ATLAS F1, The Daily Grapevine: There's No Race Like Home

Formula One drivers generally go better in front of their home crowd. True or false?

Nigel Mansell had no doubts when he was in his pomp, winning three times at Silverstone and once at Brands Hatch. "I feel I own this place. It's my special place, my comfort zone," the Briton, cheered on by an army of devoted followers, once said of Silverstone.

McLaren's David Coulthard, winner of the last two British Grands Prix and hoping to become the first driver since Jim Clark in the 1960s to make it three in a row in 10 days' time, says the crowd's support is almost tangible.

And Damon Hill also had a special feeling for his home race, not least because his Champion father Graham never won it. "I almost feel it was my destiny to win this race," he said after winning at Silverstone for Williams in 1994. "I feel everything in my life has come together to this point."

But put the question to Jaguar's Eddie Irvine or McLaren boss Ron Dennis and they will tell you straight out that so-called home advantage does not make a blind bit of difference. "I don't think I've ever heard the crowd," said Irvine when asked whether he got psyched up by the support at Silverstone, perhaps the closest thing a northern Irishman has to a home race although he undoubtedly prefers Monza. "Maybe my ear plugs didn't work too good or something. I'd be very upset if every time I went to Silverstone, and because the crowd was cheering, I went quicker. I'd be very pissed off with myself because I should be at that level everywhere."

With Silverstone next up, and British-based McLaren in desperate need of a victory, Dennis might be expected to be playing the home card. But not a bit of it. "It makes no difference," he said. "We go to every race and we try as hard as we possibly can to win it. The only thing that you have on race day is a slightly more emotional environment in which we're functioning. Very often there are more friends, people like that. But really if you are professional you shut it all out of your mind."

"I'm sure that David does as well," he added. "Of course if you do achieve a victory at any circuit, it's a very enjoyable experience but I wouldn't say it's more enjoyable at a home grand prix than any other."

In fact, Coulthard is one of just two drivers currently in Formula One about whom there is no doubt that their home race brings out their best. The other is, inevitably, Michael Schumacher. (In the interests of fairness it has to be pointed out that many do not have a good enough car to shine, while Finland's Mika Hakkinen does not have a home race. But he has won twice in Hungary, which is a Finnish home from home.)

Schumacher and Coulthard are the only drivers currently active to have won at home, unless you include Frenchman Olivier Panis in Monaco in 1996. "It's always something special being at home," the German declared after winning the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring last month, his third triumph at the track nearest to his birthplace. "It always is a big pleasure, especially if you win the race, to go slow and absorb everything the people give to you and to some degree celebrate with them and have a bit of contact."

But Schumacher is an exception. Several leading local drivers have had nightmares at home this season.

Rubens Barrichello's Brazilian Grand Prix was a disaster that left him the butt of jokes in Sao Paulo after the Ferrari driver hit the back of Ralf Schumacher's Williams on the third lap. Barrichello has now failed to finish in Brazil for the past seven years in a row.

Pedro de la Rosa's debut for Jaguar in his home Spanish Grand Prix saw him qualify 20th and last just five laps.

Jacques Villeneuve described the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal as the worst weekend of his racing career after retiring at half-distance and getting embroiled in a physical show-down with Colombian Juan-Pablo Montoya.

And last weekend, France's Jean Alesi finished 12th at Magny-Cours after starting 19th and declared: "I feel so disappointed for the team and the public."

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