Lewis Hamilton has an impeccable home race record, Sebastian Vettel has had his share of bad luck at the track and three of the four rookies have had wins in other championships at Silverstone. Take a look at each driver’s form at the British Grand Prix!
?? Lewis Hamilton
It’s safe to say that Lewis Hamilton has the best form at Silverstone of any driver on the grid. He’s scored sixty points more at the British Grand Prix than any other current driver. He’s finished every Grand Prix that he’s competed in here and has scored in all but one of them – in 2009, when he finished sixteenth. He’s won all of the last four races at Silverstone and has five total wins with an additional two podium finishes. In four of the last five races here, he’s started from pole. 2009 is the only year where Hamilton has failed to reach Q3 at the British Grand Prix. In three of the last four races at Silverstone, he’s set the fastest lap of the afternoon. 2007 and 2013 are the only years where Hamilton has lost a position from his starting place at this track.
?? Valtteri Bottas
Like his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas has finished every British Grand Prix he has started. Bottas has finished in the top five in three of the last four races here, taking the runner-up slot in both 2014 and 2017. His 2014 race was particularly impressive as he gained twelve places throughout the Grand Prix. The Finn has never qualified higher than fourth here and has only one top five start at the track having picked up a five place grid penalty last season. He’s only beaten a team-mate in Qualifying here twice, but has reached Q3 in all of the last three seasons.
?? Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel has taken one British Grand Prix victory and four podiums at the Silverstone track, but he hasn’t always had the best luck here. He was on course for victory in 2013 when he had to retire from the race with mechanical problems. Then, in 2017, he was a near-certain podium finisher before tyre issues dropped him down the order. Vettel has scored in every British Grand Prix which he has finished, though his last two races here have been below par – finishing in seventh and ninth. He has a 100% Q3 record at Silverstone, with two poles and four front row starts. He hasn’t started from the front row since 2014 and is yet to beat team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in Qualifying at this track.
?? Kimi Raikkonen
Between 2003 and 2007, Kimi Raikkonen took five consecutive British Grand Prix podiums, including a win in 2007. Since then, the Finn failed to repeat his past success until last season when he finally stood on the Silverstone podium once more. Raikkonen has retired from this race twice, including as a result of a hefty shunt in 2014, but has scored points in every British Grand Prix he has finished and has never finished lower than eighth. He’s only taken one pole in his career here, in 2004, but has had four front row starts. During his tenure in F1 he’s only been beaten by a team-mate in Qualifying twice at Silverstone – in 2013 and 2014. He’s reached Q3 here on all but one occasion, when he was eliminated in Q1 in 2014. Raikkonen hasn’t gained a place on his starting position in the British Grand Prix since 2013.
?? Daniel Ricciardo
Since he joined Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo has finished in the top five at every British Grand Prix, except 2015 when he retired. The Australian has one podium finish at Silverstone, the track where he made his F1 début with HRT in 2011. He has never qualified higher than fourth at the circuit, and hasn’t beaten a team-mate in Qualifying here since 2013. Ricciardo has reached Q3 in every year since 2013, except for last year when he was out in Q1 with mechanical issues. His comeback was one of the main talking points of last year’s British Grand Prix, as he made up fourteen places throughout the race.
?? Max Verstappen
From his three British Grand Prix appearances so far, Max Verstappen has one DNF and two top five finishes. He finished on the podium as runner-up in 2016, and came home in fourth last season. Verstappen has beaten Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying at Silverstone in both years where they’ve been team-mates. He hasn’t yet had a front row start – his best grid position at the track was third in 2016.
?? Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez’s best finish at Silverstone came in 2016, when he finished sixth. In all of the past three seasons, the Mexican has scored points at the British Grand Prix. He’s never qualified higher than seventh here, has a best grid slot of sixth from 2017 and has reached Q3 only twice – in 2014 and 2017. Perez has suffered two DNFs here – in 2012 when he was hit by Pastor Maldonado and in 2013 when his tyre exploded towards the end of the Grand Prix. Last season was the first time he has beaten his team-mate in Qualifying at Silverstone.
?? Esteban Ocon
At his British Grand Prix début last season, Esteban Ocon qualified eighth and was bumped up the grid to seventh thanks to Valtteri Bottas’ penalty. He lost a position in the race to finish eighth. Ocon was beaten by his team-mate in Qualifying last year.
?? Lance Stroll
Last season, Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1 and beaten by his team-mate in qualifying. He started fifteenth and lost one position in the race to finish sixteenth.
?? Sergey Sirotkin
Sergey Sirotkin has no past Formula One experience at Silverstone. He’d never raced here when he arrived for the GP2 race in 2015, but that didn’t stop him from winning the Feature Race. He also finished eighth in the Sprint Race. He returned again in 2016, but only managed 18th and 21st in the Feature and Sprint races respectively.
?? Nico Hulkenberg
In all of the last five British Grands Prix, Nico Hulkenberg has scored points. Last season, he recorded his best finish at the Silverstone track with sixth place. In every year since 2012, Hulkenberg has beaten his team-mate in Qualifying at this track. He’s reached Q3 every season since 2014 and has never had a Q1 exit. His best qualifying result at Silverstone was fourth in 2014.
?? Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz has only ever finished one British Grand Prix. He finished the 2016 event in eighth place. Last season’s race at Silverstone was one to forget for the Spaniard. He endured his worst qualifying at the track with fourteenth on the grid and then crashed with team-mate Daniil Kvyat on the opening lap of the Grand Prix. It was also the first time where he’d been beaten in qualifying by his team-mate at the British event. In both 2015 and 2016, Sainz qualified in eighth here, and started a best of seventh in 2016. He has never finished higher than where he started in the British Grand Prix.
?? Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly has no past Formula One experience at Silverstone. He’s raced here in GP2 though, scoring a podium in the 2015 Sprint Race and a victory in the 2016 Feature Race.
?? Brendon Hartley
Brendon Hartley is another driver with no past F1 experience here. He raced here in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2009, where he finished fifth in the Sprint Race. In 2013, he competed in the European Le Mans series in 2013 and finished seventh. With the Porsche team in the World Endurance Championship, Hartley has scored two podiums at Silverstone. His team finished third in 2014 and second in 2017.
?? Romain Grosjean
Romain Grosjean hasn’t scored at the British Grand Prix since his first full F1 season in 2012. He’s retired from three of the last five races at Silverstone and hasn’t finished higher than where he started since that début season. Last season was Grosjean’s first Q3 appearance at the British Grand Prix since 2013. His 2013 effort remains his best qualifying at the track, with eighth place (which later became seventh on the grid). The Frenchman has beaten his team-mate in Qualifying in every fair fight here since 2013
?? Kevin Magnussen
Just like his Haas team-mate, Kevin Magnussen hasn’t scored at Silverstone since his maiden season. 2014 was also his best qualifying showing at the track, with fifth place. Magnussen has had a mixed bag of qualifying results here, with one Q1 exit, one Q2 exit and one Q3 appearance. 2016 is the only season so far where the Dane has beaten his team-mate in Qualifying for the British Grand Prix. Last season, he gained four places from his grid slot.
?? Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso’s two British Grand Prix victories in 2006 and 2011 must seem like a long time ago now. The Spaniard has had six podium finishes at Silverstone, and just two DNFs. Last season was the first time he’s retired from the event since 2003. Alonso has taken three poles here, but hasn’t qualified higher than tenth since his last British Grand Prix pole in 2012. Memorably, Fernando set the fastest Q1 time last season on a drying track. 2017 was his first Q2 exit at the track having previously been eliminated in Q1 in 2014 and 2015. Last season was also the first time he’s been beaten by a team-mate in Qualifying at the Silverstone track since 2007. The last time Alonso scored a point in the British Grand Prix was in 2015.
?? Stoffel Vandoorne
In his only British Grand Prix appearance so far, Stoffel Vandoorne reached Q3 and beat his team-mate in Qualifying. He started from eighth and finished just outside of the points in eleventh.
?? Marcus Ericsson
Silverstone is a bit of a 50-50 track for Marcus Ericsson. He’s retired from 50% of the races he’s competed in here, and has beaten his team-mate in qualifying in two of his four British Grand Prix appearances. 2015 was his best year here, where he had his best qualifying of fifteenth at the track, his only non-Q1 exit, and recorded his best Silverstone finish so far with eleventh place. The Swede suffered the biggest crash of his Formula One career here in Free Practice Three in 2016. In both of the British Grands Prix he’s finished, Ericsson has gained four places from his starting slot.
?? Charles Leclerc
In 2015, Charles Leclerc raced at Silverstone in Formula 3, where he took a win in the third race. Leclerc appeared in Free Practice 1 for the 2016 British Grand Prix with the Haas team and finished on the podium in GP3 in both races that weekend. Last year, he won the F2 Feature Race here.
