Silverstone gained a reprieve as home to the British Grand Prix after Donington’s dreams failed to become reality, but with the top four in the standings now within a win of one another in the points, who will make their F1 dreams come true on the new Silverstone circuit this weekend?
Sebastian Vettel (GER), Red Bull Racing – 3rd, 115pts
A first win in six races was a massive relief for one of the pre-season favourites (as was the discovery that Germany had beaten England in the football World Cup), and it was also a first win from pole this year for Seb, and on a track where he’d retired last year. Silverstone, of course, is a place where he won from pole in 2009 with team-mate Mark Webber just behind, but he’ll have just as tough a job on his hands this year. Webber excepted, the chances are that the personnel applying the pressure will have changed, though – last year Lewis Hamilton finished down in 16th. Times have changed…
Lewis Hamilton (GBR), McLaren – 1st, 127pts
Fresh from thrilling the crowds at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Lewis heads some 200km north to Silverstone and back to the serious business of leading the 2010 Drivers’ World Championship. As in 2009, Lewis didn’t have the ideal start to the season, but he and his McLaren team have caught up much faster this year. Only two wins so far, but after a second and third last time out at the European GP, McLaren have arguably the best car now, with only Red Bull Racing realistically able to claim otherwise. Lewis has apparently ended the ‘rift’ with old adversary Fernando Alonso with a friendly exchange of SMS messages, after some bad blood post-Valencia, but in truth, Ferrari are far from being Lewis’s prime concern – it’s looking like a scorcher at GP Britain this year, and that’s just the team-mate rivalry, bringing us on to…
Jenson Button (GBR), McLaren – 2nd, 121pts
Damon Hill, 1996 World Champion and head of the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC), who are responsible for keeping the British GP at the race’s spiritual Silverstone home, has suggested that the surprisingly cordial relationship so far between the last two world champions, Button and Hamilton, now also one and two in the drivers’ title race, faces its biggest test this weekend. Button drew first blood with clever tactical decisions winning him the races in Australia and China, but some commentators have urged Button to show some of the grit and indefatigability that Hamilton has shown to win in Turkey and Canada to top the pile at this midway point. But it’s likely going to be hot at Silverstone, and heat kills tyres if they’re pushed hard. Can Button’s smooth style thus win him his home race? It should be fascinating to find out.
Mark Webber (AUS), Red Bull Racing – 4th, 103pts
Mark dismissed any notions that he was suffering ill-effects from his terrifying flip in Valencia, after colliding with the early-braking Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus, by getting up very early last Friday morning and stunning commuters in Central London with a surprise pitstop in Parliament Square in a Red Bull F1 car. After leading the world championship at one point, Mark needs to regain the initiative from the rallying McLaren team, and the Australian has made no secret of his desire to win what he regards as his ‘second home’ race, having lived in the UK for so many years – and it’s worth remembering that a much more serious accident and broken leg in 2008 didn’t prevent Mark from winning GPs in 2009. Last year he was pipped by team-mate Vettel (as he subsequently pipped Seb in Germany) at Silverstone. Will we see the roles reversed with a show of characteristic Aussie grit from the adopted Brit? As Mark himself said in Valencia: “It’s halfway through the championship. Bloody hell, let’s get on with it.”
Sébastien Buemi (SUI), Scuderia Toro Rosso – 14th, 7pts
More points in Valencia for the Swiss, though he didn’t exactly have the rub of the green throughout the weekend. His hard luck began in qualifying when he felt he was impeded by Williams’ Rubens Barrichello, missing the top 10 shootout. Then in the race itself, surely more incident-packed than we had any right to expect from Valencia’s streets, Buemi was one of the nine drivers caught up in ‘Valenciagate’, accused of driving too fast on the Safety Car’s in-lap and penalised five seconds, seeing chief plaintiff of the day Alonso leapfrog him into eighth place and four points, while Buemi had to settle for ninth and just two. But that’s three points finishes in four races now, and surely a better result than last year’s at GP Britain – 18th – is on the cards this weekend.
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