Lewis Hamilton returns home atop the Drivers’ Championship standings after three races, but will the defending champion increase his lead at the summit with more Silverstone success over the course of this weekend?
READ MORE: Find out how you can get 20/1 on ANY British driver to finish on the podium at Silverstone!
Hamilton endured a pretty miserable start to the season as penalties in both qualifying and the race cost him points, but the Mercedes ace has bounced back in emphatic fashion to overhaul team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the standings. Hamilton took the chequered flag in the first ever Styrian Grand Prix before posting a dominant victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix a week later, and that has set him up nicely for his return home to the United Kingdom for the first of two back-to-back race weekends at Silverstone.
But can the defending world champion continue his hot streak with victory in the British Grand Prix, or will team-mate Bottas answer back by recording his second race win of the season. One thing that is for sure is that Ferrari will not be getting in the way of the Mercedes pair – team chairman John Elkann has admitted the team will not be competitive again until at least 2022 following a truly miserable start to the season that has seen Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel combine for just 27 points, putting them fourth in the standings behind Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Racing Point.
It is difficult to see Red Bull denying the Mercedes pair either – they are 66 points behind Hamilton and Bottas in the Constructors’ Championship so if you are looking to back a race winner this weekend you simply cannot look past the Silver Arrows. The question is, which one of them will be victorious? The answer has to be Lewis Hamilton.
The British star became the most successful driver in the history of his historic race when he took the chequered flag for the sixth time in his career in 2019, and he has not won this race in five of the last six seasons to establish his Silverstone dominance. And going by what we have seen from Hamilton in the past and over the last few weeks it is incredibly difficult to see that trend coming to an end this weekend. It will be another successful homecoming for the Brit, and a flawless one at that.
Hamilton has started from pole position at Silverstone in four of the last five years, has set the fastest lap in four of the last six British Grand Prix, and he has completed the pole position/fastest lap/race win treble on two occasions here. He also completed this treble at the Hungaroring a fortnight ago, so there is a huge amount of appeal in backing him to dominate this weekend and complete another Silverstone hat-trick.
Circuit Guide
Silverstone first hosted the British Grand Prix back in 1948 and having shared it with Aintree and Brands Hatch for almost 40 years, the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire circuit became the sole host of the British leg of the Formula 1 calendar from 1987. The length of the track has shortened over the years, while one of the biggest changes saw officials make the entry from Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner less dangerous following the tragic deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994. There have also been some additions to the circuit to accommodate MotoGP racing, but they have had no effect on the Formula 1 race. Lewis Hamilton surpassed Jim Clark and Alain Prost as the most successful driver in the history of the British Grand Prix when he won his ‘home’ grand prix for the sixth time in his career in 2019.
Location: Silverstone, Northamptonshire & Buckinghamshire, England
Number Of Laps: 52
Lap Length: 3.66 miles
Lap Record (current format): Lewis Hamilton, 1 minute 27.369 seconds (2019)
British Grand Prix Winners
YEAR | DRIVER | TEAM | CIRCUIT |
1926 | Louis Wager Robert Senechal |
Delage | Brooklands |
1927 | Robert Benoist | Delage | Brooklands |
1948 | Luigi Villoresi | Maserati | Silverstone |
1949 | Emmanuel de Graffenreid | Maserati | Silverstone |
1950 | Giuseppe Farina | Alfa Romeo | Silverstone |
1951 | Jose Froilan Gonzalez | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1952 | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1953 | Alberto Ascari | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1954 | Jose Froilan Gonzalez | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1955 | Stirling Moss | Mercedes | Aintree |
1956 | Juan-Manuel Fangio | Lancia-Ferrari | Silverstone |
1957 | Stirling Moss Tony Brooks |
Vanwall | Aintree |
1958 | Peter Collins | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1959 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | Aintree |
1960 | Jack Brabham | Cooper-Climax | Silverstone |
1961 | Wolfgang von Trips | Ferrari | Aintree |
1962 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | Aintree |
1963 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | Silverstone |
1964 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | Brands Hatch |
1965 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Climax | Silverstone |
1966 | Jack Brabham | Brabham-Repco | Brands Hatch |
1967 | Jim Clark | Lotus-Ford | Silverstone |
1968 | Jo Siffert | Lotus-Ford | Brands Hatch |
1969 | Jackie Stewart | Matra-Ford | Silverstone |
1970 | Jochen Rindt | Lotus-Ford | Brands Hatch |
1971 | Jackie Stewart | Tyrrell-Ford | Silverstone |
1972 | Emerson Fittipaldi | Lotus-Ford | Brands Hatch |
1973 | Peter Revson | McLaren-Ford | Silverstone |
1974 | Jody Scheckter | Tyrrell-Ford | Brands Hatch |
1975 | Emerson Fittipaldi | McLaren-Ford | Silverstone |
1976 | Niki Lauda | Ferrari | Brands Hatch |
1977 | James Hunt | McLaren-Ford | Silverstone |
1978 | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | Brands Hatch |
1979 | Clay Regazzoni | Williams-Ford | Silverstone |
1980 | Alan Jones | Williams-Ford | Brands Hatch |
1981 | John Watson | McLaren-Ford | Silverstone |
1982 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-Ford | Brands Hatch |
1983 | Alain Prost | Renault | Silverstone |
1984 | Niki Lauda | McLaren-TAG | Brands Hatch |
1985 | Alain Prost | McLaren-TAG | Silverstone |
1986 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | Brands Hatch |
1987 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Honda | Silverstone |
1988 | Ayrton Senna | McLaren-Honda | Silverstone |
1989 | Alain Prost | McLaren-Honda | Silverstone |
1990 | Alain Prost | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1991 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | Silverstone |
1992 | Nigel Mansell | Williams-Renault | Silverstone |
1993 | Alain Prost | Williams-Renault | Silverstone |
1994 | Damon Hill | Williams-Renault | Silverstone |
1995 | Johnny Herbert | Benetton-Renault | Silverstone |
1996 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | Silverstone |
1997 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams-Renault | Silverstone |
1998 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | Silverstone |
1999 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | Silverstone |
2000 | David Coulthard | McLaren-Mercedes | Silverstone |
2001 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren Mercedes | Silverstone |
2002 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | Silverstone |
2003 | Rubens Barrichello | Ferrari | Silverstone |
2004 | Michael Schumacher | Ferrari | Silverstone |
2005 | Juan Pablo Montoya | McLaren-Mercedes | Silverstone |
2006 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | Silverstone |
2007 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Silverstone |
2008 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | Silverstone |
2009 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | Silverstone |
2010 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | Silverstone |
2011 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | Silverstone |
2012 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | Silverstone |
2013 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Silverstone |
2014 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Silverstone |
2015 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Silverstone |
2016 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Silverstone |
2017 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Silverstone |
2018 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Silverstone |
2019 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Silverstone |