The British Grand Prix will be held this weekend at the ancestral home of F1, with the first ever F1 GP held there in 1950 (and won by Dr Farina in the Alfa Romeo, for the collectors of F1 history).
This is a circuit that the drivers universally like, a circuit that allows cars to pass each other (even without the DRS and other buttons or coded messages from the pit wall), and a Grand Prix where it is likely to rain at some point. After all, it is in England, and they cannot possible go three days on the trot without a good drenching from above!
The “arena” part of the circuit was used for the first time a couple of years back and goes from Abbey to Brooklands corners, moving infield and adds an extra 760 m to the track length. You will be heartened to read that Herr Tilke was not involved. Interestingly, this modification was actually built for the MotoGP series, but now incorporated in the F1 series after Bernie, the patron saint of King Midas the Dwarf Enterprises, gave it his blessing. Yes, that is the same Bernie who has masterminded such yawnfest circuits as Bahrain and Singapore. But don’t start me.
So who should we look out for? Mercedes is still right up there, and Bottas and Hamilton are still best bet as long as Valtteri stops running into his countryman (Raikkonen). Hamilton will be trying for the win but if form is anything to go by, the two Mercedes drivers will be fighting it out with Red Bull and Ferrari as well as between themselves.
Will the resurgent form of the Williams team of Stroll and Massa still be good on this track as well as the Red Bull Ring? I believe they will.
And the Red Bull Team will be praying that Renault can find more power. I have a sneaking suspicion their prayers will not be answered!
All the tail end Charlies will be tripping over each other as usual. McLaren, fortunately won’t have that sort of a problem as the car is not quick enough to catch the wobblers up front.
The race is 7 p.m. on Sunday 9 July. We watch the racing on the big screen in Jameson’s Irish Pub, Soi AR, next to Nova Park. We get there around 6 p.m. and have something to eat (the Sunday roasts are great value) and a noggin or two before the start. Why don’t you come and join us?
