Those last ten laps were special. Five different teams battling for a podium place. Passing and re-passing each other.
Why Charles was not pitted I will never know. His defence on the used tyres (and a damaged car) was fantastic, and witnessing his overtake of Lewis at Copse was amazing, even if he did lose it after Chapel.
Fantastic recovery drive from Perez, finishing second after the early contact was a great result.
Really annoyed with Yuki, he was having a solid race with Gasly in 8th and 9th place, and on for a solid haul of points until he went in to the side of Gasly, and ruined both their races, and Max's. The piece of Gasly's rear wing that was stuck under his car was crazy. The annoying thing was he was showing great pace, as fast as Gasly, there was no need for him to try and overtake. I hope Yuki and Gasly can both have a clean race in Austria and pick up a few points, the team mechanic I spoke to on the pit wall would certainly appreciate that
It was fantastic to be back at Silverstone for the race, after missing the last few years due to Covid. Back in 2019, we did every session waking up nice and early to get a shower, but this year was much more laid back, and relaxed. We also took enough food to BBQ and avoid the expensive food outlets for the first for days which was a nice change of pace.
We arrived at the camp site on Wednesday and setup the tent which did not take as long as expected, but the camp site was already significantly busies than we remembered last time when we arrived on Thursday.
Thursday was just a nice chilled out day exploring the track, and having a go at some of the attractions in the Fan Zone. Myself, Jon and Mike had a go on the pitstop challenge and managed another sub 3 second stop, only for Russ to replace me as the wheel gun man, and for them to get a 2.7 second stop. Lots of fun
Friday we did a lap of the track, walking from Stowe to Copse to check out our grandstand for the race on Sunday (It was supposed to be Vale, but Vale had been overbooked so we ended up in Sterling B, just before Copse). We then headed down to Luffield, before going to Village. Village is a fantastic set of corners to watch the drivers, and they all seemed to be struggling to get it right.
Saturday the weather did not look great, but it did stay dry most of the day until qualifying. We made the decision to setup in Club for the day. It was a covered grandstand so would keep us dry if the rain did hit, and also provided an excellent view of the Start/Finish line, Club, and Vale. If anything, there was a bit to much to keep on top of their but that made it fun.
It was a great choice, we got to see the F3 and F2 sprint races, and the W Series race, and some of the battles going in to Vale and through Club was brilliant. I thought the track might dry during the F2 race, but it did not, the F2 cars just did not seem to shift the water which caught me out.
Qualifying was great to watch there, we just about saw Max's spin from where we were, but you could just tell Max was on a different level with how committed it was going through Vale and Club compared to the others.
Sunday we missed the first race due to its early start and the long walk from Stowe to Copse, we did see some of the action while walking but not much. There was a threat of rain, and the weather apps could not make their minds up. We had the tiniest shower ever just after the race finished, but not enough to need a coat, I think I took my coat off after five minutes as it had stopped.
I would not go with Sterling B grandstand again, we had a great view of Ocon breaking down opposite us, and as mentioned above, Charles overtaking Lewis was great, but you could not see much of the exit of Copse, but the atmosphere was great.
At the end of the race, the fans were allowed on the track, and we made our way to the Hamilton Straight to look in the pits. Russ managed to pick up a free alpine hat which was cool. Trying to get past the Mercedes pit was a bit crazy, but once we got past the Alpha Tauri and Haas garages did not have many people outside. Spoke to one of the Alpha Tauri engineers who was packing up, and they were stopping over Sunday night before heading to Austria on Monday, and starting the unpack on Tuesday. I assume it takes longer to set everything up than it does to put it away.
The Haas Team, and Mick Schumacher then came out to celebrate his first points, and we managed to avoid being covered in his champagne that he sprayed on the crowd. Was crazy how quickly a huge gathering appeared behind us when the Haas Team and Mick came out. I thought what was a really nice touch, was that Mick passed the 90% empty bottle of champagne to a fan through one of the gaps in the pit wall. Was great to be part of that moment and cheering him on.
We also saw Ted doing his notebook, and if you look closely at the first few minutes, you might spot Matt cheering Mick on. Sadly I can only see my cap in the images but I got to see Ted which was great.
Monday we packed the tent away, and headed home after a fantastic few days away. It looked like with the race running later than I remember, and the hour delay, a lot of people decided to leave on the Monday, which meant we had a little wait to get out, but overall the campsite was excellent, and I would recommend stopping at Silverstone Woodlands campsite.
If you are an F1 fan, I can not recommend enough going to Silverstone for the race. Its not the same as watching it on the TV, but it is a special experience. I am already looking forward to going next year.
