CARTOON: Silverstone traffic problems return.

The British Grand Prix used to be synonymous with traffic congestion and rising temperatures as fans attempted to make their way in and out of the circuit. This year, however, the frustration was confined to the track as lapped cars played their part in the outcome of the race.

The conversion of both the A43 and part of the Dadford road to dual carriageway has largely alleviated the long queues in and out of the circuit on race day but, despite far fewer cars, traffic again proved to be a factor for several leading runners in the grand prix.

Jarno Trulli provided a legitimate roadblock to thwart the duelling Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen in the early stages and, once the pit-stop strategies had dropped the Italian behind his pursuers, then unintentionally obstructed former Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard attempted to track down race leader Juan Montoya. The hold-up effectively cost Alonso any chance of grabbing a sixth win of the year, but he magnanimously accepted that Trulli had probably been oblivious to his presence given the lack of blue flags.

Alonso was not the only one to complain about a lack of action from the marshals, with Jenson Button also claiming to have been a victim of backmarkers unaware that he was bearing down on them.