Preview - British Grand Prix 2002.

The Formula One circus will descend on Silverstone this weekend for the 53rd British Grand Prix.

For many of the teams it will only be a short trek to the Northamptonshire based track and while most attention will be on track, it will also be interesting to see how the new traffic measures cope, and if the circuit can put behind, or at least start to put behind it, the traffic jams that have almost become part of parcel of the British event.

This weekend of course, if the form is anything like the season so far, it is odds on to see a Ferrari win. Indeed it almost goes without saying now that the combination of Michael Schumacher, Ferrari and Bridgestone is about as unbeatable as it gets.

''We can feel well prepared as all our testing has been very promising,'' notes the four times World Champion. ''Our recent tyre tests at Mugello were very instructive. I would say we have every reason to be confident for Silverstone.''

No hope then for anyone else? Well if Michael fails, Rubens Barrichello must be next up to take the overall honours. In fact, if the European Grand Prix showed us anything, it must be that at least now, occasionally at least, Rubens might be allowed to win. Will it happen this weekend if he is leading Michael one-two at the end, who is to know? What is for sure though, is that the uncertainty itself is a least one plus, and a small hope for the punters that somebody else might just win this weekend, other than Michael...

So who can challenge and stop the Ferrari steamroller? In short, don't count on anyone (certainly don't hold your breath!), but of course the only other teams that stand a chance of winning is McLaren-Mercedes and BMW WilliamsF1.

Indeed of all the Brits, David Coulthard's remains the only realistic hope for the home crowd. He has won the event twice before and statistically must be the one of the main threats to Ferrari. Indeed not only has he got a top record at the track, but McLaren has also done well there, and traditionally Silverstone can be something of a boggy track for the Maranello based squad.

''I always enjoy racing at Silverstone,'' the Scot commented, ''There is an electric atmosphere at the event, with myself and the whole West McLaren Mercedes team receiving tremendous support from the home crowd.''

''This year will be my ninth British Grand Prix and, to date, I have secured points finishes on six occasions, including the two victories I took in 1999 and 2000, which are a highlight of my career. Following the disappointing end to the last race at the N?rburgring, I hope we can put on a good show and secure a positive result in front of the British fans and McLaren employees.''

His team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, may also show well and who knows perhaps he will win on Sunday and emulate what his fellow countryman did in 2001, by winning the British GP. Granted Raikkonen, is not yet a Mika Hakkinen, but you cannot but acknowledge his talent and the fact he is a champion in waiting. Could he get that maiden win? Possible, certainly - especially as the McLaren package has been more reliable of late.

Reliability is something the BMW WilliamsF1 squad has been struggling with in the last few races - Yes there was no real sign of that at the European GP, but before that the BMW engine seemed to being going 'pop' rather alarmingly more than we have come to expect.

This weekend the Grove team will be transformed as Hewlett Packard logos take over the space previously occupied by Compaq. This is due to the takeover, which took place in September last year, so expect a new livery and lots of photographers snapping, so all the media can have the latest pics.

The main news at the team though is that they will use a new package this weekend - a ''substantially revised aerodynamic package'' and Ralf Schumacher is in an optimistic mood.

He said: ''I can't wait to go racing to Silverstone because we have been quite strong there over the course of many tests, as well as having good recent race performances.''

''It would be really great if we could achieve a good result at WilliamsF1's home Grand Prix. The track is again a compromise between quick and slow parts, of which the latter may cause us some problems, but we are taking some new aerodynamic parts to the Silverstone and this should make our BMW WilliamsF1 car very competitive.''

Of the rest Sauber and Renault will be the main two battling for any remaining points, if Ferrari, McLaren or Williams slip up. Indeed Sauber are coming off the back of a good finish two weeks ago, when Felipe Massa came home sixth and his team-mate Nick Heidfeld was seventh.

''I really enjoyed my race in Germany, and I am ready to push for some more points in England this weekend,'' the Brazilian confirmed, ''Silverstone is the kind of track I really like - fast and challenging - and our car is well suited to its high-speed nature.''

Team-mate Heidfeld compares the Northamptonshire circuit to that in Barcelona, a venue where the C21 has consistently shown well in testing. ''The Sauber went very well in Barcelona, both in the race in May and in recent testing, and since the Spanish track is not dissimilar to Silverstone in several respects, I am confident that we can run strongly again in the British Grand Prix,'' the German concluded.

The main challenger the Swiss team will face to be 'best of the rest' is Renault and Jenson Button will be keen to do well, as rumours grow that he will be forced to leave the team in 2003, to make way for Fernando Alonso.

The Brit, who is sure to be as popular with the crowd as ever said: ''I'm not making any predictions yet. We haven't had qualifying, and it's only really then that we'll know what sort of shape we are in for the race. Obviously, it was good to score points at the N?rburgring after several unlucky results, but scoring points is our aim everywhere.''

He added: ''It is a very important race for me, and it is great to be racing at home in Britain. Obviously, it makes the weekend very busy, but the home crowd brings nothing but motivation. It would be fantastic to get my first podium anywhere, but doing it at Silverstone would be something pretty special.''

Away from them all the other teams look likely to struggle. Toyota of course have done well so far this year, but of late they seem to have lost a bit of their shine and the race performance at the Nurburgring was rather disappointing.

Despite this though Team boss Ove Andersson is optimistic about the weekend. He notes: ''We qualified in the top ten at the N?rburgring, which I was pleased about. We must now try to build on that performance and find some consistency in race trim. The car wasn't too bad when we tested at Silverstone a month ago, so let's hope that we can continue in that vein this weekend. It is a very different track to the N?rburgring, and much tougher on tyres, so we will be using stiffer compounds this weekend.''

For Allan McNish it will be his first ever F1 home GP and the Scot will be equally keen to do well. ''I'm raring to go for my home race!" said the former Sportscar ace. ''It will be great to race in front of my own friends and family, and fellow Scot David Coulthard tells me that the atmosphere on race day is pretty special, so I'm looking forward to that. I enjoy driving at Silverstone and I know my way around it pretty well, so I hope I can use that experience to get a good performance.''

If McNish stands a chance of a top ten finish or perhaps even a top six if the team is very lucky Jaguar seem to be condemned to fighting it out with the Minardi's. 'The Cat' seems to be going from one disaster to another, and even the new R3B, has already been written off by the outspoken Eddie Irvine.

Irvine told Reuters: ''I did 15 laps in the car and I wasn't very happy with it. We've seen the improvements in certain areas but we've seen other problems surface.''

''The car had a lot more downforce but there's a couple of issues with it that needed sorting. It was quicker on the straights but that's not really what you're trying to achieve.''

As for the two Honda powered teams - Jordan and British American Racing, both still seem to be struggling, and while Jordan has at least had the benefit of having had three points finishes on the trot, BAR has still to score. Not good, enough said.

That brings us finally to Minardi and Arrows. Arrows obviously have the upper hand here but anything more than a top ten finish for the Leafield based team seems about as likely as a Minardi win!

The team though nevertheless has tested a lot at the Silverstone venue and this may help them have a better than average weekend. Chief race engineer Graham Taylor notes: ''Silverstone is our home grand prix, so everyone is really looking forward to it. We have run relatively well at Silverstone in the past and a good proportion of our testing is carried out here. We have a lot of data and a good deal of experience of this track, so I think we come here as well prepared as we possibly can be.''

''The track suits our car to a certain degree, as it is a circuit that demands plenty of downforce, and we benefit from our car's package on tracks with these characteristics. We hope to put in a good showing for the home crowd - especially our staff at Leafield and Bedford, who have worked incredibly hard this year!''

Minardi then will just be looking to qualifying and then to finish. Last year Minardi No. 2 driver, Tarso Marques failed to qualify, so making the 107 per cent will be the team's priority. Mark Webber shouldn't have any problems, but Alex Yoong is another matter.

So then the Michael Schumacher-Ferrari-Bridgestone combination will obviously set the standard but it's a long race and the British weather might, might (please god!), throw in that extra element that produces something unexpected. We can but only hope... otherwise the Drivers' Championship could be all over by July.