Sidepodcast - All for F1 and F1 for all

Thoughts... - A review of the European Grand Prix action so far

Published by Mr. C

The observant among you may have noticed there's no show today. Part of that is due to the weather the UK is currently experiencing, but also because the combined show we did for Silverstone seems to have got a better reception than having two individual episodes.

That means we'll try repeating the feat this weekend and have one complete show ready to download on Sunday. It will probably make that programme a touch longer than we'd ideally like, but we'll try and keep the pace up.

One thing we do lose as a result of a single show, is any kind of race build-up or preview, along with any predictions. There are a couple of ways we could address that but for the moment I figure writing them down here will have to do.

Toyota at the 'Ring

To start with I was hoping the weather would mix up the field today. It didn't happen. Even with the extended session due to Hamilton's crash, there was still no real threat of rain. Cross referencing a couple of different weather forecasts gives completely opposing facts regarding the situation tomorrow in Germany. It's either going to be wet, dry or something in between!

For McLaren's sake I hope it's anything but dry. As far as I can make out their race strategy going into Q3 was to send Alonso out 'light' and ensure pole, then try and get Hamilton tucked up behind him to buffer the Ferrari's. Clearly, given Lewis' accident and Alonso's last-lap wobble that plan is well and truly out of the window. A lucky break from the weather would do the team no harm at all.

The Scuderia appear to be sitting pretty. They must now be hoping for a clean first lap and an early stopping Fernando to seal another scarlet 1-2. Somewhere on a factory floor right now, in the dead of night, technicians from a rival team (or two) are fervently looking at front wheel aero solutions.

As for the rest, Webber again produced something from nothing (but it won't last). Renault must be wondering what on earth they have to do to catch BMW, and Toyota must be hoping that at some point this season they can carry their qualifying pace to the end of the race. Anyone back beyond Wurz could also benefit from some adverse weather conditions tomorrow.

One final thought - it's been awhile since F1 had a big incident at the first corner, maybe this track's tight first hairpin can deliver some front-of-field carnage, and make the race anything but a Ferrari red-wash? Either way check back here in about 24 hours time for the full weekends report, and don't forget to let us know what you think by calling our answer phone on 0121 28 TRACK.