From a surprising pole position, Max Verstappen faces a tough battle in the British Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning world champion has some trump cards up his sleeve, but it shouldn’t rain in Silverstone. Top speed is his most important means of defense.
Verstappen expects a ‘good fight’, in which, unlike the McLaren drivers, he has less to lose. “I’m not really in a fight. That doesn’t mean I’m going to take more risks, I’m not going to do crazy things.”
For the Dutchman, it’s now mainly about daily successes. Winning the British Grand Prix against expectations certainly counts as a daily success.
“But we have to wait and see what is possible. In our race simulations, it was more difficult to keep the tires alive,” he estimated his chances. “I don’t know how that will go tomorrow. Normally we are less good at that than the McLarens. But it also depends on the weather.”
The normal problems with overheating tires usually occur at higher temperatures. These are not expected in Silverstone on Sunday, it will be a maximum of 20 degrees. However, there is also a chance of a shower. Then Verstappen will experience the disadvantages of the small rear wing he has on the car. “Yes, then we have less grip, I hope it stays dry.”
Verstappen difficult to overtake due to high top speed
That small rear wing gave Verstappen much more top speed. He was 9 kilometers per hour faster than Oscar Piastri at the measuring point. That will play a role. “That Red Bull is very fast on the straights. We go through the high speed corners very well. I think it will be a lot of fun,” the WK leader, who starts second, looked ahead.
“We’ll only notice when we’re driving behind him,” Lando Norris said about possibly overtaking Verstappen. “With DRS open, I think we are just as fast as Max’s normal top speed. So we will probably move towards him in the fast corners, but I wonder if we will get any closer when DRS opens. That can be difficult. But there are other opportunities.”
Ferrari disappointing, but remains a factor
Verstappen himself emphasized that it will mainly be about tire management in a dry race. And the drivers on the first starting rows are still strongly taking into account a factor that comes from behind. That is not so much George Russell in fourth place, but especially the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton (fifth) and Charles Leclerc (sixth) behind him.
The Scuderia licked its wounds after a difficult qualification, in a weekend in which it was going so well. “I had a specific problem in our car during qualification,” Leclerc explained afterwards. The Ferrari driver burst into a barrage of insults in his outlap, but later saw the advantages again. “Fortunately, I won’t be bothered by that tomorrow.”
Hamilton won at Silverstone last year and seemed on his way to the first row. “But I threw that away with a mistake in the last corner. I think the McLarens and Max’s Red Bull are difficult to beat from our starting position. But where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he remained optimistic.
One-stopper and two-stopper almost equally fast
What will that look like strategically? Mario Isola from Pirelli: “There is little difference between a one-stopper and a two-stopper. That saves a maximum of three seconds in the simulations. That is why it really depends on how the cars handle the tires. The fastest choice is a one-stopper from medium to hard, with a stop between lap 19 and 25. The two-stopper is also with mediums and hard, with a stop from lap 12 to 18 and a second from lap 32 to 38.”
Due to the cooler temperatures, the drivers will probably have to deal with graining, the phenomenon that pieces of rubber tear off the tire and stick to the tread.