2020 British Grand Prix - Silverstone, 31-02 July / August

[MtthsMlw]

Is he equal on the home track record?

Yes with Prost. Both six wins.

[dans79]

A quick video about Silverstone that people will find interesting.

[PlatinumZealot]

The names of the turns are not as romantic as other tracks.. So to this day i dont know which turn is which.
Even after driving the track in the video games many times.. I still dont even know the sequence of the turns. It's just a flat pancake that I can't see what turn is coming.

With that said though, somehow it is one of the best tracks to see the cornering speed of an F1 car, and usually makes good racing.

[Mr5in1]

The names of the turns are not as romantic as other tracks.. So to this day i dont know which turn is which.
Even after driving the track in the video games many times.. I still dont even know the sequence of the turns. It's just a flat pancake that I can't see what turn is coming.

With that said though, somehow it is one of the best tracks to see the cornering speed of an F1 car, and usually makes good racing.

Having been to Silverstone a few times, before and after the 2010 changes I can honestly say it's the best race track to see an F1 car. Last year at the Grand Prix we used our GA tickets to walk around the whole circuit and sit in each stand.
Becketts for me was the best place to view the cars (it is so high above the track) but you can stand fairly close at Maggotts, Copse is an impressive corner as is the Stowe, Vale and Club sequence. For the race we ended up sitting at Luffield as they have a small raised concrete section and it was near our entrance to the campsite, good views of overtaking at the end of the Wellington straight.

For this year I can see anyone touching the Mercedes and I thin kthe Racing Point might be the 2nd fastest car here will be close with Red Bull. Hope McLaren go well and Williams can have a strong race I recall a few years ago Williams were running at the front and pushing Mercedes hard, maybe 2015?

[Just_a_fan]

The names of the turns are not as romantic as other tracks.. So to this day i dont know which turn is which.

Romantic? What's romantic about "Red Water" (Eau Rouge), "Mineral water" (Acqua Minerale), "Big Corner" (Curva Grande) or "Parabolic Corner" (Curva Parabolica)?

Sure, Variante Ascari is named after Alberto Ascari who died there in testing, but most named corners aren't really "romantic" once they're translated. They're usually descriptive.

At Silverstone, many of the corner names refer to what was there in the past or to local landmarks. Abbey and Luffield both refer to Luffield Abbey which was in that area and dated back to the 1100s. It was destroyed by Henry VI in the late 1400s.

Copse refers to two nearby copses (clusters of trees), Maggots to nearby Maggot Moor, Becketts and Chapel refer to a chapel that once stood there and had been built in memory of St Thomas à Beckett. It was knocked down when the airfield was built during WW2.

Stowe refers to nearby Stowe School. Vale is another name for a valley and this bit of track is in a bit of low lying ground so someone was probably trying to be funny when it was named. Woodcote, Brooklands, Club all have connections elsewhere due to the original circuit owners, the RAC. Farm Straight and Hanger Straight are simply named because they used to be the locations of a farm and an aircraft hanger.

So, are the corners really any less romantic than at other circuits?

[Restomaniac]

The names of the turns are not as romantic as other tracks.. So to this day i dont know which turn is which.
Even after driving the track in the video games many times.. I still dont even know the sequence of the turns. It's just a flat pancake that I can't see what turn is coming.

With that said though, somehow it is one of the best tracks to see the cornering speed of an F1 car, and usually makes good racing.

Having been to Silverstone a few times, before and after the 2010 changes I can honestly say it's the best race track to see an F1 car. Last year at the Grand Prix we used our GA tickets to walk around the whole circuit and sit in each stand.
Becketts for me was the best place to view the cars (it is so high above the track) but you can stand fairly close at Maggotts, Copse is an impressive corner as is the Stowe, Vale and Club sequence. For the race we ended up sitting at Luffield as they have a small raised concrete section and it was near our entrance to the campsite, good views of overtaking at the end of the Wellington straight.

For this year I can see anyone touching the Mercedes and I thin kthe Racing Point might be the 2nd fastest car here will be close with Red Bull. Hope McLaren go well and Williams can have a strong race I recall a few years ago Williams were running at the front and pushing Mercedes hard, maybe 2015?

We sat on the hill at the start on the Wellington straight. We could see loads (village, the loop, aintree and the start of the Wellington straight) you could actually see them under the grandstands. Seeing cars side by side going around the loop was extraordinary!

[Just_a_fan]

I like the view from the outside of Copse looking down the old straight. The direction change is phenomenal. Likewise the outside of Maggots. The banking on the inside of Chapel gives a great view back up to Copse and you get a great view of an F1 car's cornering ability down through Maggot/Becketts.

I remember my first trip to Silverstone in 1996. Standing on Hanger Straight at the entry to Stowe was something else. The down changes gave gunshot-like bangs that made the ears ring, the speed was good but the braking ability - seen best from the side as they braked in to Vale/Club was a great eye opener. A bit like the USS Enterprise dropping out of warp, or an aircraft carrier landing (for those who don't do sci-fi) .

I remember sitting in the Paddock Club on the inside of Bridge Corner back in the early 2000s. The speed they came out of Bridge was silly,the braking in to Priory very loud (more bangs). Paddock Club was great - especially as it was a freebie! They had a small grandstand which gave a decent view from Bridge through Priory, Brooklands and Luffield as it was back then, but most didn't seem interested - the reality is that it's a place for corporate schmoozing, not race fans. This was on a Friday - no chance of a Saturday or Sunday freebie, sadly.

[atanatizante]

Too early to say but. I expect RB to raise their game. I'm not buying this Mercedes dominance to be honest. They hit the sweet spot and it was just 2 different tracks remember. That RB looks handful in Qualy but very fast come race trim. So, let's just wait and see.

In Hungaroring most of us though it'd be Max on pole, it turned out to be different.

The number of circuits doesn't really matter. You can look at the data from corner types and straights and extrapolate. The W11's greatest strengths this year have been fast corners and straights. That's where they've been consistently faster than everyone in the field, including Red Bull. Silverstone is a power-sensitive track filled with fast corners.

Mercedes and its drivers still have to execute, but the car's performance should be very strong there.

Mark Hughes had an interesting article out today that touched on Red Bull's performance.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... -f1-rivals

Hughes spoke with an aerodynamicist to try to understand Red Bull's struggles:

“Since the regs changes of 2019 [principally the simplified endplates and the restriction of the under-nose vanes], the vortices you’re creating at the front end of the car can be quite unstable. Especially if you are running a lot of rake. The car is articulating around the front bib of the floor and that rake is increasing quite quickly as you slow down – and that makes that whole flow quite volatile. You can see in the tunnel the vortices can even suddenly switch from inboard to outboard. It could be the amount of steering lock or a crosswind – it’s so on the edge.”

It would be interesting to see what`s the RBR strategy for this race bearing in mind that:
1. for the last 3 races, they opted towards for a more (if not almost) race pace setup. My arguments: a) they already knew they couldn`t beat Merc for the front row and b) we should look at the race pace vs. Merc for the last 3 races when they were closer than qualy times
2. Racing Point could beat them in Q3 easily on this track which puts in lateral grip on premium, I should say ...

[El Scorchio]

The names of the turns are not as romantic as other tracks.. So to this day i dont know which turn is which.

Romantic? What's romantic about "Red Water" (Eau Rouge), "Mineral water" (Acqua Minerale), "Big Corner" (Curva Grande) or "Parabolic Corner" (Curva Parabolica)?

Sure, Variante Ascari is named after Alberto Ascari who died there in testing, but most named corners aren't really "romantic" once they're translated. They're usually descriptive.

At Silverstone, many of the corner names refer to what was there in the past or to local landmarks. Abbey and Luffield both refer to Luffield Abbey which was in that area and dated back to the 1100s. It was destroyed by Henry VI in the late 1400s.

Copse refers to two nearby copses (clusters of trees), Maggots to nearby Maggot Moor, Becketts and Chapel refer to a chapel that once stood there and had been built in memory of St Thomas à Beckett. It was knocked down when the airfield was built during WW2.

Stowe refers to nearby Stowe School. Vale is another name for a valley and this bit of track is in a bit of low lying ground so someone was probably trying to be funny when it was named. Woodcote, Brooklands, Club all have connections elsewhere due to the original circuit owners, the RAC. Farm Straight and Hanger Straight are simply named because they used to be the locations of a farm and an aircraft hanger.

So, are the corners really any less romantic than at other circuits?

As you say, they don't sound exotic, but I like the names of the corners and straights at Silverstone. They are all dripping with specific heritage and history and uniquely 'British'.

I love 'named' corners at the older circuits. You just don't get that at most of them where it's just numbers. A name gives a corner or part of the track it's own bit of lore. Parabolica, Eau Rouge, 130R, Juncao, the wall of champions.

[Just_a_fan]

I love 'named' corners at the older circuits. You just don't get that at most of them where it's just numbers. A name gives a corner or part of the track it's own bit of lore. Parabolica, Eau Rouge, 130R, Juncao, the wall of champions.

Agreed. The old tracks had corner names with history and heritage. Modern tracks with T1, T2, T3 just don't have the same feel.

[godlameroso]

Warm windy summer weekend with sunshine throughout. Hopefully the heat negatively affects Mercedes.

[El Scorchio]

BBC saying only 21c for the weekend at the moment.
Very hot (for the UK) tomorrow though for P1 and P2.

[Just_a_fan]

The weather is going to be very different during the race than during FP1 and 2. FP2, for example, is currently looking to be >10degC hotter than the race (32degC vs 20degC) and the track temp will even further different between the two periods as Friday will be bright sun all day, Sunday will be cloudier. Info on tyre deg found in FP2 might give a bum steer come the race. I'm sure the teams take this in to account, but it's another variable to trip up the unwary.

[Wouter]

Warm windy summer weekend with sunshine throughout. Hopefully the heat negatively affects Mercedes.

Warm summer weekend? What heat? It will be +/- 21 degrees Celcius.

[Manoah2u]

Warm windy summer weekend with sunshine throughout. Hopefully the heat negatively affects Mercedes.

They're the ones who best control tyre temperatures, if any, they'll be benefitted the most