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Paddock Postcard from Silverstone

Formula One cars and Silverstone is about as traditional as it gets, but this year there’s a fresh buzz at the former airfield thanks to a brand-new, multi-million pound pit and paddock complex. The stunning ‘Wing’ building, which houses 41 garages, race control, the media centre, VIP spectator zones and conference facilities, certainly made an impression as it welcomed the teams and drivers for the first time.

In a busy build-up to the Grand Prix weekend, Wednesday night saw the F1 community gather with guests and celebrities at London’s Natural History Museum for the official F1 Party, which raised £600,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

Santander, title sponsors of the 2011 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix, generously supported the event for the fifth year running to raise vital funds for the hospital’s new Heart and Lung Centre. Pirelli also kindly came on board this year as supporting sponsor.

Three-time Brit Award nominee Alexandra Burke sang an exclusive set, and the charity’s patron Vernon Kay was joined by a host of famous names, including Oliver Phelps, Sara Cox, Tamsin Egerton, Karen Gillan, Nick Hewer, Formula One team principals Christian Horner and Tony Fernandes, and drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Whilst some were busy partying, other Formula One folk were hard at work on the track, attending a karting event organised by Lotus test driver Karun Chandhok. Karun’s Karting Karnival was held at Whilton Mill and raised money for Vishnu Devananda Charitable Trust, which helps underprivileged children in India.

There was a touch of Hollywood glitter in Northamptonshire too, with the Virgin team welcoming Lightning McQueen, star of Disney.Pixar’s ‘Cars 2’ film, to the paddock on Thursday. Drivers Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio, in their new ‘Cars 2’ branded race suits, posed with Lightning and some of his fans next to the Virgin motorhome.

Come the weekend and royalty was represented in the paddock by HRH Prince Harry and HRH Prince Michael of Kent, while familiar faces from the racing world included Nigel Mansell (as the FIA stewards’ advisor); Sir Jackie Stewart and son Mark, Damon Hill, mother Bette and sister Brigitte; 1981 winner John Watson; BRDC President-elect Derek Warwick; Jackie Oliver; birthday boy Marino Franchitti; Olivier Panis; former BAR team boss, now PURE Engines chief Craig Pollock; Gil de Ferran and his wife Angela; Tomas Enge; Carlos Sainz Snr and Jnr; McLaren stalwarts Tyler Alexander and Jo Ramirez; and former Benetton team manager Gordon Message.

The impressive list continued with former Senna-beating kart star Terry Fullerton; FIA President Jean Todt; Tony Shakespeare and Barry Griffin, formerly of Goodyear Racing; RAC MSA chief executive Alan Gow; the indefatigable Murray Walker; former JCB technical guru Tim Leverton, now in charge of engineering for Tata Group; former Williams, Jaguar and JCB Dieselmax designer John Piper; fellow design stars Sergio Rinland, Neil Oatley, Alan Jenkins and Gary Anderson; Max Welti; Paul di Resta’s father Louis; and 2012 US Grand Prix promoter Tavo Hellmund.

Faces from other walks of life included politicians Ken Clarke, Vince Cable, Philip Hammond and Peter Hain; Renault executive director Carlos Tavares; aforementioned TV presenter Vernon Kay; fellow UK television star Carol Vorderman; Newcastle football manager Andrew Pardew; sports stars Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and Colin Murray; and legendary movie producer Ron Howard, who was seen hanging out with triple world champion Niki Lauda amid rumours of a forthcoming film about the Austrian’s epic rivalry with the late James Hunt.

On track, Fernando Alonso demonstrated a Ferrari 375 F1 (from Bernie Ecclestone’s private collection) in flamboyant fashion on Sunday morning to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Jose Froilan Gonzalez’s British Grand Prix win in the car, while in Saturday’s GP2 feature race Ferrari protege Jules Bianchi took a brilliant victory for ART after a fabulous battle with Racing Engineering’s Christian Vietoris. Marcus Ericsson was third for iSport ahead of series leader Romain Grosjean (DAMS) and team mate Sam Bird and Vietoris’s team mate Dani Clos. Grosjean then took a dominant win from Clos and Giedo van der Garde in Sunday’s sprint race to cement his championship lead.

In GP3, Nico Muller won for Jenzer Motorsport on Saturday, with Status’ Alexander Sims second ahead of fellow Brits Nick Yelloly (Atech) and polesitter Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Marussia Manor). On Sunday, MW Arden’s Lewis Williamson scored his maiden GP3 victory despite a terrible start, ahead of Addax’s Dean Smith and Sims.

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)