IT’S Union Jack time and we can once again relish the sights and sounds of Silverstone, the greatest airfield track in the world, one which is wide enough to get lost on!
That’s how I felt in 1972 when I was first let loose on the great circuit in a Formula 3 car as, even then, it was so wide that I found it hard to decide on my lines for the corners.
I was lost for a while but soon enough found my feet and voice to be able to sing the Silverstone song.
The Williams grand prix team arrives in Britain fresh from their maiden win this year in Austria.
They have their top hats on and tails up and, as a truly British team albeit with a very good German Mercedes engine powering their state-of-the-art, high-tech machine, have a good chance of repeating their Austrian result.
Both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas are driving the wheels off their cars and are ready to take all comers head-on, so don’t be surprised if Williams is right at the top once again.
True Brit, Lewis Hamilton and his equally talented teammate Nico Rosberg will be determined to change matters with their mean machines from the Uber Alles side of the channel.
They really should be the quickest cars, considering their mega-buck budget and huge design and development team, but the giant-killers from Grove, led by a super determined paraplegic, may surprise them.
I personally hope that Williams has another great race, thus bringing out the best in everyone around them.
After Mercedes, it will probably be Red Bull Renault’s Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo who will pick up the challenge.
They have a really great team and a wonderful state-of-the-art car but still need a few more horses to match Mercedes engine-wise.
I expect the blood-red Ferraris to seek revenge at this high speed race of champions as Ferrari have always been good at fast circuits.
This means that they will have been working very hard in their wind tunnel to get their aerodynamics right.
So we can expect both Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen to be determined and focused for this race.
If their aerodynamic results are as good as their engine they should be right up there.
The sea of red, white and blue seen by the drivers as they race around the track will be strongly supporting Lotus, McLaren and Caterham (as well as Hamilton and Williams of course).
Of these, I expect the most of McLaren, with the grunt of their Mercedes engine helping an improved car push Jenson Button and teammate Kevin Magnussen to a higher level, one where they should be.
Lotus has issued a statement that they are going to make a big step forward at Silverstone with their E22 car and that the circuit is complementary to their machine.
They should be the next best Renault runner unless Caterham pull the rabbit out of the hat with another special effort from either Marcus Ericsson or Kamui ‘Kamakazi’ Kobayashi.
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean is very good and due for a lucky break. Look out for him and equally talented Pastor Maldonado who also deserves some luck for a change.
Silverstone is always exciting and 52 laps of the 5.9 km circuit should produce a humdinger of a race.
The current lap record is held by Fernando Alonso at 1m 30.9 since 2010.
Nico Rosberg won there last year.
Some 150 000 spectators and more than 15 million viewers worldwide are in for a great weekend’s entertainment. Qualifying is on Saturday at 2pm and the race is this Sunday at 2pm.
It’s faster and better than the Wimbledon men’s final. God save the Queen.
