The British Grand Prix is always a special race but even more so if it's a drivers home Grand Prix. For four drivers on the 2013 grid, it was just that. But how did they fare on home turf?
It was a tough and difficult day for all four British drivers with none of them managing a perfect or untroubled run to the flag. However there were positives to take away from the weekend and with an honorary Brit on the podium (in Mark Webber), it wasn't a bad day at the office for any of them.
The sun was shining over the glorious Silverstone track and the grandstands were delightfully packed with enthusiastic fans who were hoping to see the British drivers race to success. It had looked all so good in qualifying after Lewis Hamilton put his car on pole position and with Di Resta setting the fifth fastest time, but the Scot was demoted to the back of the grid and that's where the four Brit's luck really ran out.
If you want to find out how all the non-British drivers fared over the race weekend, check out my weekend review of the British Grand Prix and just scroll up and down to find the session you want.
Let's start off with Lewis Hamilton who obviously had the best chance of taking the win. He led the field into turn one and manged to eke out a strong lead up until that disastrous left-rear tyre failure on the run down the Hangar Straight. He had to limp round the final two sectors of the lap to replace the shredded Pirelli tyre but fortunately the car was largely unscathed.
He managed to pick his way through from a race low of 21st and raced strongly right to the end. You could really tell that he wanted to fight his way back to a podium but it eluded him by just a second or two. It was a real fighters drive and he admitted himself that whilst he was disappointed with the end result, he was happy with how he drove the race.
Jenson Button was promoted to 10th on the grid and the second highest Brit thanks to Di Resta's exclusion from qualifying. He started on the hard tyres and it was evident that he was hoping to come into play late in the race. However it didn't work out for him as he soon picked up graining and had to stop when all the others took to pit lane on the options.
He felt much better on the medium compound and raced well up until the final stint, overtaking some cars in a strong but controlled manner on route to a top 10 position by the time of the final safety car. However close rivals pitted for fresh tyres or saved more life in their own and he found himself bumped down to 13th by the flag. Another podium-less race on home soil for him as home luck continues to elude him.
Paul Di Resta's euphoric result in qualifying was followed by the terrible low of being excluded due to an underweight car. He started the race from 21st and made steady progress though the field early on. His car obviously had strong pace and he managed to make it into the top 10 by flag fall but it was a scruffy race.
He made contact with Nico Hulkenberg when trying to attempt the switch-back overtake into The Loop. This saw him drop several positions when he pitted to get it changed and gave him even more work to do. The safety cars helped him close on those ahead and he was particuarly feisty with Hamilton when battling mid-way through the race. However P9 was the best he could do on a day that could have given him his first podium.
It was always going to be a quiet day for back marker Max Chilton. With so much racing going on up front, I don't even recall seeing the TV camera's focus on him. He was slow in qualifying but avoided the back row due to penalties for Di Resta and van der Garde. He was slower than Bianchi throughout the race but had a good duel with van der Garde.
The result was close but Chilton managed to fend off the Dutch driver to take 17th and a fastest lap time some way quicker than his team-mate. He dubbed it a day that he will "never forget."
The F1 season now heads to Germany where Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Vettel and Sutil will all perform in-front of their home crowd.
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| (c) PA |
The sun was shining over the glorious Silverstone track and the grandstands were delightfully packed with enthusiastic fans who were hoping to see the British drivers race to success. It had looked all so good in qualifying after Lewis Hamilton put his car on pole position and with Di Resta setting the fifth fastest time, but the Scot was demoted to the back of the grid and that's where the four Brit's luck really ran out.
If you want to find out how all the non-British drivers fared over the race weekend, check out my weekend review of the British Grand Prix and just scroll up and down to find the session you want.
Let's start off with Lewis Hamilton who obviously had the best chance of taking the win. He led the field into turn one and manged to eke out a strong lead up until that disastrous left-rear tyre failure on the run down the Hangar Straight. He had to limp round the final two sectors of the lap to replace the shredded Pirelli tyre but fortunately the car was largely unscathed.
He managed to pick his way through from a race low of 21st and raced strongly right to the end. You could really tell that he wanted to fight his way back to a podium but it eluded him by just a second or two. It was a real fighters drive and he admitted himself that whilst he was disappointed with the end result, he was happy with how he drove the race.
Jenson Button was promoted to 10th on the grid and the second highest Brit thanks to Di Resta's exclusion from qualifying. He started on the hard tyres and it was evident that he was hoping to come into play late in the race. However it didn't work out for him as he soon picked up graining and had to stop when all the others took to pit lane on the options.
He felt much better on the medium compound and raced well up until the final stint, overtaking some cars in a strong but controlled manner on route to a top 10 position by the time of the final safety car. However close rivals pitted for fresh tyres or saved more life in their own and he found himself bumped down to 13th by the flag. Another podium-less race on home soil for him as home luck continues to elude him.
Paul Di Resta's euphoric result in qualifying was followed by the terrible low of being excluded due to an underweight car. He started the race from 21st and made steady progress though the field early on. His car obviously had strong pace and he managed to make it into the top 10 by flag fall but it was a scruffy race.
He made contact with Nico Hulkenberg when trying to attempt the switch-back overtake into The Loop. This saw him drop several positions when he pitted to get it changed and gave him even more work to do. The safety cars helped him close on those ahead and he was particuarly feisty with Hamilton when battling mid-way through the race. However P9 was the best he could do on a day that could have given him his first podium.
It was always going to be a quiet day for back marker Max Chilton. With so much racing going on up front, I don't even recall seeing the TV camera's focus on him. He was slow in qualifying but avoided the back row due to penalties for Di Resta and van der Garde. He was slower than Bianchi throughout the race but had a good duel with van der Garde.
The result was close but Chilton managed to fend off the Dutch driver to take 17th and a fastest lap time some way quicker than his team-mate. He dubbed it a day that he will "never forget."
The F1 season now heads to Germany where Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Vettel and Sutil will all perform in-front of their home crowd.
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