Formula 1 comes home to Silverstone for the 2014 British Grand Prix and fans can follow all the action from round nine of this season’s thrilling championship battle live on BBC Two and Sky Sports F1.
Described as the home of British motorsport, the 2014 race weekend is particularly special event race for Silverstone as the famous venue celebrates its 50th Formula 1 grand prix at the circuit, having held the very first F1 race back in 1950.
Motor racing began at Silverstone in 1948 with a grand prix race around the perimeter of the former WWII airfield, before hosting the first official Formula 1 World Championship race two years later.
From 1955, the British Grand Prix alternated with Aintree on Merseyside, then from 1963 to 1987 the race was shared with Brands Hatch, before becoming Formula 1’s permanent UK home thereafter.
While the layout historic track has changed slightly since , the look and feel of Silverstone has changed drastically in the last decade, with new upgraded facilities and major improvements for fans off track and a new spectacular pits complex, which opened in 2011.
The 2014 edition, Silverstone’s 50th F1 race, should provide more thrilling entertainment for both fans at the circuit and the millions watching the race at home, with many home fans hoping to see a British winner.
Following the previous race in Austria a fortnight ago, the advantage lies with last year’s British Grand Prix victor Nico Rosberg, as he and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton continue their intense inter-team world championship battle.
Silverstone’s high speed nature should favour the Mercedes-powered cars and Lewis Hamilton will be desperately keen to beat Nico Rosberg and close the gap on home soil.
Williams impressed in Austria with Felipe Massa taking pole position and Valtteri Bottas scoring his first podium, suggesting more to come from the Grove-based team at their home race, though it will be interesting to see if they can carry that form over to the very different test that the Northamptonshire venue presents.
Whatever their results this weekend, the team is set to make more Silversone history as Williams development driver Susie Wolff becomes the first woman to take part in an F1 race weekend for 22 years when she drives for the team in free practice on Friday.
Elsewhere, world champions Red Bull may once again find their lack of straight-line speed an issue, however, their downforce levels through the high-speed turns should allow them to be more competitive than they were two weeks ago.
McLaren and Jenson Button have continued to produce underwhelming results and it seems unlikely that the high-speed straights and corners of Silverstone will turn out to be a happy hunting ground for the 2009 champion this time.
Whoever British fans will be cheering for, the race is almost guaranteed not to be a disappointment as Silverstone is putting on a festival to mark the 50th time it has hosted a British Grand Prix.
Parades of historic Formula 1 cars driven by legendary names such as Sir Jackie Stewart, Dario Franchitti and Adrian Newey in the build-up to race and will no doubt be one of the highlights of what promises to be a special weekend for everyone involved in Formula 1.
This season the pair’s Mercedes has dominated the field, winning the vast majority of grands prix. Will the two drivers’ tussle at the top of the driver standings resume in Northamptonshire?
You can follow all the action from the ninth round of the 2014 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season on both BBC Sport and Sky Sports F1.
SOTB’s viewing guide to the 2014 F1 British Grand Prix below:
OFFICIAL F1 WEBSITE TRACK GUIDE LIVE TIMING
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BBC Sport will broadcast the entire 2014 British Grand Prix weekend live on free-to-air television across BBC Two and BBC Red Button as it showcases the 50th running of the race at Silverstone.
Live coverage begins on Friday with the first free practice session on BBC Two, followed by the second later in the day on BBC Red Button and Online, while practice three is live on BBC Two on Saturday morning.
Due to clashes with the Wimbledon singles finals, both qualifying and the race will be shown live and in their entirety on Saturday and Sunday on BBC Two and BBC Two HD, with both sessions starting at 1.00pm.
Suzi Perry presents BBC TV’s coverage from Silverstone across weekend where she will be joined by David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan and Allan McNish, all of whom will be on hand to provide lively analysis and discussion in the pits and paddock.
During the lengthy qualifying and race build-ups there will be plenty of fresh features and interviews to keep viewers informed and entertained, including David Coulthard’s grid-walk on race day.
Commentary comes from Ben Edwards and Coulthard, with Lee McKenzie and Tom Clarkson providing pit-lane updates and conduct interviews with the drivers and team personnel.
BBC Sport’s popular F1 Forum, presented by Suzi Perry, follows the conclusion of the BBC One race transmission on the BBC Red Button and online at 3.30pm.
The BBC Sport website will have live streaming of all live BBC TV broadcasts, as well as additional live video content during including extra feeds such as driver tracker, on-board cameras, pits channel and a choice of commentary, plus interviews and analysis.
All of the BBC’s TV coverage will be available to view shortly after transmission on BBC iPlayer.
BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra will also have live audio commentary of every on-track session from Silverstone with James Allen, Jennie Gow and Allan McNish.
The British Grand Prix forms part of a bumper weekend of live sport on BBC TV, which also features the climax to Wimbledon and the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in Brazil.
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FORMULA 1 2014 ON SKY SPORTS F1 HD
Formula 1 returns to Silverstone, where it all began in 1950, for one of the most popular events on the calendar and Sky Sports F1 will have its usual extensive live coverage.
The British Grand Prix will be shown live and uninterrupted on Sunday afternoon, along with the practice and qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday.
Simon Lazenby will anchor Sky Sports F1’s comprehensive live coverage throughout the weekend where he will be joined by regulars Damon Hill, Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert.
Ted Kravitz will provide the latest news and reports and from the pit lane, with further reports and driver interviews from Natalie Pinkham.
Commentary on all sessions comes from David Croft, with Martin Brundle joining him for both qualifying and the race, with Anthony Davidson calling the practice sessions, as well as providing his unique insights via the Sky Pad during the weekend.
The F1 Show live from the Silverstone pits will build up to the race weekend on Friday evening, hosted by Simon Lazenby, Natalie Pinkham and Ted Kravitz.
In addition, there will a special one-hour programme on Thursday at 6.00pm – The Grid Live: Silverstone’s 50th – where Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton joins the Sky F1 team on the grid at Silverstone to preview the weekend’s race, the 50th to be held at the famous circuit.
During the race, a host of interactive additions, including on-board cameras, pit-lane feeds, the latest race stats and much more available via the red button and the Sky Sports for iPad app.
For those who won’t be at home, every second of the action can be seen via computers, laptops, mobiles and tablet devices on Sky Go.
Further information, news and video content can be found at skysports.com/f1, and viewers are encouraged to interact with the live programmes via Twitter – @SkySportsF1, #SkyF1.
In addition to all the F1 action, Sky Sports F1 will also screen live coverage of the GP2 and GP3 races from Silverstone, with commentary led by Will Buxton.
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