British Grand Prix preview

Fans at Silverstone will be hoping that Jenson Button can continue his phenomenal form and produce a home victory as Silverstone prepares to say goodbye to the British Grand Prix.

Donington Park is due to take over the running of the British event for 10 years from next season, though there have been major high profile issues concerning this plan, with the Leicestershire venue suffering from financial worries.

Nevertheless, the plans remain in place, with Silverstone – a venue loved by most of the drivers – set to bid farewell to Formula 1 for the foreseeable future.

Jenson Button will be aiming to make it seven wins from eight for 2009 this weekend, and further tighten his grip on the title race, which has been in his and Brawn GP’s hands for some time now. As every race goes by, Button continues to make it clear that he is the driver in command and the battle is his to lose.

Rubens Barrichello should be in the best shape to challenge the Briton, given he has the same machinery around him, but the Brazilian has been found wanting time and time again so far this season. Still without a victory in 2009, a combination of being the slower of the two Brawn men, bad luck and mistakes have led to a fairly depressing scenario for the former Ferrari man and he has made clear that he would take pleasure in ending Button’s streak on the championship favourite’s home turf.

There is a much closer battle raging within Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber vying for the opportunity to challenge Button at the top of the standings. Last time out, in Turkey, the Australian (second) got the better of the German (third) after pole-sitter Vettel’s first lap error and ill-working three-stopper, and the younger man has just a one and a half point advantage over his team-mate.

Toyota were relieved to get back to form in Istanbul following their disastrous outing in Monaco, and all bodes well for Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock heading to Silverstone, a circuit almost certainly very well suited to the TF109. Chassis boss Pascal Vasselon appears to feel victory could well be within his squad’s sights in England.

Robert Kubica provided his BMW Sauber squad with some relief in Turkey with a seventh place, and the German-Swiss outfit also believe Silverstone’s sweeping turns will be good for their car, so expect the Pole and Nick Heidfeld to be pushing for some minor points.

McLaren will be hoping for rain so that Lewis Hamilton can have a chance of repeating his stunning British GP win last season, while Ferrari are expected to struggle once again on this type of track. Of the fallen giants, however, the most likely to score is the Italian outfit.

Fernando Alonso is in confident form as he looks to put a brighter complexion on Renault’s difficult season to date, while Silverstone-based Force India would love to score their first points of the season – a campaign which has at time given the squad reasons for optimism – so close to their stable.

English outfit Williams managed to realise some of their 2009 car’s potential thanks to Nico Rosberg’s fifth place at the Turkish Grand Prix and there is every chance the German and his team will once again show stunning practice pace. Rosberg has talked up his chances for this weekend’s battle and could spring a surprise.

Toro Rosso’s performance has been very disappointing thus far this year, following their heroics of last season, but the fight between the Sebastiens is a fascinating one. However, it is unlikely – unless rain hits – that either Bourdais or Buemi will bring home points in Britain.

You can catch live coverage of the second free practice session (Friday, 14:00 BST), qualifying (Saturday, 12:50) and the race (Sunday, 12:30) on Setanta Ireland (viewers in Ireland only).

Click here for details on how to sign up to Setanta Sports.

Schedule

Thursday: Practice 1 (10:00 BST), Practice 2 (14:00 BST)
Saturday: Practice (10:00 BST), Qualifying (13:00 BST)
Sunday: Race (13:00 BST)

Weather

It is unlikely that rain will have a major effect on this weekend’s event, as it did in 2008. The weather is expected to be dry, with temperatures around 20 Celsius.

The highest probability of rain will be on Friday, but even then the chances are rated at only 20%.

For the business days, clouds will prevent the sun from beating down, keeping conditions mild.

Track and set-up guide

For a fan heading to Silverstone, the place to be is in the first sector, particularly with a good view of the Maggotts and Becketts complex, which equals a stunning series of high speed, left-right sweeps. The opening corner, Copse, is also a thriller, where overtaking is more difficult than generally would be the case at first turns.
 
Following the long Hangar Straight, which follows the Maggotts/Becketts section, is Stowe – a long, steady right hander, into which there is a chance of passing on the inside, or the outside, if a defending driver is too far off the pace.

The Vale (tight left, lengthy right) section melds into Club, which drifts around to the right to bring the drivers down to the quick-ish, left-right Abbey chicane. An overtaking chance exists here, also. Otherwise, plenty of kerb must be taken at the apex to take good pace down the Farm Straight, under the bridge and through the Bridge corner itself.

The slowest section begins at the 90-degree Turn 14 (Priory), heading into the tight left-hander (15). The important Luffield follows – where getting the line correct around to the long, long left can be difficult – then it’s flat out through Woodcote and past the start/finish line.

With the straights not particularly long, the teams tend to opt for medium to high downforce levels to give good grip through the crucial, high speed corners of the opening sector, while ensuring the cars have the right ride heights is a factor on the bumpy circuit.

In terms of suspension, a stiffer front end and softer rear is generally the way to go, though this can be gambled on. The stiffer front should allow the cars to switch direction quickly through the sweeps, while the softer rear end is used to provide better traction out of the slower corners.

The high speed corners, though, are what marks Silverstone as special and they give the tyres a good kicking. The soft and hard compounds will be given to the teams by Bridgestone this weekend.

The squads, when it comes to strategy, are unlikely to budge from the standard two-stopper.

Fancy a punt?

None of the current crop of F1 drivers have more than a single win at Silverstone in the top category, so it is hard to look beyond form for the race win. Probably the best odds sit with Barrichello – at 13/2, for victory, particularly given how determined he is to get his first triumph of the season.

The more interesting odds are for qualifying. Setanta.com reckons Saturday expert Trulli is huge at 16/1 for pole, with Toyota pretty positive they’ll have a very, very competitive car for the weekend.

Meanwhile, it might be worth taking a look at Trulli’s team-mate Glock (8/1), Raikkonen, Massa (9/2) and Alonso (9/1) for podium finishes.
For all of these and other odds, including on First Driver to Retire, Fastest Lap and Points Finish, click here for paddypower.com’s extensive British Grand Prix section. 

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