After the success of the recent Austrian GP the Williams Martini team moves to the circuit of Silverstone for the 2014 British GP. This is the home race for the Williams team but it will also be team driver Felipe Massa's 200th Grand Prix. The teams focus is to maintain the pace they had in Austria and come away with another large haul of points.
Silverstone hosted the very
first round of the World Championship in 1950 and it’s home to eight of
the 11 teams on the grid, so its links with F1 are extensive. Its
history is also inextricably linked to Williams, for it was here in 1979
that the team scored its first grand prix victory and in 1997 Jacques
Villeneuve racked up our 100th win.
The track has undergone several facelifts over the years, but it has
always retained its high-speed challenge. Efficient aerodynamics and a
good car balance are as crucial today as 20 years ago, but irrespective
of lap time, the drivers love the Copse-Maggotts-Becketts section,
believing it to be one of the most adrenaline-fuelled series of
high-speed corners in the world.
Rod Smedley:
Silverstone is a very interesting circuit. It poses a real challenge to
the engineers and drivers as we have to set the cars up for such high
speed corners like Abbey, Copse and the Maggotts-Becketts complex. The
car does have to be set up differently from other high speed circuits.
The layout has high power and drag sensitivity which should suit our car
this season. Depending on the temperature we can suffer from rear tyre
graining, however, the hard tyre we have for the weekend could also
suffer from low-temperature issues which we will have to manage. The
weather always plays a huge part in the weekend as it can change from
session to session. The circuit is old-school in terms of spectators as
the layout allows the fans to get a good view, which makes for a great
atmosphere; there is always a full house which makes it a pleasure to go
there.
Felipe Massa:
Silverstone will be a special race, not just because it is the team’s
home race, but also because I shall celebrate my 200th Grand Prix.
British fans are passionate about Formula One and it will be great to
see the support for the team. Silverstone is a very quick track and good
downforce is needed. I really like the Maggotts-Becketts complex; it’s a
really fast part of the track and very important to get right. It will
be interesting to see if we can maintain the pace we had in Austria, but
the main focus will be on getting some good points.
Valtteri Bottas:
I am really looking forward to Silverstone. It’s always a great event
and means a lot to us as it’s the team’s home Grand Prix, so hopefully
some of the guys from the factory can come up and support us as well. We
are hoping for a good result again, but will have to wait and see how
the track suits us. We are aiming to be strong and to build on the
momentum we have coming from Austria.
Race Data Friday:
Practice 1: 10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2: 14:00 - 15:30 Saturday:
Practice 3: 10:00 - 11:00
Qualifying: 13:00 – 14:00 Sunday: Race: 13:00
British GP: Williams Martini GP Preview
Posted by: Williams F1 (IP Logged)
Date: 03/07/2014 10:21
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