PRIXVIEW – British Grand Prix 2023

Round ten brings F1 to the place where the first championship Grand Prix was held at Silverstone in England. The 3.6-mile circuit on the Northamptonshire / Buckinghamshire border is another high-speed circuit which we know is one of the most important races of the season being the home race for seven of the teams.

Silverstone held the very first world championship race in 1950 and despite moving around England over the nine last decades the circuit has become the anchor for seven of the ten teams all based in the 50-mile ‘motorsport valley’ around the circuit. This is also the home race for F1 as they are also based in the UK

Its often said that British fans don’t support one team or driver, while Sir Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell, McLaren, Williams, and Aston Martin, will get home support you will see all kinds of banners and drivers supported. This fifty-mile so-called motorsport valley will come alive, seven of the ten teams all based nearby.

Silverstone started life as an airfield during the second world war being leased by the RAC and BRDC in 1948 to create a circuit. The circuit today is still largely based on the runways and taxiways built during the war and has evolved into the modern circuit we see today was introduced in 1949 and until 2009 largely remained on the taxiways before the construction of the arena section between Abbey and Brooklands.

1950 saw the circuit cerement its place in F1 history when it held the first world championship race and the fifth round of the Grand Prix season. The race was dominated by Alfa Romeo with Giuseppe Farina winning with Alfa Romeo teammates Luigi Fagioli and Reg Parnell finishing on the podium.

That race was graced by the presence of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, as well as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon the first and only time a reigning monarch has attended a motor race in Britain. The crown often now represented by the President of the Royal Automobile Club Prince Michael of Kent, the parent organisation of the promotor.

Silverstone is an airfield circuit, which means unpredictable weather and wind can blow around the circuit.  The long straights, largely based on taxiways, means drivers need high downforce and straight-line speed, the corners are quite open which creates opportunities for overtaking.

This is another circuit which is similar to last weekend’s race in Austria, an old school grassy circuit which punishes big mistakes and where the unpredictable weather can play a huge role. 2008 showed the unpredictability of Silverstone, with Lewis Hamilton taking the first of eight wins in the pouring rain and a race full of accidents and drama.

Mercedes look to be returning to form, a eighth victory this weekend would equal his joint record of eight wins at the same Grand Prix, shared with Budapest and Schumacher at Mangy-Cour.

This makes it another circuit which should favour Red Bull, following their dominance of the 2023, but its also a hybrid retaining the characteristics of an old school circuit with grass and gravel in places but also tarmac. The circuit has held the third most Grands Prix after Monza and Monaco and is one of two races which has featured on every Grand Prix or F1 season since 1948.

The race moved to Silverstone because of damage during the war to Brooklands and Donnington Park being requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence and was converted into a military vehicle depot. According to folk law, the first race at Silverstone was organised by locals with a sheep being ran over by Maurice Geoghegan, informally known as the ‘Mutton Grand Prix.’

The circuit was based on the taxiways and runways used during the war then over the last seventy-five years evolving into the arena Grand Prix circuit introduced in its current form in 2011. This made the circuit a high-speed section known “Arena” layout introduced doubling the average speeds.

Between 1955-62 the race alternated between Aintree and Silverstone, the Aintree Circuit was built within the horse racing circuit. The first race at Aintree, Mercedes drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and home favourite Stirling Moss arrived at Aintree expecting to win.

They took the lead at the start and the two drivers battled throughout, and Moss passed Fangio on the 26th lap, and he kept the lead for a while, but Fangio fought back and was about to pass Moss on the last corner on the last lap, and all were certain Fangio would pip Moss at the chequered flag.

Two years later Sir Stirling Moss became the first British driver to win the race, as well as a first of five home wins for Scotsman Jim Clark. He added more wins dominating in 1964 and 1967, before a battle between Chris Amon and Jo Siffert.

Since 1987, Silverstone has been the sole home of the race up until 2009 the circuit was run on what is now called the Bridge Grand Prix Circuit. All the different layouts largely followed the 1949 layout which remained in use until the construction between 2009-11 of the arena circuit.

During the 1980s and 1990s, like many races of that era it was dominated by Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, with their races becoming intertwined. Prost won in 1989, Mansell finishing second. The 1990 Grand Prix was the last motor race on the high-speed circuit, and Mansell drove hard and led a lot of the race; but gearbox problems eventually forced him to retire, where he threw his gloves into the crowd and announced that he was going to retire.

Mansell would later go on to win the next two events, Damon Hill looked on course for victory in 1993 however it was Prost who took victory after an engine failure. Hill took victory in the following years race on a temporary layout following Senna and Roland Ratzenberger’s deaths at Imola.

Johnny Herbert took victory the following year, but in 1999 Michael Schumacher crash heavily at Stowe; he broke his leg, and missed many races and this put him out of championship contention. There were attempts to bring the British GP back to Brands Hatch for 2002 and Donnington Park for 2010, but this never materialised.

This ultimately lead to the redevelopment of the circuit between 2009 and 2011, as well as more recent developments of the Silverstone Experience. The Arena Grand Prix circuit saw speeds increase to an average of 145mph one of the highest speeds.

In the hybrid era it has been dominated by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, this circuit rewards drivers who are able to attack and push to brake late and overtake. It’s also a circuit which is hard on tyres and previously power units, recent history have seen tyre failures often pushes this to a two-stop race.

The 2020 race titled ‘British Grand Prix’ saw Hamilton limp home and take a record-equalling seventh win to equal Schumacher. the following would see Hamilton collide with polesitter and championship leader Verstappen at Copse corner, sending the Red Bull driver into the wall at 290 km/h (180 mph).

Last years race saw yet more first-lap drama when Guanyu Zhou launched over the barriers at Abbey. Russell moved to the left too late to close the gap causing his left rear tyre to make contact with Gasly’s right front. Gasly backed out but the impact pointed Russell’s car to the left shooting him across the track and directly into the side of Zhou’s car. The impact launched Zhou’s car into the air.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• At 5.891km, Silverstone is the third longest F1 circuit on the current calendar. Only Spa Francorchamps in Belgium (7.004km) and Baku City Circuit (6.003km) are longer.
• Together with Italy, Britain is the only country to have held a Grand Prix in every year of the World Championship since 1950.
• In both 1963 and 1965, the British Grand Prix podium at Silverstone was comprised exclusively of British drivers. Jim Clark won both events, and he was joined on the rostrum by John Surtees and Graham Hill both times.
• Only two British Grand Prix have been held later than August in 1926 and 2020, when the race was postponed by a few weeks because of the pandemic. It one of three circuits to have hosted two championship races in a single year along with the Red Bull Ring and Bahrain.
• Silverstone has always maintained its essential character as one of the fastest tracks on the F1 calendar, while historic corners like Maggots and Becketts, and Abbey provide some of the biggest challenges for racing drivers anywhere in the world.

Event timetable

What happened in 2022?

Carlos Sainz took his maiden pole position beating Max Verstappen by seven hundredths faster as conditions started to change in the closing moments of Q3. The Red Bull driver made a mistake on his final attempt through Vale sending him into a spin, also making a mistake was Charles Leclerc he spun at Chapel on his fastest lap.

Mercedes looked to be in the hunt for the front Lewis Hamilton looking to be in the hunt for pole, but appeared to misjudge the timing of the rain and backed off rather than doing a double push lap, while teammate George Russell admitted he made a mistake on his final lap, believing he could have challenged for fourth or fifth. Lando Norris was sixth and Alex Albon was knocked out in Q1.

Sainz converted his maiden pole into a maiden win after passing Sergio Perez with ten laps to go. Following the restart, the Spaniard was able to stay with his teammate Leclerc with the team decided to allow them to race in the closing laps of the race. As Leclerc made the restart, Sainz was able to stay with his teammate and made the move at the end of the Wellington Straight before making the move stick at Brooklands.

However the race was suspended on the opening lap after a five-car crash at Abbey with the Alfa Romeo of Guanyu Zhou flipped and rolled into the gravel. The accident also saw the Mercedes of George Russell hit off, but despite the Englishman trying to recover the car there was no way he could rejoin the race, along with Alex Albon.

Lewis Hamilton finished third the Mercedes driver showing a big step forwards for the team, looking in contention all weekend but during the ten lap sprint for the podium following the final lap. Mick Schumacher scored his first points finishing eighth three seconds behind the Dutchman. Schumacher managed to challenge the Red Bull driver, he attempted to overtake the champion on the final lap. As they approached the final corner, he attempted a bold move at Club before backing out to score his first points in F1.

Race Result – 1) C. Sainz, Ferrari, 02:17:50.311 | 2) S. Perez, Red Bull, +00:03.779 | 3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +00:06.225

What to watch for?

Red Bull are going to be the favourite for this weekend, but the question is can Sergio Perez stop Max Verstappen steamrolling to his third title. Perez had a difficult weekend in Spielberg, and he needs to come back soon if he is to have any hope of keeping his what looks to be a slim chance of beating Verstappen this season.

This circuit does suit the Red Bulls again its their second home race, this is a high-speed circuit and one where being good in the corners is very important. But this again is another circuit which can throw up surprises, the past few years have been box office races. I think that Ferrari have moved now ahead of Aston Martin, historically this has been one of their most successful races with sixteen wins.

However, the question still remains I think can they make further inroads into Red Bull’s advantage on pace. Looking back to recent races I think the gap as big as it once looked but still very big in F1 terms for them to be caught. Aston Martin are still in this fight with Ferrari and Mercedes, this is their home race being based opposite Luffield they will want a good result.

Ferrari have won this race more than any other constructor and both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc like this circuit, it seems to suit their driving styles and we have seen flashes of speed this season. Unfortunately, Silverstone is hard on tyres making it a likely two-stop race, and Ferrari appear to struggle more on making their tyres last.

Silverstone is one of the drivers’ favourites as it has a history and a circuit which is great for battles across the field.  Their can be drama as mistakes can be costly though there is at some corners tarmac to escape, it can also be hard on tyres and we have seen tyre failures in the past here. That often pushes it towards a two-stop race and Pirelli brings their hardest compounds.

Mercedes I don’t think can be discounted while they did get things wrong in Spielberg they had a great race proving they can fight back over a course of both a sprint and a Grand Prix. Although it looks unlikely Lewis Hamilton is looking for a record-equalling eighth win but they need luck to beat Red Bull.

McLaren look to be heading in the right direction the upgrades that Lando Norris had last weekend looks to have brought them into the midfield fight again. Oscar Piastri should get that upgrade this weekend.

2022 vs 2021 Race Data

2022 Lap time comparison

Tyres