Formula One British Grand Prix - Silverstone
The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire. Grand Prix motor racing was first... [more]
The British Grand Prix is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. It is currently held at the Silverstone Circuit near the village of Silverstone in Northamptonshire.
Grand Prix motor racing was first established in Britain by Henry Segrave at the Brooklands course in 1926 after his winning of the French Grand Prix in 1923 and the following year at the Spanish Grand Prix which raised interest in the sport. The first ever British Grand Prix was won by the French team of Louis Wagner and Robert Sénéchal driving a Delage 155B. During the 1930s, the race was known as the Donington Grand Prix, in reference to the host track Donington Park.
Silverstone has hosted the race regularly since the start of the F1 championship in 1950 (in which it was the first race of the first ever official World Championship) and every year since 1987; it alternated with Brands Hatch between 1964 and 1986, and with Aintree (better known as a horse-racing course) between 1955 and 1962.
Before track was heavily modified in 1991, Silverstone was one of the fastest tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. The drivers loved the challenge of the sweeping and extremely demanding Copse, Stowe and Club corners. 1982 World Champion Keke Rosberg held the all-time Formula 1 qualifying lap record for 16 years after posting fastest time for the 1985 British Grand prix with an average speed of 258.983km/h(160.92mph).
In recent times Silverstone has produced some fine race wins by British drivers. Notably John Watson (1981), Nigel Mansell (1987, 1991, 1992), Damon Hill (1994) and David Coulthard (1999, 2000). -- source www.wikipedia.org
Vettel takes Chinese GP for Red Bull's first win
Sebastian Vettel gave Red Bull its first ever Formula One victory after leading throughout to win a soggy Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday.
For Vettel, who beat Australian teammate Mark Webber by 10.9 seconds, it was his second career victory. The German completed 56 laps on the slick, 3.387-mile Shanghai International Circuit in 1:57:43, averaging 96.61 mph.
Points leader Jenson Button of Brawn was third, extending his lead after three races to six points. The Briton won the first two races — at Australia and a rain-shortened event in Malaysia.
Button's Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello was fourth, holding off the McLaren duo of Heikki Kovalainen and defending series champion Lewis Hamilton, who had just one pit stop along with seventh-placed Timo Glock of Toyota.
Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi got the last point-paying position in eighth, recovering after crashing into the back of Vettel while traveling behind the safety car on lap 20.
Red Bull's 1-2 finish was a credit to the team's crew, who had to fix a drive shaft problem that hampered the cars in Saturday practice, restricting their running in qualifying.
"I am extremely happy," said Vettel, whose only previous win also came in the rain at Italy last year.
"The car was fantastic. The team did a really, really good job in preparing the car. We found the problem. That speaks for the quality of the team."
It was the third straight race this season in which the pole sitter took the victory.
Ferrari again finished out of the points, with Felipe Massa's car breaking down and Kimi Raikkonen wallowing in the middle of the pack throughout before finishing 10th.
It was the first time since 1981 that Ferrari had gone three races into the season without a point.
Force India's Adrian Sutil spun out while running in sixth with only five laps remaining, costing his team a chance of getting its first ever F1 points.
Webber, who had his best finish ever, described Red Bull's finish in difficult driving conditions as "extremely rewarding."
"Its the best result of my career and I'm hoping to go one step better in the future," Webber said. "It's an incredible result for Red Bull."
Webber and Button had a good duel for second, passing each other repeatedly just past the halfway mark.
"We couldn't challenge these two guys today, who were immensely quick," Button said of the Red Bulls. "But it's good to get six points on the board and keep the consistency."
The race started behind the safety car because of standing water on the track, with the drivers traveling in formation for seven laps. The safety car re-emerged after BMW's Robert Kubica crashed into the back of Toyota's Jarno Trulli on the 19th lap.
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