Formula 1: Key Things to Look Out for Ahead of the British Grand Prix

Formula 1’s hectic July rolls on this weekend as the British Grand Prix headlines the continuous summer run of four races in the space of five weeks.

So far, the season has been a Red Bull procession, with the Max Verstappen winning seven of nine and his teammate, Sergio Perez, winning two.

Other teams have made do with patches of success, with Ferrari being the latest to excel in last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix after enduring a difficult start to the season.

Mercedes will hope their upgraded W14 does better at Silverstone than it did at the Red Bull Ring, and McLaren will look to build on the impressive results their upgrade at Austria brought them.

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As the British Grand Prix approaches, and with free practice and qualifying sessions about to commence, Sports Brief presents essential things for you to keep an eye on.

The Silverstone Circuit

Being one of Formula 1’s most iconic Circuit, attendance figures at Silverstone continue to grow year-on-year.

Last year, the British Grand Prix weekend attracted 401,000 fans - a record crowd for the event and the third-largest of the season, behind the United States Grand Prix and the Australian Grand Prix.

2022 also marked the first time that all three days of the event sold out. With expanded viewing areas and the addition of 9,000 grandstand seats, the team in charge of the Silverstone circuit is expecting attendance of up to 480,000 this weekend.

That would make it one of the best-attended Formula 1 events in history, behind the 1995 Australian Grand Prix.

The Silverstone Circuit's current length is measured at 5.891 kilometres. Hosting its first Grand Prix in 1950, races on this circuit always span 52 laps, which equates to a total race distance of 306.198km

Though Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most pole positions - seven - and most race wins - eight on this circuit - it is Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who will be looking to defend what remains his sole F1 win when the lights go out this Sunday.

Silverstone's overtaking chances

The loop of turns three and four is possible, but it normally presents a set-up for the straight down to turn six at Brooklands, aided by DRS. The system plays another part in the next best spot, which is run down the Hangar Straight to the quick right-hander at Stowe.

Overtaking is also possible in the final chicane and the very final corner of the track too. Overall, the Silverstone circuit surely features loads of areas to pass, one thing F1 fans love to see.

British Grand Prix's packed weekend

The British Grand Prix is set to run from July 7 to 9. For lovers of motorsports, this weekend offers a packed schedule of race action.

There will be over six hours of Formula 1 cars on track to look forward to at the 2023 British Grand Prix. With three support series also appearing on the schedule, the track will rarely fall silent over the race weekend.

There are two races from each of Formula 1’s feeder series - Formula 2 and Formula 3 - while the popular Porsche Supercup makes a welcome return to Silverstone.

In addition, there will be a parade of historic F1 cars on each day of the race weekend. The theme for this year’s procession has not been announced.

There will also be a demonstration lap from Aston Martin car on Friday evening, celebrating the brand’s 110th anniversary, while Jenson Button will take to the track ahead of the race on Sunday in the 1992 championship-winning Williams FW14B to celebrate the constructor's 800th Grand Prix.

British GP weather forecast

Although the start of the week appeared slightly unsettled, the start of the weekend appeared better with the weather highs forecasted at 25 degrees with some cloud cover in the afternoon and almost no chance of rain.

According to F1.com, Saturday looks the day most likely for any precipitation, with around a 40-50 per cent chance of light rain showers during the early afternoon, when qualifying takes place, with highs of around 23 degrees.

At this point, Sunday looks cloudier and slightly cooler, with highs of 21 degrees and little chance of rain.

Teams’ current form

With nine races into the 2023 season, it’s been total dominance from Red Bull Racing. The Austrian team has won all of the races held on the calendar so far, with reigning double world champion, Verstappen, bagging seven of them.

It means Verstappen is now 81 points clear of teammate, Perez, in the drivers’ standings, while Red Bull sits 199 points ahead of Mercedes in the constructors’ battle.

But despite that dominant start, recent races have brought signs that some of their rivals are beginning to close the gap, with Mercedes, Aston Martin and most recently Ferrari enjoying success in the form of major upgrades.

With their aerodynamic testing restrictions kicking in, Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, recently commented that he expects the likes of Mercedes to start putting pressure on his team as 2023 develops, with the halfway mark of the season not far away.

Beyond the top four teams in the current F1 standings, Alpine - which according to SkySports was bought into by Hollywood star, Ryan Reynolds - is also set to unleash more updates this weekend as they look to fight back against McLaren, who appeared to make a sizeable step of their own with updates to Lando Norris’ car last time out.

British GP to feature Hollywood

According to reports, a production team has already fitted out a pit garage at the track with F1-style banners that represent on-screen characters from the flick.