06/07/2011
My memories of Silverstone go back to 1953 when I went with my brother Jimmy Stewart to Silverstone where he was driving a Cooper Bristol in the British GP for Ecurie Ecosse. With ten laps to go he was lying in fifth as the leading Brit when he went straight on at Copse corner and had a shunt, so I certainly have vivid memories of Silverstone and my first visit.
The recollections go back a long way. I visited from 1953-55 with my brother and collected autographs from the greats; Fangio, Ascari, Villoresi, Taruffi, Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn and the like, so Silverstone does have a special place in my heart.
I was lucky enough to go on and win two British GPs for Ken Tyrrell, one driving the Matra MS80 in 1969 and one in 1971 for the Tyrrell Ford. It was in both those years that I also won the World Championship.
One of the best races that I ever had was in 1969, racing against Jochen Rindt when he was driving his Lotus 49 and I had the Matra MS80. We had thirty lead changes within that race, not always on the start/finish straight but slipstreaming down hangar straight and again slipstreaming to the entrance of Woodcote.
Jochen ran into a bit of trouble when his rear wing end plate was seriously threatening to cut a rear tyre, and he came into the pits. Later, for whatever reason, he ran short of fuel so I was able to go on and win quite comfortably.
My third World Championship British GP was also at Silverstone when I went off the track at Stowe with a gearbox issue, but returned to finish in tenth position.
The track…
Silverstone has historically been one of the favourite tracks of almost every Grand Prix driver because of its high speed corners. A slow corner track is a much easier track to drive, however it is the challenge of fast corners that really sorts the men from the boys.
This year we have the new configuration (which we saw last year for the first time) combined with the new pit at paddock complex called The Wing. This is a huge building measuring about a quarter of a mile in length, and it has been created to guarantee the continuation of the Grand Prix in the United Kingdom after many years of discussions with FOM as to whether the race was even going to be retained within the calendar.
Nowadays Silverstone is a modern circuit in every respect. Britain has been well established as the capital for technology within the world of motorsport, and it even carries greater prestige because so many of the 40-50,000 employees within the motorsports industry in the UK want to go to Silverstone for the race.
Not only that, but many teams including Lotus Renault GP are based in England so it’s very much their local race
Another reason I love Silverstone is because of the British Racing Drivers Club. It is the only private members club in the world who owns its own Formula One Grand Prix circuit within its own estate - quite impressive really!
The British weather…
Britain’s not known for its sunny climes, and we’ve had some extraordinary weather conditions at Silverstone which is always more challenging due to it being a fast circuit. The circuit is well designed to have a very limited amount of standing water, which is one of the biggest challenges for a driver because aquaplaning is clearly one of the most dangerous elements which occurs when it rains heavily. In a high speed circuit you’ve got to drive smoothly, and be very precise in your driving. Silverstone provides an enormous challenge in that respect.
Credit: Lotus Renault GP (www.lotusrenaultgp.com)
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