Silverstone versus Donnington Park

You've got to hand it to Bernie Ecclestone — he knows to grab the headlines.

On the eve of the British Grand Prix, and Silverstone's 60th birthday to boot, Bernie announces that Donnington Park has won the right to host the British Grand Prix from 2010. Why ... you probably blubber. Well, a mystery investor has apparently decided to stump up the £100m or so needed to upgrade the facilities to F1 quality whereas the BRDC (who owns Silverstone) continues to drag its feet. The irony is that the BRDC has announced a comprehensive upgrade of the facilities at Silverstone — something that had been bugging Bernie for years.

To say it is somewhat of a surprise is an understatement. Donnington Park in its current guise is a nightmare. Traffic access is worse than what Silverstone's was prior to the building of a dual carriage way bypass a few years ago, the pits complex is tiny and the circuit isn't steeped in the history that Silverstone is.

The good news, I suppose, is that it secures the future of the race on UK soil, which is beneficial to the British motorsport industry.

Of course we heard this all before — 10 years ago in fact — when Brands Hatch stole the race from Silverstone. Of course we all remember what happened then ... there was a buy-out of Brands and the new owners balked at stumping up the moolah to host an F1 event so Silverstone had to step in and save the day.

Any price a repeat?

There's a race you know

Ah yes, it is qualifying today! And it should be an interesting day. In the morning session of free practice Massa was quickest (both McLaren drivers were within a tenth) although drivers barely broke through the 10 lap mark. Massa's programme was severely interrupted when he crashed his Ferrari after sliding over some oil left on track by Alonso — that may compromise his push for pole.

In the afternoon Kovalainen was half a second faster than Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Both Ferraris were a couple of tenths further back. Again it is difficult to read too much into the data but it would indicate that the red car doesn't hold the advantage it did in France two weeks ago.

McLaren was quick in the test here a few days ago and after the shenanigans of Montreal and Magny-Cours the Woking team will be desperate to improve this time. Expect a lightly fuelled McLaren to claim pole position in another tight duel.

Coulthard calls it a day

The other big news this week was the unsurprising announcement that David Coulthard will hang up his driving gloves after the season close at Interlagos. David first came to prominence in 1994 when he took Senna's seat following the Brazilian's death.

In the intervening 15 years he has done a solid job for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. The highlight of his career was probably his two wins in Monaco — the flagship race on the F1 calendar. He never had enough raw talent to win a Driver's Championship — in truth he never really came close. But he was and remains a great ambassador for the sport.

What beckons next? If the rumours are to be believed he'll still be patrolling the paddock next year with a camera and microphone working for the BBC. And that means Mark Blundell won't be, which isn't a good thing. Mark may not be the most eloquent of pundits but he's quite funny. With the over the top coverage Lewis continues to get Mark ususally provides some refeshing relief.