2011 British Grand Prix

The 2011 British Grand Prix (formally the 2011 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 10 July 2011 at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England, and won by Fernando Alonso. It was the ninth race of the 2011 season, and saw the introduction of a ban on off-throttle blown diffusers, the practice of forcing the engine to continue to produce exhaust gasses to generate downforce when drivers are not using the throttle. The race also saw the Formula One debut of future Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo.

The circuit underwent a major reconfiguration for the 2010 British Grand Prix, with the addition of the "Arena" loop bypassing the old Abbey, Bridge and Priory corners before re-joining at Brooklands. The 2011 race saw the second stage of this reconfiguration used for the first time, with the pits and the start/finish line moved to the straight between Club Corner and the new Abbey. The new pit facility was deliberately designed to be challenging for drivers, and to minimise the amount of time spent in the pits. The entry lane branches off from the circuit on the approach to Vale and Club – one of the slowest sections of the circuit – allowing a pitting driver to continue to accelerate while others are forced to slow for the corner. The pit lane itself does not run parallel to the main straight, but rather is angled at five degrees to make the corner at the entry to the pit lane slightly faster. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner noted that the pits are lower than the circuit proper, and that he believed that drivers would have to treat the corner at the entry to the pit lane as they would a corner on the circuit.

Following complaints from MotoGP riders in 2010, the entry to the new Abbey has been re-surfaced to remove a large bump situated on the racing line. The reconfiguration was not without controversy, as the lowered pit lane meant that the pit garages were obscured from the view of the spectators by a retaining wall. Formula One Management reversed the intended pit lane order, placing the Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Ferrari pit garages behind the retaining wall, and moving the Team Lotus, Hispania and Virgin teams' garages to the visible end of the pit lane. The change in the allocation of garages was believed to be for the benefit of corporate guests in the Formula One "Paddock Club", a corporate suite housed above the far end of the pit lane obscured from view.

After experimenting with two Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones in Montreal and Valencia, the FIA announced that the sport would return to using only the one DRS zone at Silverstone, with the activation point placed before Aintree corner, allowing drivers to deploy the system for the length of the Wellington Straight.

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought its silver-banded hard compound tyre as the harder "prime" tyre and the yellow-banded soft compound as the softer "option" compound. This was the same tyre selection that Bridgestone had chosen to bring to the British Grand Prix for the previous two years.

On 30 June, it was announced that Scuderia Toro Rosso testing and reserve driver Daniel Ricciardo would replace Narain Karthikeyan at HRT Formula 1 Team. With Mark Webber driving for Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo's debut marks the first time that two Australian drivers have competed in the same race since Alan Jones and Vern Schuppan raced in the 1977 Austrian Grand Prix.

The first ninety-minute session of the weekend was deemed wet. The initial lap times were slow, but as a dry line began to appear around the circuit, the drivers switched to Pirelli's intermediate compound, and lap times began to improve significantly. Mark Webber set the fastest time of the session, but experienced fuel problems and stopped on the circuit. Michael Schumacher finished second ahead of Rubens Barrichello third. The rain returned late in the session, and Kamui Kobayashi crashed heavily on the pit straight. Sauber were able to repair Kobayashi's car in time for the second session, where he finished third overall. The session was once again wet, with conditions worse than in the morning session; almost half of the ninety minutes had passed before any driver took to the circuit. A dry line gradually began to form around the circuit once again, prompting many drivers to start setting times. Felipe Massa finished the session fastest, nearly eight-tenths of a second clear of Nico Rosberg and Kobayashi.

The third and final practice session was held in the driest conditions of the weekend, interrupted by a brief shower early in the session. Sebastian Vettel finished the hour-long session fastest, six hundredths of a second faster than Fernando Alonso and four-tenths quicker than team-mate Mark Webber, whose progress was hampered by an early problem with his gearbox. Michael Schumacher also experienced technical problems, this time with his floor, and finished the session eleventh.