Just Stop Oil urged not to risk lives at Silverstone after last year's warning
I love the British Grand Prix. I'm not going this year, which I'm devastated about, but I don't want to sound ungrateful because I'm racing in F1 Academy at Monza instead – the Temple of Speed. That's also an incredible venue.
But Silverstone... I've raced there and been on the podium there in the past. The atmosphere is unmatched as a Brit. The first time I drove on the Grand Prix weekend there it was just as Covid restrictions were lifted and it was a sell-out.
Everyone was just so alive and electric after so long limiting their lives. It was just so spectacular to experience and it remains one of my most vivid racing memories.
The only concern this year is the threat of another environmental protest. They did it last year at Silverstone and have been targeting a lot of other sporting events recently – The Ashes, the snooker and Wimbledon this week.
Whatever you stand for, you shouldn't put your life at risk like that. It's so dangerous. These cars travel at insane speeds and you definitely don't want to be hit by one.
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Zhou Guanyu's crash last year was horrible, but it ended up having a fortunate side-effect on that track invasion. The red flags were out and the race had been neutralised, which meant there was a lot less danger.
Who knows what would have happened further on in that lap where the protesters were on the track, had they been going at full pelt? Hopefully they realise they got given a lifeline there and I hope they don't take the risk again.
Protesters from the climate activist group Just Stop Oil invaded the track at last year's British Grand Prix (@pompeyspark/Twitter)It's an important message that they're trying to send, but it's not worth it. This isn't the right place for it and there are less dangerous ways to get their message across.
F1 Academy has been a tough ride so far
It’s been a disappointing year, to be honest. I'm currently fifth in the standings after the first 12 races, spread out over four race weekends. But I'm too far off the top two to think about a title fight now.
A lot of it has been outside of my control and a big theme in this sport is that you have to walk away from those things and not dwell on them for too long.
But it’s really hard to do that. And, in the last race, I have to hold my hands up and say I made a mistake in qualifying which put me out of contention for a good result at Zandvoort.
It’s the sort of track that I usually excel at. I think I went into it over the limit, pushing too hard and chasing something that wasn’t there. I need to not overdrive beyond the car’s capabilities in the next new races and take a new approach.
The F1 Academy season so far has not been what Abbi expected (Getty Images)I know where I can be and I know I’m capable of getting podiums and of winning races. I have to approach races in a more open-minded way and learn that maximising what I can get from a weekend is akin to winning, even if it isn’t a victory on track.
There have been a few highs this year, but quite a lot of lows. My confidence has been knocked a few times this year.
But I’m not a different driver – it’s still there and I know I’m capable of the results that I expect from myself. It just hasn’t quite come together for me yet and I have to keep reminding myself of that and take it round by round.
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Watch out for me and Mick at Goodwood
I'll have the honour of driving at the Goodwood Festival of Speed again later this month. Before I go onto that, I've got a story from when I was there last year.
I took an influencer called Max Fosh up the hill in an Alpine A110 Tour de Corse edition. It was great to give him his first experience of going at some speed as a passenger. And it was only my third time going up the hill.
In my head, I had just one thought – I need to scare the life out of him.
This was all on film. Coming up to the third corner, the left-hander at the end of the really long straight, I still hadn't quite got my bearings and the reference point for braking. I was definitely cutting it fine and I think I even scared myself a little bit.
Fortunately it was all okay. I asked him afterwards if he enjoyed it and his reply was: "I think so."
This year, I'm driving the Alpine A110 S Enstone edition – a lot of the carbon fibre pieces are built in-house at the Alpine F1 factory in Oxfordshire. It's got a British flag on top as well so you can't miss me!
The Alpine A110 S Enstone Edition (Alpine Racing)To be a part of the Goodwood festival again is going to be awesome. It's a coming together of everyone from the wider motorsport world and has so much history and heritage. I always thought about how cool it would be to go up the hill and I'm privileged that I get to do it again this year.
Other than my run, I'm looking forward to watching Mick Schumacher go up the hill this year – it's going to be incredible. He's driving his dad's Mercedes W02 Formula 1 car from the 2011 season.
I can only imagine the emotions he and his family will feel from doing that. He's done laps before in one of his dad's F1 cars – he drove the championship-winning Bennetton at Spa. This is close to the last thing Michael drove in F1 so it will be pretty special.
A word for Dilano
Like everyone else in the motorsport world, for me it was such a sad and brutal reality check to hear that Dilano van’t Hoff had died in a FRECA race at Spa last Saturday.
I didn’t know Dilano super well, but I drove with MP Motorsport a few times in a Formula Regional car and he was my team-mate for some tests in the winter of 2021/22. I got to know him a bit in that short amount of time and he was such a lovely character.
Dilano van't Hoff, 18, died as a result of a crash at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend (@ dilano_vant_hoff/Instagram)He was a talent who has been taken away far too soon. This past week he has been on my mind so much. I don’t think he would have realised just how many people’s lives he would have touched.
I’ve spoken to friends since and all we can think about is him. I’ve thought about him four or five times a day in the past week. I can’t imagine what it’s been like for those who knew him a lot better than I did, and of course his family and close friends.
Motorsport is such a dangerous sport and, even though there are so many things in place these days to make it safer, there is still always that risk. I just hope that the people involved in the incident are getting the help that they need. Mentally, it must have taken such a toll on them.
Juan Manuel Correa has spoken about that, after his involvement in the crash in which Anthoine Hubert lost his life in 2019, also at Spa. He went through so much not just in terms of his physical recovery, but also the mental weight upon him.
Adam Fitzgerald was the driver involved this time. He sustained spinal injuries earlier on this year after going over a sausage kerb. He’s had a horrible year. I hope he gets the mental and physical support he needs.
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