Thursday, July 11, 2019

What to watch this Weekend (July 12th - July 17th)

  • Formula 1 - British Grand Prix; from Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Practice 1. Friday @ 4:55am - 6:30am (ESPN2(HD)) live
  • Formula 1 - British Grand Prix; from Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Practice 2. Friday @ 8:55am - 10:30am (ESPNU(HD)) live
  • Formula 1 - British Grand Prix; from Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Practice 3. Saturday @ 5:55am - 7am (ESPN2(HD)) live
  • Formula 1 - British Grand Prix; from Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Qualifying. Saturday @ 8:55am - 10am (ESPNNEWS(HD)) live 
  • Formula 1 - British Grand Prix; from Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England. Race. Sunday @ 9:05am - 11:30am (ESPN2(HD)) live
  • Chasing Classic Cars. Tuesday @ 7pm - 7:30pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
  • Motorweek. Tuesday @ 7:30pm - 8pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
  • Bitchin Rides. Tuesday @ 8pm - 9pm (MotorTrendHD) replay
Austria was a revelation in multiple ways. Merc didn't win for the first time this season. A Red Bull won a race this year, a great result at their home track. Max Verstappen took the checkered flag despite a stewards review of tire contact during a late race pass, after crawling back from 9th at the start of the GP to chase down Leclerc, on the hard tires. Verstappen had a issue with the start, then worked doubletime from that point forward to get back. The primary talking point was the pass he pulled off on Leclerc, which was a point of significant debate based on the recent stewards decisions on rejoining the track -- what was unique here was that no track rejoining was in play and what it really came down to was an aggressive pass and how much room was allotted to Leclerc, by Verstappen, during the move itself. after review, the stewards let it stand as a racing incident as Verstappen took enough ownership over the corner and wasn't deemed to force Leclerc off the road as much as take a natural line based on the move. Regardless of the side you're on, it made the race exiting and pointed out how much worse Ferrari was on its tires than Red Bull was in Austria. While there was a ten lap delta in tire age, Verstappen arguably worked his front tires very hard chasing down Leclerc for multiple laps trying to get the pass done.

In other action on track Merc had temperature issues which really hampered them; managing that all race nearly got Bottas nipped of the final podium spot and left Hams on an island in 5th. I'm sure they'll look at this vulnerability before returning to Hamilton's home track this weekend. In other news, McLaren scored points with both cars again, Alfa Romeo looked competitive again in qualy, but just managed to snag 9th and 10th in the race, unable to topple the McLarens. What this means is that the Renault, Racing Point, Toro Rosso and Haas all fell short of points, once again. The Red Bull Ring looked to be one of the best tracks for the Ferrari powertrain, so think may or may not even out as we go to the technical Silverstone circuit which Hams and Merc has owned in recent years. With the checkered flag dropped, the Drivers' Championship standings are as follows: Hamilton, Bottas (-31), Verstappen (-71), Vettel (-74), Leclerc (-92), Gasly (-154). Silverstone should be another great race with RBR coming on form, joining Ferrari and Merc at the front.

Enjoy your weekends.


Video courtesy of peterwindsor.

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