2013 British Grand Prix Preview

The British Grand Prix. My home race, one of the highlights of the season and a driver and team favourite. Silverstone is the home of motorsport with such a rich history behind it. It's the perfect place to stage a Formula One race.

(c) Sky Sports F1

It's a challenging track, there's no denying that. It's a real driver’s circuit with tricky, high speed corners that require high downforce, precision and full confidence. The second jewel in Formula One's crown - behind Monaco - the race is always highly anticipated, highly dramatic and always exciting.

The fans always come in their droves to the British Grand Prix with attendance for this year’s event expected to exceed 300,000 over the three days. Weather is always unpredictable but that's just one of the many challenges of racing in Britain.

Despite the many changes that the circuit has been through, most recently the new "Wing" pit building and infield loop to start the lap, Silverstone - which is situated on a former World War Two airfield - has maintained its charm, heritage and challenge that the drivers face. Whilst cars now take a right at Abbey corner rather than a left, the new first corner provides a real high speed test for Formula One machinery and the infield loop at Village and Aintree help provide some overtaking opportunities.

(c) Sky Sports F1

Unlike the previous two races where DRS has been available to use, there will be two zones for the 2013 round - one on the Wellington Straight and one on the Hangar Straight - to boost overtaking further.

For UK viewers, both Sky Sports F1 and the BBC are showing the sessions and race live over the weekend and both are available in HD. Both broadcasters have plenty of special features planned for their build-up shows.

With its huge grandstands, the atmosphere is always electric. The fans are hugely passionate and closely rival Italy's Tifosi for showing their support and love of the sport. The Brooklands/Luffield is particularly atmospheric to be positioned at due to the stadium like wrap-around of the grandstands. It's a fantastic race for the fans and it really shows their commitment - for example last year’s Friday and Saturday was disrupted by heavy rain yet people still flocked to the circuit in their rain coats, taking to the boggy car parks or leaving the sodden camp sites to enjoy some on track action.

How about a look at the Silverstone circuit then? The lap kicks off on the new pit straight with the "Wing" to the right. Abbey is a fast hand corner that is taken in sixth gear and at up to 165mph. Paul Di Resta said in the latest F1 Racing magazine "For some cars it's a flat downshift, but other cars do it in seventh. The most noticeable thing that affects the car is a massive bump due to the surface changes right on the entrance to the corner. Cars bottom out quite heavily here." However you steer clear of the entry kerb but do use the exit kerb to enable cars to take it flat. This then leads on to Farm which is a flat out left before the braking zone to turn three, Village.

Heavy braking is required as cars enter one of the slowest corners on the track that is taken in second gear. It is a tight right that then leads on to another slow speed turn - this time the left called The Loop which is even slower. Cars gradually build speed through Aintree which is a fast left taken in fifth gear (often flat) before the Wellington Straight and the first of two DRS zones. Cars finish sector one and start sector two half way down the straight.

Brooklands is a tricky, medium speed corner that provides a good overtaking opportunity. It is taken in second gear and requires drivers to take a late apex to open up the corner. The right-hander then leads on to the long and slow Luffield bend. This corner is ideally taken in a "V" shape with a late apex and early stamp on the throttle for a good exit. Brooklands is a flat out right-hand turn that leads on to the old pit straight and past the former pit building - which is still used for other series.

Next up is Copse. Arguably one of the best corners on the track. Cars need a slight lift but it can still be taken in seventh gear depending on the wind direction. This corner can make a big difference and shows how much confidence a driver has with the car. You must get on the apex but not the kerbs and to use as much of the track as possible. A short burst then leads cars on to Maggotts, a high speed, seventh gear left-right sweep before Becketts which is another high speed, high downforce left-right that requires a downshift. Turn 14 is Chapel; another quick corner sequence which then leads cars on to the Hangar Straight. Drivers need to get on the power early to gain strong momentum for the following straight.

(c) Sky Sports F1

Stowe is next up and is the first corner in sector three. It's a fourth gear right-hander that can produce a decent overtaking opportunity and is taken with another late apex. There is a slight crest that makes the cars go light on exit. That then leads cars on to the pit entry to the right and Vale which is a tight left-right chicane. Paul Di Resta says that "it's all about getting the first apex. If you miss that, you're going to give away 0.3 seconds." Club corner is the final turn and can be taken flat out as cars build up speed. It's important to not under-steer at Vale as that loses momentum for the driver going through the final turn.

Last year's British Grand Prix saw Mark Webber take his second win at the Silverstone circuit. He managed to close in on leader Fernando Alonso to take the lead late on in what was a stunning drive. However his debut race win at the track in 2010 was much more impressive after he forcefully overtook his team-mate at turn one to take the lead and managed to fend off a race-long battle with Lewis Hamilton to take the win.

There are four British racers on the grid this season. Hamilton looks the most likely to take the win in his Mercedes and should be strong with the two hardest Pirelli compounds being brought to the track. However the W04 is not where he wants it to be and Mercedes have a lot of work to do in order to give Hamilton a car capable of winning. Paul Di Resta could well be on for a strong result on home soil and deserves it after his torrid luck in the past few years.

Speaking of bad luck, Jenson Button goes into his 14th British Grand Prix without scoring a podium or victory at his home race. It doesn't look likely that he will break that unlucky streak in 2013 due to McLaren's troubles with their MP4-28. Max Chilton is the latest Brit to join the F1 field and will start his debut home race with the Marussia team. 

Who's looking good? Red Bull always perform strongly and talking to Mark Webber briefly at the Red Bull Racing #OPENHOUSE event, he seems pretty confident and is excited to take to the track. Expect Lotus to return to form after a few lacklustre races on street circuits and Ferrari will also be up there with Fernando Alonso. Mercedes look like they can challenge for podiums too and the midfield battle should be very exciting.

Another variable is the weather. What will it do? At the moment it looks cloudy with some sunny spells but the chance of a shower or two is never far away.

The GP2 and GP3 series will also be racing over the course of the British Grand Prix weekend and should provide us with some action packed races.

British Grand Prix Fact-file: 
Location: Silverstone, UK

Track Length: 3.66 miles
Direction: Clockwise
Turns: 18

(c) AllF1

Laps: 52
Gear changes per lap: 43
Full throttle: 69%
First race: 1950
Lap record: 1m24.908 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 2011
Tyre compounds: Medium and hard
2012 race winner: Mark Webber
2012 pole position: Fernando Alonso
2012 fastest lap: 1m34.661 Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus
Live on: Sky Sports F1 and BBC One (both available in HD)