Following an eventful week in Austria featuring two qualifying sessions and two races, the Formula 1 action now shifts to Silverstone with the British Grand Prix taking place this weekend. Last year Ferrari took the win home with Carlos Sainz becoming a Formula 1 race winner, but with this years Red Bull´s supremacy will the unbeaten team take home their 10th consecutive win of the season. Here are a few elements to take into account before the race:
New Pirelli tires
Pirelli will introduce a significant feature at the British Grand Prix, this feature has the potential to revolutionise not only this particular race but also the future ones. This game-changing element consist on the introduction of Pirelli’s new tires.
After the initial races, Pirelli announced that they would change the tires at the British Grand Prix. The reason behind the change is the unexpected speed of the F1 cars this year that causes a bigger force on the compound leading on more degradation. This tires were tested at the Spanish Grad Prix during one of the practice sessions to collect more data.
High degradation
Despite of the tire change, Silverstone remains one of the most demanding tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. and precisely because of this tire degradation is going to be crucial for this weekend. Pirelli has decided on the C1, C2 and C3 compounds.
Historically it has been one of the most challenging circuits for tires, with numerous tire punctures including Lewis Hamilton winning in 2020 with one tire missing.
Car upgrades
Not only the tires are to be taken into consideration, as many teams have brought updates for this weekend.
- Red Bull has focused on upgrading the front brake duct.
- Mercedes has brought upgrades on the front wing and endplate to enhance aerodynamic efficiency and speed on the straights.
- McLaren has brought four performance oriented updates to the front wing, nose, rear brake duct and rear suspension.
- Aston Martin has also brought an specific front wing and rear brake duct for Silverstone.
New liveries and helmet designs
McLaren’s Chrome livery
Williams 800th grand prix livery
Aston Martin´s Valvoline livery
Fernando Alonso
Valtteri Bottas
Pierre Gasly
Zhou Guanyu
Lando Norris
Esteban Ocon
