We take a trip to Britain this weekend for round 12 of the Formula One season which is expected to spice things up as we hit the midpoint.
Oracle Red Bull Racing still remain at the top with Dutch driver Max Verstappen leading in the Drivers' Championship and the Austrian team running away with it in the Constructors'. Although recent races have saw McLaren enter the mix who will be wanting to triumph on Sunday in their home race.
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Track Layout
The British Grand Prix holds a 52-lap race on the Silverstone circuit with the drivers travelling for a whopping 306.332 kilometres.
Each lap sees the driver travel for 3.66 miles undergoing 18 turns along the way - 10 of them to the right and eight left-handers.
Silverstone's three sectors are split between turn six and turn 14, with two Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones which should allow for some competitive racing in one of the fastest tracks on the F1 calendar.
The English circuit has a high downforce level allowing for quick speeds reasoning Pirelli's choice of the C1 (hard), C2 (medium) and C3 (soft) tyres to be used as Silverstone is the most demanding on the car-tyre package used.
25 metres before turn three, dubbed the "Village", is when the racers are detected ahead of DRS zone one. Activation for this period begins 30 metres after "Aintree" which is turn five. Drivers' distance from one another are detected at the right-hander following "Maggots" corner at turn 11 before the second zone being activated at "Chapel" which is turn 14 of the track.
Whoever sits in pole position begins on the left-hand-side of the grid who must aim to hold onto this spot before the first turn which is 296 metres from their starting point.
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History of the Track
The British Grand Prix hosted the first round of the World Championship at Silverstone in 1950 which saw Giuseppe Farina achieve victory with Alfa Romeo, watched on from King George VI.
Silverstone has been the permanent home of the event since 1987.
Prior to its existence, the land used to a number of runways during World War Two for the Wellington Bombers before it was converted to a racetrack following the war.
Attempts were made to slow the cars in 1990 by implementing chicanes but it was a wholesale renovation in 1991 which forever altered it's structure - further changes were made three years later after the tragedies of Imola in '94.
Found in the heart of England, this location has been questioned for a number of years as the host. Set to move to Donington Park in Derby from 2010, these plans collapsed when Silverstone had its contract extended as the home of the Grand Prix.
New developments came with this contract, an infield section and pit complex constructed at the exit of "Club" corner. The track was also resurfaced in 2018 but drainage problems ahead of the MotoGP event that year saw it be cancelled before this was resolved in 2019.
Silverstone has had many fond memories over the years, whilst not being short of drama too. Aryton Senna hitched a ride from Nigel Mansell in 1991 after a fuel blow-out on the finish line, seven-time Championship winner Michael Schumacher collided with Damon Hill in 1995 in their tense battle for the Championship and the unforgettable win from Lewis Hamilton in 2008 as he prevailed for this first home victory.
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Who filled the podiums in recent years here?
2023 saw Max Verstappen take home his sixth consecutive win and his first number one spot in the British Grand Prix with Englishmen Lando Norris and Hamilton following him.
The year before was not one to remember for the reigning champion in 2022 when a multi-car crash in the opening lap caused early damage to the Red Bull. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz crossed the line first as Sergio Pérez came second and Hamilton took third place.
Sir Lewis Hamilton triumphed in a number of races prior to this, winning three consecutive British Grand Prix's in 2019, '20 and '21. The famous 2019 race at Silverstone saw the 34-year old collect his fifth career Grand Slam - an achievement awarded for winning the race from pole position, leading it from start to finish and recording the fastest lap.
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Some key facts for you to know...
The British Grand Prix is one of the largest and most prestigious events the UK has to offer year-in-year-out and the wait is finally over as we watch on this weekend.
Silverstone is the home of four of 2024's Formula One drivers, Williams-man Alexander Albon, Lando Norris and those racing for the Silver Arrows - George Russel and Lewis Hamilton who holds the record for the fastest lap here at 1:24.303 in 2020's Q3.
Hamilton has also took the most points home from this event with 312 in total, an average of 18.4 points per race. Nigel Mansell is the only man to have performed a Grand Slam here with Lewis.
The pole-to-win percentage is 36.84% in Great Britain's motorsport home, 21 winners have come from pole position at Silverstone with the maximum speed recorded on the track being 204.742 miles per hour.
Lastly, it is measured that 2.8 kilograms of fuel is used per lap - for the average car that is approximately 3.8 litres of petrol which works out at around £5.40 if you was to fill up near the British circuit. This means for the race it would cost an estimated £282 to drive a Formula One car for 52 laps.
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British GP Schedule
The weekend begins on Friday 5 July:
- Free Practice 1 - 12:30-13:30
- Free Practice 2 - 16:00-17:00
Saturday 6 July then opens with the third practice session before qualifying begins:
- Free Practice 3 - 11:30-12:30
- Qualifying - 15:00-16:00
This all comes before the main event on Sunday 7 July:
- Race - 15:00
Available to watch on SkySportsF1, Channel 4 and Now TV.
