McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh says Silverstone a spiritual home for Formula 1
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has said that Silverstone is more like a “spiritual home for Formula 1” and at the upcoming British Grand Prix, the teams and fans are going to have a connection like no other.
“This will be an exciting time for teams and fans alike as we head to an all new Silverstone for the Santander British Grand Prix. Silverstone has been the spiritual home of Formula 1 in Great Britain since the birth of the world championship back in 1950,”
he said.
Since the track has gone through some major changes, Whitmarsh stated that the officials have done a very neat job by creating a new pit and paddock facility.
“The new track layout, which we raced for the first time last year, and the superb new pit and paddock facilities, will confirm Silverstone as one of the greatest racetracks in the world and cement it as the home of British motor racing,” said the McLaren
team principal.
Other than that, it is going to be an interesting turning point in the 2011 Formula 1 season since the off-throttle Blown Diffusers will be banned starting from the British Grand Prix. Whitmarsh believes it is going to cut down Red Bull Racing’s performance
by around 5 tenths of a second and close the gap between McLaren and the current championship leaders.
However, one has to admit that it might be too late for a change now since Red Bull are way ahead of rest of the teams in terms of points. Sebastian Vettel is leading the pack by 186 points which is 77 points more than McLaren’s Jenson Button and it is not
going to be easy for the Woking-based team to decrease the deficit all of a sudden.
The British Grand Prix is going to be very important for McLaren as they will evaluate the change in performance this coming weekend and probably make a very big decision about the future of their 2011 run.
The action from the Silverstone Grand Prix begins July 8, 2011.
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