Each year, the British Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the Formula One season: Silverstone was the site of the first-ever World Championship race in 1950, and most of the current teams have their headquarters set up close to the circuit, giving it a "home game" type of atmosphere. The track has seen multiple major changes over the decades, and as a result, one of its most exciting corners will not see F1 cars blast through it this weekend - Bridge Corner has laid dormant since 2011.
Most F1 fans and sim racers likely know the story of Silverstone's origins as a World War II airfield by now. The outline of the former runways determined the circuit's shape for over 40 years from 1949 to 1990, during which the only siginficant change apart from the relocation of the pits from Farm Straight to in between Woodcote and Copse was the addition of a chicane at Woodcote in 1975, which was moved further towards Farm Straight in 1987. Otherwise, the simple but fast original layout stayed intact.
Exiting the combination of Vale and Club, drivers faced an uninterrupted full-throttle run through the left hander at Abbey before arriving at Bridge - and carrying maximum speed through the right hander that ran through a dip was a daring proposition, especially with the braking zone for Priory immediately following. The turn pushed drivers and their cars to the limit, as Ayrton Senna demonstrated in qualifying for the 1991 British GP, almost losing his McLaren MP4/6 on exit.
After the tragic weekend of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix that claimed the lives of Roland Ratzenberg and Senna, changes were made to numerous circuits around the world, including Silverstone. Copse was tightened, the Priory complex shortened and a chicane installed at Abbey, significantly reducing the speeds with which drivers would arrive at Bridge. The increase in both power and downforce throughout the V10 era meant that the corner was still spectacular, though, as speeds in excess of 250 kph at turn in were not unheard of thanks to the monumental acceleration of the cars.
From 1994 onwards, the run up to Bridge was interrupted by the Abbey Chicane, but the V10-era F1 rockets were still arriving there at enormous speeds.
Track modernization in an effort to keep the British Grand Prix at Silverstone spelled the end of Bridge as the 2010s approached: With a proposal for a significant redesign of Donington Park to make it suitable for modern F1, Silverstone built new pit facilities immediately after club and also added a new arena section. This meant that the layou turned right towards the infield instead of into the Abbey chicane, completely bypassing it as well as Bridge and Priory.
The old layout was left in place but decommissioned in 2011 - today, it serves as a walkway for spectators as the F1 village is located in its area when the World Championship is in town for a Grand Prix weekend. It has not been used for racing purposes since.
Since 2011, Bridge Corner has been decommissioned for racing purposes, but it is not hard to imagine today how cars came blasting through in the past. Image credit: Google Street View
As is often the case in such situations, sim racing comes to the rescue for anyone who wants to give the older layout a try: A 1991-1993 version is available in rFactor 2's Steam Workshop, and Automobilista 2 features both a 1991 and a 2001 rendition in addition the the current and 1975 layouts, the latter with and without the chicane at Woodcote.
Most F1 fans and sim racers likely know the story of Silverstone's origins as a World War II airfield by now. The outline of the former runways determined the circuit's shape for over 40 years from 1949 to 1990, during which the only siginficant change apart from the relocation of the pits from Farm Straight to in between Woodcote and Copse was the addition of a chicane at Woodcote in 1975, which was moved further towards Farm Straight in 1987. Otherwise, the simple but fast original layout stayed intact.
First Changes in Over 40 Years
This changed immediately after the 1990 British Grand Prix: The cars of the time had gotten too fast to safely race at the track, so new corners were introduced. Some were still fast, like Maggots, Becketts and Chapel, and some were slower, like the complex between Farm Straight and Luffield. Bridge, named after the access road that went over the circuit via a bridge at this point, marked the start of this complex.Exiting the combination of Vale and Club, drivers faced an uninterrupted full-throttle run through the left hander at Abbey before arriving at Bridge - and carrying maximum speed through the right hander that ran through a dip was a daring proposition, especially with the braking zone for Priory immediately following. The turn pushed drivers and their cars to the limit, as Ayrton Senna demonstrated in qualifying for the 1991 British GP, almost losing his McLaren MP4/6 on exit.
After the tragic weekend of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix that claimed the lives of Roland Ratzenberg and Senna, changes were made to numerous circuits around the world, including Silverstone. Copse was tightened, the Priory complex shortened and a chicane installed at Abbey, significantly reducing the speeds with which drivers would arrive at Bridge. The increase in both power and downforce throughout the V10 era meant that the corner was still spectacular, though, as speeds in excess of 250 kph at turn in were not unheard of thanks to the monumental acceleration of the cars.
Trulli's Spectacular Roll
In 2004, Jarno Trulli demonstrated that the corner may have looked less spectacular as a result, but could still bite racers if things went wrong: The Italian lost control on the exit of Bridge, spearing off to the right and rolling his Renault in the gravel trap at Priory. Luckily, he walked away from the crash unhurt.From 1994 onwards, the run up to Bridge was interrupted by the Abbey Chicane, but the V10-era F1 rockets were still arriving there at enormous speeds.
Track modernization in an effort to keep the British Grand Prix at Silverstone spelled the end of Bridge as the 2010s approached: With a proposal for a significant redesign of Donington Park to make it suitable for modern F1, Silverstone built new pit facilities immediately after club and also added a new arena section. This meant that the layou turned right towards the infield instead of into the Abbey chicane, completely bypassing it as well as Bridge and Priory.
The old layout was left in place but decommissioned in 2011 - today, it serves as a walkway for spectators as the F1 village is located in its area when the World Championship is in town for a Grand Prix weekend. It has not been used for racing purposes since.
Since 2011, Bridge Corner has been decommissioned for racing purposes, but it is not hard to imagine today how cars came blasting through in the past. Image credit: Google Street View
As is often the case in such situations, sim racing comes to the rescue for anyone who wants to give the older layout a try: A 1991-1993 version is available in rFactor 2's Steam Workshop, and Automobilista 2 features both a 1991 and a 2001 rendition in addition the the current and 1975 layouts, the latter with and without the chicane at Woodcote.
