The Circuit:
Silverstone claims to be the home of British motor racing and there is a strong argument for that claim. As the host of the first ever World Championship Grand Prix this Northamptonshire track has certainly earned it's place in history.

Originally used as a wartime airfield the circuit was converted to racing in 1948 when a track using a combination of runways and perimeter road was created. Two Grands Prix were held on that configuration before the runway was abandoned. The circuit has a special place in the hearts of Ferrari fans as it was here that, in 1951, Jose Froilan Gonzalez scored the first ever World Championship victory for the Scuderia.

From 1950 until the 1975 the track remained largely unchanged and played host to a never ending list of exciting races. In 1973 the start-line accident of Jody Scheckter entered the history books as the biggest crash ever seen in F1 with almost half the field crashing out. Two years later, a rain storm in the closing stages had a similar effect.

To look back at Silverstone's history is like taking a slice out of F1 itself. Few who were there will forget Watson and Hunt battling for the lead in 1977, while Clay Regazzoni's win in 1979 was the first of many for the Williams team. Watson was again the glory boy in 1981 as he scored an emotional win for the home crowd. In 1987 a new section was added to the track just before Woodcote, while that year's race produced one of the greatest manoeuvres the sport has ever seen as Mansell took Piquet on the run down to Stowe corner. That move earned Mansell the first of three wins at the track all of which resulted in the famous scenes of 'Mansellmania' among the partisan crowd.

In 1991 the track was substantially changed and emerged with a new 3.247 mile layout. Becketts was replaced with a series of esses, while Stowe was slowed to a much harder right. Mansell won the first race on the new track, and again in 1992. The homer fans had to suffer some disappointment in 1993 as the new local hero, Damon Hill, lost out to Alain Prost. Further rebuilds followed in 1994 and Damon Hill emerged the winner after Michael Schumacher was excluded following irregularities on the parade lap. 1995 provided Johnny Herbert with a well-deserved victory while Villeneuve won in both 1996 and 1997. The 1998 race was the scene of controversy after Michael Schumacher took the flag while sitting in the pit lane serving a penalty. Local interest was restored in 1999 with a fine win for the popular Scot Coulthard, who repeated the feat in 2000.

A Quick Lap:
From the grid, cars pull away and the straight allows speeds of 175 mph to be reached on the approach to Copse. This right-hand corner is blind but, at 140 mph, very fast, so fast in fact that drivers don’t normally brake – just change down a gear. Switching back up, cars thunder on towards Maggots at 175 mph and shift down twice as they wave their way first through Maggotts and then Becketts – as the track wiggles left-right, left-right, slowing down to 100 mph before Chapel ends the series of left-right bends and is accelerated through, coming out at 155 mph in 6th gear.

The Hanger Straight is the fastest part of the circuit, at 185 mph in top gear, before braking hard into Stowe, a right-hand turn that can be taken in 4th gear and speeds of 105 mph maintained. Vale is a quick straight in which the cars go through at something like 160 mph with a 2nd-gear, sharp left into Club, a right-hand corner taken at 50 mph and then accelerated through and the cars swing back on themselves at 130 mph. Both Vale and Club present good overtaking opportunities, not least because they are tricky to negotiate and understeer comes into play. Up through two gears into 6th and 170 mph towards Abbey, a 3rd-gear, 75 mph corner which flips into Farm at 100 mph and up to 160 mph along Farm Straight.

Bridge marks the entrance to the ‘Complex’, a section of the track containing bends at Priory, Brooklands and Luffield. The corners at Bridge and Priory are fast, entering the first at 150 mph and exiting the second at 100 mph. Priory, along with Brooklands, steer the car through 180 degrees. Brooklands, along with Luffield, again turn the car around and are both negotiated in 2nd gear at between 50-80 mph. On exiting Luffield, it’s a quick dash through Woodcote at 165 mph and a smooth turn to the right before hitting the Start-Finish straight at 175 mph. At the start of 1998 Silverstone re-named the sequence of corners from Priory to Luffield as 'The Grandstand' and intends to install more grandstand steating in this area.

I look forward to hearing from you,
Donna May
Select-Hospitality.