08/05/2019
NEWS STORY
Following a wholly unsuccessful resurfacing of the Northamptonshire track last year, which led to complaints from the F1 drivers and the cancellation of the MotoGP event, Silverstone is to undergo another resurfacing just weeks ahead of this year's F1 Grand Prix.
In early 2018 the track was resurfaced by Aggregate Industries, and while F1 drivers complained that the work made the track surface worse than before, drainage problems linked to the resurfacing led to the MotoGP event being cancelled.
"I always think countries seem to waste money when they resurface the tracks," said Lewis Hamilton following the opening practice sessions for last year's Grand Prix. "They wasted money which they could have gone to better use.
"The people they hired did the worst job ever," he continued. "I mean, it's the bumpiest track I've ever experienced, it's bumpier than the Nordschleife, which is a hundred years old. It's rattling your freakin' eyeballs from your brain... you can't see where you're going.
"On the straights and some of the corners it's insane how bumpy it is. It's so quick its like duh-duh-duh-duh! I said to the team, 'I'm not going to talk on the radio because people will think I'm taking something or taking the mick', you know.
"Apart from that it's fantastic, but jeez they need to hire someone better, because I don't know how you could make such a bad job in layering the track."
As a result, the track, which hosted the first ever world championship race in 1950, but has yet to agree a new deal for beyond this year's event, is to be resurfaced by Tarmac at an estimated cost of £5m.
"Following the cancellation of last year's race the governing body, the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme, suspended our track licence," circuit managing director, Stuart Pringle, tells The Guardian. "The condition of the reissue of that licence was a complete resurfacing. We had to do it to be able to run the event.
"We completed the investigation so we understood what the issues were and so we don't make the same mistake again," he added. "We are considering the options available to us as regards last year's resurfacing.
Work will begin on 10 June and shouldbe completed by 30 June, including a week for the track surfact to cure.
With the Grand Prix taking place just two weeks later, Pringle is confident the race will not be affected and both the FIA and Formula One Management are similarly confident.
"We are confident it will be ready," he says, "working with Dromo they have designed an asphalt mix that is six times stronger than last year's, It will have real rigidity and no risk of being moved even by F1, which is the ultimate punisher of a circuit."
Silverstone subsequently confirmed that the track work will be carried out by Tarmac under the guidance of track consultant Jarno Zaffelli, who has been appointed by Silverstone as an advisor for the duration of the project.
"Getting to this point has involved a lot of work by the staff at Silverstone but throughout it all we have been completely focused on making sure we make the right decisions to guarantee the future of our most important events with Formula 1 and MotoGP," said Stuart Pringle.
"We have a globally-renowned company working on the surfacing of the track and we have one of the most respected circuit designers in Jarno Zaffelli working as an expert advisor to Silverstone during the works.
"We have created a window within this year's schedule to allow us to carry out the work required and the track will be ready for the British Grand Prix. We're confident it will provide us with the surface we need to run our busy calendar of two and four wheel events throughout the year, whatever the weather. I am very grateful to all of our clients who have worked with us to create the space in the calendar that is needed to make this happen."
"We are exceptionally proud to be working with the team at Silverstone to resurface the iconic British race circuit," added Paul Fleetham, Managing Director of Tarmac Construction. "It demonstrates both the quality of our people and our first class track record in delivering high-profile, nationally significant schemes.
"We've assembled a highly skilled team of professionals from across the country who will be working with pioneering innovations in automated construction to deliver the project to the highest possible standard. We look forward to getting underway."