Categories: FeatureFeatures

Chris Medland's British Grand Prix preview

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Formula One returns home this weekend with the British Grand Prix, with seven of the ten teams on the grid based in England and Toro Rosso also having facilities near Silverstone. Home favourite Lewis Hamilton will be looking to bounce back after being comfortably beaten by Nico Rosberg in Austria, and the defending champion is seeking his third British GP victory after a win at Silverstone last year. The high-speed circuit is a firm favourite with the drivers and could prove to be the setting for a crucial weekend with just 10 points between the Mercedes pair in the standings.

FORM GUIDE

Mercedes has been performing even better than expected according to Toto Wolff, which is an ominous sign as Silverstone should suit the championship leaders. Ferrari mistakes - either team or driver - have seen Williams take two podiums in the last two races and further updates added in Austria should see the FW37 even more competitive having added more downforce. Red Bull hopes to move closer to the front as it still sees high-speed corners as its strength, while there will be plenty of interest in the B-spec Force India which features an innovative nose design.

2014 RESULT

Pole position: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 1:35.766

Top three: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1:37.176

SESSION TIMES (All times local)

FP1: 10:00 - 11:30

FP2: 14:00 - 15:30

FP3: 11:00 - 12:00

Qualifying: 14:00 - 15:00

Race: 1400

TYRE CHOICES

WEATHER FORECAST

As is always the case throughout the English summer (ahem), the weather forecast is for a hot and sunny weekend. A relative heatwave will see temperatures likely to reach 30C on both Friday and Saturday, while it may be slightly cooler for race day but still hot enough to keep drivers wary of tyre wear on a circuit which puts a lot of lateral load through the Pirellis.

PODIUM PREDICTION

1st - Lewis Hamilton

2nd - Nico Rosberg

3rd - Sebastian Vettel

2014 WINNING SHOT

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.