Silverstone : Slicks or Inters? Silverstone was very slick

The home of British racing and arguably motorsport in general. A massive venue that managed to create a festival atmosphere along with the racing. Unlike most venues we have been to, Silverstone keeps on going after the race; with all the food and drink outlets staying open the fans just don’t go home! Which is amazing! The Silverstone Museum is fantastic, free (at least during the race) and really interactive. We even raced each other on scalextric tracks that are a replica of the Silverstone circuit. The Fan Zone provided lots of entertainment into the night with Calvin Harris and the Black Eyed Peas headlining! Awesome, awesome, awesome entertainment and fan-zone set up Silverstone – Miami could learn a lot! The weekend was made even more special by Aston Martin inviting us to attend their new campus opening. What a privilege!! A very memorable and exciting event. An amazing place – Aston Martin are going to be a force in the future.

A quick note for future reference; do not buy tickets to the Inner Track because it takes so long to get there. There are no pedestrian bridges over the track (need to change that Silverstone) so entry is severely limited and you end up walking for a VERY long time to get to your seats. Even with the shuttles it took an age. Also, you are completely removed from the party atmosphere that is created at the Fan Zone, and there are limited food/drink outlets in the inner track (Paddock Club excluded) a bit disappointing in that respect.

Now to the racing. What an amazing race weekend! Practice sessions were rain affected and gave a chance for the teams to try out their inters and wet tyres. The FP3 results hinted at what was to come with a very different result table from other GPs with Ferrari, Williams, Aston Martin, Alpine and Mercedes making up the top five. Qualies were fantastic with the threat of rain forcing all the cars out to ensure a quick lap and the track still damp from earlier rain. Verstappen took P1 and, again, looked very comfortable and seemed to be able to provide fastest laps upon request. The Practise result was a treat for the British crowd, with McLaren taking P2 and P3 and Mercedes P6 and 7! Ferrari looked strong and came in with P4 and P5. But where did McLaren come from? Suddenly, the papaya and chrome cars were looking really fast. Could they give Verstappen a run for his money on race day? The crowd went ballistic with the quallies results and rightly so! What a performance by the Kiwi/British car!

The race itself was fantastic. The threat of an upset was quickly supported by Norris and Piastri having a fantastic start with Norris taking the lead from Verstappen and Piastri almost following suit! At last, someone is giving Verstappen a race! As the race progressed Verstappen overtook Norris but the McLarens kept in touch. Magnussen’s car went up in flames and this allowed Verstappen, Norris and Hamilton to gain a “free” pitstop at the expense of Piastri who had pitted earlier. With all the cars regrouped after the yellow flag, the race was back on. Verstappen sped away at the restart and Norris, Hamilton and Piastri all took a lead from the pack to fight it out! Norris defended brilliantly against Hamilton who pushed very hard to overtake. It was really exciting to watch. The final result of Verstappen having to work more than he has all year followed by Norris, Hamilton, Piastri and Russell meant that the crowd went wild for the British drivers and McLaren. Ferrari were disappointing, Alpine carried on with their run of bad luck and engine failure while Aston Martin worked hard to gain P7.

A fantastic weekend with amazing racing and partying!