Sunday 6 July will see the most thrilling event in the British motor-racing calendar, the Formula A single Grand Prix at Silverstone in Northamptonshire.
Tens of thousands of spectators will be willing Lewis Hamilton to win on home ground, and minimize his 29 points deficit to Mercedes group mate and existing planet championship leader Nico Rosberg. Hamilton won the championship in 2008.
No doubt Hamilton’s fellow Brit, Jensen Button, will also enjoy nearby assistance – not least from race sponsor Santander. The bank also sponsors his McLaren group, and the 2009 globe champion seems often in adverts for the bank’s credit card and existing account merchandise.
Lapping it up
Rosberg took the crown at Silverstone last year, and has beaten Hamilton in the final 3 races, so Hamilton will be desperate to do almost everything he can to finish ahead of the German this weekend.
Hamilton last won at Silverstone in 2008, when he lapped everybody up to third spot. He mentioned: “That has to be one of the best moments of my career. I loved raising that gold trophy in front of the house crowds and I’m determined to get my hands on it once again this year.”
Silver service
Only 12 distinct British drivers have won their property race because the extremely very first world championship Grand Prix was held at Silverstone in 1950.
The track’s racing history started soon after the Second Globe War when a surplus airfield close to to the village of Silverstone was earmarked as a appropriate internet site for a racing track.
An ex-farmer, James Wilson Brown, was employed by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) which had arranged a one year lease of the airfield with the Air Ministry, and provided the job of turning the airfield into a racetrack.
In just 2 months, Brown succeeded and on October 2, 1948, around 25,000 men and women turned up to see Luigi Villoresi beat 22 other competitors in his Maserati.
Royal approval
2 years later, the track played host to King George VI, the 1st and only time a reigning monarch has attended a British motor race.
In 1951, the British Racing Drivers’ Club took more than the lease of Silverstone from the RAC. The track was produced into a far more permanent fixture and stands had been produced, providing spectators a considerably far better view. Main improvements had been made to the track the mid-1970s, which resulted in the Woodcote corner becoming the fastest in Formula 1.
The track was overhauled in 1991 and once again in 1994, following the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger at that year’s San Marino grand prix in Italy. The ambition was to make the course safer without having drivers having to lessen speed.
British common
The 1st British winner at Silverstone was Peter Collins, who won in 1958. Tragically, he lost his life just 2 weeks later in the German Grand Prix. This was the year that Mike Hawthorn, a close friend of Collins and his Ferrari group-make became Britain’s initial globe champion.
Probably one of the most memorable British wins at Silverstone was when reigning Formula 1 World champion and crowd favourite James Hunt won in 1977 in his Marlboro McLaren-Ford M26 (don’;t forget tobacco sponsorship?).
Massa warrior
Hamilton might be hoping for an equally memorable win this year but he faces stiff competition not only from his group-mate Rosberg, but also the Williams group. Not only is this a home race for them as well, but Felipe Massa will be generating his 200th Grand Prix start and will be keen to accomplish a memorable result.
The race is of certain significance to Jenson Button too, who will be sporting a pink race helmet for the weekend in memory of his father John, who died in January and utilized to wear a ‘lucky’ pink shirt on race days.
Corners and curves
Competitors will race 52 times around the 5.891km circuit and will have to negotiate higher-speed corners such as Abbey and Copse and the Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel curves.
The forecast for the weekend is searching good, so drivers won’t have to contend with a wet track.
Hamilton however, may be hoping for rain. Back in 2008, numerous drivers struggled to maintain their vehicles on the road thanks to torrential downpours – Ferrari’s Felipe Massa spun 5 times whilst Vetter, Button and Kubica all spun off also, leaving Hamilton to promende to victory. Whoever wins on Sunday, it is bound to be a thrilling competitors.
Circuit education
The race itself is not the only entertainment for guests to Silverstone this weekend. There’s a lot to see off the track also, like a specific 50th Grand Prix parade of previous winning Formula 1 automobiles, live music and air displays.
Racing legends which includes Sir Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Alain Prost – who among them have claimed 11 Formula A single victories at Silverstone – will all drive more than the weekend.
Hamilton goes for gold at Silverstone
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