Silverstone means a lot to Ferrari as it was here that they secured their maiden win in the Formula One series back in 1951 when José Froilán González drove a 375 to victory.
It has always been a classic on the calendar, but is the track the same as in yesteryear?
Definitely not: in González's day the track was under 5 kilometres in length and a race distance involved no less than 90 laps and the Argentinian's average speed on his way to pole position was only a little over 160 km/h.
But even then, it was a superfast track and when Ferrari took pole and the win in 1990 with Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost respectively, their 641s both exceeded 250. Those were the days when Nigel would tell the young test drivers back in Maranello, that at Silverstone, “you never brake.”
There was an element of truth in that because the old layout did not put too much stress on the discs and pads. Since then, the circuit has been redesigned several times, the last in 2011 with the creation of the Arena Circuit measuring 5.8 kilometres.
Its character has changed, the facility has been modernised and inevitably, it has lost some of the magic from the days when the motorhomes were parked on a grass paddock, used to host barbecues with all the drivers in attendance. But it still has plenty to recommend it, as a very technical circuit, which, above all, rewards aerodynamic efficiency at the corner entry and in the many changes of direction.
“Silverstone it's a great place” says Kimi Raikkonen, “and I enjoy driving here. The track has a lot of history and there's always a great atmosphere. I have raced here before F1, I liked the old circuit, the layout was more flowing. It hasn't changed a lot, the feeling is a bit different but it's still a great place to drive.”
“This year we have completely different cars and rules, we expect to have more downforce than last year's car and thus to carry more speed through the fast corners. Tomorrow we'll see if it's that's the case: hopefully it goes more in that direction because it's more fun! We have a limited amount of engines because of the regulations, and now It's time to put a new one in; as was planned since the beginning”.
