03/07/2024
NEWS STORY
The British Grand Prix marks the midpoint of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship and round 12 of 24 takes place where it all began 74 years ago.
In 1942, a Royal Air Force airfield was established in Silverstone, Northamptonshire and on 13 May 1950 it hosted the first of the 1112 rounds that have taken place to date. The winner back then was Nino Farina, driving an Alfa Romeo fitted with Pirelli tyres.
5.861 kilometres long, the track is the fifth longest on the calendar after Spa-Francorchamps (7.004 km), Jeddah (6.175 km), Las Vegas (6.120 km) and Baku (6.003 km). It features 18 corners and is one of the most exciting and also one of the most demanding for the car-tyre package. Some corner combinations, such as those from 10 to 14 - Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel - are taken at high speed and generate lateral forces on the tyres and drivers of over 5g: the average figure at Silverstone is similar to that seen at Spa and Suzuka. This, along with other technical aspects, means that as is always the case here, the compounds chosen for this round are the hardest in the range, the C1 as P Zero hard, the C2 as P Zero medium and the C3 as P Zero soft. The front axle comes under the greatest strain and the prevalence of right hand turns means that the left front is the tyre that wears the most.
The weather in England in the summer can always be very changeable, a further factor to be taken into consideration, especially as conditions can change very rapidly. Last year the entire race was run in the dry, with the Soft a somewhat surprising protagonist, with only two teams not using it. However, the most used compound was the Medium, which was used to complete half the overall mileage. The great majority of drivers went for a one-stop strategy, even if in the past, a two-stop had been a popular choice.
At this race last year, Pirelli introduced a new tyre construction to deal with the increase in loads seen over the first few races of the season, as these forces exceeded the average figures seen from simulations provided by the teams over the previous winter. Without changing tyre performance in any way, the construction proved its worth and will be used up to the end of the 2024 season, even though there has been an increase of around 10% in the loads generated by this year's cars compared to figures seen at the end of last season.
Only two Grands Prix have been permanent fixtures on the Formula 1 calendar, this one and the Italian Grand Prix. Silverstone therefore hosts the 75th British Grand Prix this weekend, the 58th to be held at this track. The race has also been run twelve times at Brands Hatch and five at Aintree. In 2020, Silverstone hosted an additional round, celebrating the championship's 70th anniversary.
Despite the fact that the majority of Formula 1 teams, past and present, had or have their headquarters in England, the most successful team at this Grand Prix is Scuderia Ferrari with 18 wins to its name. Then come McLaren on 14 and Williams on 10. With 16 pole positions, Ferrari also tops this list, as it does for fastest race laps (20) and podium finishes (59). The most successful driver in the UK is Sir Lewis Hamilton who has won eight of his home Grands Prix, while next up are Jim Clark and Alain Prost with five wins apiece. The seven-time world champion Mercedes driver also has the most poles (7) and podium finishes (13) while fellow countryman Nigel Mansell tops the list for fastest race laps in this event with seven.