News briefs from Silverstone: Saturday

(GMM) Reveling in what is being described as 'Hamilton hysteria', Silverstone recorded a record Friday crowd of 42,000 spectators at the scene of the 2007 British grand prix.

The official figure is 4000 higher than last year.

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Silverstone will stay cool and overcast on Saturday but Friday's high winds seem to have died down in the hours preceding qualifying at 1pm.

World champion Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, revealed that McLaren's renowned expert forecast for Sunday is for a dry but windy race.

"There is always the possibility of rain here," he told reporters, "but our forecasts speak of a situation similar to today (Friday)."

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Honda's Jenson Button returned to the cockpit of his number-7 Honda on Saturday morning after sitting out Friday's second practice session with back pain. He had traveled to a London clinic for checks.