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Special feature

Formula One drivers feature in the 20th Festival of Speed at Goodwood

Among the attendees were Bianchi, Chilton, Rossi, Kovalainen, Valsecchi, Gene, Button, Hamilton, Buemi, Rosberg and Perez.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes MGP W02

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes MGP W02

Dave Dyer

It was business as usual last weekend for a small group of the FIA Formula One 2013 current competitors, as they took part in the 20th anniversary celebrations of the Goodwood Festival of Speed event, which was held at the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, UK.

Among the select few participating in the challenging hill climb was the Marussia duo. French man, Jules Bianchi, was joined by his English team mate, Max Chilton during the weekend as they took to the circuit in their cars for this season.

Marussia’s rival team at the tail end of the field is Caterham and one of their representatives at the event was reserve driver, Alexander Rossi with the other being former driver for the team, Heikki Kovalainen.

The theme of existing reserve/test drivers at Goodwood continued in the form of Ferrari’s Marc Gene, who will be a familiar face to some having previously raced in the sport and now taking more of a back seat approach as such. The Spaniard had the opportunity to be at the heart of the action over the Goodwood weekend though as he drove the Ferrari F60 car up the hill.

Lotus Renault test driver, Davide Valsecchi represented the team in Romain Grosjean’s Formula One car and drove some of the road cars for the brand as well.

The final test/reserve driver who is playing a part in the 2013 Formula One season and also made an appearance at the Festival of Speed was Sebastien Buemi, who previously raced for Toro Rosso and is now working with the sister team and reigning World Champions, Red Bull Racing.

The drivers towards the back of the field in Formula One this season, and test/reserve ones for teams, were also joined by some of the top Championship contenders this season who attended the festivities at Goodwood.

Mercedes’ new recruit, Lewis Hamilton, tackled the famous hill in the Mercedes Benz W154 car and his current one for this season. Hamilton’s team mate, Nico Rosberg, took to the circuit in the Mercedes W196 car and also his existing race car for competing against his rivals in the battle for the all-important Drivers’ title.

The crowd not only seemed to show support for the likes of Hamilton and Rosberg, but also one of their rival teams, McLaren, as they marked the weekend by certainly putting on a show to celebrate their 50th birthday as well as the 20th anniversary of the event itself, with the cars that were previously raced and current team cars that featured and not forgetting the drivers behind the wheel of them too.

Jenson Button made an appearance in the M8D car and also wowed his fans with the new P1 car which he took up the hill.

Button’s new team mate, Sergio Perez put the M23 car to the test and the MP4/4 when his time came to entertain the spectators.

The chequered flag may have fallen to mark the end of the 20th anniversary of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which featured a variety of entertainment including car and aviation displays, but for all who attended it is certain that they will remember the special weekend.

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