McLaren preview the British Grand Prix

Silverstone is one of the oldest and most iconic circuits on the F1 calendar. A former WWII airfield, the track hosted the first world championship grand prix on 13 May 1950 and it’s been the permanent home of the British Grand Prix since 1987.

The track was the scene of F1’s first 160mph (257km/h) lap, in 1985, and it remains one of the fastest and most challenging circuits in the world.

Fernando Alonso: “The British Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the year for every driver. The fans are very knowledgeable and very fair, and the circuit is a fantastic high-speed challenge. It’s one of the few places where the drivers feel like they’ve been let off the leash because you can really feel the aerodynamic grip at Silverstone, which makes it very pleasurable to drive. This is also the home race of McLaren. A lot of the factory-based staff come to watch us at the track, which is special and it would be fantastic to get a good result for all of them. My victories at Silverstone were very special. Both were exciting races and I’ll never forget the reception I received from the crowd when I came onto the podium. It was fantastic and it’s that generosity towards all of the drivers, and not only the British ones, that gives the race such a special atmosphere. From a performance point of view, it’s important that we get through the whole weekend cleanly, efficiently and without problems. We’ve had a couple of tricky races, but, through it all, there have been some genuine glimpses of progress. For me, I want to make progress through Friday and Saturday, then be able to deliver a performance on Sunday that justifies all our efforts. We can do it, and to be able to turn that corner in front of thousands of McLaren-Honda fans would be a fantastic reward for the whole team.”

Jenson Button: “I’ve been going to Silverstone for almost as long as I can remember. I raced there in karts, in Formula Ford, in Formula 3 and, of course, in F1 for the last 16 years. It’s a wonderful track and the British fans are something else. They’ve given me unflinching support during my career, through the good times and the bad, and for that I’m hugely grateful.
“The high-speed corners are great fun, and, whatever your car’s level of competitiveness, you can’t help but smile as you drive through Copse, Maggotts and Becketts because it’s so fast through there. Silverstone is one of my highlights of the year. Finishing on the podium at the British Grand Prix is top of my ‘to do’ list in F1. I’ve achieved pretty much everything else that I set out to do in F1, but I’ve never stood on the podium at Silverstone. I really want to do that and it would feel like a victory if I were to achieve it. Of course, the result in Austria last week really motivates everybody, and it raises everyone’s expectations, too. It would be lovely to be able to claim that a podium this year might finally be possible, but, being realistic, that won’t be possible this time. But I head to Silverstone feeling hugely encouraged by our progress, and just what we can achieve as a team when the variables are thrown into the air and all the teams are left to somewhat improvise: we can do great things. It goes without saying that I’ll be giving it everything at Silverstone this weekend.”