Panasonic Toyota Racing British Grand Prix preview

Panasonic Toyota Racing British Grand Prix preview

We've reached the half-way stage of the season with back-to-back European races. After France last weekend we've crossed the English Channel for Silverstone and the British Grand Prix. As usual in England the weather will be a talking point but after a miserable summer so far with torrential rain and floods the forecast for the weekend is a bit more encouraging.

The British Grand Prix has been a feature of the Formula 1 season since the world championship began back in 1950.

The Panasonic Toyota Racing team enjoyed a successful test at the track last month and Ralf is expecting a strong performance from the TF107 this weekend: "The Silverstone circuit is very fast and challenging but I think we are in reasonable shape after our test there. Even though the result at Magny-Cours was not what we expected, we can take some positives out of the weekend.

"I lost a lot of time held up behind another car early in the race but after that the car felt pretty good and my lap times were better than our position suggested."

Jarno's Challenge

The 60-lap race round the 5.141 kilometre circuit on the site of an old aerodrome takes in some of the fastest corners in F1 from the first corner at Copse through the famous Maggots and Becketts section. Jarno, who is looking forward to getting back on the track after his early exit at Magny-Cours, explains: "The sweeping fast corners in the first half are probably the most difficult as you can lose quite a bit of time before you hit the very fast Hangar Straight.

"It's a long circuit and a challenging one as well, for the drivers and also for the team when it comes to set-up. As a driver you need a lot of commitment in the corners to really get the best lap time out of the car. There are all different kinds of corners at Silverstone so there is a compromise between grip in the corners and speed on the straights."

Senior General Manager Chassis, Pascal Vasselon is confident about our chances of picking up points this weekend after our trip to the track in June: "We evaluated some aero elements of our upgraded package, which we used in France, as well as looking at set-up for this race. We will have the same aero package for this race as we used at Magny-Cours because the requirements of the two tracks are similar, although not identical.

"In terms of set-up, you have a lot of high-speed corners and the average speed is quite high. It would require a lot of downforce to be faster on some of the high-speed corners but the circuit is fast so you pay for that with drag. There is a compromise but after the test we know pretty much which aero set-up window we are working in."

Qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday both start at 12 noon gmt. Check you inbox for all the post-race news from Panasonic Toyota Racing.

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