Why Silverstone remains an enduring F1 drivers’ favourite  

Alex Albon - Williams F1 driver

“I got my racing licence when I went from seven to eight years old, at Silverstone. They had a little kart track set up, with a guy who reviewed your driving to see if you were safe, and I took a written test: what’s a yellow flag, what’s a green flag, right foot throttle, left foot braking, and so on. And then they gave you your racing licence. That’s my very first memory of the place and I remember it clearly, like it was yesterday. I still remember the one question I got wrong, which was “When is scrutineering?”

“Before that, I went to watch my first Formula 1 race. This was the early 2000s, the generation of Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya. There was a competition at the track – you had to name the top three finishers. And I was a huge Schumacher fan so, not really knowing what was going on, I put my three favourite drivers in the list: Schumacher first, Barrichello second and Montoya third. Then on the back in case people were tied, there was a tiebreaker, something like closest fastest lap time – my dad filled that in for me because I had no clue.

“And I won! I got to go on stage and got these prizes – a hat, a big track map with signatures from Michael, Rubens, Ross Brawn, Jean Todt – which I’ve still got to this day.

“My first time driving a car at Silverstone was for the judging in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. I drove the DTM car, a Formula 2 car and a GT3 car, I think. It was like a shootout. I was up against Ben Barnicoat, Sennan Fielding, Harrison Scott, and some guy called George Russell. Harrison, actually, is now our sim driver at Williams. In the end, the result came down to George and me. And they chose George. But I was quicker!

“Silverstone is a proper drivers’ circuit. And it’s good for racing. I think people forget it generally promotes good racing. It and Suzuka are my two favourite circuits. Silverstone is a bit wider, a bit more forgiving, and has a bit more run-off area than Japan – so it’s easier to get confident earlier in the weekend. But I think what makes Silverstone so special as well is just the noise, the energy within the circuit – because it’s such a huge place, you know, it’s a massive amount of land. But yet it’s totally packed with fans. That’s pretty special.

“Two other things which make Silverstone special are... OK, this might sound boring and technical, but the cars are super-sensitive to wind around that track because it’s an airfield. So there’s no protection, it’s all open. The car can be totally different one session to the next if the wind even shifts a few degrees – it really plays a big part. Also, it’s a track that rewards high-speed precision driving; a lot of the corners are just flat.

“F1 cars are supposed to be driven fast. Street tracks, low speed, heavy cars – you don’t feel that. But when you come to Silverstone you have it – you feel like you’re driving the quickest car in the world.”

John Watson, 1st position, sprays champagne on the podium

Photo by: LAT Photographic

John Watson - 1981 British Grand Prix winner

“A British crowd is knowledgeable, patriotic, they support the home drivers and someone like Nigel Mansell said it was worth a second a lap. I don’t know if he was consciously raising his game or whether he was carried along by the crest of support but he knew everyone was
there to support him.

“I was aware of it when I won in 1981 and one of things I tried to do was block that out once I got myself into the lead – I had to not think I’d won the race already. I could see there was a wave of emotion and support building.

“When the race finished we got on a lorry and did a lap of honour and, when we came through Becketts, the circuit was a sea of people — I realised they were doing it for me. So many people wanted to express their pleasure by coming on to the track.

“From time to time someone will come up to me and they’ll say they were at Silverstone in ’81 and they thank me as I got an unbelievable reception — it was arguably the most memorable event in my life.”

Valtteri Bottas - Sauber F1 driver and British GP polesitter and podium finisher

“Silverstone is a combination of two things, the track layout – high-speed corners which have a nice flow – and its atmosphere. When I first drove Silverstone it was definitely the fastest track I’d ever driven. Then the faster your car, the more fun it gets.

“Then it’s the history and the atmosphere. There are so many fans all around the track, not just the main grandstands. It’s cool to see people camping there and everyone lives and breathes motorsport. The fans support their home drivers but I feel they still respect everyone. It’s unique in its own way.

“Personally, I love the camping. I always stay in a motorhome and it’s nice to be part of that atmosphere. It takes me back to my karting days when we used to have a trailer behind the car and park up for the weekend and go racing with the whole family. In the evening you have the smell of the sausages and in the morning the smell of the race cars. It’s real motorsport for me.”

Davidson was in the crowd for the Mansell against Piquet British GP battle in 1987 and feels Silverstone holds so many special memories

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Anthony Davidson - Former F1 racer, Sky Sports pundit and Mercedes simulator driver

“It’s one of the only tracks today that tests an F1 car to its limits in high-speed corning. And
this circuit pushes the tyres to the limits of their structural rigidity because there’s so much lateral load going through them. That’s why we go to the highest-construction tyre and the
highest pressures that Pirelli mandate.

“When you talk about that level of loading and G-force it equates to great fun inside the car. That’s why we do it, we love that exhilaration of hustling cars around fast, flowing corners.

“The dominating feeling is G-force, which is sky high – you feel four times your body weight and you feel the loading of the car through the tyre and steering wheel, you struggle to hold your neck up. It’s a special feeling to have that much grip, going that fast with the car so loaded and yet you can still get to the point where you start to feel the limits of adhesion.

“That’s where the real skill comes into it. You’re playing with very fine margins at that point because it can easily snap away from you if the floor isn’t working in the direction that it’s designed to generate the most downforce from – in other words, a straight line. If you allow the car to pivot too much, the wings start to lose downforce and then it’s exponential when you lose grip.

“Add in the history and the fact it’s your home track, it elevates the place to a venue that, personally, no other track can match. As it’s on an old airfield, there’s no elevation change, but that’s the one thing it is lacking compared with the likes of Suzuka or Spa. It’s definitely stood the test of time and the changes made to the track suit a modern-day F1 car even more.

“Even on a cold winter’s day when there’s no one around, Silverstone is special because
you can stand on those iconic corners such as Stowe and think that was the spot where Mansell pulled off his iconic move on Piquet. And you get a shiver down your spine because the asphalt holds the history.

“I was actually there standing on the banking watching in 1987. Well, in reality I was looking at people’s backs and shoulders because I was so small. But even at that young age I appreciated the enormity of the occasion.”

Silverstone may have undergone track changes over the years but it has lost none of its charm

Photo by: LAT Photographic

Derek Warwick - Le Mans 24 Hours winner, World Sportscar  Champion, former F1 racer and British Racing Drivers’ Club president

“People would often say to me a home circuit is worth two tenths – but to me that implies we’re rubbish because we’re two tenths off at every other circuit. I don’t buy into that. I enjoy Silverstone simply because it’s my home track.

“I’ve won in every discipline I’ve ever driven there, apart from Formula 1. It’s just a great circuit – in all configurations it’s had. I then became more involved after my racing, 12 years on the main board and eight years as president.

“A modern car can’t express itself as well on a shorter, smaller circuit. When you go onto the track at Silverstone, you need to make sure you have the right underwear for the commitment you need. The speeds they carry through the corners separate the men from the boys.

“Personally, I remember the applause, the flag-waving, screaming and shouting that would come from the BRDC clubhouse when you used to enter the pits. I would put Silverstone as the top circuit in the world for me.”

Derek Warwick’s autobiography Never Look Back is published in July.

Karun Chandhok - Sky Sports commentator and former F1 racer

“When you look at the changes to the layout from 1990-91, they did the right thing, the vision back then was right. Then the change between 2009 and 2010 I felt was to create a longer lap and provide more grandstand seating for everyone. We lost Bridge corner, but it’s still retained the ethos of a fast, flowing circuit. The new Turns 1 and 2 are fast and the Loop creates the overtaking into Brooklands after the Wellington Straight.

“It’s a great circuit and you really see a grand prix car flex its muscles at its best at Silverstone. Watching at Maggotts and Becketts is the best place on the planet to watch an F1 car, along with the Esses at Suzuka. It’s magical.

“I’ve done track days there in different cars and it’s still great fun. You get a buzz and it reminds you why you fell in love with driving race cars. It’s such a high, it’s almost like a dopamine hit.”

Bridge corner was sadly lost from the circuit by renovations, a favourite for Blundell

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Mark Blundell - Le Mans 24 Hours winner and former F1 racer

“It’s a circuit that makes the hairs on your neck stand up because when you go out you know you’re going to be challenged. It will always get your attention when you’re in top gear. It’s definitely a circuit that’s hugely rewarding when you get it right. But if you get it wrong, you get paid back mightily.

“I did a lot of testing for McLaren in 1992 and the old Bridge corner was a huge commitment in a car from that era. Going through there will stick in my mind until the day I die. Trying to go through flat was tricky and, bearing in mind the speeds and the approach, the run-off wasn’t that great. You needed to carry the speed through the corner to get the lap time, but if you were out of precision with the line, or got it wrong, you’d pay the price.

“In 1993, in the wet on Friday, I was so pumped up I came through the speed trap 15-20mph quicker than anyone – but didn’t come out the other end. I was in the middle of the track getting out of the car when the two McLarens went either side. I was very fortunate I didn’t get collected…” 

Martin Brundle - Sky Sports commentator and British GP podium finisher

“There’s always a massive crowd at Silverstone. They’re well-informed and back in the day they would have appreciated Ayrton Senna as much as Alain Prost or Michael Schumacher. A lot want a British victory and we’ll never forget Nigel’s 1992 win. It was extraordinary how the crowd reacted and the track invasion was wild. I have vivid memories of that day since I was on the podium.

“I recall trying to get my car back to parc fermé and it was boiling like a kettle when I finally got there. On the slow-down lap I came round Club and people were everywhere. I was on tick-over bumbling through and one guy just stuck a baby out from his right arm above my car, to stop me for an autograph… That was a surreal moment.

“When I think of Silverstone, I think of going out of the pits on a sunny day and heading down Hangar Straight and seeing Stowe coming up on the horizon. That feeling is fantastic – what more could you want?

“At the wheel of a Formula 1 car, the sun is out, you’ve come out of the pits, round Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel. You’re building up to a couple of hundred miles an hour. You’ve got the whole day or weekend ahead of you. That’s a feeling etched in my memory, that feeling of the world’s a good place right now.”

Brundle had a perfect view of Mansell mania at Silverstone in 1992 having joined him on the podium

Photo by: Andre Vor / Sutton Images