Preview: The British Grand Prix

This weekend, we’ll arrive at the final leg of the Formula One’s first ever tripleheader; Silverstone. Coming off the back of one of the year’s most dramatic races in Austria, it will be a tough act to follow, but we’ve seen plenty of drama at one of the sports’ oldest circuits throughout history; time to preview this years’ Grand Prix of Great Britain!

Last year, the British year was dominated by the local boy; Lewis Hamilton. He started from pole position and left everyone in his tracks from the start on. Austria Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen had a lightning start, overtaking both Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel after starting from fifth, but the Dutchman had a fairly anonymous race after that.

Bottas moved up to second as the race went on, leaving both Ferrari’s behind him. Speaking of which, there was some drama at the end for the Italian team. Both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen’s tyres were too worn and both of them had punctures because of it. Both of them limped back to the pit lane and saw out the race, with Raikkonen eventually grabbing third place behind both Silver Arrows.

On surface level, Silverstone seems to be tailor-made for Mercedes. However, it remains to be seen how the team will rebound from what team boss Toto Wolff called the “worst race in his time at Mercedes”. Are the hydraulics issues on Hamilton and Bottas’s car resolved, or do the Silver Arrows have a serious problem on their hands?

Pirelli has provided custom-tyres for the circuit, just like they did in Spain and France, to evade too much tyre-wear (like what happened last year with the Ferrari’s). No exploding front left tyres, then.

Speaking of Ferrari, the team has already admitted that it will struggle at Silverstone. The prancing horse lacked qualifying pace in Austria, but matched Mercedes during the race. The tyre management and long-run pace from the Italian team has looked much better in recent weeks, so maybe they're just making excuses.

Red Bull will have momentum on their side heading to Silverstone, with Max Verstappen grabbing his third consecutive podium and first win of the season at Red Bull's home race in Austria. Daniel Ricciardo retired from the race but was quick when he was still on the track, which can be a very positive sign for the Bulls. They won't be competing for pole position at Silverstone, but they'll be looking to make up for that during the race, that's for sure.

If Mercedes can have a weekend without any tactical errors and mechanical issues, it's hard to look past them. They are known to bounce back when they've had a bad race. Particularly Valtteri Bottas will have to be fired up, as the Finn has had the worst luck imaginable this season, with wins slipping away in front of his eyes on multiple occasions because of things that are beyond his power.

Having said that, Lewis Hamilton will most likely grab another win at his home race, with Bottas behind him. Although we thought that that would happen as well in Austria, and look at how that turned out...

1. Lewis Hamilton (MER)

2. Valtteri Bottas (MER)

3. Sebastian Vettel (FER)

4. Daniel Ricciardo (RBR)

5. Kimi Raikkonen (FER)