I’m about to go off on a two-week holiday, so there’s little chance that I’ll watch the British Grand Prix live, and I certainly won’t be at Silverstone for the last Formula 1 race there for the forseeable future. This is a shame. But I’m going on holiday, so I’ll really get over it.

Anyway, I’m pleased to have been to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone before. I went to qualifying in I think 2002, and watching the cars change direction at incredible speed through Maggots is something I’ll probably never forget. It was good enough to convince me to go to the race in 2003 – which has gone down as one of the best British Grands Prix in history.

It was a constantly fascinating race, and trying to keep up with the movers and shakers – including a memorable Toyota one-two at one point – made the time absolutely fly by. Fortuitously I was sat at Bridge, so saw at first hand Rubens Barrichello take the lead – which he would hold on to – on lap 42, after Kimi Raikkonen ran wide.

What was a lot less clear on the day was what happened on lap 12. The safety car was deployed, and on the big screens we could just make out a man in green and orange running on track. It later transpired that the track had been invaded by a religious protestor, but at trackside we hadn’t much clue what was going on.

I’ve mixed feelings about Silverstone. It’s a classic circuit, and I’m a big fan of the traffic management, especially compared to Donington Park in the past. Maybe I’ll see the MotoGP at Silverstone when it moves across, but for any national series, Formula 1 safety requirements mean the crowd is just too far removed from the track, compared to smaller circuits.

So hopefully the 2009 Formula 1 race will be a fitting finale. Jenson Button has to be the favourite, but that man Barrichello should feature strongly, and let’s not forget Sebastian Vettel. Pushed for a prediction, they’re my (predictable) choices for the podium – though not in any particular order.