2012 Formula One Santander British Grand Prix preview

After another glorious weekend at the legendary Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Formula 1 fraternity is now gearing up for undeniably one of the most iconic races of the season around the tremendous 5.901 km (3.667 mile) Silverstone circuit. The track held the inaugural Formula 1 race back in 1950, and the British Grand Prix is the oldest continuously staged F1 race alongside the Italian Grand Prix.

The first British Grand Prix was held at Brooklands in 1926, years before the Official Formula 1 World Championship. The British Grand Prix wasn’t held at Silverstone until after the Second World War in 1948, two years before the inaugural Formula 1 race. Apart from a few years when the British Grand Prix was held at Aintree, Silverstone hosted the British Grand Prix right up until 1964 when Brands Hatch began to alternate with Silverstone in the hosting of the event. This alternating between the two venues lasted until 1986, when Silverstone once again took over as the sole venue of the British Grand Prix.

Lately, Silverstone has undergone some extreme renovations in which the start/finish straight has been relocated to just after the Club corner. This new layout has completely cut out the daunting Bridge corner, as well as Priory. However, the track has gained several intense new sections, including a high-speed opening turn to the lap at Abbey. Legendary parts of the track including Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, and Stowe still present the drivers with an extremely tough lap around the Silverstone circuit.

So far in 2012, there has been more than enough spills and thrills to keep the Championship wide open. With many different winners including the likes of Pastor Maldonado, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, this years British Grand Prix is as highly anticipated as ever. With the event taking place only weeks before the London 2012 Olympic games, expect to see many Union Flags flapping in the wind as local heroes Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta strive for greatness in front of their adoring home fans.

The most successful drivers at British Grand Prix is Jim Clark and Alain Prost, who have both won the race five times. Jim Clark won the race in ’62, ’63, ’64, ’65 and ’67 whereas Alain Prost won the British Grand Prix in ’83, ’85, ’89, ’90 and ’93. One of those race victories for the Frenchman was for Ferrari, who unsurprisingly are the most successful Constructor at the British Grand Prix, winning the race a staggering 15 times (’51, ’52, ’53, ’54, ’58, ’61, ’76, ’78, ’90, ’98, ’02, ’03, ’04, 07 and ’11).

Nigel Mansell will reprise his role as the Drivers Steward for this weekends British Grand Prix, a race which the Briton won four times through his career. Undoubtedly Mansell’s finest and most memorable victory at Silverstone came in 1987, when he executed that illustrious overtake on team-mate Nelson Piquet as the pair headed into Stowe on lap 63.

The DRS zone for the British Grand Prix will remain the same as last season, with the detection zone just before the Village corner, with the activation zone just after turn 4 throughout the Arena Complex. This will provide the drivers with the opportunity to use the device down the Wellington Straight, which in turn will hopefully assist the drivers into completing overtaking maneuvers into Brooklands.

It looks like the weather is also going to play a pivotal role throughout the weekend ahead, with showers forecast to plague the Silverstone circuit. However, rain has not been a necessity to create exciting racing this season, with the Pirelli tyres doing a splendid job of providing topsy-turvy racing. With the potential for rain and the unpredictability of the Pirelli tyres this weekend combined, the British Grand Prix is shaping up to be yet another classic race weekend.

Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1