All info you need to see before the 70th Anniversary GP starts
Tyres. For this weekend at Silverstone and the second of two races at the venue, the main discussion already is about the tyres, given how it all turned out in the 2020 British Grand Prix from last weekend. The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix will celebrate the 70 years since the first World Championship race took place at the same track and it will be an interesting one.
Given Mercedes’ great rhythm last week and also their unexpected struggles with the tyres, this upcoming race might be wide open for many. Lewis Hamilton taking his seventh win at home was an awesome sight for his fans, his team and the six-time champion himself, but finishing with three tyres might not be on the plans ever again.
Pirelli determined that the punctures suffered by Valtteri Bottas, Carlos Sainz and Hamilton himself in the late stages of last week’s race were caused by “a set of individual race circumstances that led to an extremely long use of the second set of tyres”.
Also, the “notably increased pace” of the current cars was mentioned as a key aspect of the tyre delaminations seen last Sunday. Ultimately, according to Pirelli, “the biggest forces ever seen on tyres generated by the fastest Formula 1 cars in history” were to blame for the delaminations.
It is worth noticing that this is probably more on the teams’ than Pirelli’s side of responsibilities. After all, the teams voted unanimously to avoid the 2020 tyre from Pirelli and maintain the 2019 compounds. Yes, the same 2019 compounds five of the 10 teams were against after the first few races of 2019 and wanted to ditch to return to the 2018 compounds. It never ends.
Pirelli confirmed the C2, C3 and C4 compound selection for this week’s race. However, the prescription was reviewed and minimum tyre pressures were increased “to reduce the stress on the construction.”
Pirelli does have something to really answer after Sunday’s race, and that has to do with Daniil Kvyat’s right-rear tyre failure. Mario Isola, Pirelli’s head of Motorsport, explained that the situation with the Russian driver was isolated from those who suffered front-tyre failure.
“It is probably something not related to the tyre or a slow puncture”, said Isola. The tyre was sent to Pirelli’s base at Milan for further studies.
Mercedes’ pace
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) & Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
According to reports, the Power Unit of the Mercedes cars exceeded the 1020 hp mark on Saturday during the third section of Qualifying. Of course, the gap between the leading Mercedes and the next best car from other teams was over a second, which said a lot about not only the Power Unit developed at Brixworth but also the chassis of the W11.
This week, the outright Lap Record set by Hamilton during Q3 will probably fall, given the tyres selected by Pirelli for the 70th Anniversary race are a step softer than those from last Sunday. Even without the tyre changes, at Austria we saw teams match their Q3 times of the Austrian Grand Prix during practice for the Styrian GP, that is how fast Formula 1 progresses.
Can the Mercedes be challenged? Especially Hamilton’s?
Certainly, Hamilton and Mercedes are at a track they have dominated since 2013. Bottas has been competitive at Silverstone also, with Pole Position in 2019 and competitive outings even when he was at Williams.
If Red Bull, or any other team, can challenge Mercedes it will be because of the tyres or a misplaced Safety Car from Mercedes’ point of view. Under the right circumstances and without any mistakes from the individuals occupying the space between the wheel and the pedals, Mercedes should be fine.
Of course, a race likely to be at least a two-stopper for everyone can have some variants, but the best car will remain the best car.
Can Ferrari compete with both cars for once?
Ferrari had a good result in the first race in Austria, a decent one in Hungary and another good result at Silverstone last week, but all came with just one car. Charles Leclerc achieved opportunistic podiums at Austria and at last week’s British GP, while Sebastian Vettel finished sixth in Hungary. In those three races, the other car finished tenth or outside the points.
Sebastian Vettel steps into the Ferrari SF1000
For this race, Vettel’s side of the garage should have corrected the small but significant issues hindering the four-time World Champion’s chances. At Silverstone last weekend, the German found himself fighting and mainly losing to the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and the recovering Red Bull of Alex Albon.
Still, Vettel’s ability gave another point to the Scuderia, as his defense on Bottas on the final lap was mighty and allowed him to secure tenth place. Though harsh criticism has been aimed at the German, he is still a World Champion and has the capability.
Setup trouble might be to blame for Vettel’s day at Silverstone. He should be able to improve and go higher up the grid on the upcoming GP.
What about the rest?
Teams like McLaren, Racing Point and Renault look certainly close between them. Racing Point’s failure to reach a great result at Silverstone after having started off well on Friday was disappointing, but they should do better this week.
The midfield with Renault, McLaren & Racing Point
It is still early to know if Sergio Pérez will return to the grid after his positive test for COVID-19 or if Nico Hulkenberg will take his place again (this time he will be hoping to start the race).
McLaren seems to be unable to pull away from Renault, which achieved a fourth and sixth with Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon as soon as one of the McLaren ran into trouble, and that trend should continue for the upcoming races.
Lando Norris achieved another top-five finish and he has three in just four races, including a podium. With the expectations on Norris being high since he entered Formula 1, it is not a surprise to see him do well. He is currently fourth on the Drivers’ Championship and has scored 36 of McLaren’s 51 points.
AlphaTauri has emerged as the seventh force among the teams and Gasly’s great result from last week was a good testament of their pace. Though they are not able to fight with McLaren, Racing Point and Renault at the moment, they will certainly pick some points up when those teams fail to take advantage of their pace.
Williams is still fighting to get out of the last places, while Haas and Alfa Romeo continue to suffer and can certainly be determined as the teams with the worst packages so far.
Racing Point-Renault saga
As Renault protested the brake ducts of the RP20 again, a hearing with representatives of Mercedes, Racing Point and Renault took place today and the results might be announced on Friday, according to reports coming from paddock people at Silverstone.
Also, it was reported in Italy earlier in the week that Ferrari has asked the FIA for clarification on the matter.
2020 70th Anniversary GP Facts & Figures
This one-off race will be the celebration of the 70 years since the first-ever Grand Prix of the World Championship of Drivers took place at Silverstone, on 13 May 1950.
Giuseppe Farina
The first race of the Formula 1 World Championship was won by Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo 158 ‘Alfetta’. The podium was entirely for Alfa Romeo, with Luigi Fagioli and Reg Parnell following ‘Nino’. Juan Manuel Fangio had mechanical trouble in his Alfa Romeo and had to retire, but the dominance of the Alfettas was clear from the start of 1950.
It is fitting that Silverstone, one of the most iconic tracks and the one that hosted the first Grand Prix of Formula 1 as we know it today, is the place where the 70th Anniversary race will take place.
The appearance of this race in the calendar means that two races will take place in the UK for the first time since 1993 when Silverstone received the British Grand Prix and Donington Park hosted the memorable 1993 European Grand Prix.
Silverstone Track
Silverstone received the first-ever Formula 1 race on 13 May 1950 and will be hosting its 55th Formula World Championship race on Sunday.
It will be the first time in history that Silverstone hosts a Formula 1 race different to the British Grand Prix. Also, the track last hosted two Formula 1 events in the era of the non-championship races.
This will be the first time the track hosts more than one Grand Prix in a year.
The track’s nature has always been the same: a power track with sweeping corners which demand a lot of bravery from the drivers. Though the layout has been changed quite significantly since the first time this former World War II Royal Airforce Station received a Grand Prix, its essence remains.
The current layout, which has not had significant tweaks since 2011, is 5.891 km long and is constructed by 18 corners, with around 10 of those turns being fast-speed corners. With the 2020 cars being the fastest in the history of the sport and those with the biggest load of downforce, the track is a beautiful place to watch F1 cars get thrown around.
The circuit’s current records were established last week, with Hamilton’ Pole lap being the outright record (1:24.303 min) and Verstappen’s Fastest Lap of 1:27.097 min during the race.
The track was really unchanged from 1948 to 1990, with the exception of some tweaks to prevent some high speeds that were becoming a little too dangerous for the drivers. Still, the track is one of the most historic ones in the Grand Prix world and it maintains its most iconic sections.
Given how drivers were running to the dirt at Turn 14 last week, the FIA decided to put a kerb at the exit of Becketts and the entry of Chapel.
"To help the drivers adhere to track limits this weekend, at the request of the FIA, a 23-metre section of kerb with taper has been installed at the exit of turn 13 ahead of this weekend's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix," was said by a Silverstone spokesperson.
2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix - Tyres
The tyres for this race will be different from those of last week, as it was mentioned before. The compounds will be softer: the C2 (white-colored hard tyre), the C3 (yellow-colored medium tyre) and the C4 (red-colored softest tyre).
Pirelli will be deciding the tyre allocation for each team during the entire 2020 season. Each driver will receive two sets of hard tyres, three sets of mediums and eight sets of soft tyres.
The race is expected to have at least two stops from the major contenders, as the events from last week are too fresh in memory to take a gamble and try a one-stop. Of course, every race has different conditions and circumstances, but it would be surprising to see many one-stop strategies.
2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Weather Forecast
At the moment, a dry weekend seems likely, according to AccuWeather.
Friday, August 7th - FP1 & FP2
Conditions: Warm with clouds and sun
Max. temperature: 33°C
Chance of rain: 6%
Saturday, August 8th - FP3 & Qualifying
Conditions: Turning cloudy
Max. temperature: 28°C
Chance of rain: 3%
Sunday, August 9th - Race
Conditions: Some sun, a t-storm in spots
Max. temperature: 29°C
Chance of rain: 40%
Who will be on the 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix Podium?
Clearly, Hamilton is the favorite to dominate the Grand Prix, despite the tyre drama. Of course, Bottas is one to look for as his luck left him without points last week. Bottas desperately needs to dig deep in qualifying to try to start the race ahead of Hamilton and try to control the race from the front.
Last weeks podium: 1. Hamilton, 2. Verstappen & 3. Leclerc
As Hamilton is already leading the World Drivers’ Championship with a 30-point gap to Bottas and a further 36-point advantage to Verstappen, another victory for the Englishman would be a huge step in the right direction for him and a terrible sight for his rivals. Bottas and Verstappen have the duty of stopping the British legend.
Hamilton has won seven races at Silverstone and has seven Pole Positions also at the track, so him being the favor with the package he enjoys and knows how to tame, is fairly reasonable.
Last week, Racing Point seemed to be Mercedes’ main threat, but Red Bull had Verstappen comfortably in third place throughout qualifying and the early part of the race before he picked up second place from Bottas and had a look at the win.
Racing Point was disappointing last week, but they should have a better race if they understand what the problem was in the previous event on Lance Stroll’s car and in the unable-to-start car of Hulkenberg. Ferrari’s case was similar to Red Bull, with Leclerc in fourth from qualifying to the race and achieving third place after Bottas’ tyre delamination.
McLaren should be scrapping with Renault again with both trying to enter the top five in a thrilling battle of cars with the same Renault Power Unit.
For the rest, AlphaTauri can pick up some points if they qualify well and have good starts of the race. Williams, Alfa Romeo and Haas will be looking for the right circumstances to have the chance to look at some points which under a normal race, would not be possible.
The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix will probably be one to remember from a strategic point of view and it might be another episode of Mercedes domination, though nothing is sealed until the race is over, as last week taught us.
Prediction time
Here we go. The top three for the 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix will be 1. Lewis Hamilton, 2. Max Verstappen, 3. Valtteri Bottas.
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