#F1 Qatar Airways #BritishGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #BritishGrandPrix
Formula 1 Aramco British Grand Prix 2023 Race Start, Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, Towcester, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. Image credit to Peter Fox/Getty Images. 2024 British GP Preview, F1 British GP Preview, 2024 Formula 1 British Grand Prix Preview, British Grand Prix Preview.
After George Russell inherited the Austrian GP victory and the first for the Silver Arrows this season after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris collided in their fight for the lead, round 12 of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the fast and historic Silverstone Circuit this weekend for the Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2024. This marks the 78th running of the British Grand Prix, the 75th time as part of a World Championship event and the 59th time that the British Grand Prix has been held at Silverstone. This concludes the triple header of back-to-back-to-back weekends with the Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix.
2024 British GP Preview – A look at the Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is a permanent racing circuit in England next to the Northamptonshire Villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit sits on the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side. The Northamptonshire towns of Towcester, Brackley and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes.
Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948. The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created Formula One World Championship. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987.
The circuit is built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone which opened in 1943. The airfield’s three runways in classic WWII triangle format lie within the outline of the current track.
Giuseppe Farina was the inaugural winner of the British Grand Prix which was the first round of the championship in 1950 when the Formula One World Championship was formed and was also the first driver to win the inaugural Formula One World Championship with Alfa Romeo.
The circuit layout has changed many times throughout its history on the Formula One calendar with the current front straight featuring the Silverstone Wing pit building which is located in between Club and Abbey Corner has been used since 2011. The current front straight was also used in 2010 while the Silverstone Wing building was being built but the front straight was located at the old pit straight in between Luffield, Woodcote and Copse corner.
The current Arena Grand Prix Circuit layout currently being used runs in a clockwise direction and is 5.891km (3.661mi) in length and has 18 corners.
Race distance is 306.198km (190.163 mi) with 52 laps in total.
Max Verstappen holds the fastest lap record of the current circuit layout set last at the 2020 event with a 1:27.097 in his Red Bull Racing-Honda RB16.
Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has the most British Grand Prix victories with eight to his name.
Scuderia Ferrari are the most successful Constructor at the British Grand Prix with 17 victories.
2024 British GP Preview – A lap of the Silverstone Circuit
The start of the track begins between Club and Abbey corner. Almost flat out, the right-hander of Abbey leads immediately into the left-hander of Farm before cars heavily brake into the second gear, right-handed turn 3 Village corner. The even slower left-hander of The Loop comes immediately after, and leads into the flat-out left-hander of Aintree, before cars head down the first DRS zone of the Wellington Straight, designed in 2010 to promote overtaking. Turn 6, the left hander of Brooklands, is taken by drivers in second gear and leads immediately into Luffield, another second gear curve; a right-hand hairpin. The right-handed kink of Woodcote leads cars down the old pit straight, before the difficult sixth gear right hand Copse corner, with a minimum speed of 281 kph in the dry for Formula One cars.
Then, the equally tricky complex of Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel – a left-right-left-right-left complex with a minimum speed of 209 kph, leads cars down the Hangar Straight with the fifth gear right-hander of Stowe lurking at the end. The fifteenth turn of the track, Stowe, has a minimum speed of 201 kph and precedes a short straight, named Vale, which leads cars downhill towards the Club complex. Heavy braking is required for the left-hander of turn 16, and understeer can be an issue for the next right-handers of turns 17 and 18, as cars tentatively accelerate round to the start-finish straight. You can watch Max Verstappen’s pole position lap from last season’s British Grand Prix Qualifying session of a 1:26.720 in his Oracle Red Bull Racing Honda-RBPT RB19 racer at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8RhMJp0Rbg
2024 British GP Preview – The Last Five Winners
2023: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing. 2022: Carlos Sainz, Scuderia Ferrari. 2021: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2020: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2019: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.
2024 British GP Preview – Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing with them to Silverstone, the white side-walled C1 Hard tyres along with the yellow-branded C2 Medium compounds and the red-marked C3 Soft rubber as well as the Intermediate (green) and Wet (blue) compounds to the event in case of rain.
All drivers will have the same allocation of tyres, eight sets of the softs, three of the mediums and two of the hards.
2024 British GP Preview – DRS Zones
There will be two DRS Zones at Silverstone. The first detection point is 25 metres before turn three (Village) with the activation point 30 metres after turn five (Aintree) on the Wellington Straight. The second detection point is at turn 11 (Maggots) with the activation point 55 metres after the exit turn 14 (Chapel).
2024 British GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speeds will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Russell snatches Austrian GP victory as Verstappen and Norris collide
George Russell picked up Mercedes’ first victory of the season at the Austrian GP victory as both Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris collided in an intense battle for the lead.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the top three.
When the 71-lap Austrian GP began, pole sitter Verstappen got a brilliant getaway into turn one as Norris covers Russell meanwhile behind them Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Piastri made slight contact into turn one.
Leclerc suffered damage to his front wing as a result of contact with the McLaren and pitted at the end of the opening lap for a new front wing and a fresh set of the C1 white side-walled hard tyres as Verstappen held 1.036 second lead over Norris with Russell third, Hamilton fourth as Sainz rounded out the top five.
On the third tour, Hamilton tucked right behind his Mercedes team-mate Russell as the former made a dive on the inside of his fellow British-compatriot into turn three to take the position, then Russell responded with DRS on the rundown to turn four and re-passed his team-mate around the outside to take the place back.
The sixth lap saw Sainz overtake Hamilton for fourth with DRS assistance and overtook the Briton the inside of turn three to take the position.
A tour later, Hamilton with DRS assistance tucked on the inside of Sainz into turn three and covered the Mercedes also into turn four as Piastri made a bold overtake on Perez to move up into sixth place at the exit of turn six.
On the ninth lap, Hamilton was once again keeping in DRS range behind Sainz as the duo continued to battle for fourth.
Lap 10 saw Verstappen’s lead over Norris sitting at 3.996 seconds with Russell third, Sainz fourth as Hamilton completed the top five runners.
On lap 12, Hulkenberg pitted from eighth for a fresh set of hards and emerged in-front of Haas team-mate Magnussen in 14th and a bit further on in the run to turn four, the latter with DRS assistance made a move around the outside of the German and made the move stick to take the position.
On the 14th tour race leader Verstappen’s gap to Norris was up to 5.2 seconds with Russell third, Sainz fourth as Hamilton rounded out the top five.
Further down the field, Williams’ Alexander Albon with fresher harder rubber and with DRS assistance made a lunge on the inside of Leclerc’s SF-24 entry into turn three to jump into 18th place.
On lap 18, Leclerc pitted for a fresh set of the mediums and came out behind Sargeant at the back as race leader Verstappen rapidly caught up to the pairing.
On lap 19, Leclerc made a move on the inside to pass Sargeant at the penultimate corner to take 19th.
The 20th lap saw Verstappen’s lead increased to 6.081 seconds over Norris with Russell third, Sainz fourth as Hamilton completed the top five as Ocon stopped from eighth for his fresh set of hards.
Ocon emerged in 17th behind Albon’s Williams.
A tour later both Gasly and Stroll pitted for their fresh sets of hard and medium compounds respectively and came out in 16th and 17th.
The following lap saw fifth-placed Hamilton and seventh-placed Perez make their stops and emerged in sixth and ninth respectively on their new sets of the harder tyres.
Piastri told his team over the radio that Hamilton crossed the pit-entry line, which saw the incident under investigation by the stewards.
The next tour saw third-placed Russell and fourth-placed Sainz also pit for their new mediums and hards respectively to come out in fourth and fifth.
On lap 24, race leader Verstappen and second-placed Norris both stopped for their new set of the C1 compound and emerged in second and third behind the soon-to-pit Piastri.
The 25th lap saw Hamilton hit with a five-second time-penalty for entering the pit-lane and crossing the white pit-entry line.
The next lap saw Piastri pit from the lead to take on his fresh set of hards and came back out behind fifth-placed Hamilton.
Race leader Verstappen is also under investigation by the stewards for an unsafe release in the pits between him and Norris on lap 25 meanwhile Hamilton apologised to his Mercedes team after his five-second time penalty as Toto Wolff told the Briton to push hard.
On the 30th lap, Verstappen’s lead up at 6.959 seconds over Norris with Russell third, Sainz fourth, Hamilton fifth as Piastri completed the top six.
Verstappen reported over his radio that it’s “pretty gusty out there” as he was being coached through about potential gear issues with his RB20 racer and was told by Giampiero Lambiase that “gear 7 is still fine” as his Red Bull team-mate was under investigation for speeding in the pit-lane.
On lap 33, Perez was hit with a five-second penalty by the race officials for speeding in the pit-lane.
A tour later, Leclerc stopped for a set of the C2 yellow-marked mediums and came out in 18th behind Bottas as Ocon made his way past Alonso to take 11th place.
In the battle for 11th, Gasly with DRS assistance on the rundown made a move on Alonso and his Alpine team-mate Ocon into turn three as the latter forced the former into the run-off area as Ocon retained 11th.
Gasly raged over the radio on Ocon “Why did he just run me off the track?” with Alonso also saying “wow”.
Alonso then stopped and served his 10-second penalty for a set of hards and came out behind Leclerc in 18th.
On lap 40, Verstappen’s gap out-front was 8.063 seconds over Norris with Russell a distant third, Sainz fourth as Hamilton completed the top five.
A tour later, the battle for eighth between both Alpine’s intensified as Gasly with DRS assistance made a move on the outside of Ocon into turn three and done the switch back as both A524’s ran wheel-to-wheel up to turn four as Gasly made the move around the outside and moved up into eighth place.
Race leader Verstappen reported over the radio that his tyres were “suddenly really bad” as Alpine’s Gasly pitted from eighth and came out in 15th place behind Leclerc on a set of mediums.
Ocon and Stroll both stopped a tour later for their sets of mediums and hards respectively and the pairing came out in 14th and 16th respectively.
On lap 46, RB’s Yuki Tsunoda pitted from 11th for his set of the C1 hards and emerged in 16th behind Stroll.
Lap 47 saw third-placed Russell make his second stop and fitted his F1 W15 with a new set of hards and re-joined in sixth place behind Piastri as Albon was hit with a five-second penalty for the same incident as Hamilton.
Sainz reacted to Russell a tour later and put on a fresh set of the C2 mediums and emerged in sixth behind Russell as in the battle for third – Piastri with DRS assistance made a move on the inside of Hamilton to move up into third place.
Race leader Verstappen yelled over the radio “I can’t hold this much longer” as the Dutchman talked about the lapped Haas pairing behind him who were looking to pass the Red Bull.
The 51st tour saw Verstappen’s lead at 6.897 seconds over Norris with Piastri third, Hamilton fourth as Russell completed the top five.
Verstappen was told by his team to box as Norris also joined the championship leader in the pits as both drivers stopped for mediums with the former on a used set and the latter a fresh set.
Piastri also stopped from third for his new set of mediums and came out in sixth behind Sainz.
Verstappen suffered a front-right lock-up into turn four as the gap between him and Norris was at 1 second.
Norris was into DRS range of race leader Verstappen as the former charged in on the struggling Red Bull as Hamilton pitted to re-join in sixth place behind Piastri.
A lap later, on the run-down to turn three with DRS assistance Norris made a move on the outside of Verstappen but the Dutchman covered the McLaren as the duo remained close.
On the 56th lap, both Verstappen and Norris breezed their way past Albon and Stroll into turns one and three as the gap was sitting at 0.900 seconds.
With 15 tours remaining, Norris unleashed his DRS once more and drew a touch closer as Verstappen reported to his team of having no grip.
The next tour, Norris activated DRS once more and brought the gap to 0.330 seconds to Verstappen as the latter covered the former into turn three and again into turn four – Norris was given a black-and-white flag for exceeding track limits.
The next lap with DRS assistance, Norris made a late lunge on Verstappen and overtook the Dutchman into the uphill turn three right hander, suffering a front-right lock-up in the process as the McLaren driver past the Red Bull off-track in the run-off area and gave the place back to the Dutchman into turn four.
On lap 60, Norris kept within DRS range of the race-leading Red Bull as the race stewards noted the incident of the former’s off-track pass.
A lap later with DRS assistance, Norris got close to Verstappen again on the rundown to turn four making a move on the outside, but the latter covered the Briton once more.
With nine laps remaining, second-placed Norris had another look at the Red Bull but could not get by.
On lap 63, Norris made a move on the inside into turn three of Verstappen as the latter ran into the run-off area as the Dutchman ran back in-front of the McLaren.
On the 64th tour, Norris once again activated DRS out of the exit of the opening corner and moved on the inside as the Dutchman moved left as both collided into turn three as both drivers ran off track.
Norris clipped the left-rear of Verstappen’s RB20 as the Dutchman suffered a puncture, whilst Norris also suffered a right-rear puncture in the incident with Verstappen.
Verstappen and Norris then pitted as the former emerged in fifth place as the latter retired due to a damaged rear floor and got his with a penalty for his incident.
Russell moved into the lead as Piastri also made the overtake on Sainz to move up into second place as the virtual safety car was called to clear the debris.
The race went back to green on lap 67 as Verstappen was hit with a ten-second time penalty for his collision with Norris.
With three tours remaining, Russell’s lead was at 2.345 seconds over Piastri with Sainz third, Hamilton a distant fourth as Verstappen completed the top five.
Russell crossed to line to win the Austrian GP 1.906 seconds over McLaren’s Piastri as Sainz completed the final points place 2.627 seconds off the Briton.
The other Mercedes of Hamilton took fourth as Verstappen settled for fifth following his tangle with Norris.
Verstappen over the radio after hearing he was hit with a 10-second time penalty said “That’s just ridiculous, you can’t just send it left or right. What do you want me to do?”
Horner responded, “We were desperately unlucky”.
Hulkenberg managed to hold Perez behind on the final lap to finish sixth as Magnussen came home eighth completing a solid points haul for Haas.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Gasly completed the final points positions.
Ferrari’s Leclerc ended the Grand Prix outside the top ten, recovering to 11th place after his opening lap incident and in-front of Ocon who took 12th and Stroll who was 13th.
The second RB entry of Tsunoda took 14th and ahead of Williams’ Albon who came home 15th and Sauber duo Bottas and Zhou who followed in 16th and 17th respectively.
Aston Martin’s Alonso and Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant brought up the rear.
The aforementioned Norris was the sole retiree of the race.
2024 British GP Preview – The Situation
The Formula 1 circus completes it’s triple header with the British Grand Prix at the historic Silverstone just days after the controversial tangle between Championship leader Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris in Spielberg.
Norris and Mercedes pairing George Russell and Sir Lewis Hamilton will all be racing in-front of their home fans, with the trio in the running to be on the podium and potentially on the top step.
The tension heading into the British GP weekend is that of the dramatic collision between Verstappen and Norris last time out at the Red Bull Ring, which could mark the beginnings of a big fight between the duo over the rest of this campaign.
McLaren haven’t won the British Grand Prix since Hamilton’s victory at a wet 2008 event, but Norris will be aiming to respond after numerous near misses at recent races.
The Briton trails Verstappen by 81 points in the World Driver’s Championship standings and needs to start charging at the deficit to stand a chance in challenging for the crown this season.
Mercedes were over the moon as Russell inherited his second career victory in Formula 1 as a result of the Austrian GP collision.
Russell is yet to finish on the podium at Silverstone, but team-mate Hamilton has won the event a record eight times.
It promises to be another epic weekend of racing and the FIA Formula 2 and 3 Championships feature on the schedule once again.
Verstappen returns to Silverstone on top of the World Driver’s Championship with 237 points and an 81-points lead over Norris who is second on 156 points whilst Charles Leclerc is a further 87 points behind the Dutchman in third on 150 points.
Oracle Red Bull Racing comes to Great Britain on top of the World Constructor’s Championship with 355 points and a 64-point advantage over nearest rival Scuderia Ferrari who are second on 291 points whilst McLaren Formula 1 Team is third and are a further 87 points behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit on 268 points.
BWT Alpine F1 Team reserve Jack Doohan will step in for regular Pierre Gasly in opening practice on Friday evening whilst reigning champions Red Bull and Williams will be featuring special liveries for their home Grand Prix.
2024 British GP Preview – Aston Martin sign ex-Mercedes F1 engine guru Cowell as Group CEO
Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team announced the signing of Andy Cowell as Group Chief Executive Officer as part of it’s journey to become championship contenders.
On October 1, Cowell will join the Silverstone based-outfit as Group CEO and will report to Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll as Current Group Chief Executive Officer Martin Whitmarsh will be having over his responsibility to Cowell before the end of the year. The Briton was recently Managing Director at Mercedes AMG HPP.
Cowell is a Fellow of both the IMechE and the Royal Academy of Engineering. The Briton began his motorsport career with BMW Motorsport in 2000 before moving to Mercedes-Ilmor in 2004 as Principal Engineer.
At Mercedes-Benz HPE, he was Engineering Director between 2008 and 2013. Cowell became Mercedes AMG HPP Managing Director in 2013 during the successful 1.6L V6 Turbo Hybrid era where the Silver Arrows both won the World Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships between 2014 and 2020.
You can read the full statements from Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team Stroll, Aston Martin Performance Technologies Group CEO Whitmarsh and Cowell here: https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/aston-martin-aramco-announces-andy-cowell-as-group-chief-executive-officer
Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings
The Formula 1 Qatar Airways British Grand Prix 2024 weekend begins Friday July 5 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday July 6 along with the 52 lap Race Sunday July 7.
1 thought on “#F1 Qatar Airways #BritishGP 2024 Preview. #Formula1 #BritishGrandPrix”
Comments are closed.