Coulthard: 'Verstappen won't be put off by that'

Lewis Hamilton is racing his home race at Silverstone this weekend, but he will have to work hard to beat Max Verstappen. The Brit is already 32 points behind the Dutchman.

Mercedes must deliver now

Not only in the drivers' championship, but also in the constructors', Mercedes is trailing Red Bull Racing. David Coulthard also sees that. "It feels a bit like Mercedes has to deliver this weekend, it feels like Lewis has to deliver this weekend," he says at Motorsport.com. Red Bull won the past five races, four of which were victories for Verstappen.

Mercedes do come out with updates this weekend, "I'm really curious because Toto is clearly confident in the performance of the car," said the former Formula One driver. "The team has analysed everything and knows where their cars perform well compared to the competition. By running simulations they know pretty accurately where they can perform. The weather and other factors and variables aside."

Verstappen not afraid of anyone

According to Coulthard, however, Verstappen is super in his element and will therefore be hard to beat. "Max is not afraid of anyone, he's a born winner. He won't be put off by all the British flags for Hamilton." However, Coulthard does think the British fans will do Hamilton good this weekend. "I do think Lewis is someone who responds in a sort of Nigel Mansell way to support from home and really believes it can lift him. I think this is a very important weekend for the championship."