Throughout a stellar career in F1, six-time world champion Michael Schumacher has won the British Grand Prix only twice – a trend that his rivals hope will continue at Silverstone this weekend.
Throughout a stellar career in F1, six-time world champion Michael Schumacher has won the British Grand Prix only twice – a trend that his rivals hope will continue at Silverstone this weekend.
The Ferrari ace is widely expected to score his tenth grand prix win of the year on Sunday – but Silverstone is not a happy hunting ground for Schumacher. The German broke his leg in a crash there in 1999 and in 12 race appearances at Silverstone he’s had four retirements and a disqualification.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello beat his team-mate Schumacher to victory last year as the world champion eventually finished down in fourth place. But Schumacher has had the upper hand this year and has won all but one of the ten races, despite starting from pole position only on five occasions.
The improving performance of his rivals and, in particular, Briton Jenson Button, who he believes will exploit the advantage of an enthusiastic home crowd to its full, concern the German.
“The opposition is getting closer and I believe BAR-Honda will be able to come up trumps here more than they did last weekend,” said Schumacher. “That means we cannot be too confident, but I do like the track at Silverstone.”
Button’s impressive performance this year, which has seen him on the podium six times, will ensure the most partisan crowd since the days of Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill.
The Briton may be firmly installed as the home favourite but he is not the only driver hoping to give Schumacher a strong challenge… Spaniard Fernando Alonso started from pole position on Renault’s home circuit last weekend but finished second to Schumacher. He will be looking to avenge the defeat.
So too will his team-mate Jarno Trulli, who Barrichello passed for the final podium place on the last lap in France.
Takuma Sato, Button’s team-mate, has retired from four of the last five races and will be keen to finish strongly at a track he knows so well from his days as British Formula Three champion.
Add to that Williams-BMW stand-in Marc Gene, who is in for the injured Ralf Schumacher and has been given a second chance to impress after a disappointing race in France, his Colombian team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya and also McLaren-Mercedes.
David Coulthard, perhaps, has most to gain from a strong performance on home ground as, without a drive in 2005, the home hero who won in 1999 and 2000 could be bidding farewell to his fans, but he will be hoping for continued improvement from his McLaren team, who introduced their new MP4-19B machine in France, so that he can have another swansong next year.
“This is a fickle business,” he said. “Some idiots think that if you have got a poor car then that is as fast as you can pedal. I pedalled pretty well in France and the chances at Silverstone will be similar. Ferrari will again be strong on that circuit as it is quite a fast open track, and I think BAR and Williams-BMW will be strong there. We just need to hope we can mix-it.”