British Grand Prix asides.

[Tazar]

Terrible rendition of the National Anthem.
Jeremy Clarkson seems to have had a too liquid lunch.

[Nickp82]

I’m somewhat intrigued to know which three drivers JC was referring to when he said he liked 17 of them.

[Sandpit Steve]

Something wasn’t right with the anthem, I have a feeling the music failed to play and the singer just improvised it acapella, in which case serious fair play to her as that isn’t what would have been rehearsed. There was about 30s of silence beforehand alongside the helicopter shot, and the Red Arrows turned up 30s after she’d finished singing. Given how well they usually time the flypast, passing overhead on the last note, it just didn’t look right.

[Dusty964]

Tazar said:

Terrible rendition of the National Anthem.
Jeremy Clarkson seems to have had a too liquid lunch.

Its a terrible anthem anyway.

Why does he seem to have had a 'too liquid lunch' ?

They would be carrying me out with a good hospitality ticket.

[2fast748]

Tazar said:

Terrible rendition of the National Anthem.
Jeremy Clarkson seems to have had a too liquid lunch.

Definitely technical problems with the anthem and I thought Clarkson seemed more sober than the last time he was interviewed on the grid....

[Bradgate]

Massive congratulations to Sauber’s race strategy team who together with a brilliant drive by Hulk put Saturday’s slowest car onto the podium on Sunday.

[Castellet]

Our National Anthem has one of the best ‘tunes’ - although Damien Lewis did a great job of murdering it a couple of years ago

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4iKw0GMBtQ0&pp=0...

[Mischa33]

I used to go to the GP at Silverstone every other year when it used to alternate with Brands Hatch - so mainly during the mid-70's through the 80's. I've been a couple of times since then but not since 1997. I used to love the full race programme through the day - especially when the sportscar race (T70's, etc) would close the weekend after the GP - great to watch and let the early traffic get out! I watch every race on TV now.
You can tell from the above that I'm no longer a youngster but from what we see on the TV the grandstands seem full of people screaming at the mere sight of Lando, Lewis, etc and the grid assembly pre-race resembles a dance music gig. To me (remember I'm late 50's) it looks awful and not for me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I dashed onto the track at the end of the race when Mansell won! I know things move on and appreciate that - does anyone who went in 70's, 80's, 90's still go or is it pretty much a new crowd?

[bergclimber34]

I did notice the high pitched yelping at Stowe, I think this just highlights the huge change in demographics fan wise, there are huge increase in young, female fans,and that is pretty much the noise you can hear. It sounds like a women's football or Korean football crowd.

[Wills2]

The black drapes obscuring the pit lane was the strangest thing I've ever seen at an F1 race that was very much a WTF moment.

[Smollet]

Nickp82 said:

I m somewhat intrigued to know which three drivers JC was referring to when he said he liked 17 of them.

And loved the rest. I presume Lando, Lewis and George. Who knows? Who cares about whether he’s had a bevy or two anyway? It’s not like he’s a role model for PC is it??

[paulguitar]

bergclimber34 said:

I did notice the high pitched yelping at Stowe, I think this just highlights the huge change in demographics fan wise, there are huge increase in young, female fans,and that is pretty much the noise you can hear. It sounds like a women's football or Korean football crowd.

It's changed beyond recognition, especially on Friday, which used to be a quiet day only attended by full geeks. Now every session is a 'show', even FP1 and FP2. The 'LandoStand' thing is very weird; the whole of the Stowe corner grandstands given over to one driver.


The organisers seem to be terrified of any 'dead air'. When we had the brief red flag during qualifying, they had an annoying bloke on the big screens yelling at us to 'wave our arms' and 'make some noise'. Cheesy songs like 'Sweet Caroline' are played through the PA system. It's all gone a bit silly, honestly.

[Wills2]

Smollet said:

And loved the rest. I presume Lando, Lewis and George. Who knows? Who cares about whether he s had a bevy or two anyway? It s not like he s a role model for PC is it??

Does he drink much anymore? He's been pretty vocal about having to live like a monk since his health issues, he'd be very silly to continue on as he was.

Although having said that when you do cut down a couple of drinks is often all you need to appear a bit fresh.

[Far Cough]

Who the hell was Fat Boy Slim playing too on the grid and how the hell did all that DJ tech work as it was swimming with water !!

Someone who was there please humour me ...... how much was a burger and drink ??

[Pintofbest]

Far Cough said:

Who the hell was Fat Boy Slim playing too on the grid and how the hell did all that DJ tech work as it was swimming with water !!

Someone who was there please humour me ...... how much was a burger and drink ??

Burger - £10 - £14, pints were £7 (well 4 for £28). Not too bad.

[paulguitar]

Far Cough said:

Who the hell was Fat Boy Slim playing too on the grid and how the hell did all that DJ tech work as it was swimming with water !!

Someone who was there please humour me ...... how much was a burger and drink ??

Fat Boy Slim did Saturday night on the main stage, I think. I didn't stay that long. Weirdly, the main stage had a big crowd in front of it all weekend, with people watching the track action there on a big TV, rather than live!


A burger chips and coke was about £22. But I stopped at M&S Food on the way in.

[Wills2]

paulguitar said:

Fat Boy Slim did Saturday night on the main stage, I think. I didn't stay that long. Weirdly, the main stage had a big crowd in front of it all weekend, with people watching the track action there on a big TV, rather than live!

Every time I've been to Silverstone, whilst enjoying the build up and being lucky to be a guest of a team with pit lane and garage access, when the race starts I always have watched it on the screens in between going out for a bit to watch them come through vale and club and watching the tyre changes from the balcony, for me it's a much better watch on the TV with the commentary and replays, but it's great to be there for different reasons.

[Pintofbest]

Agree, I was in the Escapade houses on the side of the track and we spent as much time inside watching replays as we did outside watching the cars go past.

[paulguitar]

Pintofbest said:

Agree, I was in the Escapade houses on the side of the track and we spent as much time inside watching replays as we did outside watching the cars go past.

What did you think of the Escapade thing? I looked at them with interest as I was walking past on Saturday.

Can't find any 2026 prices online.

[n3il123]

paulguitar said:

It's changed beyond recognition, especially on Friday, which used to be a quiet day only attended by full geeks. Now every session is a 'show', even FP1 and FP2. The 'LandoStand' thing is very weird; the whole of the Stowe corner grandstands given over to one driver.

I'm pretty sure that Max had his own stand in Austria as the Sky team were commenting on how few of the seats had actually been sold.

In fact Tickets for the Max stands Max sells tickets to his own stand at the Austrian, Belgium, Dutch and Hungarian grand prixs