British Grand Prix: Track Check

This weekend we have one of the oldest circuits on the calendar with some truly iconic corners, making it a favorite for fans and drivers alike. The first time a Formula 1 race was held at this track, it was in fact the first Formula 1 race ever. Such is the history of the venue that whenever it has been removed from the calendar in previous years, the sport has lost a bit of its charm. Another factor which makes it a legendary circuit is it being very fast but equally safe. With the area being an unused World War II airfield, there are huge run-off areas which pardon even major mistakes from drivers.

The layout has undergone significant changes since the first race in 1950. The most striking of them are introduction of a chicane near Woodcote to reduce the speed of the cars and the shifting of the pit lane from one part of the track to another. Currently, the pit lane resides between the Club and the Abbey corners, giving the drivers pitting a weird advantage of entering the pitlane faster than those crossing the finish line on the track.

Corners

The track features a mix of all types of corners possible. Almost. The only thing missing from the 5.891 km circuit is a traditional low-speed hairpin like that in Canada and Monaco – although we do have a hairpin of sorts at Luffield. Apart from that, you have all kind of corners possible – Fast sweeping curves like Copse and Abbey taken flat out in the dry. S-type curves like Maggots and Becketts. Heavy braking corners where overtaking is possible – Vale, Village and Brooklands. Topping all of that are fast and long straights allowing slipstreaming in all its glory.

Now this mixture of corners and long straights demands good aerodynamic performance from the car and engineers need to find a perfect balance between the high downforce demands of the fast corners and the low drag requirements of the straights to take advantage of the DRS.

DRS zones

This year will feature two DRS zones – one on the Wellington straight while the other on the Hangar straight. The detection point for the first DRS zone on the Wellington straight is just before Village while the second is before Maggots. Last year, the drivers could use DRS only on the Wellington straight.

Technical Information

Lap length: 5.901 km

No. of laps: 52

Race length: 306.852 km

Pit lane speed limit: 60 kph during practice sessions; 100 kph during qualifying and race

Pit lane length: 420 m

Full throttle: 66%

Braking: 11%

Fuel Consumption: 4.92 kg/10 km

Tyre choices: Medium (White), Hard (Orange) along with Intermediate (Green) and Wet (Blue)

Tyre wear: High, especially on the front left