Nick and Vitaly are ready for the British GP

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News | 05/07/2011

• 05/07/2011

  R31 - Silverstone Set-up...

• 04/07/2011

  Great Britain – home...

• 04/07/2011

  2011 British Grand Prix...

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It's round nine of the 2011 Formula One Championship and both drivers Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov are looking forward to one of the classic races on the calendar– the British Grand Prix!

What do you think of Silverstone?

NH: I enjoyed the old track for the same reasons I'll enjoy the new one – it has a lot of high speed corners. Turn one is quite straightforward but after that there are lots of interesting parts of the track, not least The Complex which includes a number of quick corners following each other closely. It's a very unique place to drive.
We will need to see how Pirelli's choice of tyres (soft and hard) will affect the race - so that's going to be an interesting aspect. I've not actually driven the new track here yet, so that will be exciting for me. I've driven at Silverstone plenty of times before but last year I didn't, and I know that since then they have changed the layout. I think Silverstone will suit our car a lot better because at the other high speed circuits this year we have been relatively strong. And, with the new regulation changes it's going to be exciting too.

VP: Silverstone is an interesting track and it has a new pitlane which we will use for the first time. The circuit has good high speed corners, and it's the first GP of the season where we'll have high speed corners like these, so we'll have to see how the tyres will behave. It's always nice to drive at a new track but, on the other hand, if you look at the layout of the old track it was a great track to drive at. On the old circuit there was Bridge Corner, which was quite special; a lot of people involved in racing would say this was quite a unique section but it has gone now. I'm not sure what the new circuit will be like, the first part is the same with a lot of high speed corners such as Stowe. Silverstone is very different to a lot of other places - it's a unique place that's for sure.

What are your hopes for this weekend?

NH: Everyone is working very hard in the factory but the question on all our minds is what's going to happen with the change in regulations from Silverstone. We will wait to see if that changes the pecking order or the gap between the teams, and then go from there.

VP: We need to concentrate on making fewer mistakes and to try to continue to work hard to improve our performance and our strategies. Of course, as it is our home Grand Prix and I would love us to have a good result but we have to work towards giving ourselves the best chances to do so.

What is your best memory of Silverstone?

NH: My second place there in 2008.

VP: I won a Euroseries 3000 race at Silverstone in 2006, in the wet.

Read more in our British Grand Prix preview