2000 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Schumacher leads with 30 points after three consecutive wins to open the season — the McLarens have scored only seven points between them across three races. Häkkinen says he is not panicking: “I believe in my team and I know my car is excellent. There is still a long way to go.”

Previous race

At Imola, Schumacher took his third win in a row, completing a hat-trick to start the season. Ferrari team principal Jean Todt said “it will be a long hard road” but took it as an incentive to work harder. Häkkinen picked up his first points of the year; he said afterwards he was “extremely disappointed” with his own performance across the weekend.

Between-race developments

Teams tested at Silverstone from 11 to 14 April. On the third day, Zonta’s suspension failed at Stowe corner and he crashed into a spectator enclosure, cutting his right middle finger. BAR withdrew from testing. Following the incident, Schumacher intervened with Silverstone’s management to enlarge the tyre wall at Stowe and smooth the surrounding gravel trap. BAR replaced the carbon suspension elements on their car with steel ones for the race weekend.

McLaren receives a lighter, more powerful version of the Mercedes V10 for this race. Prost qualifies with the most recent Peugeot Evo 3 engine.

Car upgrades

McLaren offers a revised front wing specification and new screens behind the front wheels. The FIA permitted modified pit lane speed limiters — hard-coded below 50 mph to prevent driver aids — after discussion with drivers during the week.

Weather

The race takes place on Easter Sunday — a date the FIA controversially brought forward from the traditional July slot. Practice begins on a dry track but heavy rain falls within the first half hour of the first session, and conditions remain wet throughout the weekend. Schumacher called conditions in Friday’s sessions “almost impossible to drive and also dangerous.”

Practice

Four sessions are held: two one-hour sessions on Friday and two 45-minute sessions on Saturday. Heavy rain dominates Friday, with Frentzen fastest at 1:27.683 in the wet first session. An electrical failure prevents Ralf Schumacher from setting a lap time; Herbert completes just three laps with a pneumatic valve pressure loss. In the second session, standing water and spray reduce visibility to near zero. Coulthard’s car develops a hydraulic problem on the Hangar Straight, triggering a 14-minute red flag. A Land Rover recovery vehicle becomes stuck in the mud, and Villeneuve narrowly avoids a marshal assisting Coulthard.

Conditions remain wet for Saturday morning. Coulthard leads FP3; Diniz crashes at Club corner, damaging his front suspension. Button then slides into the gravel at turn 14 and his stationary car is struck by Irvine’s Jaguar — both cars’ suspensions are broken and neither driver is hurt. Button and Irvine sit out the final session for repairs. Häkkinen sets the fastest time in the final session, 1:33.132, as the track begins to dry.