2011 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Vettel leads by 77 points over Button and Webber, who are tied for second following the previous race in Valencia.

Previous race

Vettel won the European Grand Prix in Valencia for his sixth victory of the season, with Alonso second and Webber third. It was a record-breaking race: all 24 cars started and finished — the most classified finishers in Formula One history. Hispania’s Karthikeyan became the first driver to be classified 24th. The introduction of the engine map restrictions generated paddock debate but did not visibly disrupt the running order.

Between-race developments

Daniel Ricciardo — Toro Rosso’s testing and reserve driver — replaces Narain Karthikeyan at Hispania for the remainder of the 2011 season. With Mark Webber also in the field, Ricciardo’s debut marks the first time two Australian drivers have raced together since Alan Jones and Vern Schuppan at the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix.

Regulation

The British Grand Prix sees the introduction of a ban on off-throttle blown diffusers — devices that channel exhaust gases over the diffuser to increase downforce while the driver is off the throttle. The regulation limits the amount of throttle that can be applied while braking. The engine map restriction introduced in Valencia is also in effect.

Silverstone returns to a single DRS zone this race after the two-zone experiments in Montreal and Valencia. The activation point is placed before Aintree corner, allowing DRS to be deployed along the Wellington Straight.

Track changes

This is the first time the fully reconfigured Silverstone is used, with the pit complex and start/finish line relocated to the straight between Club Corner and the new Abbey. The new pit facility was designed to minimise time lost in the pits. The entry to the new Abbey corner has also been resurfaced following complaints from MotoGP riders in 2010 about a large bump on the racing line.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the hard compound as the prime and the soft as the option — the same selection as the British Grand Prix for the past two years.

Practice

FP1 was wet throughout. Webber set the fastest time but stopped on circuit with fuel problems. Schumacher finished second, Barrichello third. Kobayashi crashed heavily on the pit straight late in the session; Sauber repaired the car in time for FP2. FP2 was wetter still — nearly half the session elapsed before any driver ventured out. A dry line gradually formed and Massa finished fastest, eight-tenths clear of Rosberg and Kobayashi.

FP3 was the driest session of the weekend, briefly interrupted by a shower. Vettel was fastest by six hundredths of a second over Alonso, with Webber fourth after an early gearbox problem limited his running. Schumacher had floor trouble and finished 11th.