With the Austrian Grand Prix now in the rearview mirror, F1 heads to the iconic Silverstone Circuit this weekend for one of the most eagerly-awaited races of the year - The 2023 British Grand Prix.
In what could turn out to be a one-stop race, Mercedes and Aston Martin are expected to bring major upgrades to their cars as they try to cut the gap between themselves and the mighty Red Bull team.
Race preview
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Max Verstappen will be looking to equal the all-time record of 11 consecutive victories in this one, but Silverstone has been one of the very few venues that have got the better of Dutchman and Red Bull over the years.
Austria was another strong race for the team as Verstappen took yet another victory, but for once, it came with him not actually leading every lap of the race, which has become something of a rarity.
The Dutchman had to pass both Ferraris on track, but if we go back and analyse the lap times of Verstappen in comparison to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, it becomes painfully clear just how much of an edge Verstappen has over the rest of the field.
It looks like this could be another dominant weekend for the Red Bull team, and the race result could very easily be another Red Bull one and two, provided Sergio Perez gets his qualifying position sorted out.
While the opposition are certainly trying, they are still yet to find a clear answer on how to close the gap to the Red Bull.
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The Austrian Grand Prix was a difficult race for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton spent the vast majority of it ranting about receiving track limit penalties and generally feeling hard done by, with other drivers not receiving the same treatment as he was, in his opinion.
George Russell had a very off weekend, finding himself out in Q2 and finishing all the way down in eighth, one spot behind teammate Hamilton.
However, this should be a much better race for the team as they showed last year, when it was one their strongest showings of the year, and given they were strong in Barcelona, which is a fair comparison, it all seems to be lining up in their favour here.
They are set to bring a large upgrade to the track, and if it works well, we could end up seeing one or maybe both drivers on the podium, especially if one of the Red Bulls falters during qualifying, which is something that is becoming less of a rare occurrence.
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For Ferrari, going into the main race last week looked like it could be their best race of the year, with Leclerc starting in second place and Carlos Sainz Jr starting all the way up in third.
As it turned out, it was a strong race for them, as for the first time since Miami, we had someone other than Verstappen lead the race, and that was Leclerc.
Ferrari were clearly the second-fastest team on the day on a circuit that suited their car, and the revised package certainly did seem effective in helping with tyre degradation, which is something they have struggled with this season.
However, Pirelli are bringing the hardest set of tyres they have in this one, and Ferrari have generally struggled when on the harder spec, so it will be interesting to see how the new package fares this time.
Sainz won this race in extraordinary fashion last year, and with Ferrari having put on an excellent showing in Austria last week, the team should be optimistic about their chances in this one.
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Fernando Alonso found it tough going in Austria, finishing in P6, and on pure pace, he was beaten by the McLaren of Lando Norris, while Lance Stroll finished in ninth place.
They were behind what we have come to expect from them; however, they did have better average speed than the Mercedes, and Aston Martin have been talking up a massive upgrade that they will be bringing to Silverstone.
For their own sake, they need this upgrade to work like a charm to stay in the fight, as based on their current setup, Silverstone could be a tricky weekend, and it would be hard to make much of a case for them being better than fourth-fastest on the day based on pure pace at this point.
Like Ferrari, Aston Martin did struggle for pace in Spain, but with Ferrari's changes seeming to have moved them up a notch, Aston Martin could be in danger of getting left behind.
Track Guide
© ReutersThe circuit characteristics at Silverstone are comparable to Barcelona, where we saw the Ferrari and Aston Martin struggle a little when it came to race pace, though it will be interesting to see if their new upgrades aid in this regard.
The track is not the easiest for overtaking, but its fast-flowing nature rarely disappoints from a viewer's perspective as it allows cars to follow fairly closely and features some of the most iconic corners of any F1 circuit, such as the run from Copse through Maggots, Beckett's, Chapel, down the Hangar Straight and into Stowe Corner before the Vale chicane.
Overtakes are often seen going into Stowe or Brooklands, and last year we saw some excellent racing between Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and even the McLaren of Norris.
Last year there was a total of 31 on-track overtakes, and to help in this regard, Silverstone features 2 DRS zones, with the first coming down the Wellington Straight into Brooklands and Luffield, and the second on the exit of Chapel, down the Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner.
These corners are relatively fast, and this is one of the reasons that overtaking can be tricky at this circuit, but when there is overtaking here, it generally looks quite spectacular.
Last year's pole lap time was 140.983 by Sainz in the Ferrari, but that was during a wet qualifying session, while the fastest lap in the main race was 130.510 by Hamilton and was set in the very final lap of the race.
Due to the high-speed nature of the circuit at Silverstone, Pirelli have gone for the C1, C2, and C3 compound of tyres, which are the hardest in their range.
With this, we saw a total of 45 pit-stops last year, with the majority of teams opting for a two-stop strategy, but the race likely would have been a one-stop but for a late safety car.
Pirelli are also due to introduce a brand new structure for their tyres which could change the race altogether as it is said to be of stronger construction and aims to reduce punctures as the cars keep getting faster.
It will be interesting to see if these tyres alter the car's performance, and if it does, we could see a few shake-ups in the order if any of the front-running teams are not able to handle them.
Qualifying Results
1. Max Verstappen
2. Lando Norris
3. Oscar Piastri
4. Charles Leclerc
5. Carlos Sainz
6. George Russell
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Alexander Albon
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Pierre Gasly
11. Nico Hulkenberg
12. Lance Stroll
13. Esteban Ocon
14. Logan Sargeant
15. Sergio Perez
16. Yuki Tsunoda
17. Zhou Guanyu
18. Nyck De Vries
19. Kevin Magnussen
NC - Valtteri Bottas
So far, so good for Red Bull and Verstappen as the Dutchman once again was too quick for his opponents and will start in pole position for the British Grand Prix, while his teammate Perez's nightmares in qualifying continued, and the Mexican will have to come from 16th in this one.
Verstappen clocked a time of 1:26.720, finishing ahead of Norris, who put in a superb qualifying performance, just 0.241 seconds slower than the Red Bull, Piastri added the cherry on top for McLaren and will start in the second row.
Further back, Albon managed another good qualifying session for Williams and will start ahead of Alonso, who only managed ninth with a time of 1:28.368.
It was a disappointing run for the Mercedes duo of Russell and Hamilton in sixth and seventh respectively, while Bottas was officially disqualified after the qualifying session as his car was unable to provide a fuel sample.
Driver Standings
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 229
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) - 148
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) - 131
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 106
5. George Russell (Mercedes) - 65
6. Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) - 58
7. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 42
8. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - 44
9. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - 31
10. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 24
11. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) - 16
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) - 9
13. Alexander Albon (Williams) - 7
14. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 5
15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) - 4
16. Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) - 4
17. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) - 2
18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - 2
19. Logan Sargeant (Williams) - 0
20. Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) - 0
Constructor Standings
1. Red Bull - 377
2. Mercedes - 178
3. Aston Martin - 175
4. Ferrari - 154
5. Alpine - 47
6. McLaren - 29
7. Haas F1 team - 11
8. Alfa Romeo - 9
9. AlphaTauri - 7
10. Williams - 2
We say: Max Verstappen to win
It may seem like the obvious answer, but it is difficult to see anyone cutting the gap to the Red Bull team and the dominant Max Verstappen in particular in this moment. While the Dutchman has had his fair share of misfortune at this track, we feel he will win this one quite comfortably.
Devesh Jaganath
