Silverstone Takes Centre Stage

The British Grand Prix is here, and Silverstone is set for another action-packed weekend. We preview the contenders, the challenges and the stories to follow. 

Transcript

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Hi everyone, welcome to Boxbox Box, as Scott would say, your friendly neighborhood Formula One podcast. You've got me flying solo again today. Scott and I once again couldn't get our schedules lined up. So it's just me taking you through a preview of the British Grand Prix coming up this weekend. There's plenty to get into as part of this, with uh a lot of interesting questions to be answered in this race. George Russell is coming off, I think, a brilliant win in Australia. Um, with um Kimi actually has quite a healthy uh lead in terms of drivers' championship over him. Uh Red Bull were very impressive, they suddenly look competitive again. Uh Ferrari and McLaren uh have a few concerns that came out of that, particularly that last race, but they also have uh reasons to feel hopeful because Silverstone is a very different track. Uh and then, of course, into that mix we have a sprint weekend, um, and that um this is does actually throw uh a lot of uncertainty into a weekend, but also brings chances for teams to test out different factors within their car. Uh we've also got three British drivers who actually have a have genuine reasons to believe that they can actually win at home. Um, and uh we've got uh um the typical unpredictable British weather as well to speak about. Um and uh let's make some predictions at the end of all this as well. So let's get into it. First, uh we talk about momentum. So who has the momentum going into this race? And the obvious place to start for me would be George Russell. Uh, after his win in Austria, uh, does he arrive here as a favorite? I think so, uh, but only just, and I think Kimmy is very close with him. Uh Austria wasn't just a lucky win for him that fell into his lap. He actually controlled this race very well. He took pole position, uh, he was able to get away very cleanly at the start, uh, and then he built a race from there. He built a decent gap that he was able to maintain, uh, and he was able to handle everything that Max Versteppen threw at him at the end of the race. Uh he seemed to be calm, he managed his tires very well, um, and he was he was never really looking like cracking under the pressure as such. So it's interesting to think that his last win actually was in Australia, so it was it's quite a while ago. Um, and there's been all the discussion about Kimi in the interim time. So this is only his second win for the year, but obviously he's been fighting up the front of that pack in the meantime. He currently sits 40 points behind his teammate, um, and he has a has a knack for actually producing good results on sprint weekends. Uh, as we know, he won the sprints both in Canada and in China. So this compressed format actually seems to suit him very well. So I think Silverstone as a track would suit him very well as as well. Um and um because of the fast changes of direction that exist on this track, particularly at corners like you know, Cops, Maggot, Beckett's and Chapel, and the driver has to place a lot of trust in the rear of the car. Um, this whole sequel, this whole sequence can actually become one one, this whole stretch, I guess, can become one flowing sequence. Um, and and I think Mercedes as a team would be arriving with the belief that they they can be genuinely quick on this track. Um but Kimi is still the championship leader for a reason. Um, and he has um I think if not for an impatience at the start in Austria and an unfortunate uh virtual safety car, he could have actually been challenging for that win as well. So um it's I think for me, definitely marginally, Russell would be the form driver coming into this uh into this race and a very narrow favorite, uh, but with Kim chasing him uh very closely. Uh the picture in qualifying will tell us a lot and whether Russell can actually again deliver another pole position and then use that to uh translate into uh a win basically at the end of the day. Uh whereas if Antonelli takes pole, that whole balance does shift quite significantly uh over the weekend. Uh the other factor that plays in this weekend is is the fact that it's it's a sprint weekend. Um, and as we know, the teams only get one practice session to work out the setup and to test any new parts that they might bring, um, and somehow collectively prepare for both the short and the long run performance over the weekend. Uh Mercedes, I think, as a team, probably should be very comfortable uh with as that. Um and as as shown prefield previously with Russell's win in China and Canada, um, and Antony qualifying at the front row for both those weekends, um, and then finishing third in the Montreal sprint. I think all of that collectively shows how comfortable Mercedes are on these compressed weekends. Uh, McLaren also as a team have seemed to have been good in this format. Um, and uh Lando actually uh took a sprint poll and won in Miami with uh with his teammate uh bringing in a second position for that one. Uh and so this may actually as a result translate to a better weekend for them, and they certainly need uh a better better result than they had in Austria. Um let's see, let's see what they bring out of this basically. So um Ferrari, I think, um have to have a lot of questions to answer, and particularly in the tire overheating issue, which they saw in in Austria, uh, and whether this is actually a general weakness in the car overall, that they need to answer that question. Um Red Bull as a team have only got the one session to confirm whether the major upgrades that they brought in Austria also then translate to performance in Silverstone, uh particularly given the loaded corners of the Silverstone uh circuit. Um, so there's almost little to no time to compare the old and new specifications overall. So uh I think this uh compressed format can deliver some very different results. Let's wait and see what comes out of this. Um overall, I think uh for Red Bull as a team, uh I think uh this would be one of the biggest stories for the weekend, and I'm looking forward to how they actually are able to translate their performance from Austria into Silverstone. Um, they the result in Austria was the first really convincing sign that they have made major leaps and bounds uh in the development of that car, and that the upgrades that they have brought are useful and can actually challenge up the front of the pack and the results that they actually were able to uh to deliver. Uh having said that, uh both Austria and Silverstone actually ask very different questions of the cars. Uh, Austria, as we know, has sort of got very short, sort of heavy braking zones, um, whereas uh Silverstone has these long flowing sequences that actually that have to be managed as such. So for me, uh Mercedes still start as the favorite, um, and I think they are very quick over the over the single lap pace and also over the long run pace. But Max's result in Austria suggests that Mercedes no longer have the front of the pack completed to themselves. Uh, if Red Bull is stable enough over the weekend, um, I think Max is certainly in the position to fight for Paul and also potentially fight for the win on come Sunday. Does this mean that uh McLaren and Ferrari uh can join the fight? Um I'd slightly in this instance I'd probably slightly put McLaren ahead of Ferrari, uh, particularly given the results that they delivered in Austria. Uh Oscar was able to manage his ties very well and was able to pull away from Lewis in the final stint as a result of that. Uh, and they and McLaren as a team didn't seem to have the pace uh of the leading three cars, um, and uh but they overall seemed to be much kinder to their ties than Ferrari were, and that could actually play a very important part in the result in in at Silverstone. Um Ferrari as a team, I think, are a bit harder to judge for me. Um the car ceiling over one lap might actually be higher than McLaren's, but they do have issues with the long-run pace of this of their cars, uh, and the fact of being able to manage the overheating of the rear tires and whether that is an issue that will translate uh to a result in Silverstone as well. Um I think Hamilton is still the strongest hope for Ferrari this weekend. And as I mentioned before, I've sort of have the feeling that Charles Leclerc has got some confidential issues at the moment, um, and uh it is potentially showing in his results, and whether that that's uh it's not necessarily a car performance issue, it's whether his mentality is in a different different position, uh, and whether this is an opportunity for him to try and turn that around. Uh then we I guess have to look from uh the fact of that now three British drivers, Hamilton Russell, Hamilton and Norris, uh they all have a genuine case to fight for a win, but for very different reasons each. I think Russell has the overall the strongest package and is coming off a win. Um and um whether he can translate that that that result from Austria into Silverstone. But we also have to wonder whether uh the home pressure may actually become a distraction as such. Uh, after having such a controlled weekend in Austria, uh anything outside the front row may actually feel quite disappointing, and whether that then translates into a drop in a dip in confidence for him. Uh we will have to wait and see. So I think Lewis, um, both from himself and a fan's point of view, I think has the deepest emotional connection to this track and has the most amount of experience on this track as well. So, and he and the car that he's driving is in a much better form uh than they were last year. Um, and the win in Barcelona showed that they can actually win in this car. Um, and um so hopefully they can able to actually bring that to the track uh and and produce a good result for the team overall. Uh Lando has the most recent victory on this track. Uh, he won here last year. Um, and that should actually give him a huge amount of confidence and in and and to know exactly how to handle the expectation of delivering a result on this track, uh, and particularly delivering a result on a home race. Um the concern is the car, and then they they seem to be uh a little bit off the pace to Mercedes, and and potentially Red Bull may have, given the result in Australia, may have actually leapfrogged them as the as the genuine challenger to Mercedes. So on balance, I think out of those three, uh Russell I think is is the driver best set to challenge to win the race. Uh but if it's cooler, uh windy, uh and or a bit unpredictable from a weather point of view, which genuinely the Silverstone uh area can deliver, uh Hamilton and Norris then suddenly start coming into the picture as such. So and then, of course, being Britain, we do have to talk about the weather. Um and at based on the forecast I saw yesterday, at this stage it is looking like mainly a dry uh dry condition and quite breezy, um, and the temperature sort of sitting around average for this time of year. Um there is um a forecast of uh potentially a chance of rain on Saturday morning. Um and that may obviously have um have issues on the sprint format more than more than the the main race format actually. Um and um let's see whether that genuinely actually does does come to play and whether it actually plays a part um on the on the d on the final result. So um having looked at that each of the individual drivers, and I mentioned before, particularly uh the three British drivers and the position that they actually sit. Um the rid the the result in Austria showed that Kimi doesn't actually need to dominate a race to still stay at the at the front of uh front of the championship. Um if he finishes close to Russell in both the races, he can still protect that lead, even if Russell actually wins, and still have a reasonable gap uh to maintain that pressure up the front. And we both know that Kimi can actually be quite aggressive when the opportunity is clear. Um and he doesn't need to change, and he also needs to learn the fact that he doesn't need to try and turn every half chance into a desperate move. He needs to learn to be a bit more bit more patient. Um so um let's see how how um significant um the weather plays into it and whether a wet sprint, um an error in qualifying, for instance, uh, or any contact at the start of the race, or any reliability issues, which definitely we've seen with uh with the teams at the front in the past, whether all of that can collectively play uh a part uh in what the what these results actually translates to. So, what does that mean in predictions? Um so the romantic in me would want to see another British podium uh in whatever order that actually presents it. But uh the racing fan in me I think believes that if you are looking at the sprint, uh I would I would definitely um have George winning that sprint, and I think he has got very good form in that format. Um and Mercedes as a car actually are able to uh to deliver that and help him deliver that. Looking at the main race, uh my prediction for pole position is Kimmy. Um and I think he can actually convert that to if with patience and uh and um genuine strategy, good strategy, actually convert that to a race. If he's able to get out cleanly at the start, which he hasn't always been able to do, and stay out the front. I think he could win this uh with uh I think we are in a position to see another second position for for Verstappen with Russell finishing third. So um I think I think that would be my prediction overall. Uh the only person that I could potentially break up that podium is Lando. Uh I think given his his history with this particular track, uh, and uh perhaps the car may be more suited to this track as well. Um he could break that podium. If I was to throw a wild card in there, Lewis definitely would be featuring in that. Um and particularly if um the conditions are a bit cooler, um it may actually um benefit that car and suit the car. Um but particularly I know if there's a if there's a brief shower for instance and the conditions suddenly change, it it changes that that the heast changes dramatically. Um so yeah, so that's um that's it uh as a as a prediction. Um and um thank you for listening. Um I look forward to speaking to you all uh just after the sprint race, actually, just after the qualifying for the main race. I will do a collective uh summary of the of the sprint race as well as part of that on Sunday. Uh hopefully Scott will actually be back with me for the next episode. Um and uh this you actually appreciate this solo version as something different to our mix and something different to actually what we what we present as such. Uh also a shout out to our socials at at boxboxbox Oz AUS on Instagram, Facebook, X, and and TikTok. And also to our website at boxboxbox.net.au. Please like, subscribe, um, send us your comments, send us your feedback. Uh any comments can if you want to wish to email us, uh we can be reached at info at boxboxbox.net.au. And I look forward to speaking to you again on Sunday.