F1 Race Preview: British Grand Prix

This will be the 56th British Grand Prix, and the 57th championship race, to be held at the Northamptonshire circuit, which held its first F1 race back in 1950.

2021 saw the first-ever F1 sprint race take place at the British Grand Prix and the Friday, bathed in sunshine, was a tremendous spectacle as the crowd went wild with Lewis Hamilton setting the fastest lap during qualifying. In fact, all of the British drivers managed to secure a top-10 finish.

Max Verstappen wrestled away the sprint race win from Hamilton, but tensions spilled over on race day as Hamilton and Verstappen collided on lap one of the 52-lap race. It left Verstappen in an ambulance on his way to hospital and Lewis fighting back from a 10-second stop-go penalty to win the race.

It also reduced Verstappen’s lead at the top of the standings from a whopping 32 points to a slim eight points heading to the next race in Hungary.

It was a defining moment in the Championship battle last season and this year, this race could once again have a massive impact on who will be crowned winner at the end of the season.

Races are coming thick and fast this season and last time out it was the Canadian Grand Prix. The weather for qualifying was more akin to the British climate with rain and cold temperatures, which led to a mixed-up qualifying. Come race day, though, it was a beauty with highs of 22c and bright sunshine.

Verstappen took the 25 points, although Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari tried his hardest to get his first F1 win, which must be coming soon. Hamilton led home a Mercedes 3–4 and was back on the podium for the first time since Bahrain (round one).

Championship contender, Charles Leclerc, could only manage fifth place after starting from near the back of the grid (after taking engine penalties), while Sergio Perez had a DNF after retiring from the race with gearbox issues.

Silverstone is known as the home of British motorsport. It is a track laid out on the perimeter roads of a wartime airfield and is 5.891 kilometres long. Aerodynamically speaking, it has become a medium downforce circuit, where one needs good traction for the twistier sections and plenty of speed for the straights and high-speed corners. The engines will run at full throttle for 70% of each of the 52 laps.

Silverstone usually enables great racing and with these 2022 cars, we are hoping that the race this year will be a thriller. The smallest winning margin at the track was set in 2013 with Nico Rosberg winning by just 0.765s from Mark Webber in the Red Bull. The largest winning margin in recent years was Hamilton is 2008 with a whopping 68.577s lead over Nick Heidfeld in the wet conditions.

It is conceivable that the smallest winning margin record could be beaten this weekend, if Verstappen and Leclerc are battling to the end. They have only finished 1-2 twice this season though – that was in Saudi where they were split by just 0.54s and Miami where the gap was 3.78s.

Leclerc will clearly start as favourite for pole position. I can’t see anyone else being able to take it away from him and the only things that could scupper his chances of getting pole are car failure and/or his own driving mistake.

If he gets it, it would be his first pole at Silverstone and his seventh pole of the season – but his conversion rate (pole to race win) is just two from six – 33.3%.

In the last 10 years at Silverstone, Verstappen has taken one pole, Rosberg and Fernando Alonso have each taken one, Valtteri Bottas has taken one, and Hamilton has taken six. 20 of the 55 British Grand Prix at Silverstone have been won from pole position with 38 having been won from the front row of the grid. Seventh is the furthest back anyone has won the Grand Prix from and that was Emerson Fittipaldi back in 1975.

This year it’s the Verstappen and Leclerc show – if both of them start and finish the race then you would expect them to be taking the top two spots. Their cars and driving ability are just a class apart from everyone else on the field.

Hamilton has won at Silverstone more than any other F1 driver – he won his eighth British Grand Prix race last year but is there a chance he could add to that tally this weekend? I believe there is a very slim chance. The W13 is a beast of a car and can go from bad to worse very quickly but there is a thought that the surface and temperament of the Silverstone track should suit the Mercedes car this year.

This is the team’s best chance to win a race so far this season. The crowd will be cheering on the two Brits and will believe that this is their chance, and it could well be. If anything happens to either Verstappen or Leclerc, then the route is open for a Mercedes win and if there’s rain then there is a very good chance that come Sunday, we could see a surprise winner, even if the team are loathe to build up their chances.

There are three Silverstone winners taking to the grid this weekend in addition to Hamilton. Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have both won here twice and Verstappen won the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020 – but he has yet to win the official British Grand Prix. This year, he clearly starts as the favourite for the win on Sunday.

The winner of the British Grand Prix has gone on to win the Drivers’ Championship 26 times. All eyes will be on Verstappen this year; he already has a whopping 46-point lead over his nearest rival – teammate, Perez – and a 49-point lead over Leclerc. He already has one hand on the Championship trophy, and we aren’t yet halfway through the season.

While Red Bull have a 76-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, reliability is going to be key to winning this battle. Red Bull had an issue with Perez’s power unit last time out and Verstappen’s championship challenge took a while to get going because he suffered from two issues in the opening three races.

Mercedes might have a difficult car to tame, and it may well be slower than its rivals, but it is reliable! They are currently 116 points behind Red Bull, but they could raise their game and put pressure on the top two in the latter parts of this Championship. The fight for fourth is going to be a thriller too with millions on the line.  McLaren, Alpine, and Alfa Romeo, are all in the fight and separated by just 14 points now!

If you’re looking for as much as a sure thing as you can get in F1, then it’s George Russell finishing in the top five again. He has done so in all nine rounds of the Championship so far this season and he could certainly keep that record going at Silverstone.

Spanish fans are in for some good news sooner or later. I am convinced it is only a matter of time before both Spanish drivers (Alonso and Sainz) are on the top step of the podium.

Alonso came close in Canada but for an issue with his power unit – but performance is coming. As for Sainz, he couldn’t get past Verstappen last time out, but he will get the chance again and will make the most of it. Both situations would take something extraordinary to take place, but this is F1 and surely, it’s just a matter of a few races away!

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