The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is one of the oldest races in Formula One history which initially started on an airfield. After the end of Second World War Great Britain had no major race track felt intact and they converted the airstrips into race tracks. Originally the grand prix was held in the concrete Brooklands oval circuit which was built in 1907. Brooklands was severely damaged by the Second World War which made the organisers shift to the Royal Air Force airfields at Silverstone in 1948.

F1 2015: British Grand Prix, Silverstone

The Silverstone circuit layout was heavily modified in 1949 and made into a proper race track with high speed corners which still remains the same today. The Brands Hatch circuit was developed which hosted Formula One’s British Grand Prix races alternatively from 1963 to 1986. However Silverstone has now sole rights to host the races till 2026.

Britain acts as the home for many Formula One teams like Williams and McLaren. However, the most number of wins at this circuit is by Ferrari, winning 15 times. Alan Prost and Jim Clark have the record of winning this Grand Prix five times. Last year Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes took pole but Lewis Hamilton went on to win the race after Nico retired from the race which was his first retirement of last year.

The track is a 5.8 kilometre stretch littered with 18 corners and 52 laps as the race distance.Lewis Hamilton being from Briton has never been comfortable at Silverstone. This Friday during practise as well, he was only fourth fastest while Nico Rosberg topped the time sheets. Both the Ferraris outpaced Lewis which has become a sudden point of discussion. Hamilton was not happy with the car’s handling and aborted his race-simulation run because of it.

Hamilton over the radio said, “This car is all over the place. I can’t go any faster than I am now”.
Daniil Kvyat finished fifth fastest showing signs of improvement in the Red Bull Racing camp. Williams are currently the third best in the competition as a team and Red Bull is currently eyeing that spot. This race on Sunday will tell us if they have made enough efforts for it to come true.

McLaren continued to struggle all round. Both world champion drivers were limited on mileage due to the age of the engine on top of which they looked slow and unable to follow the racing line around the circuit. Button over the radio was heard saying, “No, there is something wrong with the car”, when asked by his engineer to continue his laps.

Qualifying will reveal a lot of the developments and the kind of effort the teams have put into their cars to make it perform better.

Tags: British Grand Prix, F1, Ferrari, Formula One, Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Mercedes, Motorsport, Motorsports, Red Bull, Silverstone, Williams