The race will take place on the heavily redesigned Silverstone circuit that should prove to be one of the seasons fastest and most challenging races. Silverstone is, like most British circuits, built on the site of a Second World War airfield and straddles two shires-Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.
Silverstone underwent the mass redevelopment after gaining the long term rights for both Formula 1 and MotoGP, the new circuit is approximately 800 metres longer than the previous layout and features the new reprofiled Abbey Curve which drivers will take almost flat out in sixth gear and which promises to be even faster than Copse Corner.
Last time out in Valencia saw contrasting fortunes for the Red Bull drivers with Sebastian Vettel winning for the first time since April and the previously inform Mark Webber taking all the attention after his crash into the back of Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen resulted in the Red Bull somersaulting along the race track.
The weekend looks prime to be filled with excitement and with only 29 points separating the top five, all of whom have won this season, in the title chase it looks set to be the launch pad of an exciting second half of the season.
The Circuit
The new layout retains the thrilling opening half of the lap with Copse Corner starting the lap with a 185mph entry speed and just a lift of the throttle to take drivers through and onto the start of one of the seasons most thrilling series of corners-Maggots, Beckets and Chapel. This series are entered in top gear at 190mph and sees drivers flick the car left-right-left-right-left in the blink of an eye before they enter the longest straight of the lap. The Hanger straight measures 800m and leads into Stowe corner, where Michael Schumacher crashed in ’99 resulting in a broken leg.
Once drivers exit Stowe they are brought into the new section. Instead of braking down to first gear for the Abbey chicane they now face the right handed Abbey Curve that they will take at 185mph in sixth. This then leads into the Arena section of the lap with the Arrowhead corner and Village developed to offer overtaking opportunities. This however will likely only occur if the lead driver makes a mistake, in the recent MotoGP races here there was little overtaking through this section.
Once released from Village the drivers are then onto the national circuit straight, renamed the Wellington straight which will again see speeds in excess of 180 mph. Brooklands has been opened up by using the Wellington Straight and Luffield is unchanged as drivers exit it and cross the line to start another lap of the fantastic Silverstone circuit.
The weather
The weather is expected to continue to be warm and sunny for the weekend with forecasters expecting a slim 10% chance of rain affecting Sunday’s race.
Facts and figures ahead of the British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is one of only three that has been ever present on the Formula 1 schedule and hosted the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1950 when Alfa Romeo’s Giuseppe Farina emerged victorious. The race has been held at three circuits-Brands Hatch, Aintree and this weekend will mark the 44th time that Silverstone plays host.
Twelve British drivers have won this race in the past ranging from Stirling Moss in the 50’s to Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart in the 60’s to James Hunt in the 70’s to Nigel Mansell in the 80’s to Damon Hill in the 90’s and the most recent being Lewis Hamilton in the rain sodden 2008 race. Reigning world champion Jenson Button has yet to win at home but will be confident of a good performance this weekend as McLaren bring an updated car to its home race.
Recent British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix has seen some true classics down the years with some of the most memorable moments occurring at Silverstone. Each corner has been steeped in history in a manner as only a circuit that has hosted so many races can achieve.
Last season’s race was dominated by the Red Bull’s with Vettel leading home Webber ahead of Barrichello. The German was able to pull away from the Brawn driver at a rate of a second a lap at stages of the race and had a very comfortable win. The 2008 race was held in wet weather and saw Lewis Hamilton emerge from the gloom with one of the greatest drives in the sports history as the McLaren drivers dominated in awful conditions en route to his world title. That race also saw Rubens Barrichello finish second, Honda’s final podium in Formula 1.
2007 saw Kimi Raikkonen win for Ferrari after the Finn’s better fuel strategy had allowed him to emerge after his second pitstop just ahead of the earlier stopping Fernando Alonso and win by just over two seconds. Alonso had won the previous year’s race ahead of Michael Schumacher.
2003 is perhaps the best remembered of recent races but it is remembered for the wrong reasons as Neil Horan entered into Formula 1 folklore when he staged a protest on the circuit. The priest ran along the Hanger straight with banners imploring people to read the bible. Barrichello won that race ahead of Montoya and Raikkonen.
2000 saw the race take place in April. Unsurprisingly it was wet, in fact it was so wet that spectators were unable to park in the car parks and Saturday was closed to fans except those able to walk to the track. The race day did not fare much better with only an estimated 35000 present to see David Coultard win his home race again after battling with Barrichello before the Brazilian suffered a hydraulic failure.
The 1998 race will be remembered for being the first to see a race won by a car in the pitlane as Schumacher took a ten second penalty at the end of the race for overtaking under a yellow flag. 97 should have seen Mika Hakkinen end his long wait for a first win but the Finn suffered a heart breaking engine failure with seven laps remaining as he challenged Jacques Villeneuve for the win.
1992 saw Nigel Mansell famously overtake Nelson Piquet down the Hanger Straight before comfortably winning for Williams. The race is also remembered for Ayrton Senna running out of fuel and “hitching” a lift back to the pits with the victorious Mansell.
This weekend’s race promises to continue the excitement of the current season where after the opening race of the season there was a fear for processional racing. With half the season gone the next three weeks before the summer break could be imperative to the outcome of the championship with McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all aggressive in recent developments and keen to add to their victory tallies thus far.
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