Everything You Need to Know about Silverstone (and More)

If you want to read the driving instruction while looking at the map, Click here to open the map in a separate window Opinions are divided about Silverstone among the drivers - especially the Brits. Whilst it's true that some points are a little bit 'point and squirt', other corners - notably the Becketts complex - are superb. As the drivers cross the start-finish line, they are flat out in sixth and reach 290 km/h before braking - and flicking down one or two gears - for Copse. Copse used to be nearly flat in sixth gear, but was revised to a third gear corner after the deaths in 1994, and although it has been made faster it is still not as fast as it was. It was revised again earlier last year, speeding it back up. Next are Maggots, Becketts and Chapel. With the exception of Eau Rouge, the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel complex is probably the most demanding and technical set of turns of any Grand Prix circuit in the world. The track flicks fast left, fast right, change down two gears, and exit a fast right - it's that quick! The driver will be experiencing in excess of 2G lateral force as he negotiates each corner, struggling all the time to point the car in the right direction. There's no rest for the drivers, however, as they scream down the Hangar Straight passing under the Mobil bridge. The next corner, Stowe, has been remodelled, as 1995's and, subsequently, 1996's revised versions were considered a little too tame for Formula One. The right-hand corner is taken in fourth at an estimated 180 km/h. The cars then pass through the Vale straight and enter the tight, second gear, left hander at Club. Drivers then enter a tight right-hander that opens up at the exit, allowing them to accelerate hard and briefly reach sixth gear before braking for the Abbey chicane. Accelerating out of Abbey, usually taken in second, the cars pass through the flat out, right-hand bend: Bridge. The next few corners - Priory, Brooklands and Luffield - were a fairly dull series of second gear, left and right handers in years past. However, Brooklands and Luffield have been re-profiled to allow a faster, more flowing transition into Woodcote. The exit to Luffield is important, as it leads to Woodcote - a flat out right hander - and onto the main straight where the tough process begins once again. A Lap of Silverstone with Eddie Irvine: "The run down to the first corner at Copse is amazingly fast now with a slight brake and maybe even a downchange. The Maggots / Becketts section is very, very fast. It's left, right, left, right, left and you're kept very busy. It's important to try not to brake and keep the thing flowing, keeping the car on the limit all the time. You obviously want to keep your speed up for the exit on to the Hangar Straight. "That's where we reach our maximum speed - about 200 km/h. "At the end of it you've got the very fast Stowe corner. It's bumpy through there and very fast and demanding. That's followed by a short straight down to the club section, which breaks up the rhythm a bit. There's a very slow left - hander and very slow right - hander and you get a wheelspin out of it. It's easy to make a mistake there. Then comes the run up the hill to the Abbey chicane, a left hander which is taken in third gear. That leads into Bridge and the Stadium section. I once went off at Bridge in practice, when the car bottomed out on my first lap out of the pits! You're not going so fast into Bridge these days and it should be flat but you've got to try to keep tight for that next left hander, Priory. "Priory is quite fast compared to the next left at Brooklands and then Luffield. The last double right hander is taken in second or third gear, depending on your set - up. Then it's on the power, round Woodcote and back past the pits for another lap." British GP - Trivia Notes This will be the 51st British Grand Prix since the FIA World Championship began. This total includes the very first race in the new series in 1950, which was also known as the Grand Prix of Europe. Only Italy has a similar record of hosting a Grand Prix every year since the series started. This will be the 34th Grand Prix to be held at Silverstone. That is not a record: 49 Grands Prix have been held at Monza, and 47 at Monaco. Silverstone is equal third with Spa-Francorchamps. Britain is third in the list of all-time hosts. Italy has had the input of the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola and, quite apart from the Indianapolis 500 (which was initially included), the United States has had as many as three Grands Prix in a year. Of course, the British will say that they deserve these records. After all, they say, England is the home of motor racing. British drivers have won twice as many Grands Prix as those from any other nation: 17 British drivers have won 182 races. Brazil (four drivers) and France (12 drivers) are next on 79 wins. British drivers have won 12 World Championship titles - Brazil is next on eight. Ten times have podiums been completely filled by British drivers - but not since 1968. There have been some amazing records set by drivers in the British Grand Prix. Jim Clark, for instance, won the race five times, as did Alain Prost - but four of Clark's were in succession, and he led three of them from start to finish. Nigel Mansell won the British Grand Prix four times, and three of those were one-twos with his current Williams team-mate, Piquet in 1986 and 1987 and Patrese in 1992. He also set fastest lap every year from 1986 to 1992. Williams, in fact, has won its home Grand Prix 10 times since it scored its maiden victory at Brands Hatch in the 1979 edition. Ferrari has won it 11 times in total, and McLaren's score is also 10. Those three marques therefore have taken 31 out of the 50 races held so far. Only twice has one of those constructors not won since 1974! Williams was not the only constructor to score its first race win in Britain. Froilan Gonzalez scored Ferrari's first ever Grand Prix victory at Silverstone in 1951 when his 4.5-litre tipo 375 beat Juan-Manuel Fangio's 1.5-litre supercharged Alfa Romeo. Vanwall scored a British constructor's first Grand Prix win at Aintree in 1957. Twenty years later, in the 1977 British Grand Prix, a turbocharged car first started a Grand Prix when Jean-Pierre Jabouille's Renault lined up 21st on the grid. Incidentally, just 1.87s covered the whole 26-car grid that day. Keke Rosberg's pole position average of 258.984kph (160.925mph) in a Williams-Honda at Silverstone in 1985 remains an all-time qualifying speed record for the World Championship. When it comes to qualifying, in fact, Williams has the statistical lead sewn up: six times its drivers have monopolised the front row of the grid. Ferrari has managed this twice - but not since 1988 - and McLaren only once, the year after. The Ligier team managed it too, in 1980. But they were all outdone by Mercedes-Benz, who filled the first four places on the grid in 1955. The British Grand Prix has twice been won by a car in the pit-lane. That was the case two years ago, when Michael Schumacher controversially came into the pits for a 10-second stop-and-go penalty on the last lap. Emerson Fittipaldi was also in the pits when he was declared the winner in 1975, when a hailstorm flooded Silverstone and most of the field spun off the track. The British Grand Prix also shares the most number of classified finishers: there were 22 out of 32 starters in 1952. On the other hand, the second most number of retirements is also shared by the British Grand Prix: 20 retirements thanks to that hailstorm in 1975. Because it came so late in the race, there were still 19 classified finishers! For the record, six cars were still actually running. Weekend milestones: The grand old man of the Grand Prix circuit, Jean Alesi has celebrated his 170th Grand Prix, but his 171st this weekend means that he will have taken part in as many races as Niki Lauda, which puts him 10th in the all-time participation standings. Mika Salo will be having his 80th Grand Prix at Silverstone, while Pedro de la Rosa should be chalking up his 20th start. Watch out too for Michael Schumacher, who could well equal Alain Prost's all-time record of 41 fastest laps. McLaren could equal the tally of pole positions of Williams and Lotus on 107, but Ferrari are still 20 ahead. Related Links The official Silverstone GP web site The British GP FORIX page The Silverstone GP FORIX page   Related Articles The 1999 Atlas F1 British GP Review Issue The 1998 Atlas F1 British GP Review Issue The 1997 Atlas F1 British GP Review Issue

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Eddie Irvine's Lap of Silverstone appears courtesy of The Silverstone Official Website

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