Formula One has returned to the historic Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix, following last week’s dramatic Austrian Grand Prix which saw the Mercedes teammates make contact once again. Lewis Hamilton has dominated all of the sessions at his home Grand Prix, but can he take the race victory in front of his home fans?
Lewis Hamilton has topped the time charts in every session this weekend and should have no issue dominating the race on Sunday, assuming he avoids conflict with his teammate, Nico Rosberg. Hamilton has won this race three times, whereas his teammate has only won here once, and Hamilton will certainly have the support of the British fans. If the Silver Arrows duo get away clean from the grid, Rosberg should help to wrap up a 1-2 finish for the team, which would be very important given all of the issues that happened during the race last weekend.
Red Bull has proven that they have the pace over Ferrari at this circuit, as they have lapped faster than the Italian operation in all of the sessions this weekend. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo have locked out the second row of the grid and they should have no issue maintaining the 3-4 finish for the team, especially with half of the Ferrari threat suffering a grid penalty. It’s a question of which driver will lead the way for the team. Although Verstappen qualified better, Ricciardo may be able to overtake his teammate, assuming that there will be no team orders.
As for the final spot on the top five list, it will be a battle of the Finns: Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas. Sebastian Vettel was set to lock out the third row of the grid for Ferrari, but was forced to take a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change. It will be a Ferrari versus a Williams battle and the Ferrari will probably come out on top because it has the better pace over the Ferrari. Do expect Bottas and maybe Vettel to put up a fight for a position in the top five.
Britian is the home race for many of the drivers on the grid, so it would be nice to see those drivers perform well and collect some valuable points towards the World Drivers’ Championship.
