Silverstone: One of the most legendary Formula 1 circuits in the sport
Silverstone is a circuit which holds the Formula 1 British Grand Prix and is located in Northamptonshire, England.
The circuit held its first British Grand Prix for Formula 1 back in 1950 and since the race was very exciting and dramatic, the fans loved the new circuit and it pretty much became a sudden hit for the fans.
The first British Grand Prix witnessed 8 retirements but in the end, Alfa Romeo scored a 1-2-3 finish with Nino Farina in 1st followed by his teammates Luigi Faglioli and Reg Parnell in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. It
was pretty much a one sided race as Farina and Faglioli were over 50 seconds ahead of Parnell while the rest of the teams were further 2 laps down.
Since then, the circuit has held 44 Formula 1 Grands Prix but the sad part is that due to some technical issues, the track went through some major changes many times.
The circuit’s pit and paddock area along with the start/finish line straight were recently modified but these changes did not affect the length of the circuit much. Currently, Silverstone is 5.14km long with 17 turns and goes in a clockwise direction.
The 2011 British Grand Prix will host 51 laps of Silverstone which means that the race is going to be more than an hour and a half of pure entertainment.
Other than that, the British Grand Prix is quite an important event of the Formula 1 season as most of the teams during their time in Britain visit their respective development centres and come up with some useful upgrades in order to enhance their respective
cars and discuss their future as well.
Most of the teams during this period start thinking about their follow-up car that is the following season’s respective car and try to come up with an approach for the future.
In the ongoing 2011 season however, the race is going to be even more exciting and unpredictable as the officials of the sport recently decided to ban off-throttle Blown Diffusers. The current championship leaders Red Bull Racing are expected to lose around
5 tenths of a second from their lap times which means that McLaren and Ferrari, their closest rivals, might get on an even keel with them.
In front of 150,000 screaming fans this year, the British Grand Prix is expected to be an ‘eye opener’ for the teams as they will now figure out the true pace and capabilities of their respective cars and probably decide about the remainder of their 2011
Formula 1 season.
McLaren and Ferrari have already announced that they will shift their focus to their 2012 car if they fail to perform at the next couple of races which means that Red Bull Racing will easily take both of the championships this year and probably prepare themselves
for the upcoming season as well.
Nevertheless, since Silverstone is a high-speed track, it is expected that the race is going to be pretty close this year and the team to take the advantage during the qualifying session is going to control the pace of the race provided that they get a good
start.
Let’s see how it turns out this time around. The action from Silverstone begins July 8, 2011 with the free practice sessions.
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