Door opens for Lewis Hamilton to produce more British GP magic at Silverstone

Practice saw Ferrari flex their muscles with Lewis Hamilton on his game and possibly ready to challenge fellow Brit Lando Norris for victory at the British Grand Prix

Some athletes have so much success at one particular venue that their name becomes synonymous with it. Think Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, Jack Nicklaus in Augusta and Michael Jordan at Madison Square Garden. And, of course, Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone.

It said a lot on Thursday when Lando Norris, who is the Brit most likely to taste success at the British Grand Prix, deferred to Hamilton as the king of this place. Because he is – nine victories here over the 40-year-old’s outstanding career say it all.

If he were to manage another one on Sunday, a total of 10 would double the five each managed by Jim Clark and Alain Prost, who are next on the list. Can he do it? Hamilton said on Thursday that he’ll need rain to have any hope of stopping the dominant McLarens.

But the Ferraris looked good on a dry track yesterday, Hamilton topping the timesheets in FP1 while both he and Charles Leclerc were pacy in the second practice session. Only Norris was quicker than them, raising hopes that Hamilton might be in the fight after all.

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Winning here last year was one of the most emotional days of his career, ending a 945-day barren run and creating one last, enduring memory with Mercedes. If he were to record his first Ferrari win here this weekend, it would be just as special.

Elsewhere, Williams were in red hot form in the early weeks of this season and sit fifth in the constructors’ championship. But now their cars are just getting too hot and it threatens to undo all their good work up to now.

Alex Albon has failed to finish the last three races with his car plagued by cooling issues within his Mercedes-supplied engines, while Carlos Sainz can’t stop his brakes from getting too hot. It was a problem for the Spaniard in Montreal and then, last time out, he didn’t even get to start in Austria as his rear brakes caught fire.

Heading into Silverstone, Albon admitted he is “a little bit worried” and said they “can’t afford” another mishap on a track where Williams would otherwise expect to perform well.

From the archive

Five hundred thousand fans are expected at Silverstone over this weekend, but none were allowed back in 2020 when, during the Covid-19 lockdown, Hamilton suffered a puncture on the final lap and limped to the finish line with Max Verstappen haring after him.

Fast fact

Lando Norris is bidding to become the 11th Brit to win an F1 race at Silverstone and the first, other than Hamilton, since David Coulthard in 1999.

Inside track

Haas title sponsor MoneyGram is looking to leave F1 just two years into its five-year deal with the team, but the search for a replacement is understood to be going well with multiple sources indicating companies are lining up to support the American team.