An in-depth look at the previous 10 winners of the British Grand Prix – Formula 1
Back in 1950, the British Grand Prix became a part of Formula 1 and since then, there have been 44 Formula 1 races at the circuit.
The British Grand Prix is usually held in the summers mainly because of the fact that the European phase of a Formula 1 season is held in the summers as the weather in Europe is quite pleasant during this time of the year.
Since more Asian races have also been added to the Formula 1 calendar, and the weather there is unbearable in the summers as a result of which, most of the Asian races are held either in the beginning or the final quarter of the season that is from September-November.
However, the fans enjoy the European races more as the circuits are quite legendary and technical as a result of which there is a lot of overtaking and action throughout the race.
The British Grand Prix has always been one of the highlight events of a Formula 1 season as it is one of the most legendary Formula 1 circuits. Since it determines the mid-point of a Formula 1 season, the pace and performance of each team becomes quite evident
by this point and determining the direction or the future of the championship becomes much easy which makes the event even more enjoyable for the fans.
Back in 2001, the race was won by the two-time Formula 1 world champion Mika Hakkinen for McLaren and it was quite a relieving victory for the Finn as he struggled to perform for the team throughout the season.
The following year, it was Michael Schumacher who took the victory ahead of Williams’ driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Schumacher secured the championship quite easily in 2002 but the British Grand Prix was quite special for him as it was his 60th Formula
1 race win.
The 2003 British Grand Prix was not Michael’s race weekend as his teammate Rubens Barrichello took the victory thanks to some safety car periods and a ‘runaway spectator’ who violently started running on the track.
Michael redeemed himself in 2004 though as he took the win and increased his drivers’ championship lead by a healthy margin.
Juan Pablo Montoya decided to join McLaren in the 2005 Formula 1 season and it seemed like a pretty good leap forward for him as he scored some pretty good points in the season and performed much better than he did with Williams. On top of that, he secured
the victory at Silverstone as well which made the 2005 Formula 1 season very special for him.
The 2006 Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso took a dominating victory at the British Grand Prix and proved that he has the potential to drive consistently each year and win championships after winning some of the most technical races on the Formula
1 calendar as well.
2007 was Ferrari’s year once again though as Kimi Raikkonen scored the victory at the British Grand Prix and took the championship at the grand finale in Brazil the same year even though his chances of winning the title were quite low.
In 2008, it was Lewis Hamilton who took the victory at his home event while Sebastian Vettel took the win there in 2009.
2010 was Mark Webber’s year as he secured the victory at Silverstone but this year, it seems that Red Bull Racing team’s chances are quite low and Ferrari or McLaren might take the advantage as a result of the off-throttle Blown Diffuser ban which is expected
to affect Red Bull’s pace noticeably.
Whatever the case is, with the new changes to the Silverstone circuit, the British Grand Prix promises to be a grand event in the 2011 Formula 1 calendar. The action from Silverstone begins July 8, 2011.
Tags: