After it’s much-heralded redevelopment, Silverstone came roaring out of the 1950s and into the modern era with a spanking new paddock and pit complex that would have been considered state-of-the-art in the mid-1980s.
The teams grumbled about the lack of toilets, the orienteering exercise required to get from the car parks to the garages and, at the sharp end, the fact those garages seemed to be underground with no view of the start-finish straight.
Fortunately Silverstone has never been about the facilities, and no-one was complaining about a circuit that offers massively high-speeds, fabulous corners, wonderful history and a record 315,000 bums-on-seats over the three days of the event.
Most people don’t know what a diffuser is, much less a blown one, but nevertheless it occupied everyone’s attention in the run up to the race. The rules had been changed before the weekend, they were changed again on Friday morning, and on Saturday morning.
"I think if you look at the last race you’d say the Red Bull was very strong and we were quite a long way behind them. But we have updates for this race, which hopefully will help us and also we have the difference in the blown diffuser this race and the electronics. That might help us more than the other teams. I don’t know, it might not."
Jenson Button – McLaren
None of that was bothering Daniel Ricciardo, who was spending his first weekend as a fully-fledged F1 racing driver, competing alongside Tonio Liuzzi for HRT.
“It is something I have dreamed of since I was a boy. I think the first aim is to try to finish and just get the miles under my belt and the experience at this level."
Daniel Ricciardo – Hispania Racing 
Prince Harry meets Seb Vettel, Christian Horner & Mark Webber © Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Red Bull put their diffuser issues aside and snaffled the front row. The top teams only managed one run in Q3 as spots of rain began to fall. Mark took pole for the second time this year.
“It is always rewarding when you get the maximum out of the situation. I did my best and it was enough to be the quickest car when it counted. Hasn’t always been the case this year, but today it worked out well.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
Fernando Alonso was only a short way behind though – and he didn’t think it was all about the diffuser.
“About the exhaust and diffuser and all this talk, we repeat a hundred times: we all lose performance with the new rules and we all lose more or less the same performance. Being one-tenth off Red Bull is fantastic news!”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
A rain shower shortly before the start left parts of the track very wet and others very dry. Everyone split the difference and started on the Intermediate tyre. Vettel got off the line better than Webber and took the lead. Alonso held third, Jenson Button jumped Massa for fourth, Hamilton made it up to seventh and then sixth by the end of the first lap. Massa got back past Button, as did Hamilton.
“I had an excellent start and an excellent first stint. In these tricky conditions I was able to open a big, big gap which helped us for the rest of the race.”
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
“I am not really bothered about that to be honest. The race wasn’t won or lost there.”
Mark Webber 
Sebastian Vettel takes an early lead at Silverstone © Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Vettel pulled away, while Webber struggled to contain Alonso. The track was drying, though still damp. Michael Schumacher plowed into the back of Kamui Kobayashi and pitted for a new nose but also dry tyres. Once he started setting fastest sector times, everyone else dived into the pits. Back out on track Button passes Massa for fifth, Hamilton passes Alonso for third but. Alonso later takes the place back.
"I’d had good pace all afternoon and really enjoyed a couple of good battles – particularly passing Felipe on the inside into Vale"
Jenson Button
At the second round of pitstops, both Red Bulls struggle. Mark has a sticking wheel nut, which drops him behind Alonso and Hamilton. Vettel comes in from a comfortable lead, but the rear jack fails. He’s held in the pitlane while the spare is engaged. When the stops are complete the order is Alonso leading, from Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Button and Massa.
“I think you saw it from a better angle than I did – the mirrors are not really big. We put the car down then had to put it back up again and we lost a lot of time: lost directly the position to Fernando in the pit-box and to Lewis on the circuit. Up to that stage I think it was a very good race.
Sebastian Vettel
“I think it is difficult to have any prediction of what could have happened without the problems of Sebastian. It is not easy to overtake so the pit-stop problems for them was a help – but it’s the same every race. The races are the way it comes.”
Fernando Alonso 
Fernando Alonso celebrates his win © Ferrari.com
Seb is soon on the back of Hamilton, but can’t find a way through as Hamilton shows he can defend as well as attack. Vettel opts to undercut, taking his third stop slightly earlier than planned. He emerges comfortably in front on Hamilton when it shakes out – but Alonso was a long way down the road by that point. Meanwhile Button has a pitstop disaster and retires with only three wheels on the wagon.
“I lost a lot to Fernando behind Lewis. I couldn’t get past initially and it gets more difficult. I lost the front tyres right behind him as I was so close and it wasn’t easy to attack. We got him at the stop but had to do a longer stint at the end.”
Sebastian Vettel
“As I turned out of the pitlane, my right-front wheel came off and I was forced to stop immediately. The guy on the front-right lost the wheelnut and turned to take another; as he turned, I think his hand moved and the guy on the front jack felt that that was the trigger to lower the car. Then the lollipop lifted. Hopefully, we won’t have that sort of issue again.
Jenson Button
Hamilton had maintained his second position by burning a lot of fuel, later on he needed to ease off, which let Webber catch him. Mark put in a magnificent pass around the outside to take the place.
“Yeah with Lewis I could get him. It was good to pick him off reasonably quick. It is always difficult when DRS zones have damp areas on the way in but managed to get him.”
Mark Webber
“Before the end, I had to start saving fuel: you have to lift and coast, which means the brake temperatures drop. So I had no brakes, and that’s why I kept locking up. That allowed Mark [Webber] to slip ahead of me and meant I was defending from Felipe [Massa] in the closing laps”
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren
Mark closes on Seb in the final laps. The teams asks him to hold position. Mark declines the invitation.
“Of course I ignored the team as I want to try and get another place. Seb was doing his best and I was doing my best. I don’t want to crash with anyone, but that was it. I tried to do my best with the amount of conversation I had. One-way conversation obviously as I wasn’t talking too much back. There was a lot of traffic coming to me, but I was still trying to do my best to pass the guy in front.”
Mark Webber
“What do I think? I tried to stay ahead. Obviously, we were racing each other. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Sure, from a team point of view, if you have the cars quite isolated in second and third, the first car [Alonso] is away, the fourth car [Hamilton] is pretty far away as well, so from the team’s point of view, there’s no point in racing and trying to do something stupid because the points for the team are the same, the difference between second and third is not massive, but naturally we try to race. What can I say? I was trying to defend my position which I did. I was struggling, Mark was faster. And then there was the chequered flag.”
Sebastian Vettel 
Fernando Alonso takes the chequered flag at Silverstone © Ferrari.com
Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton is being caught by a charging Felipe Massa, they exchange bodywork on the final lap and cross the line 0.0 seconds apart… but with Lewis still marginally in front.
“That last lap was as close as it’s ever going to get! In the final corner I stayed on the inside and braked as hard as I could. Fortunately, we both got around the corner in one piece and I just pipped [Massa] at the finish. The support I had when I crossed the line was as if I’d won the race – so I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone. In fact, the fans have been amazing all weekend: I’ve never seen so many people at Silverstone, and I could feel them all spurring me on. I think this was one of the best British Grands Prix of all time, and I’m already looking forward to coming back again next year!”
Lewis Hamilton
60 years after Frolian González won Ferrari’s first grand prix, Fernando Alonso wins their 218th, on, more or less, the same circuit…
“I had two laps today with that car [González’s 375] for the parade and it is part of the history of Ferrari. Being every single year, every single championship in Formula One, winning 60 years ago with that car with Froilan and now 60 years later on the same circuit with the same atmosphere I am sure in the team, with the same passion winning again with the red car.
I think three or four races ago we were 1.5 seconds behind and now we were leading the race and pulling away so definitely a good recovery from the team and a very special day. Every grand prix is special but winning in historic places, on this fantastic circuit, Silverstone, with the tradition in England about Formula One, the culture about motorsport, it is even more special.”
Fernando Alonso
And so on we go to Germany. The diffuser conundrum looks like it’s going away, but Ferrari are clearly up for it; McLaren showed they’re not far off and Red Bull will have it’s work cut out to come away from the Nürburgring with more silverware. Silverstone will go down as a failure for RBR, but with Vettel increasing his lead in the Drivers’ Championship and the team pulling further ahead in the Constructors’, it’s the sort of failure everyone can live with…
Want more?
- Read Seb Vettel's Silverstone blog
- Official F1 website, www.formula1.com
- Video: Christian Horner & Seb Vettel on the British GP
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