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Some key statistics ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix, plus a look back at the last five races at Silverstone.

WINS

Britain's championship leader Jenson Button has won six of the first seven races of the season for the Mercedes-powered Brawn GP team.

No driver has ever been so dominant and not become champion. However, seven drivers since 1950 have won six times in a season without taking the title.

No British driver has ever won seven of the first eight. Only three British drivers - Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and Jim Clark - have won seven races in a single season. All were champions.

Button has now won seven races in his career, a feat bettered by only nine of his countrymen.

If Button wins in Silverstone, it will be his fifth victory in a row. The last driver to do that was Germany's Michael Schumacher in 2004. The only Britons to achieve such a run were Clark in 1965 and Mansell in 1992.

PODIUMS

Button is chasing his eighth successive podium finish. Clark and Lewis Hamilton (nine in a row each) are the only Britons to have done better.

Schumacher holds the record for successive podium finishes, with 19 in 2001-02.

BRITAIN

Twelve Britons have won their home grand prix since the first in 1950. The most recent was Hamilton last year.

The last time the race went to British driver for two years in a row was in 1999 and 2000 with David Coulthard. Damon Hill also won in 1994 and was followed in 1995 by Johnny Herbert.

The last British driver to win at Silverstone from pole position was Hill in 1994.

Historically, starting on pole position has not been a big advantage at Silverstone. Only three times in the last 14 races there has the quickest driver in qualifying gone on to win.

This year's race will be the 43rd grand prix at Silverstone and could be the last for some time, with Donington Park lined up from 2010. Only Monza and Monaco have hosted more races.

Ferrari have won 15 times in Britain over the years, compared to McLaren's 14 and Williams' 10.

QUALIFYING

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Toyota's Jarno Trulli are the only drivers apart from Button to have started on pole position this season.

Button has been on pole in four of the seven races.

PODIUMS

McLaren have now gone eight races without being on the podium.

Brawn GP have finished one-two three times in seven starts.

POINTS

Force India have yet to score a point in F1, a run of 25 races.

Button is the only driver to have scored in every race so far this year.

McLaren have failed to score points for three races in a row, their worst run since 2004.

FINISHES

BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld has been classified in his last 35 races, a Formula One record. The German's last retirement was in the United States in June 2007.

MILESTONE

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Williams' first win at Silverstone in 1979.

CIRCUIT

Silverstone, a World War Two airfield, hosted the first F1 world championship race in 1950 and has shared the British GP with Brands Hatch and Aintree.

The race has been held at Silverstone solely since 1987 and this year's is the 43rd grand prix at the circuit and the last for some time. Donington Park is due to take over next year.

HISTORY

2008 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)

Hamilton won a wet race by an incredible 68.5 seconds, lapping all but the other two drivers on the podium in one of the all-time great performances. BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was second with Honda's Rubens Barrichello third for his first podium since 2005.

2007 - Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

Hamilton started on pole but Raikkonen came out on top thanks to an astute pit stop strategy while the Briton made wrong choices on set-up. Hamilton still came away with his ninth podium finish in nine starts. Ferrari's Felipe Massa stalled on the grid and started from the pit lane.

2006 - Fernando Alonso (Renault)

Alonso led from start to finish for his fifth win in eight races, third in a row and 14th successive podium finish.

2005 - Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren)

Montoya's first win with McLaren, the Colombian surging from third on the grid to run side by side with pole-sitter Alonso through the first corner and seize the lead. Raikkonen, who collected a 10-place starting penalty for an engine failure in practice, came from 12th to third and set the fastest lap.

2004 - Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)

Schumacher chalked up his 10th win in 11 races. The safety car came out 15 laps from the end when Jarno Trulli's Renault crashed into the tyre wall. Raikkonen was second and gave McLaren their first podium of the year after starting from pole.

Reuters