Just a few days after the last race, Scuderia Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are once again ready to return to the track, as the 2017 British Grand Prix is scheduled to take place this weekend at Silverstone. Kimi and Sebastian are looking forward to racing at one of UK’s biggest historic motorsport events:
“Silverstone is a great place and I enjoy driving here.” – Kimi Raikkonen said on Thursday, as reported by the Italian media – “The track has a lot of history and there’s always a great atmosphere. I have raced here before F1, I liked the old circuit, the layout was more flowing. It hasn’t changed a lot, the feeling is a bit different but it is still a great place to drive. This year we have completely different cars and rules, we expect to have more downforce than last year’s car and thus to carry more speed through the fast corners. Tomorrow we will see if that is the case: hopefully it goes more in that direction because it’s more fun! We have a limited amount of engines because of the regulations, and now it is time to put a new one in; as was planned since the beginning.” – Kimi explained.
Ahead of the first two practice sessions at the Silverstone track on Friday, Sebastian Vettel is on the same page as his Finnish team-mate: “Usually there is a big passion for racing in this country, so it is great to be here, as it is one of the places where the history of motor racing was made. As for us, our car was good last week and it should be ok here, too. I didn’t win in Austria and I really wanted to, but that’s how it goes: sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. The most important thing is to be up there, not just in terms of results, but in terms of pace. Also, tomorrow I will test the Shield protection for a few laps in P1. So far I’ve only seen it on a computer screen, so I’ll check it out.” – Scuderia Ferrari’s German driver added.
There is no surprise that Silverstone has traditionally been fervently pro-Hamilton, who has won the event three years running, adding to his famous victory at the 2008 edition in the rain. However, Sebastian has no concerns regarding the reaction of the local fans during the British weekend: “I don’t think you need to make a big story of it. Obviously I am not the home driver so I am pretty sure that they will cheer the home drivers which you have Lewis and Jolyon [Palmer] and that’s what they should do. You expect the same from when we go to Brazil to have the people to be cheering for Felipe [Massa], this year’s there no German GP… To be honest, I won here in the past and I was mostly fighting with Jenson [Button] at that time for the race, the championship and when I won I was surprised as they were very fair. They stood up and maybe you expect they are not happy, not that pleased but they were. It’s a fair crowd, a crowd that appreciates that you have done a good job. It’s a great place to race, it is a fantastic circuit, it’s a great crowd because one they are fair and passionate about racing, there’s a lot of supporters for Ferrari in this country as well. I don’t see it as a fight or anything. I think it’s great to run in front of a big crowd.” – Sebastian Vettel concluded.
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