Just over a week ago I should have been sitting in the grandstand at Silverstone, at Abbey to be precise, but with the current global pandemic, my view for the British Grand Prix will be quite different this yea
I have been to Silverstone on a few occasions now, two of which have been for the Formula One Grand Prix, and while the itinerary has been the same for the past two years, the excitement of seeing the best of the best race around one of the most historic tracks in Formula One brings fresh excitement and anticipation for each race.
Despite the dates that the British Grand Prix was pencilled in for coming and going, there is still going to be a race, in fact, there is going to be two. It will be a different experience this year for me watching it to TV, and despite the big screen being up opposite the grandstand, there is that much happening on the tarmac in front of you that there is little time to process what is actually happening.
My first British Grand Prix was in 2018, and I didn’t know what to expect. I had just been back from a school trip to New York, so to give me some time to recover from all the travelling, we flew over to England on the Friday and headed to the track that night to get our first real feel of the event.
The standout moment for me of the 2018 event had to be seeing Lewis Hamilton claim pole position on his home track, before running over to the main stage to see England beat Sweden in the World Cup, with me almost being knocked over by Sky Sport’s Craig Slater.
For that qualifying session, I was standing around the Village section beside a Channel 4 microphone. I had the opportunity to be the Neeeeoommm man from the USA Grand Prix, but at the time that didn’t happen and I missed out on a great opportunity.
The major sunburn and the lack of assists on the F1 esports set-up (they said braking assist was on and it wasn’t, which got me disqualified for going straight on at Abbey), where probably the only disappointments of the weekend, one that I will never forget.
Thinking that I wouldn’t be going to another race for many years, I got tickets for the following year’s event, that would be the 2019 race. This one reached a whole new level for me, we knew the drill by now, we knew what to expect…or did we.
Following the race on Sunday we headed down to the start/finish straight just to have a look at the pit lane. This was a surreal experience being able to look straight into the pit garages of drivers that watch week in week out on the TV.
I managed to see so many former F1 drivers and media personnel doing their punditry and presenting, with the likes of Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg and Martin Brundle coming over and speaking to us fans.
Then the craziest thing that I think will ever happen to me at Silverstone. Lewis Hamilton after winning his home Grand Prix jumped over the fence and began to crowd surf right in front of me. I managed to grab his arm and just to see a driver that has done so much for the sport, right in front of you in touching distance is mind-blowing.
I am really disappointed not to be heading back to Silverstone this year as it would have been the first big motorsport event that I have been to since starting The Apex Motorsport. I hope to attend next year’s event and I am sure that it will be the best British Grand Prix to date.