Silverstone hasn鈥檛 changed a bit and yet Lewis Hamilton is ready for a British Grand Prix on a 鈥渃ompletely different track.鈥�
Hamilton coped best with adapting his driving style around new reliance on battery power to take pole position in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint race.
Despite a slight wobble in the final corner, Hamilton held on to take pole by just 0.011 of a second at a track where he’d predicted he and Ferrari would struggle. The seven-time world champion stood atop his car and soaked in the applause as he waved to the crowd.
鈥淚 love this place, I love this crowd and I can鈥檛 express how big a dream it is,鈥� he said.
Standings leader Kimi Antonelli was second fastest, with Max Verstappen third for Red Bull ahead of Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc.
George Russell was only fifth after winning last week’s Austrian Grand Prix, while McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were sixth and seventh in a .
The battery challenge
Setting fast times at Silverstone is very different this year because of how the cars struggle to recharge their batteries around the high-speed circuit. Having only a single practice session on Friday, topped by Hamilton, made it crucial to adapt quickly.
With nine wins there, the most of any driver at a single track, Hamilton knows his home circuit inside out.
Ahead of this weekend’s race, he outlined how the will struggle with Silverstone’s long straights and fast corners.
The Ferrari star predicts cars running at reduced speed with empty batteries, because they need heavy braking zones to recharge the electrical power that’s .
鈥淭his is going to be the most unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment,” he said Thursday. 鈥淎ll of us drivers have been talking on the drivers鈥� chat just how poor the power is going to be through this track. We run out of battery power.鈥�
The fastest way around Silverstone now involves easing off the power to recharge in what would normally be some of the most exciting corners, Hamilton predicted, adding it could be a setback for him and Ferrari.
鈥淣ormally the engine鈥檚 screaming as you鈥檙e going into Copse, and you鈥檙e holding on for dear life as you go through there flat out. This year, the engine will be coasting down,鈥� he said. 鈥淢aggotts and Becketts is just not going to feel the same because I think you have to lift and coast or something through there for a period of time. It鈥檚 just a completely different track.鈥�
Even before Friday practice, drivers spent plenty of time practicing for Silverstone on advanced simulators that mimic the behavior of the cars. Hamilton’s comments line up with predictions by Verstappen, who he 鈥渏ust started laughing鈥� when he tried it out.
Despite the changes Norris, who won a thrilling British Grand Prix on his way to the title last year, says F1 can still put on a good show.
鈥淚 think Sunday will be exciting. On the outside I think it鈥檒l be great,” he said. “Certainly there鈥檚 going to be less challenges on the track itself comparing to what you鈥檝e seen in the past few years.鈥�
Home race curse
Racing at home has been bad luck in F1 recently. No driver has scored a point in his home race since Antonelli’s ninth place at the Italian Grand Prix in September.
So far this year, Piastri failed to make the start in Australia and Leclerc crashed out in Monaco, leaving 12th for Carlos Sainz, Jr. the best by any driver on home soil.
Where better for that streak to end than Britain? Besides Hamilton’s nine wins, Norris is the defending champion and Russell is coming off the last week.
To top it off, those three combined for the first all-British podium since 1968 at last month’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
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