2011 British Grand Prix
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 19 in the 2011 Formula One season | |||
Silverstone Circuit
|
|||
| Date | 10 July 2011 | ||
| Official name | 66th Santander British Grand Prix | ||
| Location | Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 5.891 km (3.661 mi) | ||
| Distance | 52 laps, 306.198 km (190.263 mi) | ||
| Weather | Wet track at start; subsequently drying Air Temp 20 °C (68 °F) Track Temp 22 °C (72 °F) |
||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Red Bull-Renault | ||
| Time | 1:30.399 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 Fernando Alonso
|
Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:34.908 on lap 41 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Ferrari | ||
| Second | Red Bull-Renault | ||
| Third | Red Bull-Renault | ||
|
|
|||
The 2011 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 July 2011 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, and won by Fernando Alonso. Changes to the circuit mean that the race was previously classified as being in Northamptonshire, but the movement of the start-finish line means that the race is now officially classed as being in Buckinghamshire. It was the ninth race of the 2011 season, and saw the introduction of a ban on off-throttle blown diffusers, the practice of forcing the engine to continue to produce exhaust gasses to generate downforce when drivers are not using the throttle.
The circuit underwent a major reconfiguration for the 2010 British Grand Prix, with the addition of the "Arena" loop bypassing the old Abbey, Bridge and Priory corners before re-joining at Brooklands. The 2011 race saw the second stage of this reconfiguration used for the first time, with the pits and the start/finish line moved to the straight between Club Corner and the new Abbey. The new pit facility was deliberately designed to be challenging for drivers, and to minimise the amount of time spent in the pits. The entry lane branches off from the circuit on the approach to Vale and Club – one of the slowest sections of the circuit – allowing a pitting driver to continue to accelerate while others are forced to slow for the corner. The pit lane itself does not run parallel to the main straight, but rather is angled at five degrees to make the corner at the entry to the pit lane slightly faster. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner noted that the pits are lower than the circuit proper, and that he believed that drivers would have to treat the corner at the entry to the pit lane as they would a corner on the circuit.
Following complaints from MotoGP riders in 2010, the entry to the new Abbey has been re-surfaced to remove a large bump situated on the racing line. The reconfiguration was not without controversy, as the lowered pit lane meant that the pit garages were obscured from the view of the spectators by a retaining wall. Formula One Management reversed the intended pit lane order, placing the Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari pit garages behind the retaining wall, and moving the Team Lotus, Hispania and Virgin and back to the visible end of the pit lane. The change in the allocation of garages was believed to be for the benefit of corporate guests in the Formula One "Paddock Club", a corporate suite housed above the far end of the pit lane obscured from view.
...
Wikipedia