Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel: “Silverstone is something special”

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Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd.

Sebastian Vettel says there’s “something special” about racing at Silverstone as Formula 1 heads toward the 2019 British Grand Prix, scene of one of Vettel’s five victories last season.

Vettel converted second on the grid last year to race victory as championship rival Lewis Hamilton was sent spinning at turn two. It remains Vettel’s penultimate race win to this day however, as the German’s 2018 campaign dwindled and he’s yet to better second place in 2019.

Whether Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari can add to their seventeen British Grand Prix victories and score their first win of 2019 remains to be seen but Vettel certainly enjoys the Northamptonshire circuit.

“Racing at Silverstone is something special for all the drivers because it’s such a cool track,” says Vettel. “There are a lot of fast sections. It is also very technical, especially in the first part of the track with the new corners.

“To be honest, I still prefer the old parts with the fast flowing turns. There is one of the most epic corner sequences in Formula 1 on this circuit, with Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel leading onto the Hangar Straight. I think every driver enjoys that part and I certainly do.”

The 2019 season so far has been far less enjoyable for Vettel and Ferrari, with victory being snatched away from Charles Leclerc last time out in Austria and Vettel losing victory in Canada to a controversial time penalty. But as Vettel points out, Silverstone has been a happy hunting ground for Ferrari.

“We won there last year and it is also the place where Ferrari took its first race win in Formula 1 a long way back, so there is plenty of history there for all of us at Ferrari.”

The Scuderia‘s first ever victory came at Silverstone in 1951 courtesy of the Argentinean José Froilán González who beat his compatriot Juan Manuel Fangio.

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Formula 1 Writer for TheCheckeredFlag. Tried racing once, crashed lots; writing about it is much safer. Follow me on Twitter @CVennF1
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