The F1 calendar is an interesting thing. It changes year by year, with new circuits being added from time to time, and some of the others disappearing. But be they new on the calendar or old, the races on the schedule somehow have a ring to their names.
BRITISH GRAND PRIX BROADCAST DETAILS
Friday, 1 July
FP1 | 13:55 | SS Motorsport
FP2 | 16:45 | SS Motorsport
Saturday, 2 July
FP3 | 12:45 | SS Motorsport
Qualifying | 15:50 | SS Motorsport
Sunday, 3 July
Race | 14:55 | SS Motorsport
* Stream all the action on DStv *
The F1 faithful call them by their nicknames, rather than the official, sponsored names. As such we go to Spa, we go to Imola, we go to Monaco. We visit Suzuka and Melbourne and Paul Ricard the Spielberg. And to those in the know, some of these are the holy grail, to be visited as a pilgrimage at least once in your life. But in the Parthenon of F1 circuits, a few stand head and shoulders above the rest. Of course, this list will differ from fan to fan, but when it comes to the grandaddy of them all, the name of Silverstone resonates with every single fan, guaranteed.
There’s a good reason for this: When the first modern F1 race took place on May 13th 1950, it was at Silverstone that the flag dropped. The corners have names that make you want to research the circuit: Maggotts, Becketts, Abbey… There’s the Hangar Straight and Stowe Corner, and the circuit started its life as an airfield, of all things. RAF Silverstone. Has a nice ring to it, eh?
And then there’s the fact that most of the teams are based in the United Kingdom. Granted, maybe not at Silverstone itself, but in the general vicinity. McLaren is in Woking; Mercedes is in Brackley; Red Bull in Milton Keynes; Haas is in Banbury; Alpine and Williams are in Oxfordshire; and Aston Martin… Well, Aston Martin are based at Silverstone, so no pressure for them. The outlier is Ferrari, who come to Silverstone as rank outsiders. Foreigners who dare to tread on the hallowed tarmac of one of the greatest circuits in the world.
Personally, I have some great memories from Silverstone. My first visit there was in the late nineties, when I went to see South Africa’s Stephen Watson testing Tom Walkinshaw’s Arrows at the circuit in 1998. The young Durbanite spent two seasons as the team’s official test driver, and together with Hendrik Verwoerd and Dieter Rencken, I flew out to England to see the man in action.
It was a rainy day when Watson slid into the cockpit of the Arrows, but the chance to drive an F1 car doesn’t come every day, and he was paid to do it after all. I walked around various parts of the circuit, taking pictures of ‘our’ man in action. Late in the afternoon I found myself in Club – the final corner of the mammoth track, leading onto the main straight. Watson rounded the final bend, but the tail got away from him and for a moment he was all crossed up. But Watson’s instincts took charge: He feathered the throttled, dialled in a handful of opposite lock and straightened out his mess. Back on the gas and off he went, the Arrows disappearing into a spray of rain and noise.
Back in the pits, I found the imposing figure of Tom Walkinshaw, clad in his trademark coat, deep in conversation with Watson. I was cold and wet and tired, and with Walkinshaw’s fearsome reputation, I wanted to stay well clear of the pair. But then Walkinshaw turned and looked straight at me – a green youngster from Joburg, who really had less right than Ferrari to be seen at Silverstone – and he called me over. “My driver says the car gets tail happy on the exits,” he said. “What did you see on the track?”
What did I see? Tom Walkinshaw wants to know what I saw. You have got to be shitting me. I stammered and stumbled and admitted that the car seemed prone to oversteer on the exits. Walkinshaw looked at me, nodded, and turned back to speak to Watson. I was dismissed. But for the briefest moment, I counted. I was part of the story, rather than just the reporter. I rubbed my eyes and walked back to my gear, ever so slightly taller. And all of this happened at Silverstone.
And now, 24 years later, it is time for the F1 circus to head back to Silverstone. It sounds so callous to say it like that: Head back to Silverstone. But to those in the know, the gladiators are congregating at the Colosseum of England; to do battle once more. But while Azerbaijan may be bumpy; and Monaco may be tight; Imola may be fast and Zandvoort may be a riot in Orange; there’s only one Silverstone. One temple of F1. One jewel in the crown.
Yes, there are circuits that may speak louder to different people. And corners that set the bar above all else. Like Eau Rouge at Spa, for instance. But that’s one corner. One part of one circuit. But when you have to pick one F1 circuit to rule them all, it has to be Silverstone.
This weekend we have plenty of Britons on the grid: Lewis Hamilton and George Russel and Lando Norris; and we have eight UK-based teams, hoping for a good result. But beyond that, we have twenty men, all aiming for one thing: Victory at the temple of F1. Some of them have won here before – Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso and Verstappen, who won the 70th anniversary race here in 2020. But not one man on the grid wouldn’t want to add another Silverstone notch to his belt.
Maybe it is because of my own tiny spark in the history of the circuit, but this is, for me, the race of the year. I cannot wait to see who emerges victorious this weekend, and deep down I’d love to see someone other than the four previous winners add his name to the honours roll. Maybe Sainz; maybe Russell… Wouldn’t that be something?
Waldo van der Waal is a motoring journalist with nearly three decades of experience. He has worked as an F1 correspondent for various publications over the years, including WIEL and DRIVE magazines, in the late nineties. Since then, he has travelled the globe to follow some of the greatest motorsport events on the planet, including many F1 races and Le Mans. He has been closely associated with the Dakar Rally for the last ten years, worked with Fernando Alonso during his attempt at the race, and remains in touch with the wonderful world of Formula 1.