Looking back on the Silverstone weekend, there were several very pleasant moments – and a lot of dross that had to be ploughed through. On the Thursday before the race I was fortunate enough to be able to drop in to see Nick Wirth in Bicester. The visit was planned long before I knew that Wirth was involved with the Manor F1 team. I had written an article about F1 simulators and no-one was willing to let me near them because it is all so secret. Wirth was happy to show me his and I watched Gil de Ferran driving an Acura sports car around Mid Ohio, breaking into some fruity Portuguese when he pushed too hard and crashed. Nick and I talked a lot about F1 (funnily enough) and much of what he said made sense but the most impressive thing for me was the people I bumped into when I was going from office to office. These were serious people from some of the serious teams and I quickly realised that while some of the teams listed by the FIA were “paper tigers”, Manor Grand Prix is not one of them. I feel for the new teams which are caught in the middle of this current conflict.
Logic dictates that the best thing would be for the 15 or so teams that can rustle up proper cars should be integrated into one championship, in which they will all be paid based on their results, without anyone being given “star” money. I do not disagree with the idea that the new teams should be allowed to have their monocoques built by a bigger organisation, so long as the aerodynamics were different, so that the cars looked different. There is very little ground being broken in monocoque design these days. It is an established technology and it is not logical that 15 different organisations do the same thing at vast expense. If financial restrictions mean that the bigger organisations need to slim down, it is logical that any slack is taken up helping to build up other teams. That way F1 deals with its people in a responsible manner.
On Friday we had the whole breakaway mess. It was a long and hard day. The thing about Silverstone is that the paddock is filled with people you are genuinely happy to see and you do not wish to be rude and walk swiftly by, so one stops and talks for a few minutes, catching up. This means that it can take 90 minutes to get from one end of the paddock to the other. This year, for example, I made it to Brawn GP (at the far end of the paddock) only twice. Normally I will be there two or three times a day. That evening there was an invitation to the British Racing Drivers’ Club for a barbecue. Obviously the BRDC is on a charm offensive at the moment and wants to be better understood. That is a good thing because it has long had a poor image. The best thing was that it enabled us to catch up with old friends and I had a delightful dinner talking to Damon Hill, Jackie Oliver, Derek Warwick and Patrick Head, amongst others. There was no political agenda, we were just sharing in the fellowship of motor racing and laughing about yesterday, today and tomorrow. That was what motor racing should be about. It was a great tonic after such a trying day.
On Saturday I had lunch with Lady Ginny Williams, Jacques Villeneuve and Johnny Williams (Frank’s son and a partner in the iSport GP2 team). Ginny and Jacques are peas from the same pod. They are great fun and speak their mind on all occasions, whether the opinion is going to be accepted easily or not. We watched qualifying and I decided for the first time to see whether I could do the entire session, filing the news from Q1, Q2 and Q3 using my iPhone, while the discussions ranged from NASCAR to gardening, Jacques’s biggest accidents to the nicknames of the current F1 drivers. Again, the theme was the enjoyment of the wonderful varied people that F1 attracts.
That evening we headed off to a little village near Banbury where David and Karen Richards live in a very splendid old manor house, dating back to Elizabethan times, which was once owned by the Washington family, forebears of George Washington, and later by Douglas Haig, the celebrated World War I field marshal. Generally as I am working on the e-magazine GP+ on Saturday nights I do not go out at Grands Prix, but dinner with the Richardses is an event I try not to miss as it is one of the most convivial evenings of the year, and one never knows who might be on the guest list. There was a certain amount of talk about the politics of F1 – and DR did disappear for one or two phone calls at the end of the garden (below) – but once again the conversations were wide-ranging and colourful.
Sunday was a blur of action, but mainly for me inside the Media Centre. I did manage to get out once or twice for a breath of fresh air. The paddock was a whirl of people looking important and having any conversation lasting more than a minute or two was virtually impossible. On Sunday night I was still there tapping away at the computer until about 11pm (which was not bad given some of the finishes we have had over the years) and made a point of saying “See you next year” to the media people who were still there. It seems inconceivable to me that we should not be at Silverstone for the British GP. It would be wrong.
Then I had a nice slow drive through the Northants countryside, dodging foxes, deer, sheep and cats to the house where I stay, peopled by lovely, slightly eccentric English people, who fussed over a hearty breakfast on Monday morning. Visiting them is part of the annual fun that is the British GP.
If it hadn’t have been for Max and Bernie and the FOTA “loonies”, and (sadly) a rather dull race, it would have been a perfect motor racing weekend. I don’t like every weekend being about racing, but I do love the feeling of being a part of a wonderful “circus” of original, clever and funny people. The people are what make it.
As ever, F1 is a microcosm of real life…
“It seems inconceivable to me that we should not be at Silverstone for the British GP. It would be wrong.”
It’s very English to take the side of the underdog. And true to my Englishness I’m beginning to feel a bit sorry for Mr. Gillett.
I agree that the race at the front was a bit on the boring side, but there were great scraps further back. As a fan of Fernando Alonso, it was hard to see him struggle with his car (traction out of slow corners was especially poor, which is sad to see when one thinks back to 2003-2005 where the Renaults were the class of the field in traction and torque) but it was fun to see him duke it out with Lewis Hamilton.
I beg to differ from you, Joe. It seems to me that Silverstone is a particularly dull circuit in the dry. Last year, in the wet, there was an exciting race, but this year was terribly dull … almost Circuit de Catalunya dull!
We need a change of venue for the British Grand Prix. Donington or Brands Hatch; I don’t care which. Just so long as we don’t have to rely on the British weather to give us a good race by being wet.
Another boring race. Very pleased for Red Bull and Vettel though.
I lay the blame for the boring firmly with the FIA. This years regs have harmed the sport. It is ludicrous, for instance, that McLaren can’t spend the next 3 weeks frantically testing to try to fix their car. And as for making them race on unsuitable tyres – that’s just silly. Why not mandate that one lap in each race must be driven in reverse? Or perhaps blindfolded with just spotters on the radio…?
So go FOTA! Save our sport. Make the regs allow for true innovation. May I suggest:
Car must be of fixed dimensions.
Car must have a set minimum weight at the end of the race.
25 gallons of regular pump petrol for the race duration, no refueling allowed.
Car must have a human driver.
No rockets or jets, all drive must come through at least one wheel.
[...] My British Grand Prix – Joe Saward’s Grand Prix Blog "On the Thursday before the race I was fortunate enough to be able to drop in to see Nick Wirth in Bicester. The visit was planned long before I knew that Wirth was involved with the Manor F1 team… Nick and I talked a lot about F1 (funnily enough) and much of what he said made sense but the most impressive thing for me was the people I bumped into when I was going from office to office. These were serious people from some of the serious teams and I quickly realised that while some of the teams listed by the FIA were “paper tigers”, Manor Grand Prix is not one of them." (tags: Manor NickWirth fia 2010 EntryList) [...]
Though it is not built for “modern” racing, I find Silverstone to be one of my favorite tracks. I like that it is fast and flowing. I like that it is different. Every race does not need to be stop-go to suit these cars.
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That’s a little bucket for all those names you dropped there Joe… you lucky sod! What a weekend – I know you journos get to meet these people all the time but the social side, and the insights you must get – WOW. I’m green with envy.
Well said Gareth and very good points. Although it wil go against cost savings not being allowed to improve your car before the next race is ridiculous. So basically we can already pretty much guess the top 5 in Germany at the next race because nobody can do anything. Utterly ridiculous! On Silverstone weekend congrats to the BBC for the best coverage I think I have ever seen of race in 30 years of watching. Brilliant! Great interviews, great camera angles and they didn’t bang on about the drama too much.
[...] doubt the FIA actually had a tough choice to make, as according to Joe Saward at least the Manor Grand Prix team is actually a seriously strong prospect. With costs set to be [...]
Thats very good to know… thanks