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Lewis Hamilton describes a lap of the Silverstone circuit, home of the British Grand Prix.

"Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits. Overall it is a very quick track and I remember when I tested the car here for the first time, I managed to get Copse flat out, which even I impressed myself with! You are obviously pulling some heavy G there and it is very fast.

"In fact for the whole first sector, up until Stowe you don't brake. This means that you are flat out through Turn One, with maybe a slight lift, then you are flat out again into Maggots, flat out through Becketts, lifting only as you come into Turn Five, carrying about 290km/h as you are lifting and turning. This is very tricky on the neck.

"Then it is all about the exit from Turn Five and Six, making sure you can carry the speed down the straight. Coming up to Club, it is quite a tough part of the circuit and very much about the exit you get from Turn Eight and the speed you carry through Turns Nine and 10.

Lift

"You almost have to slightly lift coming into Turn Nine to get the car turned a little bit, but then you are hard on the gas and use all the run-off area. It is tough and it gets longer and longer and you just have to make sure that you use the entire road there.

"Abbey is a pretty cool part of the circuit. It is just a normal chicane really but it leads up into Bridge, which is one of the famous sections of Silverstone. This part is flat out and you are pulling heavy G-forces through Turn 13, which is very quick.

"It is fairly easy flat-out but is all about getting back onto the right side of the track for the left-hand corner coming up, Priory; another difficult corner. You are coming up the hill and can't really see the corner, so it can be difficult to know where to brake.

Pointy

"When you turn in you are going so quick that the car is a bit pointy sometimes and you don't really know how much run-off area you have got. As a result you can end up going in a little slower than you should, as you underestimate how much road you have. If you get that right then you are most likely to get pole position.

"Finally you have the tight Turns 15 and 16. They are pretty basic corners which lead down to the first straight.

"Last year when I raced at Silverstone in GP2 the support of the crowd was fantastic and I am really looking forward to their support again this year at the Santander British Grand Prix."

Source: McLaren