Silverstone hosted the first-ever world championship grand prix – and, unlike many other ‘classic’ tracks, it’s adapted with the times – even, dare we say it, improved with age. What sets it apart from other venues? Drivers from past and present explain…
WORDS JAMES ROBERTS, OLEG KARPOV PICTURES
ALEX ALBON Williams F1 driver
“I got my racing license when I went from seven to eight years old, at Silverstone. They had a little kart track set up, with a guy who reviewed your driving to see if you were safe, and I took a written test: what’s a yellow flag, what’s a green flag, right foot throttle, left foot braking, and so on. And then they gave you your racing license. That’s my very first memory of the place and I remember it clearly, like it was yesterday. I still remember the one question I got wrong, which was “When is scrutineering?”
“Before that, I went to watch my first Formula 1 race. This was the early 2000s, the generation of Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya. There was a competition at the track – you had to name the top three finishers. And I was a huge Schumacher fan so, not really knowing what was going on, I put my three favourite drivers in the list: Schumacher first, Barrichello second and Montoya third. Then on the back in case people were tied, there was a tiebreaker, something like closest fastest lap time – my dad filled that in for me because I had no clue.
“And I won! I got to go on stage and got these prizes – a hat, a big track map with signatures from Michael, Rubens, Ross Brawn, Jean Todt – which I’ve still got to this day.
“My first time driving a car at Silverstone was for the judging in the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. I drove the DTM car, a Formula 2 car and a GT3 car, I think. It was like a shootout. I was up against Ben Barnicoat, Sennan Fielding, Harrison Scott, and some guy called George Russell. Harrison, actually, is now our sim driver at Williams. In the end, the result came down to George and me. And they chose George. But I was quicker!
“Silverstone is a proper drivers’ circuit. And it’s good for racing. I think people forget it generally promotes good racing. It and Suzuka are my two favourite circuits. Silverstone is a bit wider, a bit more forgiving, and has a bit more run-off area than Japan – so it’s easier to get confident earlier in the we
