The track drew praise from several drivers after Sunday’s British GP for encouraging competitive racing and it also benefited from the stewards allowing hard but fair racing
With the signing of a new contract to host F1 for a further five years there was a celebratory air at Silverstone. That F1 had done the right thing was confirmed in spades on Sunday, when the old airfield delivered a marvellous race. The drivers revelled in it and the opportunity for genuine racing it affords. F1’s problems in following closely have not gone away but they are negated on good tracks. Silverstone’s layout encourages a fight and several of the corner sequences give drivers the chance to come back during an attempted pass which makes for compelling action. The previous race at Austria similarly facilitated proper racing. It is no coincidence these tracks repeatedly host a great spectacle. The three men on the podium – Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc – were all in agreement: it was the circuits making the difference. Bottas was unusually and pleasingly blunt in identifying F1’s real problem. “It’s all about selection of the tracks,” he said. “I’m sure many of the track selections for the calendar are just pure political reasons and money, rather than focusing on whether it’s good for racing or not.”
Written by Giles Richards
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/jul/16/silverstone-shows-class-with-help-from-sensible-stewards under the title “Silverstone shows its class with a little help from sensible stewarding | Giles Richards”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
