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SILVERSTONE AND THE GRAND PRIX
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An introduction to Silverstone

Silverstone Village has always been synonymous with the British Grand Prix, but outside the Grand Prix weekend the village is a quiet rural town in the heart of Northamptonshire. The racecourse, built in 1943, once an airfield called Silverstone Aerodrome, served as the base of the 17th Operational Training Unit of the Royal Air Force, and used to prepare air crews for service. When the war ended the airfield was closed down. The empty space it provided became the world's most historic, yet modern Grand Prix Circuit today. It staged the first world championship race in 1950 but it is now a state of the art venue.

For the country that claims to be the home of motor sport, what better venue is there than an old World War II airfield for a F1 World Championship circuit? Silverstone circuit holds an historic place in F1, ushering in the modern era of F1 racing and has become a popular fixture on the F1 calendar. Although it shared the event for many years with Brands Hatch, Silverstone has hosted the British Grand Prix permanently since 1986.


A preview of the British Grand Prix

Silverstone as a venue for the British Grand Prix was almost scrapped from this year’s F1 World Championship calendar, due to an ongoing feud with F1 franchise owner, Bernie Ecclestone. However, Silverstone is on the calendar and no doubt English fans will come in droves to see their up and coming star Jenson Button and veteran David Coulthard vie to perhaps win the British Grand Prix.

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is also a favorite among die-hard F1 fans and teams, as currently six F1 teams are based out of the area surrounding Silverstone. Look for Jordan-Ford to pull out all stops, as one of the home teams. Both team drivers, Nick Heidfeld and Giorgio Pantano, at least having finished the French Grand Prix, albeit in 16th and 17th positions.

  Tradition

Tradition is what the British Grand Prix is all about. This famous race has appeared on the Formula One calendar every year since the start of the world championship back in 1950. Held at Silverstone over three days in July, there is a frenzy of excitement about the event. Continually revised over the years, Silverstone has become one of the most exciting race circuits in the world. The fast, wide track offers drivers every opportunity to pass, and provides non-stop action for your entertainment. Experience the sights, sounds and thrills and the best of Britain motorsport.

Silverstone and Racing

Having been built atop an old airfield, the Silverstone circuit is very flat and is made up of a series of long straights, connected by fast open corners. It is a technically difficult track, but a favorite among drivers. Enthusiasts and drivers alike are divided about their take on the track. Some like the track, because it is fast and combines some of the most famous corners in racing history, others consider Silverstone to be a flat, characterless track. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between.

Teams consider Silverstone to be one of the fastest circuits on the current F1 calendar, with the Becketts complex considered to be the best corner of any racing circuit track. The track is a mixture of high and low speed corners, with some long straights, making the track physically demanding for the drivers. Overtaking is notoriously difficult, but not impossible. The British Grand Prix is run on 60 laps, with a total distance of 308.460km (192.788mi).

Due to the age of the track, Silverstone has seen its share of changes. The first major changes came in 1987, when an additional corner, Bridge Bend, was added just before Woodcote, and the chicane was removed for safety reasons. This altered the length of the track to 4.75km (2.97mi). A major revision of the layout of the track was done in 1991, taming some of the notoriously fast corners, such as Maggotts and Stowe. These revisions in turn increased the length of the track to 5.19km (3.25mi) and this remained unchanged until 1995. Several other changes have brought the Silverstone track to its current length of 5.141km (3.213mi).

In 1999, an impressive new clubhouse was built on the inside of the Woodcote corner, boasting some of the best views on the circuit. The circuit management has continued to invest in the circuit, with better grandstand seats, pit area, access road and amenities. The circuit now has a capacity of 90,000 spectators for general admission and 60,000 grandstand seats. None-the-less Silverstone has recently come under criticism from F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone for dragging its feet in updating facilities to meet new standards.

On non-race weekends, it is possible to drive your own car around the race track and get that F1 feeling! But beware, many enthusiasts have accidentally totaled or flipped their car on the track.

In 1950, the Silverstone circuit was chosen to host the very first round of the new F1 World Championships. In the presence of King George VI, the race was won by Nino Farino in his Alfa Romeo, an amazing two laps ahead of second place winner, team mate Luigi Faglioli. In fact, Farino ended up becoming World Champion that year. In 1955, the British Grand Prix was alternated between Silverstone and Aintree circuit in Liverpool, in this Grand Prix at Aintree, Briton Stirling Moss won, beating his team mate Juan-Manuel Fangio with the second closest F1 finish at the time.

In the 1960s, Aintree lost favour and Brands Hatch and Silverstone alternately hosted the British GP. However, Brands Hatch soon became labeled as a dangerous track with numerous fatalities, and drivers George Crossman, Tony Flory and Stuart Duncan were all killed within a matter of months, at the Paddock Hill Bend.

What makes Silverstone interesting for F1 enthusiasts is the fact that Britain is home to several of the current and past F1 teams. Right outside of the gates of Silverstone is team BAR Honda. Nearby in Brackley is team Jaguar and team Williams is located in Milton Keynes. This means that many teams are racing on their home turf and competition always heats up, as every team thinks they know the circuit better than others.

Historically, there has never been a sweeping podium winner at Silverstone, even Michael Schumacher has only won the British Grand Prix twice so far, with Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello having won in 2003,  this was not luck, as Barrichello considers Silverstone to be the track he knows best, since he has raced here in his Formula 3 and Formula Lotus days. It is legendary French driver, Alain Prost, who can count the most British Grand Prix wins, with four. The difficulty of the track, combined with its risky overtaking chances, makes this an exciting one for the spectators to watch.

Weather is always a big factor at Silverstone, with rain a high probability. But having moved the British Grand Prix to July, from the usual April, may mean less likelihood of rain? Either way, a wet track will no doubt make for an exciting and unpredictable race.

The track itself creates a medium downforce; the mixture of high and low speed corners with some long straights, makes Silverstone quite physically demanding. The track demands cars to be good aerodynamically, mechanically and also in terms of power. Teams must decide whether they will go for power and speed for the straights or extra grip for the turns. Question marks remain for BAR-Honda; will their engine hold up to Takuma Sato’s agressive driving. On the other hand, Mercedes-McLaren seemed to have radically improved their car, by introducing the new MP4-19B model French Grand Prix. The new car performed well, with both team drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard, finishing sixth and seventh respectively.

In 2003, the race was disrupted early by a religious prankster, who walked across the Hangar Straight in a publicity bid, throwing the race into disarray. Rubens Barrichello ended up winning the race, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen. Michael Schumacher came in fourth. Historically, Brit David Coulthard has done well in Silverstone, having won in 1999 and 2000, no doubt British fans will be hoping for a local to win,  and the new Mercedes-McLaren car may be able to deliver.

Full race result from the 2005 British Grand Prix at Silverstone

PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
110Juan Pablo MontoyaMcLaren-Mercedes601:24:29.588310
25Fernando AlonsoRenault60+2.7 secs18
39Kimi RäikkönenMcLaren-Mercedes60+14.4 secs126
46Giancarlo FisichellaRenault60+17.9 secs65
53Jenson ButtonBAR-Honda60+40.2 secs24
61Michael SchumacherFerrari60+75.3 secs93
72Rubens BarrichelloFerrari60+76.5 secs52
817Ralf SchumacherToyota60+79.2 secs81
916Jarno TrulliToyota60+80.8 secs4
1012Felipe MassaSauber-Petronas59+1 Lap16
117Mark WebberWilliams-BMW59+1 Lap11
128Nick HeidfeldWilliams-BMW59+1 Lap14
1314David CoulthardRBR-Cosworth59+1 Lap13
1411Jacques VilleneuveSauber-Petronas59+1 Lap10
1515Christian KlienRBR-Cosworth59+1 Lap15
164Takuma SatoBAR-Honda58+2 Laps7
1718Tiago MonteiroJordan-Toyota58+2 Laps20
1821Christijan AlbersMinardi-Cosworth57+3 Laps18
1920Patrick Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth56+4 Laps19
Ret19Narain KarthikeyanJordan-Toyota10Electrical17
Fastest Lap: Kimi Räikkönen 1:20.502

Further Reading...

The 2004 British Grand Prix

It was an unusual British Grand Prix, as the weather held throughout the race,  there was some rain, just not on the track! A cliffhanger as everyone held their breath to see if Kimi Raikkonen could keep his pole position and ward off Michael Schumacher. Kimi drove well, but just couldn’t catch Schumacher’s Ferrari. Again, Ferrari gambled with their pit-stop strategy, just like during the French Grand Prix, and it paid off yet again. Michael Schumacher won his third British Grand Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen in his McLaren-Mercedes only two seconds behind him in second place and Rubens Barrichello for Ferrari in third place.

The British Grand Prix started off in gloomy weather during the qualifying session, where Kimi Raikkonen in his new McLaren-Mercedes was able to clinch pole position. Much to the team’s relief the new car is running well, with both Raikkonen and David Coulthard are nw able to be real contenders. Fernando Alonso had also done well to qualify in the top five, but had to start 10 positions back as he had to replace the engine in his Renault.

The race was a cliffhanger between Schumacher and Raikkonen. Raikkonen kept his lead, starting in pole position, while Schumacher started in fourth position and had to inch himself ahead of the pack. The clincher came when Schumacher pitted in the 15th lap and managed to come out ahead of Raikkonen after having built up a 23 second lead. The race made a critical turn when Jarno Trulli crashed his Renault into the tyre barriers, two thirds of the way through the race. He was luckily unhurt, but visibly shaken, after his car spun, hit the barriers and even flipped over. Mechanical malfunction was cited as the cause of the crash. The crash was severe enough that circuit marshals had to rebuild the barrier and put the race behind the safety car for several laps. Although Raikkonen was able to narrow the gap between him and Schumacher after the race re-started, he was unable to overtake him. Overall, however, it was a good race for McLaren-Mercedes and Raikkonen, making this race his first podium finish since last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.

In the Constructors’ Championship, BAR Honda are going to have to get their act together if they want to keep that third place standing. Although Jenson Button scored points for his team with his fourth place finish, his team mate Takuma Sato was lackluster at best during the race, only finishing in 11th place. If McLaren-Mercedes can keep their car running as they have in the last two races, they will be a serious contender for the slot behind Ferrari.