British Grand Prix Preview
Silverstone • Towcester • England
by Toby Waller
England

Circuit Length: 3.155 miles / 5.057 km
Race Length: 61 laps (192.450 miles / 308.447 km)

Well, what an exciting couple of months we've had. First there was the shock defeat by Germany, and then there was the Englishman taking on all comers. And now there's Grand Prix racing.....

Britain has been enjoying a resurgence in sporting achievement recently. After successfully hosting, and competing in, the Euro '96 football championships, the British public barely had enough time for a snack break before Wimbledon hosted it's usual brilliant tennis tournament. This year an Englishman, Tim Henman, made the quarter-finals - the first Brit to reach them in quite a few years.

There's no respite for sports fans, though, as this weekend is the British Grand Prix. As ever, we've got five Brits in top cars - all with points scoring potential - so there's plenty for the capacity home crowd to cheer. Despite the lack of Nigel Mansell, the event is once again a sell out, and the roads around the area are expected to be gridlocked early on Sunday morning. The nearby village is a quiet little place that must hate this particular weekend - imagine popping out for a pint of milk only to be faced with something more reminiscent of an inner-city traffic jam. Whatever, the promise is there for yet another superb British showpiece event.

Lap Guide
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 180mph before braking hard - and flicking down three gears - for Copse. This corner used to be nearly flat in sixth gear, but was revised in 1994 after the Senna / Ratzenberger tragedies. The corner has an early apex, so the drivers get on the power early for the run into Becketts. 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 speeded up this year, as last year's revised version was considered a little too tame for Formula One. The right-hand corner is taken in fourth at an estimated 110mph. The cars then pass through the Vale straight and enter the tight, second gear, left hander at Club. The track gradually hairpins off to the right, and the cars accelerate all the way through to get top speed on the straight before the Abbey chicane. Accelerating out of Abbey, usually taken in second, the cars pass through the flat out right hander Bridge. The next few corners: Priory, Brooklands and Luffield are a fairly dull series of second gear left and right handers that lead into Woodcote. The exit to Luffield is doubly important, though, as it leads - via Woodcote, a flat out right hander - onto the main straight where the tough process begins once again.

What Happened Last Year?
For the British fans in particular, last year's race was thrilling - heart stoppingly so. Whilst the main talking point was the acrimonious collision between Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill, the winner of the race was Britain's Johnny Herbert - his first Formula One victory. The battle between Hill and Schumacher had been titanic. Pole was settled on Friday - Saturday turned out to be wet - and it was Damon Hill who had the front row honours, 0.2s ahead of Schumacher. At the start, Jean Alesi made a corking start to line up second at the end of the first lap - from sixth on the grid! This was terrific news for Hill, as the Frenchman was blocking Schumacher. The German found himself unable to take the Ferrari as he was on a one-stop strategy compared to the rest of the field's two. When Hill made his second stop, he rejoined a mere 2s behind the Benetton. With the advantage of new tyres, he only had a few laps to take Schumacher and Hill was soon swarming over the German. Their collision on lap 46 will remain one of the most controversial collisions in motorsport, rivalling even the best prangs by Senna and Prost. Whether Damon braked too late, or Schumacher braked too early will remain talked about for years to come - no mail please! If British fans were disappointed , then they needn't have been. Schumacher and Hill's respective team-mates, Johnny Herbert and David Coulthard, took up the cause for victory. Just as Johnny Herbert took David Coulthard at Stowe, it was announced that the Scot would be called in for a 10s penalty - the crime, speeding in the pit-lane. It was all over, bar the shouting - Johnny Herbert taking a well deserved, if somewhat lucky, victory ahead of Jean Alesi and David Coulthard.

1995 Results
1.  Johnny Herbert      Benetton-Renault        1h34m35.093s
2.  Jean Alesi          Ferrari                 + 16.497s
3.  David Coulthard     Williams-Renault        + 23.888s
4.  Olivier Panis       Ligier-Mugen Honda      + 1m33.168s
5.  Mark Blundell       McLaren-Mercedes        + 1m48.172s
6.  HH- Frentzen        Sauber-Ford             + one lap

Pole Position    Damon Hill          Williams-Renault    1m28.124s
Fastest Lap      Damon Hill          Williams-Renault    1m29.752s

So, what's the story this year? After Damon's superb showing last weekend, he dominates the championship standings and is expected to win 'for Britain' this weekend. Whilst a win by Damon is very likely, his rivals shouldn't so easily be dismissed. Most of the British teams - including McLaren, Benetton, Jordan and Arrows - test here at regular intervals throughout the year. Expect the form guide given by qualifying to be closer, but a more realistic showing of the team's relative performance. So how will the teams have done come Sunday evening? Here's my best guess:

Ferrari
What a dismal couple of weekends the Italian marque have had! Surely things can only get better this weekend - but don't count on it. Jean Todt even went so far as to describe the French Grand Prix as "the blackest day of my long career in motorsport". The fact that he's been working for Ferrari for so long, and been part of the team's resurgence to the top echelon of Formula One makes it surprising that the Italian press should call for his resignation - but that's the Italian passion for Ferrari for you. The scarlet chargers will have countless revisions on them this weekend, but will lack testing mileage on the British circuit. Typically the Ferraris run well here, but that was in the days of Ferrari V12s - what they can do with a V10 is anyone's guess. Engine and suspension failures excepted, they'll be running in the top six ... probably.

Benetton-Renault
France was a glint of light at the end of the tunnel for Benetton, yet Flavio Briatore is still investigating replacement drivers if paddock gossip is to be believed. The partnership of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi is a match made in heaven - name me another team where the drivers have actually been friends for several years. The car is also making steady progress. The new wings and undertray on the car had the desired effect, with the cars lining up - and finishing the race - in third and fourth. Expect another good performance from the pair in Britain.

Williams-Renault
What else can you say? The Williams pair put the words in the mouths of journalists world-wide by dominating the race and, to a lesser extent, qualifying. If Schumacher's somewhat suspect pole position denied Damon Hill of a Renault home pole, then Jacques Villeneuve grabbed the worlds attention with his session stopping crash. The team performed miracles, however, to provide him with a car that he could race to second place on Sunday. Basically, if their luck holds, expect the team to be dominating the top two positions come Saturday afternoon - especially since Villeneuve has already had plenty of mileage around the Northants circuit. Where they finish in the race is, as ever, a matter of reliability but expect them to continue their usual, almost monotonous, dominance of Sunday afternoon.

McLaren-Mercedes
With their engine contract being one of the few that seems secure for the near future, the gossip around the McLaren camp was mostly connected with the rumoured split with main sponsors Marlboro. Ever since I started watching Formula One, and for a great many years before that, the McLaren car was the bold red and white one that won all the races. Whilst Marlboro may be impatient for success with McLaren, they must remember that the team have had quite a few years of driver / engine instability that have left the design team struggling to catch up with a suitably balanced chassis. The team now seem to have the elusive 'package' right, and it would be a shame for Marlboro to leave - especially if the team continue their climb back to the top. In France, the team did continue upwards - Mika Hakkinen lining up and finishing the race in fifth, David Coulthard finishing sixth from seventh on the grid. If their luck continues, expect a points or podium place. If the team are lucky, they might even win.

Ligier-Mugen Honda
The talk of Honda returning to Formula One, as well as the Dome team's Mugen contract for next year, threatens Ligier's engine supply. The team were able to put this out of their minds, though, and concentrate on the home event that they traditionally do well at. The pair started the weekend well, but slipped down the running order on Saturday. Pedro Diniz ran a superb race - as high as sixth at one point - but retired with engine problems. Olivier Panis had to adopt a three stop strategy after fuel pump problems, but finished within spitting distance of the top six. At a circuit they rarely drive at, the team may struggle this weekend.

Jordan-Peugeot
For the first time this year, Martin Brundle outqualified his team-mate Rubens Barrichello. The pair were unhappy with their cars, however, and struggled to set competitive times - eventually lining up eighth and tenth. Brundle made a cracker of a start, and was managing to hold off Coulthard until the fuel stops. He dropped back through the remainder of the race, though, and finished eighth. Barrichello also started well, got held up, and then ran towards the rear of the field at the end. With this being their home event -the team are based right opposite the circuit - they'll be pulling out all the stops this weekend. If they're not a success in the race, then their post-race party will, as ever, be a winner.

Sauber-Ford
The Saubers are gradually slipping down the grid. Having to cope with poor balance and a variety of other setbacks over the weekend, the team were disappointed to qualify thirteenth and seventeenth. The race was even more disappointing - Frentzen retiring after his throttle stuck open, and Herbert running near the back of the field before being disqualified after his barge boards were found to be oversized. Better luck this weekend? I doubt it.

Footwork-Hart
Yet another team frustrated come Sunday morning - Jos Verstappen lining up sixteenth and Riccardo Rosset lining up twentieth. In the race, Verstappen retired with steering arm failure but Rosset managed to finish - albeit three laps down. The TWR team looked like getting to grips with their new car recently, but now seem to be struggling again. Where they'll be in Sunday's starting grid is anyone's guess, but don't expect it to be in the top half.

Tyrrell-Yamaha
Tyrrell are another team rumoured to be losing out in the forthcoming 'engine wars', especially if their recent run of poor performances continues. Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama were closely matched all weekend, but still lined up fourteenth and fifteenth. The pair struggled throughout the race - Katayama retiring with engine failure, and Salo having to back off to prevent a similar end. Expect better things this weekend.

Minardi-Ford
Despite their comparative success on a shoestring budget in recent years, the Minardi team are currently struggling. France was a typical run at the back for the team, the only high point being the outqualifying of a Footwork by both drivers. It amazes me that the team manages to survive with a lack of budget and success. But survive they do, and they'll be competing at Silverstone - albeit at the rear of the grid.

Forti-Ford
Amazingly, the Forti cars both outqualified a Ferrari. Unfortunately, the Ferrari was that of Eddie Irvine, relegated to the back of the grid after a breach of the technical regulations. The team are struggling at the minute, despite their new sponsorship from the Finfirst group. There are even rumours that the Finfirst sponsorship is insufficient. Both drivers qualified, but retired early in the race. I don't expect any surprises this weekend - they'll qualify and they'll finish (if lucky).