By rights it’s the centrepiece fixture of the UK’s packed motor sport summer. But might the British Grand Prix this weekend also prove to be the standout race of the Formula 1 season?
Forget fake marinas in Miami. What Silverstone offers is one of the best circuits on the calendar for flat-chat banzai motor racing and an atmosphere that’s second to none thanks to the fervent enthusiasm of a sell-out crowd that gets behind more than just a single driver or team. It’s great on telly, many times more in the metal.
The drafting down Wellington and Hangar Straight should be even more frenetic than usual thanks to the new generation of ground-effect Formula 1 cars, and it will be fascinating to see how edgy they look through Maggotts and Becketts. We also hear the grandstands at Copse sold out quicker than usual for this year following the fierce Lewis Hamilton/Max Verstappen collision 12 months ago. Even without controversy, the old first corner is one of the best spots on earth to watch an F1 car at ten-tenths – although standing on the entry at eye level is better than any grandstand seat to fully appreciate the mind-bogglingly rapid change of direction. Remarkably, it’s apparently much less dramatic for the drivers.
“Copse is easy now,” Lando Norris told me ahead of last year’s race. “It depends a little bit on the wind. If there’s a tailwind it can be a little bit trickier. But in qualifying you don’t even have to think about it, one-handed even. You are flat out from the exit of Luffield, all the way to the final part of Becketts.” Let’s see what Lando and co make of it this time in these new cars as they deal with the dreaded headaches created by bounce and porpoising.
One hand on the title?
It’s only a shame that the fight for the world title has deflated, especially in contrast to the intensity of Verstappen vs Hamilton 12 months ago. This time, the reigning world champion holds a commanding 46-point lead over Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc a further three in arrears. That’s almost the equivalent of two race victories, and it’s hard to imagine Verstappen and the sharpest race team on the grid losing it from here. Reliability concerns remain a wrinkle for Red Bull, as seen last time out for Perez in Canada. But the team has won six on the bounce, Verstappen six from eight, in a vein of form that carries echoes of Sebastian Vettel’s greatest days at the team a decade ago.
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The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is undeniably the best F1 race each year because it has everything. A truly superb and fast, but honest and genuine, circuit that produces great racing, huge crowds and a tremdendous atmosphere. That is also has great facilities and is easily accessible is simply a bonus. For me the British Grand Prix is the jewel in the F1 calendar.