28 June 2013 - F1 British Grand Prix @ Silverstone

[TeaLeaf]

Great fun was had on both days.    Yesterday's funniest moment never made it to TV.  The TV feed is shown on multiple large screens opposite the stands, so everyone can see what is being broadcast:

- TV focuses on Button in his pit, preparing to don helmet and jump into his car
- his engineer prods him to let him know he's on the big screens
- Button runs across pit lane, up onto the pit wall and sticks his head through the barrier and waves at the crowds in the stands
- 40,000 people in the the home straight stands give him a huge 'British' welcome and cheer loudly for him!

....one minute later:

- TV focuses on Hamilton in his pit, preparing to don helmet and jump into his car
- his engineer prods him to let him know he's on the big screens
- Hamilton runs across pit lane, up onto the pit wall and sticks his head through the barrier and waves at the crowds in the stands
- 40,000 people in the the home straight stands give him a huge 'British' welcome and cheer loudly for him!

....one minute later:

- TV focuses on Vettel in his pit, preparing to don helmet and jump into his car
- 40,000 people in the the home straight stands spontaneously starting booing!
- Vettel hesitates slightly when he hears the negative crowd reaction and turns back and dons his helmet

Priceless moment.

Biggest cheer of the day was when Hamilton was last across the line in Qualifying and pipped Rosberg to snatch pole.   massive cheer from the crowds all around the circuit.

Awesome view from Abbey on Saturday as the cars come along the start-finish straight and then go into an 80 degree righthander without braking or down-shifting.    Stunning levels of grip on display.   Unfortunately the video really does not really give you any idea of how much speed these cars carry through the corner - or how tight that corner is, from the stands it looks way more extreme.   With apologies for the unsteady hands, here's a quick clip of the cars coming through Abbey during Qualifying.

[TeaLeaf]

Anyone know a good place to get tyres?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[DrunkenZombiee]

Tried ringing you all and just got voicemail =(. I was keeping an eye out for Tim somewhere around the track but no luck =(.

It was a good day but a bit of a washout in the morning. Huddled under a plastic poncho for first practice trying not to get too wet or the camera wet.

I got a fair few photos, I think I managed to get all of the cars and drivers at some point. I haven't got all of them on the computer yet so these will have to do for now.

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[SPOILER=Camera boring stuff]

So I turned up and took my camera aging 550D and crappy 70-300 Tamron f4-5.6 Di VC and one of my colleagues pull out a 5D MK II with a 70-200 L 2.8 and I had all kinds of camera envy. So after first practice where it was a washout (I was taking a couple of pictures under a plastic poncho as none of my gear is weather sealed) we go back to the hotel to get free booze and food where he get out his camera gear and shows me photos. 200 mm wasn't enough and the cars were pretty small in the frame I show him mine taken at 300mm and a 1.6 crop and got some pretty nice results 80% of the car in the frame and alright detail.

We go out for the second practice. This time a lot more people about. 200mm still isn't good enough for time so he asks to use my 300mm and i can use his 70-200L ... good trade =).
The lens almost broke my camera body when i connected it as the plasic creaked under the 1.2 KG beast.. Got some pretty nice shots at 200mm with it at f/4, it focuses like lightening, I really want one if not for the £1500 price tag and it weighing a tonne. Cropped sensors FTW!

Looking forward to the 7D MK II coming out as it may be worth the investment. For now the 550D will do =).

[/SPOILER]

[TeaLeaf]

Nice shots DZ!  :thumbsup:

The telephone side seemed a bit dodgy  tbh, T-Bag had similar issues with intermittent service, as did I.   Sometimes my F1 app connected, other times it just plain refused to connect.   Network saturation I suspect.

[T-Bag]

The phone issues were terrible on Friday. I tried sending a message about 4 times before one got through. My internet wasn't working at all and just drained my battery, it was on 12% by the evening. I turned mobile data off the following day and it fared a little better.

I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend. It's a shame I didn't meet anyone though. When my girlfriend and I went up to Becketts we tried our luck getting into the Club Silverstone section (the exclusive bit where tickets are around £380), and they let us in, so had a stunning view for the free practice. Because the ticket sales were so poor as well the guest of marshals got bumped up to uncovered grandstands, which got us into the international straight stands for Saturday (we were right at the opposite end to you TL).

The race was fantastic. As a Hamilton fan, I didn't like the tyre problems, but racing from the back gave him an opportunity to show what a great driver he is. I was also opposite the pit lane entrance so got to see vettel breakdown. I did give a little cheer as I heard him struggle to find a gear (didn't go so far as to boo him though).

The whole event was fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm moving to Paris tomorrow, so I'm not sure when I'll next be able to game etc etc. But it was the best way I can think of to spend my late weekend in the UK.

[smilodon]

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Nico Rosberg, morning practice.... very wet.

[smilodon]

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GP2 - Fabrizio Crestani GP Lazarus.
The whole track a car as it drives past to get a sharp subject with nice background blur..... not remotely as easy as it looks.

[TeaLeaf]

Best moment, Oldie's reaction to the sound of an F1 car going past him for the first time.   Priceless!

So glad we did the trip to Silverstone last year and got rid of the 'F1 virgin' tag for OB & Smilo.   The cars simply do *not* sound as exciting this year :sad:

Seen so much TV coverage with cars running on track and the presenter stood next to the crash barrier happily talking to us without the need to use earplugs and without the need to shout.   It's simply not the same.

[BrotherTobious]

Has anyone actually seen Vetal do a praccy lap so far???