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Preview: The 2019 British Grand Prix

Published on 10 Jul 2019 17:03
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By: Fergal Walsh

The Silverstone circuit is the location on Sunday for the tenth race of 2019, the British Grand Prix. Silverstone is a monument in motorsport history. The very first official Formula 1 world championship kicked off on this track in 1950.

The circuit

The first British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone, but has been held at two other circuits, Brands Hatch and Aintree. Since 1987, only Silverstone has been raced at. The Silverstone circuit is located on a former airbase. The course is known for its fluid bend combinations such as Maggots, Becketts and Chapel. The super-fast Bridge bend has disappeared from the current layout. The drivers have had to turn right at Abbey instead of left for a few years, then get an arena section and return to the old circuit at Brooklands.

Length of the circuit	5,891 meters
Number of racing laps	52
Total racing distance	306,198 kilometres
Lap record	1:30.621 (Lewis Hamilton, 2007)

This year the circuit only has two DRS zones, in contrast to the three from 2018. The rear wing can be opened between bends 5 and 6, and also between corners 14 and 15.

Driving direction	Clockwise
Number of turns	18 (8 to the left, 10 to the right)
Distance from the start to the first corner	296 meters
Braking points of more than 2G	8, of which 3 heavy
Percentage of full gas	66 per cent
Highest lateral G-force	4.8 G in Turns 1, 9 and 11
Length of the pits below limiter	376 meters
Duration of the ride through pits	16.9 seconds
Fuel consumption	Average
Side of pole position	Left
Tyre compounds	C1, C2, C3
Opportunity of a safety car	Low
Chance of rain	Average

Tyre allocation

Driver	C1	C2	C3
Lewis Hamilton	1	4	8
Valtteri Bottas	1	4	8
Sebastian Vettel	1	3	9
Charles Leclerc	1	3	9
Max Verstappen	1	3	9
Pierre Gasly	1	3	9
Daniel Ricciardo	2	1	10
Nico Hulkenberg	1	2	10
Kevin Magnussen	1	3	9
Romain Grosjean	1	3	9
Carlos Sainz	1	4	8
Lando Norris	1	4	8
Sergio Perez	2	2	9
Lance Stroll	2	2	9
Kimi Raikkonen	1	3	9
Antonio Giovinazzi	1	3	9
Daniil Kvyat	1	3	9
Alexander Albon	1	3	9
George Russell	1	5	7
Robert Kubica	2	4	7

The contenders

In Austria, the hegemony of Mercedes was finally broken, but the question remains whether Red Bull Racing can also compete in the UK for the victory. The expectation is that Mercedes will not suffer from cooling problems at Silverstone, which resulted in a lot of time loss in Austria. However, based on its current form, Red Bull may pose a threat to Ferrari.

Last year in Great Britain

Last year Sebastian Vettel won the home race of rival Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver had a 2.2 second gap ahead of the Mercedes driver, who was spun around at the start Kimi Raikkonen. Despite the ten-second penalty, the Finn finished in third place.

Weather

The changeable English weather sometimes causes chaos at the Grand Prix, but this year the weather gods seem to favour the race at Silverstone. For Sunday the experts don't predict rain, but instead, conditions that are partly cloudy and a temperature of around 22 degrees. It will remain dry for the rest of the weekend.

British Grand Prix Forecast

Trivia

The longest race in Silverstone's history was the race in 1956 that was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in 2h 59m 47s. The shortest race dates from 1985, won by Alain Prost in 1 hour 18m 10.436s.

Seven out of ten Formula 1 teams are based in Great Britain, all within a 160-kilometre radius of Silverstone. Racing Point - whose plant is located in Silverstone - is closest to the circuit, McLaren - in Woking - is farthest away.

Jenson Button raced 17 full Formula 1 seasons, but has never been on the podium in Silverstone.

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