Silverstone,Great-Britain,June 11,2006 Formula 1 2006 
Great-Britain F1 2006 Track Review :
 The
first British Grand Prix was held here in 1948, and it was only meant to be
a one off, as the track was originally an airfield. Giuseppe Farina won the
first World Championship race in 1950 for Alfa Romeo. Forward wind in time
and in 1973, Jody Scheckter spun at Woodcote, the right hander that leads
into pit straight, triggering a multiple pile up. The track had its first
alteration in 25 years due to this, and they added a chicane at Woodcote for
the 1975 race. This was also the track that saw Clay Regazzoni give Williams
their first win in 1979. In 1987, a complex at Woodcote replaced the
chicane, and that year Nigel Mansell defeated his team-mate, Nelson Piquet
in one of the tracks best races. The track was revamped in 1991, followed by
another major rebuild in 1994. The British fans were overjoyed with Damon
Hill's win in 1994, with Johnny Herbert winning for Benetton in one year
later. Jacques Villeneuve took the win in both 1996 and 1997 while Michael
Schumacher won in controversial circumstances in 1998 when he took victory
for the Ferrari team in pit lane. 1999 saw the German suffer a first lap
accident that saw him sidelined until the penultimate race of the season
with a broken leg. Back in action and raring to go Schumacher returned a
year later. He didn't win the event, McLaren driver David Coulthard took
that honour ahead of team-mate Mika Hakkinen; however Schumacher still stood
on the podium albeit on the third step. Amid threats of the race being
stricken from the F1 calendar due to constant traffic chaos, the 2001 event
was won by Mika Hakkinen but Michael Schumacher was on the top step of the
rostrum once again in 2002. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello clinched victory in
the 2003 event, in a race which had been plunged into chaos by a
kilt-wearing protestor who ran onto the track in the face of cars speeding
past at 200 km/h. Kimi Raikkonen stormed to Pole Position but the 2004 race
fell once again to Michael Schumacher and the Ferrari team. Raikkonen,
revelling with the handing of the MP4-19B introduced two-weeks before,
pushed hard, crossing the line just over two seconds behind Schumacher with
Barrichello just a second further adrift. Raikkonen was the man on the move
again in 2005 as he worked his way up from his 12th position on the grid to
finish third behind his then title rival Fernando Alonso. Out front though
Juan Pablo Montoya held on to take the win for McLaren Mercedes. Under
pressure to improve the facilities, the British Racing Drivers Club is
looking at long-term investment plans for the circuit. Leasing the circuit
to a property investor seems to be on the cards ahead of the 2006 race.
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