will like the mediums very much. Merc are running a new blown diffuser on one of the cars so that could be interesting to watch. Other than that I am braced for a rather boring session but any F1 is good for me

I highly doubt any cars will test their cars in regards to the ban. It would be so counter-productive to use time for Set-up at a different circuit to test what the effects may be.

I'm sure they know, they would have all their physics computer systems telling them what they will lose from the EBD ban, theres no reason to test it out in FP1 or 2 in Valencia.

The ban on engine maps won't do anything for FP1,2 or 3, as the ban is purely on the high fuel mapping they use for qually.

expect to see the same old session. The interesting things to watch for will be the tyre deg and the DRS deployment, as well as the usual early spins from the lack of grip a 'green' track represents.

As ashnathan said, Any F1 is good F1!

We'll see, I would expect them to be OK. I think Barcelona was a bit of an aberration with the 'new' hard tyre compounded by the enforced change of the rear wing.

For the most part Alonso was fine with the 'old' hard tyre (Massa had more problems) and the medium (in Canada at least) looks to be about half way between the 'old' hard and the soft in terms of peak grip. Ferrari have also said (not that it is necessarily the case) that they now understand the issues they had.

Hoping for a great F1 weekend. Normally the race is a dud!!!

Whitmarsh said :

“We’ve made some reasonable progress in the last three races.
We have had the quickest race car but we haven’t had the quickest qualifying car."

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/06/23/mcla...hange-valencia/

Well I have enjoyed every race so far this year. If Monaco and Barcelona can throw up exciting races I don't see any reason why it should be different here. The fact that DRS is likely to be relatively ineffective in terms of overtaking is a plus for me.

Just for reference, the progression last year in terms of quickest times was:

FP1 - 1:41.175 (Rosberg)
FP2 - 1:39.283 (Alonso)
FP3 - 1:38.052 (Vettel)
Qual - 1:37.587 (Vettel).

It would not surprise me to see Alonso fastest at the end of today again - it would help ticket sales for tomorrow!

Watch Red Bull be slow all through P1,2,3 and then blitz it in Qualy.

Mclaren have had the quickest race car for the past 3 races, their drivers have not maximised it's potential, especially Lewis.

Quick Poll: How long will it take before Karun Chandhok will crash his Lotus?

What is more significant? Engine mapping ban (Valencia) or off-throttle ban (Silverstone)?

New front wing endplate on the mclarens

Silverstone.

both! But if I have to choose then off-throttle ban

LOL at McLaren engineer

Flow vis shown on the McLaren

New gurney flap for the DRS for the Maccas

Thanks.

InsideFerrari
The 150° Italia is basically the same as in Montreal: no updates for this race. We are evaluating again an updated rear suspension

Hulk (

WHOA that force india is so unstable under braking

Di resta will not be amused........

It helps if it's possible to overtake. Most people have noticed that overtaking hasn't been easy in F1 for some time. McLaren would do much better if they could eliminate the constant stream of silly errors they make. Watch out for Whitmarsh using his favourite phrase late on Sunday afternoon .... "In hindsight...."

oh come on, this year it's pretty easy to overtake
Button wouldn't have won Canada with the rules of last year despite being fastest

Opps - read races as years.
Although this DRS rubbish doesn't make a lot of difference to the race result - if you're in a fast car.

without DRS I fail to see how button would have gone by michael so quickly (if he would have made it). no chance in catching vettel if he stayed 1 lap more behind michael
so yeah, DRS made a heck of a difference to button's end result right there

He wouldn't've won without Vettel cracking.

Gosh the McLarens are so fast without DRS

I know it's 99% because of the dust.. but the Red Bull's look twitchy rather than on rails, for once.

I stand corrected about them running the mapping for Silverstone...

Vettel running with Silverstone spec engine mapping according to the BBC.
Horner told them that they would do that in one session, and it is quite audible on Vettel's car.

And it's making a big difference compared to Webber's times.

Clearly, RBR will be out of the top 10 starting with Silverstone.

Rennie looking good here it seems.

Nice onboard on Heidfeld's Renault, sounds a lot like TC used to on the overrun.

Could be that they haven't got the mapping quite right on Vettel's car, even braking in a straight line the rear did not look very stable.

The fact Vettel feels the need to run the Silverstone spec is very intreasting, and its kind of showing.

Im not amused. (Gridbids)

Vettel was running with full fuel load, so there is nothing wrong with his pace, they will be fast here and they will be fast at silverstone...pole from each for sure

He was probably just backing off on the straights, so that he only gave his team and accurate indictation of the time they'd lose, as opposed to the whole grid.

There is no way that alone results in a 2-3 seconds difference.

Where the hell were the marshalls for Glocks car?!

Practice 1:

Best sector times

Lap chart

Did Hamilton go out for a second run after his DRS failed? I missed the second half.

EDIT: Just realised they were not using DRS as they were testing aero.

His DRS didnt fail, he just didnt know he wasnt supposed to be using it.

Those Merc's times are close! Rosberg up .001 in S1, Schumacher .057 in S2 and same time in S3.

Interesting to note that the closest driver to Webber in S3, the most aero dependent part, is Hamilton.

And then Sutil. Parts of a track that are aero dependant are also the most fuel sensitive so I wouldn't read much into that until qualifying.

Does this throw the title open again then?

Now here is a chance for Vettel to prove his worth !!

It's only FP and they were testing bits for Silverstone so as yet not even running with a car configured for the race. It's far too early to make any predictions.

anyone out there have a bbc stream?