It’s that time of year, Wimbledon is into its second week, a
major Football tournament is going on, Tour de France is about to start, so it
must mean the British Grand Prix is on its way. It has such a great atmosphere
come rain or shine, or actually usually bits of sun and very windy! The crowd
is enthusiastic and friendly, the racing is usually pretty decent, the
Grandstands and general admission mostly give a good view of the track and the
weather always gives it that air of unpredictability.
I’ve been lucky enough to attend several Grand Prix at
Silverstone since 1995, many of them have been exceptional races, so as this
year it is a celebration of Silverstone’s 50th Grand Prix I’m going
to give my five best races that I’ve attended. Just so you know I’m not
deliberately leaving races out which should be regarded as classics so here’s
the years I’ve attended; 1995, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2003, 04, 07, 10, 11, 12.
There’s a few good races I’ve left out, but here’s my five
that were the best to me at least.
2004
It wasn’t the best race in the world, but it was a decent
one. As a Schumacher fan back then I enjoyed it immensely, mainly because it
was an uncontroversial win and he just drove the car hard all the way to the
flag despite some intense Kimi Raikkonen pressure.
Schumacher started fourth on a full tank of fuel. Back then
you qualified with your race fuel load, his had been more than anyone’s. At the
start he circulated in fourth just behind the pole sitting Kimi, Rubens
Barrichello and Jenson Button. As one by one they came into the pits, Schuey
was released and put the hammer down. You could see just how hard he was
pushing. He exited the pits in the lead. But it wasn’t the end, a late safety
car put Kimi back onto him, and he harried Schuey to the flag.
It was a year Schumacher won pretty much everything, he was
in the middle of a seven race winning streak, I’d have felt a bit cheated if he
hadn’t managed Silverstone too!
2010
‘Not bad for a number 2 driver’. Yes, I thought about
whether to put this or 2012 in, but I preferred this one. Mark Webber had
suffered in qualifying after having his newer front wing taken off his car and
given to his team mate Sebastian Vettel.
At the start Webber charged ahead of Vettel forcing him
wide. Lewis Hamilton made minor contact with Vettel giving the German a
puncture. He fell to the back of the field and was only three seconds ahead of
Webber on the road before a safety car allowed him to catch the back of the
pack.
What followed was a fantastic charge through the pack to end
up seventh, with some particularly forceful moves going on. At the front Webber
held off Hamilton by just over a second as they fought to the flag. But it was the way Webber battled against the suggested favouritism that Red Bull showed Vettel. It was a stirring drive full of Aussie Grit and a satisfying riposte to the events of the previous day.
1995
We were at the height of the Schumacher and Damon Hill
rivalry here. Hill lead away from pole position while Schumacher fell to third
behind Jean Alesi. Hill tore away from Alesi but was on a two stop strategy.
While everyone came into the pits, Schumacher marched on until half distance
and took the lead when Hill made his second stop. Hill quickly caught
Schumacher and attacked him for several laps, the tension was immense. It ended
when Hill dived for a gap that was always going to close taking them both off.
Behind, the Benetton and Williams battle continued as David
Coulthard fought with Johnny Herbert, a penalty dropped Coulthard out of contention,
and it was a popular first win for Herbert at his home Grand Prix.
Right in front of me though was a spectacular accident
between Mark Blundell and Rubens Barrichello on the last lap as they battled
for fifth, which ended the race in a lively fashion.
1998
Rain, lots of rain. It’s always fantastic to see Formula 1
cars in the wet even if the weather conditions don’t exactly make it the most
comfortable viewing conditions. Sitting on the top of the hill by Club corner,
we had a spectacular view as the drivers strove to keep the cars on the track,
their hands dancing on the steering wheel.
Mika Hakkinen lead at the start, but spun off allowing
Schumacher to take the lead. He edged away but was handed a stop go penalty for
overtaking under yellows. He attacked to pull out a gap, but Ferrari were smart
and pulled Schumacher in to the pits to serve his penalty on the last lap. He
crossed the line to win before taking his penalty. It was in the rules and this
crazy win was allowed.
But what really makes this special is the ability of these
drivers controlling 800bhp cars in pouring rain. It was incredible.
2003
Rubens Barrichello won a dramatic race which had so many
drivers out of position due to an early safety car as a mad catholic priest ran out on to the track. The two Toyota’s of Olivier
Panis and Christiano da Matta lead for a long time as the big guns tried to
fight back through the field.
It was Rubens day though, his passing was incisive and fast
and he rose to the front of the field brilliantly to lead from Kimi Raikkonen
and Juan Pablo Montoya. Schumacher had got back up to fourth but it was his
Ferrari team mate who stole the day with a fantastic performance.
There was action all the way down the field, not a single
driver was left to race on his own as the entire grid put on a show to
remember.
all photo's taken from autosport.com apart from 1995 GP taken from grandprix247.com
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