Formula 1 British Grand Prix Prediction: British drivers are dominating the home race

The British Grand Prix is taking place at the legendary Silverstone circuit this Sunday. It is the last race in this series of three Grand Prix in as many weekends, or as the English would call it – the last race of the triple header. Also, it's a race that will bring us right to the midpoint of this World Championship season. It is unnecessary to talk too much about the tradition of the Silverstone track. Suffice it to say that on May 13, 1950, the first edition of the Formula 1 World Championship began at that location, and since then, 57 British Grand Prix have been held on that track. In the past, it was raced on the Aintree and Brands Hatch tracks, but since 1987, Silverstone has been the permanent British home of Formula 1 and will remain so until 2034. For many drivers, this track is a special place. Of course, first of all for the British. Lewis Hamilton holds the record with eight victories at the British Grand Prix. Jim Clark collected five of them, as many as the “intruder” from France, Alain Prost. Another Brit achieved great things on home soil – Nigel Mansell with four triumphs.

The 5,861-meter track is the fifth longest on the calendar after Spa-Francorchamps (7,004 m), Jeddah (6,175 m), Las Vegas (6,120 m) and Baku (6,003 m). It consists of 18 turns and is one of the most exciting and also one of the most demanding for the tires. Some corner combinations, such as those from 10 to 14 – Maggotts, Becketts, and Chapel – are executed at high speed and generate lateral forces on tires and drivers of over 5g – an average figure at Silverstone similar to that seen at Spa and Suzuka. This, along with other technical aspects, means that, as is always the case here, the tires chosen for this round are the hardest possible, C1 as P Zero hard, C2 as P Zero medium, and C3 as P Zero soft. The front axle is under the greatest load, and more right turns mean that the front left tire wears the most. The weather in England in summer can always be very changeable, which is another factor to consider, especially as conditions can change very quickly.

There are excellent qualifications behind the Mercedes F1 team. At the Silverstone circuit, George Russell won the first starting position for the British Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton will start second, so Mercedes has the first row to themselves. The British public had something to celebrate because the first three positions were occupied by local drivers. Lando Norris with McLaren and Max Verstappen with Red Bull qualified for the second starting row, and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Nico Hulkenberg will start the race from the third row, as the most pleasant surprise of the qualifiers in the Haas car. The Ferrari drivers had a lot of bad qualifications. Carlos Sainz entered Q3 and won only seventh place, while Charles Leclerc didn't even enter the Top 10 and will start 11th tomorrow. Also, Sergio Perez experienced a new disappointment, who after crashing out of the qualifications already in the first round awaits him start from 19th place.

When it comes to favorites to win, of course, it's crazy to look further than Max Verstappen, but McLaren has become a constant threat. The team from Woking is in excellent form and has the right to dream of its first home victory since the now quite a long time in 2008 when Hamilton celebrated for the first time at Silverstone. Hamilton (two fourth and one-third places in the last three races) and Oscar Piastri with two second places in the last four appearances certainly deserve praise for their current form. Mercedes will have the advantage at the start, but we think that Verstappen is even more motivated to win in Britain after last week’s incident with Norris.

OUR PREDICTION: Max Verstappen to win