The grid for the 2025 F1 British GP is set, and we have Max Verstappen on pole position with Oscar Piastri right alongside him. The duo would have Lando Norris in P3 and George Russell in P4 right behind them, followed by the Ferrari pair of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
The races in Silverstone tend to have a flavor of their own every time, as it could be sunny one moment and could rain the next. At the same time, all of the top 4 teams have taken a very different approach from each other to get the lap time out of their cars. While Red Bull has gone for more straight-line speed, we have McLaren being pretty good almost everywhere, Ferrari is brilliant in the corners while slower in the straights, and then we have Mercedes nailing things in the slow-speed sections.
There are expectations of rain playing a role in some capacity during the F1 British GP. So what can we expect? Let's take a look.
#5 Keep an eye on Fernando Alonso
The Spanish wizard is starting the race very close to the front group, and the Aston Martin has appeared to be a handy car as well around Silverstone. There is a prospect of rain being a factor in the F1 British GP. If that is the case, the wily old fox would be eyeing a strong result.
An upgraded Aston Martin that has actually gotten better with the new stuff has given Alonso a spring in his step. He might be eyeing something special, and it would be worth keeping an eye on this weekend.
#4 Strategic unit could play a massive role in the final finishing positions
At Silverstone, more than at any other race, the weather is a very unpredictable variable. There are forecasts of rain either making an appearance during or prior to the race, and both of them do increase the importance of the strategic units sitting in the pit box.
A team's agility, or the lack of it, was what defined how last year's F1 British GP was won or lost, as McLaren completely fumbled Lando Norris' strategy and handed the win to Lewis Hamilton on a platter.
This time around as well, a lot of the final positions in the race are going to come down to how well the strategic units perform.
#3 Mercedes is a wildcard
Well, when it comes to Mercedes, it's hard to predict the direction in which the team goes. The cooler conditions should ideally help the car and bring it even more into contention, but then, we just don't know how well they would perform. When it comes to this car, there's a lack of clarity for the team as well on how it would ideally behave in specific conditions.
With that being said, the fact that this team did win the race here last season means we cannot rule them out just yet.
#2 A first Lewis Hamilton podium with Ferrari
If it rains and the temperatures are cooler, it becomes harder to keep Ferrari as one of the key proponents in a race. But then this is the F1 British GP. This is Lewis Hamilton's home race, and if there is one thing that the driver has already shown this weekend, it is the fact that he seems to be a lot more confident in the car and has a better understanding of how to drag the lap time out of the car.
When it comes to rain or mixed conditions, Lewis is often one of the better ones on the grid, and we're backing the F1 legend to rise up and score his first podium for Ferrari.
#1 Max Verstappen to win the F1 British GP
Much has been made about Max Verstappen's extreme setup that helped him secure pole position for the F1 British GP. Well, there's certainly truth to that. The driver is running a car on a very low downforce setup. While he was able to drag it to the pole, it's not going to be that easy to do so throughout the race.
With that being said, there are both positives and negatives with this setup. The positive is that it becomes very hard for anyone to pull off overtakes even with DRS. The negative is that the car is going to be a handful in the slow-speed sections anyway.
Even in the wet weather, maybe Max could have a bit of trouble early on in getting the tires fired up, but the mechanical grip and the track's aggressive nature would make it much easier to do so.
It's going to be a long and strategic race for sure, but Max Verstappen does have a few tricks up his sleeve as well, especially if it rains and Red Bull's peerless strategic unit comes into the picture. When you take that into consideration, we're backing the Dutch driver to win the F1 British GP.