Heidfeld unimpressed by ‘new’ Silverstone

Renault’s Nick Heidfeld admits he has been left disappointed by the changes that have been made to Silverstone. The track has a new start-finish straight this year as part of the revamp and the construction of the Silverstone Wing complex.

On the new circuit, the first corner is Abbey which leads in to Farm Curve which leads into the Arena area of the track where previously drivers would have headed through Bridge and Priory.

While the complex itself may be impressive, Heidfeld is not convinced by the changes made to the track.

"Do you know why they changed the layout anyway? Why did they not keep the old layout and just build a new [pit building]?" Heidfeld said to ITV.

"The old layout was better; this one is not bad but the old one was really nice."

An area of concern for the track organizers is the run-off area coming into the final straight.

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi crashed during the Friday morning's practice, spinning as he entered the start/finish straight. The worrying point of the incident was that the Japanese driver's car became airborne when he slid onto the grass between the run-off area and the tire barriers.

Heidfeld said that this was one of a few places which he felt could do with some work.

"I think it should be and could be done better," he said of the problem area.

"Actually I assume it's not the only place around the circuit; I walked the circuit yesterday and to be totally honest with you I was a bit surprised how much there was still being done to the circuit.

"I thought it would have been perfect for a while but it felt like they were just putting the finishing touches on which did surprise me.

"Also, the pit entry to me is too narrow. You arrive there with really, really high speed and then there's a small kink in it so I don't really understand.

"I think there are a few small things that could be improved," he added. Planet F1

2010 track configuration:

Aerial shot including new pit area:

2011 pit buildings:

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