The Track 
The host of the first round of the Formula 1 World Championship, history hangs heavy at Silverstone. The layout runs around an old WW2 airfield, so it’s reasonably flat with lots of sweeping bends. The drivers get to give their left feet a break for the first half of the lap as these days they hardly have to use the go slower pedal; it’s all high-speed, high-gear cornering until they get to the back half. There you’ve got your usual chicanery and slow speed twists and turns, the exception being the magnificent Bridge, which is really more like an underpass, where the drivers drop 20 odd feet, hurl the car to the right and sweep back up all without lifting their right foot.
Passing is difficult though not impossible, and being in sunny old England rain is always on the cards.
The drivers like the track, the high speed nature of it makes them feel like racing drivers and the crowd gets to sit reasonably close too. The pit complex needs upgrading, as do the parking areas for the plebs, but if you’ve got a helicopter and a motor home you’re pretty well set.
Talking Points
Coming to the halfway point of the season, most drivers will be looking for a good result to make their midterm report cards seem more attractive to their parents. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will be under a certain amount of pressure at they’re home GP, and David Coulthard will follow them around trying to explain that Scotland is quite close aye. They’ll have increased media scrutiny which could be particularly showing for Hamilton. A good result here and he’ll be able to ride a wave of public adulation for the rest of the season, a poor result (like a crash in the pit lane) and he’ll find himself under fire from the tabloids – Heikki can only jump on so many hand grenades for him.
Most of the teams know the track very well, they test here often and they’re nearly all located nearby so they know the fastest ways to the circuit, and around it too. Any driver who complains of not being able to find a setup is fibbing, we’re looking at you Giancarlo. The track should suit the Ferraris and McLarens, though a battle up front is entirely up to McLaren and their ability to not be naughty for three days in a row. A Ferrari red wash is predicted then.
BMW should bounce back a little bit after their off French GP, though the first sector could be tricky for them. Toyota, Red Bull, Renault and Williams will be in a giant gaggle behind them as usual while Honda have gone out of their way again to make their car as ugly as possible. Will it turn into a swan and give Barrichello a top 13 result? Probably not.
With 4 different drivers having been in the lead of the championship after the last 4 rounds the championship is tight, if not particularly exciting just yet. Hopefully that will all change at Silverstone.
Modern Classic
2003
One should never underestimate the ability of a crazy man running onto the track to create a great race and spur Rubens Barrichello into action. It was initially looking like another dull procession, despite DC nearly losing his head, until a crazed Neil Horan decided to take a stroll down Hangar Straight. He was protesting that God hates F1 or some such, but whatever the Safety Car was thrown and everyone bumbled into the pitlane. When things got underway the order was more jumbled than a 2008 FP3.
Rubens, having flashbacks to Hockenheim 2000 started carving his way through the field, ultimately taking the big candy from baby faced Kimi Raikkonen with a move through the aforementioned Bridge.
The highlight of the day however, was Martin Brundle pointing out that his computer was saying the Safety Car was being deployed because of ‘Man On Track’, the 20 drivers on the track at the time probably didn’t enjoy their masculinity being questioned so blatantly on international TV.
One Year Ago
Kimi Raikkonen cruised sublimely to a comfortable win ahead of title rivals Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Felipe Massa pressed the big ‘Do Not Touch’ button on his wheel at the end of the formation lap and had to start last, but he made up for it with some nice moves throughout the day. The main excitement came in the early parts of the race however, when Hamilton decided to start with 4 laps of fuel, his crazy lightness gave him an early lead but he couldn’t pull away and the heavier Finn nearly smiled his way to victory lane. Read all about it here.
Facts and Guesses
Number of Laps : 60
Lap Record : 1:18.739 - M Schumacher (2004)
2007 Pole : Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
2007 Winner : Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Free Practice 1 & 2 : 10:00 & 14.00 (Local Time) - Friday 20th June
Qualifying Start : 13.00 (Local Time) - Saturday 12th July
Race Start : 13.00 (Local Time) - Sunday 13th July
On Patronise
We’ll still be around this weekend, The Foot will probably be writing about FP2, The Elbow might be making his long, long (long) awaited terry debut during qualifying and The Head will be covering the race, so don’t forget to tune in, it will be something to remember I promise.
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