Paffett's lap of Silverstone

Gary Paffett, the young test driver of the McLaren Mercedes Formula One Team takes us for a ride on the circuit of Silverstone that is the venue of the upcoming British Grand Prix. Hop in and enjoy the spectacular circuit of Silverstone experienced from inside the MP4-21.

Gary Paffett "A flying lap of Silverstone begins with the extremely fast and challenging Copse Corner. You arrive at the right hander at 306km/h, before dabbing the brakes, with your speed dropping slightly to 226km/h in fifth as you swing through the bend, which is off-camber at the exit.

A short burst of power takes you to one of the best complex of corners we have at any Grand Prix track, the Maggots-Becketts-Chapel S-bends. You have to be careful as you reach Maggots as this is where you drive past the pit exit, however throughout the complex you maintain speeds of 202km/h to 302km/h as you take the sequence of right and left flicks flat out, before being swung onto the fastest section of the track, Hanger straight.

Taken flat out with a top speed of 310km/h in sixth gear, this long blast leads to Stowe. Due to the late nature of the apex you are braking all the way into the corner, flicking down the gears to 184km/h to negotiate the right-hander. The worst thing you can get here is understeer as it will affect your lap time a lot in that particular corner.

You then roll out into a very straight forward exit along Vale that takes you down into Club, reaching 276km/h before braking for the long right-hander. You can develop a bit of oversteer here, as you accelerate through the corner reaching 293km/h.

Then there is a straightforward acceleration from second to sixth gear out of Club corner which has been made easier by traction control. Then you go down the short straight to the left of Abbey corner, which is taken in second gear, at 117km/h, has a very fast entry and is a good place for overtaking.

There is a short exit before the flick right of Farm, and you then go up and over the hill into Bridge corner, which is taken flat at 255km/h in fifth gear. You then enter the Stadium Complex and some of the best overtaking opportunities on the track.

It starts with a quick entry into Luffield in fourth gear. It’s quite fun to drift the car out there and it tends to dance around with the back end. You come out of Luffield and get on the brakes straight away for the tight left of Priory, which is taken at 166km/h, and is immediately followed by the 102km/h second gear tight left of Brooklands, which sees you steer the car through 180-degrees.

The final corner in the complex is Luffield. Entering this long right hander your speed is around the 133km/h mark in second gear, dropping to 104km/h in the same gear as you exit. The sweeping right of Woodcote is the final corner, you accelerate through the two apexes of the bend as you swing back round onto the pit straight to begin another lap of Silverstone. "