Atlas F1 Magazine: The 2004 British GP Preview

The Silverstone circuit has changed a lot since the inaugural World Champion event was hosted there, but it has been a regular fixture on the calendar from the outset. It is still one of the faster circuits on the calendar, with some fast sweeping corners and an abrasive surface. A good lap here stresses excellent aerodynamics, with a stable chassis: excessive pitch will throw the aerodynamics right out. Good brakes are useful for the big stops � though not as critical as in Canada, and the tyres need to handle high abrasion well. As always, smooth power delivery is a benefit. The weather is expected to be wet on Friday and Saturday, with reasonable odds for a dry race.

With the prediction of rain impacting last season's decision making, most teams chose a two-stop strategy to maximise their flexibility. If a dry weekend was in the offing this weekend, then that could be expected to change to three stops, but with an awkward weather pattern coming across the country, the teams will be predicting rain differently until very close to the session. Accordingly, there should be a mix of strategies, according to when rain is predicted.

On the positive side, with the teams running compromise set-ups to account for the possibility of rain, there should be the potential for on track passing. This is quite a complicated factor to account for when working out strategies, but the teams are likely to be aiming for flexibility to handle the potential of rain anyway.

Over recent races, something of a pattern seems to be emerging from the different tyre manufacturers. Michelin are definitely getting their act together with regard to the initial pace that their rubber is good for, so their tyres are very good for qualifying. Unfortunately for them, Bridgestone's relentless pursuit of sustained pace means that by the time it comes to pitstops, those on Japanese rubber have closed the gaps to their Michelin-shod counterparts, are lapping somewhat quicker, and can be expected to make places during the stops. Clearly, this strategy is paying off for Ferrari, though Sauber are struggling to make it pay against the strongly improving Michelin midfield.

There is little doubt that Ferrari head to Silverstone as favourites again � though Rubens Barrichello can be expected to be at least as strong as his team leader in this outing. The team are normally strong at the British Grand Prix: last year, Barrichello put together an excellent performance, demonstrating both excellent pace and aggressive overtaking to win the race very convincingly. Silverstone is not really a Schumacher circuit, and last year he had a poor race by his standards, but the reigning World Champion can never be written off. In their current form, they have to be seen as the team to beat. Little wonder they are looking forward to returning, so they can beard the Brits at their home event.

"Silverstone is very enjoyable to drive and quite technical from both a driving and engineering perspective. It is a very fast circuit, starting immediately with the seventh gear start-finish straight and sixth-gear Copse corner. Then we have a series of downshifting through Becketts down to fourth gear before making our way back up to seventh for the ultra quick Hangar Straight.

"Through Stowe, it is important to keep up momentum because it is back up to sixth at Club followed by a relatively hard braking down to second. Back up to seventh yet again, then through Abbey and on the Bridge, which we take more or less flat.

"As the lap comes to an end, we have Brooklands, which is comparatively slow compared to the rest of the track, but coming to Luffield, where we need a smooth exit to make our way back up to seventh for the next lap."

Ferrari's form so far this season has been exceptional, and few expect this to change over the coming weekend. The more it rains, the more it will suit the Champions. Their package is not simply the fastest on the grid: they have a car that they understand very well and can set up very quickly. They have tyres that are exceptionally competitive in the wet, and they have two drivers who run very well at Silverstone.

Heading to this event, despite the scare Alonso raised in France by being surprisingly competitive, the team are confident of a strong weekend, and are looking for another dominant performance. Whilst Renault and BAR have improved considerably, unless it is a dry race and Michelin have come up with more durable tyres, Ferrari remain hot favourites for a dominant win.

The wet Friday running in France made life awkward at Williams, as the outfit were attempting to set the car up with a bundle of new components. Furthermore, without Ralf Schumacher's experience, getting to grips with the car was taking longer than it might otherwise have done.

Silverstone sees more new components, and more rain predicted. It is something of a two edged sword: if the drivers and engineers can get to the right set-up between the showers, then they should have a very competitive car for the weekend and will be able to take the race to BAR and Renault, if not Ferrari. And if they can't, then a repeat of France is all too likely.

Whilst Juan Pablo Montoya can sustain another poor weekend, for Marc Gene it would almost certainly spell the end of his days as a racer: this is expected to be his final opportunity to keep his race seat with a team who are eager to try out replacements for the departing Montoya and Schumacher.

The performance McLaren put together in France with their new car surprised a lot of people. Despite advertising the extent of the revisions, few believed that all the ills of the original could be fixed � particularly as they seemed to involve both engine and chassis. However, there is no denying the pace McLaren found in France qualifying, even if they couldn't maintain it for the race. Accordingly, heading to a circuit they are intimately familiar with, and where they already tested the MP4-19B, things are looking up for the Woking outfit.

That said, things are not so clear cut. The new car is a significant step forward from the old, but the team are still struggling to understand it properly. They are able to set it up to get good speed from Michelin's tyres when they are new, but the wear rates are somewhat higher than their rival Michelin midfield runners suffer. In France, where overtaking is particularly difficult, this was not too much of a hindrance; however, Silverstone is a different kettle of fish.

It should not be a surprise to see McLaren looking fairly useful in qualifying; however, as the race goes on it would be surprising if they don't drift back through the field.

After putting the frighteners on Ferrari in France, Renault's apparent return to form is timely for Silverstone. This is a circuit where the team ran strongly last year, so being back in a position to fight at the front is significant. Furthermore, their understanding of Michelin's tyres is unsurpassed, so if any team are going to get the absolute best from them, it should be Renault.

Both drivers have had good races at Silverstone in the past, and though the team suffer a little on power compared to BAR and Ferrari, the excellent aerodynamics and chassis mean that the cars carry greater speed through the corners than their rivals. They can hope to qualify well up the grid, and weather permitting, make a real menace of themselves at the front.

Although disappointed by their results in France, there is no doubt that BAR are going to Silverstone with high hopes of getting at least one car on to the podium. They have been fast here in testing and make no bones of the fact that this is a real opportunity to take the race to Ferrari. Renault and McLaren's recent upturn in form notwithstanding, BAR consider themselves the best team to challenge for a win.

Jenson Button can expect the support of a partisan crowd, whilst Takuma Sato should be his usual quick if volatile self: both are looking to show something special this weekend. However, if the widely predicted rain occurs it would certainly not help BAR's chances. Michelin might be convinced that their latest wet weather tyres are up to scratch, but few others believe so.

Since the midfield Michelin runners are starting to get their significant mid-year developments coming through, Sauber are in a tougher position than they have been for the first half of the season. They don't have the budget to compete as they season progresses, so their developments become very strategic from here � targeting the events where they are most likely to score a point.

In the past, Silverstone has often been one of those circuits: when it rains and the leaders get themselves into trouble, Sauber have often been well poised to pick up the pieces, if aided by Bridgestone's wet weather superiority, so it has brought them rewards. Outright pace is not going to be much use to the outfit this time, but a wet weekend should really let them get a cat amongst the pigeons.

Silverstone has not been kind to Jaguar over the years and there is little reason to believe things will improve this time. Despite the upgraded engine they ran in France, the team are losing ground to their main midfield rivals, which cannot lend itself to much hope for the outfit.

Mark Webber's season has hardly been anything special this year and although Christian Klien is finally getting to grips with the car, he is hardly setting the world alight. The best hope the team have to impress the brass at their home event is for rain to upset the front runners, leaving them to pick up the ball.

Last year, Cristiano da Matta surprised a lot of people by qualifying well in his Toyota, then finishing in the points after running in the lead. The circuit is not noted for its bumps, so the team's biggest weakness is not exposed. Furthermore, the power from the engine goes some way to compensating for weaker aerodynamics. Evidently, the Brazilian has some handle on the circuit, and in the past Olivier Panis has occasionally had a good race here. Accordingly, the team must be hoping for a strong weekend.

However, their main competition all arrived in France with noticeable improvements to their packages, and these will be in evidence again this weekend. Moreover, they will have improved their understanding of their new components, so they should be running even faster. Given the raised standard, Toyota are going to have to have a perfect weekend in order to stand any chance of competing for a top ten finish, let alone scoring points at all.

With recent results confirming Jordan's place as the buffer zone between Minardi and the rest of the grid, the team are expected to struggle at Silverstone this year. Unlike their tail-end rivals, the team at least get to spend some time testing, and they do have the odd new component to bring to the races. It has stopped them falling too far off the pace of the midfield, but they are not expected to be a threat unless it rains, and they can leverage a wet weather Bridgestone advantage.

Both Heidfeld and Pantano have some experience at Silverstone, but that will be of limited use except for snapping at the heels of the Toyota drivers � or upsetting Jaguar if Michelin have got their homework wrong.

Unless it rains, Silverstone is not expected to have high attrition, so the minnows are not expected to come close to scoring points. Their car continues to have limited development, and is quite some way off the pace of the field. However, stranger things than Minardi scoring points have happened in Formula One, so the team will head out with high hopes that rain will wash their faster and more experienced rivals off the circuit whilst their novice drivers pursue a brace of race finishes.

Last time the circus went to Silverstone, it was to prove to be one of the most memorable events of the year, with six lead changes, uncountable overtaking manoeuvres on the track, 46 pitstops, and a track intruder! It also had a seventh new winner of the season, when Rubens Barrichello climbed the top step of the podium.

Barrichello has always gone well at Silverstone, and 2003 was no exception. The Brazilian took pole from Jarno Trulli by a tenth of a second, despite running first, and set himself up for a solid race. He arguably benefited from the weather conditions, as the wind veered and strengthened through the session. It left Trulli disappointed: Renault were debuting a revised chassis with a significant step forward to their already impressive aerodynamics; they held high hopes for this race.

Behind, Raikkonen surprised himself with a strong third place, ahead of the other leading Championship protagonists, the Schumacher brothers. The Finn had been struggling all weekend, leaving Coulthard to fly the McLaren flag, so turning things around in qualifying was a huge boost.

Neither Williams looked quite balanced all weekend, so having Ralf just ahead of his brother Michael � the World Champion made a mistake on his hot lap� was only a limited bonus for a team that had dominated their recent races, and who believed a front row performance was attainable. Behind the second Ferrari, Cristiano da Matta demonstrated that Toyota were not getting everything wrong with a strong lap for sixth: their car apparently being less susceptible to wind change than the competition. It placed him ahead of Montoya, who had been fastest in final practice.

Notables from the session included Antonio Pizzonia, whose tenth place put him ahead of teammate Mark Webber, David Coulthard in twelfth, and Jenson Button at the back of the grid after damaging his suspension running wide at the end of the Hanger Straight.

As a wet race had been predicted, there were a number of different compromise setups on the cars for the race. In the event, the day dawned with blue skies, and the threat receded.

The race started with Trulli making a characteristic Renault start, leaping past Barrichello for the lead. Adding insult to injury for the Brazilian, Raikkonen also made it past. Ralf and Michael Schumacher followed, with Alonso, Montoya and da Matta behind. Frentzen struggled to get his Sauber started, and fell to the back of the grid.

Alonso attempted a move on Schumacher on the Hanger Straight, but had the door slammed shut, forcing him on to the grass. This led to a loss of momentum, and Montoya passed for sixth into the corner.

On lap seven, the safety car made an appearance � Coulthard's headrest came off in Copse, and it was the only way to get the track safe enough for the marshals to pick it up! Whilst Coulthard pitted for a new headrest, da Matta and Firman took advantage of the safety car to make their first stops.

When the race continued, Barrichello put Raikkonen under significant pressure, before passing after Vale and setting off after Trulli. At this time, there was a real distraction � as an idiot was seen running up the Hanger Straight before being tackled off the circuit by marshals. It had already led to a second safety car deployment, however, which saw a lot of drivers pitting for fuel and tyres. In this round, the Ferrari's came off badly: Barrichello dropped to seventh, and Schumacher to fifteenth. Da Matta and Panis now led the race, followed by Coulthard, Trulli, Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher.

When the safety car came off, Raikkonen was a man on a mission, passing Trulli, Panis and Coulthard in a single lap. Barrichello passed Ralf with a clean move. Montoya then also passed Ralf, but the German was now starting to struggle with an overheating engine, and started to drop down the order.

Michael Schumacher struggled to pass Alonso until lap 24, then behind Villeneuve, who was being difficult to pass. At the front, Barrichello put together another great move to pass Trulli, and was ceded a position by Coulthard who made his second stop. When da Matta pitted, Raikkonen led the race ahead of Barrichello and Montoya.

Raikkonen's second stop on lap 35 left Barrichello in the lead, and he upped the pace. By the time he pitted on lap 39, rejoining just behind the Finn, and clearly running faster. Raikkonen defended his position strongly, but Barrichello again persisted in attacking until he passed into Bridge: the Brazilian never looked back as he extended a convincing lead.

In the closing stages, Montoya closed on Raikkonen and raised the pressure until the McLaren driver made a mistake at Bridge, sliding off the circuit long enough to let the Columbian past: this proved a bonus to Schumacher, whose lead in the Championship would now be eroded by two fewer points.

Points paying positions - pitstops

1. Barrichello Ferrari 2
2. Montoya      Williams-BMW 2
3. Raikkonen    McLaren-Mercedes 2
4. M.Schumacher Ferrari 2
5. Coulthard    McLaren-Mercedes 3
6. Trulli     Renault 2
7. da Matta     Toyota 3
8. Button     BAR Honda 2

Classified: 17 from 20 starters

Fastest lap: Barrichello, 1:22.236

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