Silverstone provides a bumpy ride for Virgin on their home F1 debut

A BRITISH Grand Prix on a baking English summer's day contested by the two fastest men in the country, but somebody forgot to drop the script in at the Red Bull motorhome.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have no intention of allowing McLaren team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to hog the limelight at a scorching Silverstone this weekend.

The Red Bull drivers have a party to poop.

Billed as the battle of Britons as Hamilton and Button timed their rise to the top of the drivers standings as clinically as a perfectly-executed exit out of Stowe, tomorrow's British Grand Prix was supposed to be all about the latest instalment in the allegedly phony friendship between two world champions on their home circuit.

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A weekend forecast to get track temperatures rising for a race that marks the mid-point of an already mouthwatering season and a circuit extension with a bumpy terrain that had drivers spinning off in all directions yesterday, merely heighten the expectancy levels.

But it is the Red Bulls of Webber and Vettel, with a maiden title in their sights and fresh from the German's victory in Valencia two weeks ago, who head into this afternoon's qualifying session as the men to beat.

Vettel topped the timesheets in the first of yesterday's two practice sessions, with Hamilton his closest challenger and Button eighth.

Then it was Webber's turn in the afternoon, the Australian clocking 1min 31.234secs – the fastest of the day – with Vettel third and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso sandwiched in between.

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Hamilton was eighth, while reigning champion Button, who trails his McLaren team-mate by six points at the top of the drivers' championship, trailed home in the unfamiliar surroundings of 13th.

It is not the first time the McLarens have started a race from behind the blue and red of Vettel and Webber, who have claimed pole at eight of the nine previous races.

But if they are to deliver a home one-two to an expectant crowd – who poured into Silverstone off the A43 to equal the previous Friday best of 85,000 spectators – they face a challenge to get their cars on pole at a bumpy Silverstone.

In their bid to keep their title rivals at bay, McLaren arrived here with a much-publicised performance upgrade. However, the Formula 1 heavyweights are not the only team hoping to pack a punch with a new-look car at their home grand prix.

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For Yorkshire-based rookies Virgin Racing, Silverstone represents a watershed in their development.

Not only is it the first home grand prix for the team born out of John Booth's Manor Motorsport operation in Dinnington, it is also a first chance to showcase their own aerodynamic development upgrade, a significant marker in their transformation from a team battling reliability issues to one closing the gap on their rivals.

New rear and front wings and an improved diffuser to improve downforce have been implemented. However, much like McLaren at the top end of the paddock, the results were not instant for Virgin.

In recent races drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi had closed the gap to three to four seconds a lap slower than the leading teams, but their best times yesterday were more than five seconds adrift.

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"This track is quicker than a Valencia (last round) so the top teams will see the benefits of their upgrades that little bit better than we do," said Glock, who outpaced his team-mate to finish 20th in the first session, but slipped back in the afternoon as di Grassi struck back with a 1min 36.237secs.

Glock's best, after an afternoon session disrupted by a broken wing, was 1min 36.553secs.

"The upgrade won't pay off as much for us here as it will at other circuits, but even now the improvement is clear to see and we are maybe a bit closer to Lotus.

"It's quite a big step for us. The overall grip levels are improved and in general, the car is better everywhere."

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Booth – whose team are battling Lotus and Hispania Racing for 10th spot in the constructors championship and the 17m windfall that brings – attributed the wider gap in lap times to the length of the Silverstone circuit, which has increased to nearly 5.9km after the re-routing through the Arena section where the cars are experiencing trouble with the 'speed' bumps.

"It's a long lap which makes a difference," said Booth.

"The gap between Webber in first and Michael Schumacher in sixth is 1.4 secs, when it's usually half that.

"The task for qualifying is to try and put ourselves as high up Q3 as we can. People can make mistakes, so we may make it into Q2, but we are not going to kid ourselves, we won't get there on merit.

"The most challenging aspect to deal with this weekend will be the bumps. They break up the downforce of a car. We saw it today – I've never seen so many cars coming off the track in all my life.

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"Every time I looked at the screen someone was skidding off, and almost all of those were as a result of hitting the bumps."

Glock was not as forgiving of the new Silverstone layout,

unceremoniously describing it as 'not great', and if it appears that it was only the Virgin team complaining, there were plenty of other detractors around the paddock, including 2003 British Grand Prix winner Rubens Barichello.

"I love this circuit, but it's really, really bumpy," said the Williams driver. "I'm sorry to say this because I am usually such a fan."

It could be a bumpy ride for the 24 drivers this weekend, and the 120,000 expected to flood through the gates for tomorrow's British Grand Prix.

Button struggles again in practice

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JENSON BUTTON'S indifferent form at his home grand prix shows no sign of ending this weekend.

The world champion has never achieved a podium finish at the British Grand Prix in 10 previous attempts and could only manage 12th fastest overall in yesterday's double practice session.

His McLaren car is sporting the new exhaust-blown diffuser that has given title rivals Red Bull an advantage in qualifying since the start of the season and proven so successful, but it failed to deliver for the Briton.

Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton fared only slightly better, meaning a late night in the McLaren garage for the champion and his mechanics.

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"I haven't had a perfect day, which is disappointing because for a Friday it was amazing to see so many people," said Button, in reference to the record-equalling 85,000 spectators that crammed into Silverstone for practice.

"But we knew it was going to be difficult with the new package on the car, and we've not got the best out of it. We're working as hard as we can to do that for the weekend because this is a special one for our team and we want to perform well.

"The Red Bulls are very fast, so we just have to hope we make a good step forward tonight."

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