Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
local circuit, centrally located in UK, great races, free car parking |
| Disadvantages: |
F1 tickets expensive |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Mention the word Formula One (F1) and your heart starts beating a little faster this is where you will experience high octane, big V10 engines that power the cars reaching up to 12,000rpm going round the track! Awesome! If anyone has never heard an F1 car..it is loud!! Silverstone is one such place where you can see some F1 action come alive!
As this opinion is submitted under the only category ciao has about Formula 1: Silverstone “racing circuits” the first part will be devoted to the circuit itself and last part to some basic current analysis of the 2001 race. If you wish to read detailed race results reports please read Yhwman’s opinions, which are usually under the same category (racing circuits).
Silverstone
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Silverstone based in Northampton has been home to the British Grand Prix since 1950. The first race was won by Alfa Romeo (some of you may know how passionate I am about this marque!). Fifty-one years later saw the track set once more for another British Grand Prix 2001. I have been to Silverstone 3 times in 1996, 1998, and 1999 to see mainly the Touring cars (Alfa Romeo won 1996) and to the Qualifying of Grand Prix in 1999, not to the race as its too expensive!
The Circuit
The circuit is quite a high-speed circuit with cars reaching top speeds of up to 200mph (300kph). Now I have stood at Woodcote, which is where you will see the cars start and finish straight and dive into the pits. A simple tour of the circuit the cars start off at Woodcote down to Copse Corner (an excellent viewing spot) where you can see cars dab the brakes to take this fast corner onto Becketts where they are seen accelerating and carry straight on to the Hangar Straight – at this place you will cars doing 195mph!! The sound is just phenomenal – you may need ear plugs! Down the Straight you approach the Stow Corner almost a wide U-shape corner where cars are seen braking hard reducing the high speeds down to about 90-100mph. There is a short Straight and then again the cars are braking to negotiate the Club Corner then accelerating again out of the Corner down Abbey Straight reaching speeds of up to 190mph flat out in 6th or 7th gear! Slight left hand bend and on straight to the next corner Bridge, after which there are a series of short sharp corners around Luffield where cars are seen downshifting gears and dropping the speed to take this set of tricky corners. Then we are back to Woodcote where we started at the start/finish line to do it all over again!
The best places to view any of the action would be Woodcote Corner, Copse Corner, or Luffield. Of course on a Grand Prix Day these seats may be sold but the atmosphere is worth soaking up from any location. There are about 5 TV screens scattered around so you can keep up with the action throughout.
Prices
Now Formula One tickets are over-priced in my opinion. On race day the cheapest ticket used to be about £80.
Friday Practice- includes 2 hours of F1 practice ~£40
Saturday (Qualifying)- about 2hrs of F1 practice ~£55
Sunday (Race Day)- the RACE ~£95 - £165 for a Grandstand
You can buy a 3-day Grand Prix ticket but that is the price of average family holiday at £390!!
Touring cars ~ £25 for entire weekend
These prices are highly inflated as a first time visitor I’d recommend you see some of the Touring car events at Silverstone, which promises high action and drama without the hefty price tag of a F1 ticket! Touring car tickets cost about £25 for the entire weekend, and as little as £10 for a day, so it is worth checking out. If you are really a big F1 fan then once in a lifetime it may be worth going to see a Friday or Saturday F1 practice -just for the sheer experience and to actually hear the phenomenal sound of a F1 car!! Some circuits you may be able to get in for free around the world but Silverstone isn't one of them (those who read my Monza review - may know!)
For further details contact
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone
Near Towcester,
Northhampton
NN12 8TN
UK
Tel: 01327 857271
Now to the last part of this opinion will be about the 2001 Silverstone Grand Prix.
2001 Grand Prix – Silverstone
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High expectations were placed on British Driver David Coulthard to win if he is to stay within any sensible reach of the Title Championship. The Mclaren car had been performing fairly well throughout Friday and Saturday qualifying. DC had won Silverstone the last 2 years running 1999, 2000, could he make it 3 in a row and be in chance of staying within reach of the Championship? …
Qualifying:- (I will only list TOP 6)
1. Michael Schumacher (Pole) - 1:20.45 Ferrari
2. Mika Hakkinen - 1:20.53 Mclaren
3. David Coulthard - 1:20.93 Mclaren
4. Jarno Trulli - 1:20.93 Jordan
5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 1:21.22 Jordan
6. Rubens Barrichello - 1:21.72 Ferrari
7th was Kimi Raikkonen in the Sauber and 8th was Juan Pablo Montoya Williams.
The RACE ~
It looked like the Mclarens were fast, well set up throughout Friday and Saturday Practice, perhaps the only factor that may cause the drivers a problem with be if the British weather got wet! With clouds overlooking it was possible. However the weather remained dry on race day.
At the START~
This is where David Coulthards (DC’s) race ended. DC and Trulli who had performed and qualified really well for Jordan were side by side. At the first corner Trulli had the inside line , DC claimed he was ahead and Trulli should have yielded..Trulli claimed he had the inner side and he never yields if he has the inside line! Well whatever it was both cars cannot get the noses into the same space! As a result Trulli and DC touched and Trulli’s car went sliding off in the gravel and that was the end of his race. DC was left stuck at last but one and appeared to have damaged his car and was on his way back to the pits when his rear suspension just failed and that was the end of his race.
Michael Schumacher made a reasonable start and was ahead of the pack..but Mika was close behind hounding him and after a few laps Micheal appeared to be cruising and Mika overtook and took the lead. This was the Mika we are used to driving his finest, and accelerated away from the pack.
It appeared Mika was on a lighter fuel load, i.e. would have to make 2 stops where as Michael Schumacher and Barrichello were both on 1-stop strategy. Montoya who was some 17 seconds behind Michael Schumacher caught up. However Williams were also on a 2 stop strategy and Williams pit stop did not go as well, they lost 2 seconds whereby the fuel nozzle momentarily appeared to get stuck.
The Result
Finally the race result Mika won – this was his first ever win at Silverstone, Michael Schumacher was 2nd, Barrichello 3rd and Montoya finished in 4th place (he probably could have come 2nd or 3rd), but still an outstanding performance from Montoya starting from 8th position.
It has been noted that Ferrari were on a somewhat "conservative strategy" for Silverstone this year. Whatever it was a finish is a finish and better to score some points than none at all by blowing a new engine/component pushing all the race distance. The team from Maranello in Italy are increasing their championship title hopes and lead.
This was also Murray Walkers last commentary on the British Grand Prix as he is retiring at the end of the season..a voice that will be remembered for a long long time in Formula One!
Although I am a big Ferrari fan I sincerely hope DC comes back and gets some podium finishes in the remaining races this season. Mclaren have proved once more they have a powerful package both in terms of reliability and stunning performance.
Ferrari have been very strong and reliable throughout 2001 lets see how the next race turns..back to Germany Hockenheim.
Summary
To summarise, Silverstone racing circuit promises a great day out for all the family , it is continuing to be modernised and made more safer for the cars and spectators. It hosts a variety of events throughout the year F1 Grand Prix being the most prestigious one.
Enjoy MotorSport! Connoisseur_haggler ©2001
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