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Like the rest of the paying punters, Chandhok handed over £5 and began pedalling.
"I live in Brackley so I often train in that area and cycle past Silverstone," explained the Madras-born racer.

Hispania's Karun Chandhok took a novel approach to researching the challenges of Silverstone

"So I paid a fiver, the guy at the track checked I'd got a ticket and off I went around the circuit.

"There were loads of people cycling along with me, a few of them stopped in surprise when they saw me."

It's not the first time Chandhok has been spotted at Silverstone. He raced there regularly in the , finished on the podium in 2008's GP2 race and there's one more thing...

"I worked at Silverstone for three years until 2004," laughed Chandhok. "I was an instructor and a marshal.

"I'm probably the first employee who's gone on to be a Formula 1 driver!"

The new Silverstone layout was unveiled last week, in good time for the British Grand Prix on 11 July, which lengthened the track by almost half a mile.

Abbey corner has been transformed from a chicane into a quick right-hander which now leads into a left-hand kink and a new series of corners.

The new section of the track merges with the traditional circuit at the old Brooklands corner, which is now faster than it was.

There have been positive noises that the new Silverstone would offer more overtaking possibilities - the first race meeting there last weekend, for sportscars and British F3, was a success. But Chandhok is sceptical.

"I love the old circuit," he said. "Bridge into Priory was a great challenge and you did see some overtaking through the Abbey Chicane.

"You won't see any overtaking on the new Bridge because there's a fast right and a fast left so you can't follow.

"The first right-hander [of the new section] is also quite bumpy. The land has sunk on the apex and I'm going to talk to [FIA safety delegate] Charlie Whiting about it. They'll have to get it sorted before the grand prix but there's plenty of time.

"To be honest, I don't think the new circuit is any better for us or the cars."

On the other hand, it does seem that Silverstone is just the job for a spring evening bike ride.