Drivers caught by Silverstone wind

For a change it is not the rain that has caught them by surprise, with glorious blue skies greeting the F1 circuit, but instead the wind at Silverstone is causing its fair share of trouble.

The mixture of long high-speed corners and the intricacies of modern F1 car aerodynamics, have found many drivers getting in trouble when a gust of wind hits them at the wrong moment.

Honda Racing's Rubens Barrichello said: "The cars are very unpredictable. Every car was a bit unpredictable and with the rules the way they are, when the wind picks up and the track loses grip it just becomes nasty. You see a lot of people spinning.

"You are almost at the end of the corner and you think you have covered the turn when you suddenly go spinning. It is the unpredictability that comes from losing grip because of the wind.

"Imagine running behind a car with a gust of wind. The car becomes quite different."

Barrichello's teammate Jenson Button was in agreement about the trouble being caused by the wind.

"It has been pretty manic really with the weather," he said. "It is beautiful sunshine and really warm but it is really windy out there. It is a long way off what we were have experienced in testing so far this year.

"Everyone is finding it tough, everyone is going off, which makes it difficult to find a consistent balance."

Despite the moans, Barrichello for one was not too upset with the unexpected warm spell.

"Thank you very much for the weather," smiled the Brazilian, who used to live in Cambridge. "It is unbelievable. When I lived in England I never had it like this, so it is very nice to be here for the weekend."