Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:13 pm Posts: 2302
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Right, so it's that time of year again when the F1 circus comes home. This race was initially scheduled to be held at a new Donington Park, but for various reasons (mostly piss-poor management) it's at Silvy again this season, which is literally like having Formula One next door for me living as I do in Banbury.
The circuit has been touched up this season with a new Abbey section, of which you can see a virtual lap below. Here's to an exciting weekend of racing in the current glorious British sunshine!
5.901 km / 3.666 miles 52 laps 306.747 km / 190.604 miles Lap Record: N/A (new circuit layout)
TIMETABLE (F1 only)
Fri 9 July 2010 Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30 (You need JavaScript to be activated to be able to use the timer function) Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30 (You need JavaScript to be activated to be able to use the timer function)
Sat 10 July 2010 Practice 3 10:00 - 11:00 (You need JavaScript to be activated to be able to use the timer function) Qualifying 13:00 (You need JavaScript to be activated to be able to use the timer function)
Sun 11 July 2010 Race 13:00 (You need JavaScript to be activated to be able to use the timer function)
All times BST
Previous winners
2005 Juan Pablo Montoya - McLaren 2006 Fernando Alonso - Renault 2007 Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari 2008 Lewis Hamilton - McLaren 2009 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull
Current Driver standings
Code:
1 Lewis Hamilton 127 2 Jenson Button 121 3 Sebastian Vettel 115 4 Mark Webber 103 5 Fernando Alonso 98 6 Robert Kubica 83 7 Nico Rosberg 75 8 Felipe Massa 67 9 Michael Schumacher 34 10 Adrian Sutil 31
Current Constructor standings
Code:
1 McLaren/Mercedes 248 2 Red Bull/Renault 218 3 Ferrari 165 4 Mercedes 109 5 Renault 89 6 Force India/Mercedes 43 7 Williams/Cosworth 20 8 Toro Rosso/Ferrari 10 9 BMW Sauber/Ferrari 7 10 Lotus/Cosworth 0
Race history: [spoiler]The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire. The British and Italian Grands Prix are the oldest continuously staged Formula One World Championship Grands Prix.
Grand Prix motor racing was first established in Britain by Henry Segrave at Brooklands in 1926 after his winning of the 1923 French Grand Prix and the San Sebastián Grand Prix the following year, which raised interest in the sport. The first ever British Grand Prix was won by the French team of Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal driving a Delage 155B. The second British Grand Prix was held at Brooklands in 1927. It was designated the European Grand Prix five times between 1950 and 1977, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix race in Europe.
Silverstone has hosted the race regularly since the start of the F1 championship in 1950 (in which it was the first race of the first ever official World Championship) and every year since 1987; it alternated with Brands Hatch between 1964 and 1986, and with Aintree (better known as a horse-racing course) between 1955 and 1962.
Before it was heavily modified in 1991, Silverstone was one of the fastest tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. The drivers loved the challenge of the sweeping and extremely demanding Copse, Stowe and Club corners. 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg held the all-time Formula 1 qualifying lap record for 16 years after posting fastest time for the 1985 British Grand Prix with an average speed of 258.983 km/h (160.92 mph).
In recent times Silverstone has produced many race wins by British drivers, such as John Watson (1981), Nigel Mansell (1987, 1991, 1992), Damon Hill (1994), Johnny Herbert (1995), David Coulthard (1999, 2000) and Lewis Hamilton (2008).
A dispute between Silverstone's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), and the Formula One authorities in 2003 over the funding of necessary improvements to the track's facilities led to doubts over the future of the race.
In October 2004 the British Grand Prix was left off the preliminary race schedule for 2005 because the BRDC refused to pay the race fee demanded by Bernie Ecclestone. However, after months of negotiation between the BRDC, Ecclestone and the Formula One constructors, a deal was made for the Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone until 2009.
Despite the controversy and political bickering that has surrounded the future of the race in recent years, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone remains one of the world's premier motor racing events.
On 4 July 2008, it was announced that Donington Park had been awarded the contract to host the British Grand Prix for 10 years from 2010. However, Donington failed to secure the necessary funding to host the race, and its contract was terminated in November 2009. On 7 December 2009, Silverstone signed a 17 year contract to host the British Grand Prix from 2010 onwards. The 2010 race will see a new circuit configuration being used, using the brand new "Arena" layout[/spoiler]
Circuit history: [spoiler]Like so many of England's racing circuits, Silverstone started life as an aerodrome. When the Second World War ended in 1945, England's other two circuits, Donington Park and the legendary Brooklands, had fallen into disrepair. And so it was that the outer taxiways and interconnecting runways of Silverstone became adopted by the Royal Automobile Club as the home for the British Grand Prix in 1948. The circuit was fast and challenging and in 1949 the shape was formed that remains the basis of the track to this day.
When the Formula One World Championship was incepted in 1950, Silverstone held the very first round, won by Guiseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo. In 1951 the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) was handed the lease by the RAC, and huge modifications were made. The pits were moved to the straight between Woodcote and Copse, from the Farm straight where they had originally been, and a short circuit was built within the larger circuit, cutting from Becketts corner to Woodcote.
From 1955 the British Grand Prix swapped venues between Aintree and Silverstone, but with the advent of the 1960s, Aintree fell out of favour and the race was switched between Silverstone and Brands Hatch.
In 1971 the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) bought the entire 720 acre plot on which Silverstone sits and went about redeveloping the track. New pits were built and a chicane was erected at Woodcote which provided close finishes and great overtaking opportunities.
In 1987, with speeds reaching astounding levels, a corner was built before Woodcote, and in 1992 a new complex of corners was created between Farm and Woodcote. And in recent years various upgrades have been made to the track's facilities. A racing school now exists at the circuit and with government funding a new bypass has been built, greatly improving access to the once notoriously out-of-the-way venue.
In 2010 came another major change to the circuit's Formula One layout, designed to further improve the venue for spectators and provide an even greater driver challenge. The new infield layout juts right at the reworked Abbey bend before heading into the new Arena complex of turns. This takes drivers on to the main straight of Silverstone’s National circuit, before rejoining the previous Grand Prix layout at Brooklands[/spoiler]
Onboard lap [spoiler]Virtual lap, Williams, rFactor [/spoiler]
Complete timetable [spoiler]Thursday 8th July
Formula One Press Conference - Press Room 15:00
Friday 9th July
Formula BMW Practice Session 08:50 - 09:15 Formula One Practice 1 10:00 - 11:30 GP2 Practice Session 11:55 - 12:25 Formula BMW Qualifying Session 12:50 - 13:15 Air Display Red Devils Parachute Display 13:15 - 13:22 Formula One Practice 2 14:00 - 15:30 GP2 Qualifying Session 15:55 - 16:25 Formula One Press Conference - Press Room 16:00 - 17:00 GP3 Practice Session 16:50 - 17:20 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Practice Session 17:45 - 18:30 Saturday 10th July
Formula One Team Pit Stop Practice 08:00 - 08:30 GP3 Qualifying Session 08:45 - 09:15 Formula One Practice 3 10:00 - 11:00 Air Display Black Cats Helicopter Display Team 11:05 - 11:12 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Qualifying Session 11:25 - 11:55 Formula One Qualifying 13:00 GP2 First Race (29 Laps or 60 Mins) 14:40 - 15:45 GP3 First Race (17 Laps or 30 Mins) 16:20 - 16:55 Formula BMW First Race (13 Laps or 25 Mins) 17:25 - 18:05 Track Activity Demonstration Laps - Safety Car 18:10 - 18:20
Sunday 11th July
GP3 Second Race (17 Laps or 30 Mins) 08:30 - 09:05 GP2 Second Race (21 Laps or 45 Mins) 09:35 - 10:25 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Race (14 Laps or 30 Mins) 10:45 - 11:20 Formula One Drivers Track Parade 11:30 Formula One Starting Grid Presentation 11:45 - 12:15 Air Display The Red Arrows 12:00 - 12:24 Formula One National Anthem 12:46 Formula One Race 13:00 Formula BMW Second Race (13 Laps or 25 Mins) 15:30 - 16:00 Air Display RAF-Typhoon Air Display 16:20 - 16:28[/spoiler]
Get posting folks!
Last edited by MaTT on Sun Jul 04, 2010 1:33 am, edited 2 times in total.
Joined: Sat May 29, 2010 12:00 am Posts: 4957
Has thanked:86 times Been thanked:202 times
Forgive me for being a miserable twat if that is how you see me, but to me, the British GP has lost something over the last 10-15 years. Maybe it's the tampering with the circuit, from the shifting of the start line from the exit of Woodcote to a more generic position, to the new section this year, via turning all the run-off to tarmac. Maybe it's because dry races there are nearly always boring. Maybe it's because it's treated like every other race and modern F1 is cold and corporate. Maybe it's because I've grown up. But I just don't see it as particularly special any more, which I think is quite sad. I always used to look forward to it immensely, especially when Damon was still driving. Always used to be one of the main highlights of the calendar for me. But these days, I just think it's only the BBC that gets needlessly excited about it all just to make a point
As for the result, it'll be Red Bull or McLaren...
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 3:33 pm Posts: 1026
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testarossa wrote:
a lot of changes to the track but the good spirit of the track remain the same. It's just a matter of putting more stands around the track....
It's a shame to loose the Bridge corner,but the new fast turns are awesome. And the 2 slower new ones are also not bad,they allow other cars to be right on the back of the car in front through sector 3,and then trying to get the opprotunity for a pass on the Hangar straight. Last 2 races were awesome,this year will be even better.
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:48 am Posts: 25040
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This track produces the best wet weather racing In the dry it's usually very very dull... Paul di Resta pointed out that the bump at Abbey will unsettle the cars and he reckons it'll be hard to overtake into the Arena section. He also said that Brooklands (the turn at the end of the Wellington Straight) will unlikely be an overtaking place as you brake whilst turning in, so it's "easy to defend"
I'm curious towards the new lay-out. Unfortunately the Bridge corner has disappeared, I really liked that one!
I think it will be a good race. Everyone thought that Valencia was going to bore as hell. However, it proved to be quite a good race in the end. Of course this was partly due to the crash of Webber, but still...
When you ask me, I think that RedBull will have the fastest car here. Their updates seemed to work fine in Valencia at least. However, who knows what McLaren can achieve on home soil. Let's also hope for a good weekend for Williams again! P4 is not realistic, but a double point finish would already be fantastic.
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 6:48 am Posts: 25040
Has thanked:62 times Been thanked:420 times
McLaren have a big upgrade package coming and we also need to see the proper performance of the F10. Should be good and will be critical in the outcome of the title.
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