Silverstone is the battleground this weekend for a pair of British Formula One title contenders for the first time in more than a decade — and a year after it seemed the circuit might never witness such a duel again.
Just six points separate Lewis Hamilton, 25, and Jenson Button, 30, at the top of the championship standings as they prepare for their first home grand prix as McLaren teammates at the midway point of the season.
Never before have Hamilton and Button been able to race against each other in competitive cars in front of 120,000 home fans.
And those fans have not seen British drivers dominate at Silverstone since 1999, when David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine produced a one-two finish.
“We are here to fight against each other,” said Button, the defending world champion. “I’ve won in Monaco and I’ve won the world championship, so winning my home grand prix is the one thing that is missing from my CV.”
Although Button fell short at Silverstone last year, finishing sixth in his Brawn, the points helped him win the championship.
Hamilton’s last trip to Silverstone — as defending world and race champion — epitomized his forlorn 2009 season, with his slow McLaren qualifying 19th and limping home 16th in the race.
It seemed Hamilton wouldn’t get a chance to redeem for that poor performance, with Silverstone losing the British hosting rights to Donington Park. But Silverstone, two hours north of London, regained the race in December after Donington hit financial problems.
The circuit has been revamped to make it longer and increase overtaking opportunities.
Until today’s first practice session, the closest the drivers will get to testing the upgraded circuit is on a computer simulator — and Hamilton has struggled.
“On my first lap I missed out the new section and continued on as normal,” Hamilton said. “It took a lap longer than normal to get used to not going up to Abbey and turning left but going right on to the new section.”
While Hamilton and Button have each won two races this season, so have Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Vettel, who led Webber in a one-two Red Bull finish at Silverstone last year, won the European Grand Prix at Valencia on June 27 after dominating from pole.
Vettel is third in the championship, 12 points behind Hamilton, while fourth-place Webber is twice as far adrift.
And the spotlight has been on the Vettel-Webber relationship since a costly run-in at Istanbul in May when Vettel made contact with Webber and spun while trying to pass for the lead.
“Some people thought it was the end of the world, but it wasn’t,” Webber said.
“The whole team has learned from the situation, including the drivers to a degree.”
If Webber and Vettel think they have problems, they are nothing compared with those of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
The German’s 15th-place finish at Valencia was the worst of his 258-race career, representing a new low in his comeback season for Mercedes. (Rob Harris)
Associated Press
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