2011 British Grand Prix: Jenson Button warns it could be carnage at start of race
by Byron Young, Daily Mirror 9/07/2011
JENSON BUTTON has predicted carnage for the start of the new-look Santander British Grand Prix tomorrow.
And the entire grid are rubbing their hands in anticipation of a super-quick start to one of the fastest races on the calendar.
The sharp right-hander at Copse has been swapped for a flat-out side-by-side blast through the first two bends before standing on the brakes for Brooklands.
It is all part of a £33million facelift for Britain’s favourite racetrack that has seen the paddock moved to a giant new home at Club Corner.
“It’s going to be awesome,” said Button.
“The cars are going to be going flat out through that first section. If someone gets it wrong there could be carnage.
“It should be a lot of fun and we should see a lot of action at Turn 3. I’m really looking forward to it. They’ve done an incredible job.”
Button would like nothing more than to end his home jinx and fill the one aching hole in his trophy collection.
In over a decade of trying he has won a world title but never got on the podium at Silverstone. His best result is finishing fourth twice.
“If I won it would be the best victory ever,” added Button. “There would be a big party. I have been itching to get here all week and get into the groove.
“It’s the first time in 12 years I’ve come in the front entrance and turned right to the new paddock complex.”
And ex-F1 racer Anthony Davidson, last year’s winner in the first sportscar race here, predicted a good old fashioned “bun-fight” from the lights.
“At low speed you don’t get the effect of aerodynamics so it is going to be a bun-fight all the way down to Luffield,” he said.
“It’s going to be real spicy ace but I don’t think anyone is going to walk away with it. Silverstone is still one of the great tracks. I really enjoyed my win.”
Lewis Hamilton, who won the race at the second attempt in 2008, told the critics to lay off his home track.
Especially with a gargantuan new £28m pit building 30 metres high, 390 metres long, with 41 garages that took over a year to build with 1,200 tonnes of steel.
“People said it needed upgrading, well now it has been,” he said.
“It looks really cool. The new Wing building looks up there with circuits like China. It’s so stunning, just beautiful.
“The new start place should mean more overtaking and that’s good for the fans.
“Before it was flat out into the first bend and then single file to Stowe.
“Now it will be close through the first and second bends and the third is wide and looks good for making an attacking manoeuvre.
“That’s the case all the way down the whole field for everyone.
“It’s almost like coming to a new track but it has the history and the name. It’s nice to be back here. I don’t feel there is more pressure at your home race. I love the positive vibe. I feed on the positive energy coming from the fans.
“We are a massively sport-orientated nation and Silverstone gets a massive crowd even in the rain.
“My favourite part is the old part at The Complex because the greats have driven on it but I like the new Arena section too.”
For all its changes there is one part, Button said, that will always remain the same: “It’s been raining all day,” he said. “That made it feel just like Silverstone always has.”
Credit: Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
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