06.07.2008


Behind the scenes

The 2008 British Grand Prix was a celebration of 60 years of racing at Silverstone and 80 years of the circuit–owning British Racing Drivers’ Club. It was unfortunate timing, therefore, when commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone announced that the race would be moving to Donington Park in 2010...

Panasonic Toyota Racing’s John Howett commented: “The British Grand Prix is secure and in the end I think it is sad to lose a great circuit with heritage but at the same time I am sure Donington will create an environment which will be extremely good for F1.”

A £100m investment has been pledged at the Leicestershire circuit, which last hosted F1 cars at the European Grand Prix of 1993, a famous victory by the late great Ayrton Senna. Fittingly, Ayrton’s nephew Bruno won Sunday’s GP2 race with Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Kamui Kobayashi finishing the race in seventh position.

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McLaren–Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton bounced back from non–finishes in the Canadian and French Grands Prix with a third win of the season at Silverstone.

His 10 points mean a three–way tie at the head of the world championship table, with Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen also on 48 points. “It was definitely my best win ever," Hamilton said, rating his drive even higher than his wet weather win at Fuji last year.

BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld added to his second places in Melbourne and Montreal with another runner–up spot at Silverstone. Team–mate Robert Kubica, meanwhile, spun out of the race and failed to score points for the first time since the season–opener in Melbourne.

The Pole remains firmly in touch in the World Championship battle, however, just two points behind the three championship–leading drivers.

Both Ferrari drivers had a difficult race, with Kimi Raikkonen struggling when rain intensified after he had elected not to change tyres at his first fuel stop. He finished an eventual fourth while team mate Felipe Massa had multiple spins and was last of the 13 classified finishers.

Race Report

Panasonic Toyota Racing’s Jarno Trulli followed up his podium finish at Magny–Cours with two more points in a wet and incident–packed British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The entire race was run on Bridgestone’s standard wet Potenza tyre and Jarno fought well to finish seventh, right on the tail of Fernando Alonso. Team–mate Timo Glock finished the race in 12th place.

Timo lined up 12th on a wet Silverstone grid, two places ahead of Jarno, who drove an inspirational first lap and gained seven places.

He was fuelled relatively heavy and was one of the last leading drivers to make his first stop, on lap 26. Showers throughout the race made strategy difficult but Jarno stayed on the standard wet tyres, as did Timo when he pitted.

Heavy rain came and made track conditions very difficult, with a lot of standing water making life difficult for both drivers. The rain stopped so the decision was taken to stay on standard wets and not take a gamble on extreme wet tyres, although in hindsight more positions could have been gained by a change.

“At that point the track was really bad, I was aquaplaning everywhere and losing 15 seconds a lap,” Jarno explains. “We should have gambled on switching to the extreme wet tyre but unfortunately when it came to take the decision we knew it wasn’t going to rain any more. It was just a question of making a difficult decision in difficult track conditions but in hindsight we should have gone for it. It’s a pity because I was driving so strongly that we could have made the podium.”

Timo also made a very strong start and was running in the top 10 early on and up to sixth by the time of his first stop on lap 25.

He also found the going tough in the rain and, like Jarno, suffered aquaplaning which, unlike Jarno, caused a couple of spins.

He said: “When the heavy rain came, I had no traction and the car was sliding around. There was massive aquaplaning and I had no chance to hold the car on the track. That was a pity but we will try for more at the next race. The guys in Cologne are working hard and the car is improving so we will push again in Hockenheim.”

Chairman and Team Principal Tadashi Yamashina was happy to move into fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship after taking points despite a disappointing qualifying.

He said: “Jarno showed excellent spirit again today and came away with a good result given his grid position. He stayed out in very difficult conditions on the standard wet tyre and he kept the car on the track doing good lap times. It was very important for him to score points because we have struggled in the past in this type of race. Timo struggled to keep the car on the track when it was at its wettest but Jarno’s settings were better for these conditions.”

The team now heads straight to a three-day test at Hockenheim in preparation for the German Grand Prix on 20 July.