Silverstone: why you love it, why you hate it

Here we are on a lovely morning at the mighty Silverstone. Saturday practice has just finished(timings below) and I assume thousands of people are still stuck in traffic jams. Something I've noticed are the acoustics of this place set in the arable fields of Northamptonshire. Driving in earlier on, along a farm track which leads to the press car park, we were backed up when the session started and the noise was incredible. I remember it from last year when I visited Silverstone for the first time just to have a look at F1 to see if it was for me. It's not so much that it is loud but somehow you sense the energy, the speed, the downforce, the brute force of the cars in the soundscape here as well, if not better, than anywhere (which seems odd). Anyway I had a go at the top-10 best and worst of Silverstone. Why don't you try it yourself and I'll stick 'em up.

The 10 Best Things About Silverstone

1, It's a Formula One track and it's in Britain.
2, A classic racer's circuit - the first five corners are among the best in Formula One.
3, History: Silverstone was venue for the first world championship race on May 13th, 1950(won by Giuseppe "Nino" Farina in an Alfa Romeo).
4, The smell of bacon butties in the mornings in the camp sites all around the circuit. One such site has been renamed "Hamilton field".
5, Atmosphere: you can't beat a full house at Silverstone, especially when a British driver is on song.
6, Education: Just as in Italy - think Monza or Imola - these people know their racing(unlike some parts of the world).
7, Copse: one of the fastest corners in racing. The drivers take this full-chat at 185mph and it's waiting for them right after the start. Then it's Maggotts and Becketts - twitchy, fast, dangerous.
8, Access to the track by car is much better than it use to be.
9, It's the venue for Lewis Hamilton's home Grand Prix.
10, It's 30 miles from Milton Keynes.

The 10 Worst Things About Silverstone

1, Bernie Ecclestone doesn't like it.
2, It's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club(BRDC). A case of too many chiefs and not enough indians or the other way round.
3, Bernie is fed up with the BRDC and says he can't deal with it.
4, Delapidated feel, no roofs on the grandstands, muddy camp sites.
5, Bernie says it's a "third-rate" circuit.
6, The smell of bacon butties in the morning, and cheap burgers all day.
7, Bernie thinks the access is bad, the pits are "the pits", the media facilities are rubbish and the public deserve better.
8, It's near Milton Keynes.
9, Bernie wants to look elsewhere and most of the places he is looking at are a long, long way away.
10, Traffic jams.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time              Laps
1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:19.751           17
2.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:19.920 + 0.169   12
3.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:19.969 + 0.218   17
4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:20.344 + 0.593   12
5.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:20.666 + 0.915   17
6.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:20.770 + 1.019   21
7.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:20.876 + 1.125   21
8.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:20.882 + 1.131   17
9.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)  1:20.882 + 1.131   19
10.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:20.915 + 1.164   23
11.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)  1:20.983 + 1.232   19
12.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:21.002 + 1.251   16
13.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:21.039 + 1.288   19
14.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:21.140 + 1.389   22
15.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:21.148 + 1.397   17
16.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)  1:21.156 + 1.405   17
17.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:21.321 + 1.570   18
18.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:21.343 + 1.592   16
19.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:21.583 + 1.832   24
20.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:21.745 + 1.994   23
21.  Albers        Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:22.101 + 2.350   23
22.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:22.180 + 2.429   24