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Valtteri Bottas will start from pole position ahead of title leader Lewis Hamilton in tonight’s Formula One 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. Follow The Roar for live race updates and a blog of the race at 11:10pm (AEST).
Even amid the pandemic, which has impacted the whole world in ways not previously imaginable, we can find time to pause and celebrate a special milestone for Formula One, which 70 years ago first roared into life.
In 1950, at the same Silverstone Circuit around which the drivers of today will contest the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, famous names such as Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio competed in the first-ever Formula One race.
Though Silverstone isn’t exactly the same as the World War II airfield of the 1950s, the 5.8-kilometre track is one of the most challenging of the modern sport and among its fastest.
Last week’s British Grand Prix here was dominated by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, though victory didn’t come without drama in the late stages of the race when he, teammate Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz all suffered tyre failures.
Pirelli have since confirmed the issue resulted from the increased loads on the tyres, which are the same as those used in 2019 after the teams rejected the 2020-spec compounds late last year. But that hasn’t stopped the tyre supplier from going a level softer this weekend with the C2, C3 and C4 compounds.
This should hopefully see more variation in race strategy, with multiple stops expected to ensure the tyres don’t reach that same level of wear as they did in the previous race.
Bottas responded by claiming pole position by only 0.063 seconds over Hamilton for what stands as a crucial race for his title aspirations. The Finn will start the grand prix 30 points behind the Briton in the championship after failing to score last weekend.
Nico Hulkenberg is again standing in for Sergio Perez, who returned another positive COVID-19 test ahead of this weekend.
The German had his race chances cruelled last weekend, his first substituting for the Mexican, by a clutch gremlin that had him not even start the race. This weekend he lines up an impressive third on the grid ahead of Max Verstappen in what’s been a controversial weekend for Racing Point – they’ve been heavily penalised for their brake duct design being the same as the 2019 Mercedes.
Both Racing Point cars start inside the top six but will need to execute cleanly in the race to capitalise on the opportunity for a podium, with the likes of Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in the Renault in the mix also.
Can F1 conjure up a surprise for its special 70th Anniversary Grand Prix? Or will we see another runaway race from the class of the field, Mercedes? Either way, it will be a race for Bottas to beat Hamilton.
Tune in once again from 11:10pm (AEST) on The Roar as we get set for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix from the home of British motorsport at Silverstone.
Lights out: 11:10pm (AEST)
Venue: Silverstone Circuit, UK
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Grid
1. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
3. Nico Hulkenberg (Racing Point), 4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
5. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), 6. Lance Stroll (Racing Point)
7. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
9. Alexander Albon (Red Bull Racing), 10. Lando Norris (McLaren)
11. Esteban Ocon (Renault), 12. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
13. Carlos Sainz (McLaren), 14. Romain Grosjean (Haas)
15. George Russell (Williams), 16. Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri)
17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
19. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), 20. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)
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