Formula One / David Croft / 20 June 2009 / Leave a comment

David Croft reports from Silverstone on all the events going on behind the scenes as the possibility of a split in the sport becomes more and more realistic. On the track Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel look like they mean business.

I made my way to the BBC commentary box at Silverstone yesterday afternoon and on the long climb up the stairs I suddenly realised that there was a race going on this weekend. Standing in the Paddock and listening to the endless opinion put forward by those with knowledge and those without, you could be forgiven for thinking that the only reason the Formula 1 circus had rolled into town, was so that the team principals could get together to continue their argument with the FIA. One team boss has concentrated on little else for the past 7 days, forced to leave his deputies to concentrate on the racing whilst he does his bit to secure their future.

Will the split happen? I wouldn't put money on it but then again I wouldn't back against it. FOTA seem resolute that they can go their own way and make a success of it, whilst the FIA believe that they can stop it and that their legal action will win the day. We'll wait and see, but next Wednesday's World Motor Sport Council meeting should prove very interesting and maybe the underlying reason behind the teams' battles with Max Mosley may become a little clearer.

Either way, at least for two hours on Saturday and two hours on Sunday the arguing will stop as it's very difficult to have a row over the noise of 20 Formula 1 cars whilst they're on the track.

It's the final British Grand Prix at Silverstone, unless Max Mosley is right in his theory that we'll be back here next year, and just to make it feel a little more British, I was greeted by a steady rain as I trudged my way over from the car park this morning. It's cold and windy as well, which has been playing havoc with the teams as they try to find the right balance on the car with which to attack this uber fast circuit.

Yesterday afternoon Jenson Button was complaining about understeer, and surprisingly for a man who should be used to the Arctic conditions here, the wind as well. He finished well off the pace by the end of the practice session and whilst I wouldn't discount him from the final reckoning, I wonder whether he, and his team, feel that they might not have the best car this weekend.

Sebastian Vettel, at [3.65] for the race, was the fastest man in both sessions whilst team-mate Mark Webber was close behind him, the Australian's day ended slightly early though when he ran heavily over a kerb and cut out the cars electronics. He's tremendous value at [8.4], running basically a new car for this weekend as Red Bull have brought a substantial amount of upgrades for the race, upgrades that unlike in Turkey seem to have given them the edge. It's not surprising to see Sebastian Vettel at [2.64] for pole, (Webber at [6.6] screams value by the way) , but he hasn't out-qualified his team mate so far this year and I don't see that changing today.

As for the rest, well sadly I think they're making up the numbers this weekend. Williams though, have been working hard on their development and appear to have had a certain amount of success. I like the look of the [4.9] for Kazuki Nakajima to make the points, Nico Rosberg is a shorter, but solid, [1.8] to do likewise which seems a pretty good price for a man who has been in the points for the past three races.

Mclaren have a decision to make as to whether they switch on their KERS or not, but unless it rains they won't be running at the front. Ferrari, despite optimism on Thursday, were talking a lot of doom and gloom on Friday, whilst BMW underwent another enforced engine change with Robert Kubica. I'd like to think that Kubica could haul that car of his into the top 8. [2.74] with Betfair says he can.

And finally spare a thought for Force India, racing in their home Grand Prix, almost racing in their own back yard as their factory is 400 yards from the Silverstone front gates. They have thrown a lot of upgrades onto the car for this weekend and have talked openly about the need for those upgrades to work. They say they'd be disappointed if they don't make the top 12 in qualifying and if they do then a points finish is on the cards. With Adrian Sutil at [6.8] and Giancarlo Fisichella at [8] to bag a point or two, they could be the bet of the weekend.