[Race] British GP 2013 - Silverstone Preview

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As the season marches steadily along, it's hard to believe it's already time for the British Grand Prix, it's time for Silverstone.

Much has been made of the dominant fashion of Sebastian Vettel's Canadian GP win three weeks ago. Without the constraint of tyre wear, the Bulls were 'off the leash', and without a wayward Caterham interfering, likely could have pulled off a 1-2. Unfortunately for Milton Keynes, tyre wear does play a vital role at most Grand Prixs in 2013, and it is for this reason that Red Bull won't be able to pull off dominant victories like that too often.

That's on the assumption that Pirelli's conservative tyre choices for the upcoming races don't completely change the face of the championship. Clearly wanting to keep their heads down and their powder dry, following the furore over the testing controversy, Pirelli are bringing some of their hardest compounds for the next three races, and this should play right into Red Bull's hands. Also reassuring, and disappointingly for Ferrari fans, Adrian Newey cars seem to always work very well around the former airfield, so there is every possibility of Vettel repeating his dominant 2009 victory this Sunday.

Even more disappointing news for Lotus, whose tyre longevity advantage has been negated by the conservative choices. So far this year, the Enstone squads race form has been dictated by making less stops, as opposed to outright pace. Canada exposed a weakness on this front, and should the team suffer the same fate at Silverstone, then Raikkonen's title challenge can be all but written off. If Lotus have inherent pace in their E21, it must be used on the fast, flowing corners of the Northamptonshire circuit.

Ferrari's title bid also faltered in Canada, despite Alonso's second place. Now over a win's worth of points behind Vettel, Alonso must address his qualifying issues to start up front. Races spent recovering to the head of the field are lost, particularly when Vettel is twenty seconds up the road by the time you get there. Ferrari's race pace has been excellent at most circuits this year, and, barring any bad luck, Alonso should be Vettel's closest challenger on Sunday.

The British fans will be out in force on Sunday, but have they anything to cheer about? McLaren may be struggling right now, and are likely to only be scrapping for points, but Lewis Hamilton & Paul Di Resta are flying the flag high, and there is plenty to be optimistic about. Hamilton looked convincing last time out against Rosberg, for the first time this year, and his increased confidence in the car following some extra testing should give him the edge. However, seeing as Nico seems to be in the mood to emulate father Keke recently, maybe the son will follow in the footsteps of attempting to set a lap at an average speed of 150mph, to break Alonso's current record of 145mph (very unlikely). Both Merc drivers last finished on the podium here together in 2010, so will be particularly keen to outdo each other this weekend.

Paul Di Resta's Force India team looked very strong in Canada, with Sutil finishing very strongly in fifth place. Can Di Resta bring home his first podium in F1? Certainly more likely than Jenson Button at the moment, which noone would have predicted at the start of this season. Max Chilton has been steadily improving since the start of the year, and while its unlikely that he will suddenly find extra pace to beat Jules Bianchi, local knowledge and home support may spur on the young Englishman to challenge the French driver this weekend.

Silverstone is likely to set a pattern for the middle section of the championship. With all their promised updates, can Lotus get back on track to keep in touch with Ferrari and Red Bull? Can Mercedes translate their qualifying pace into stronger race pace? Will Hamilton start getting the upper hand at Mercedes? Can Webber launch a title challenge by winning at his 'second home' race? Lots of questions, and hopefully some will be answered during the 60 high speed laps of Silverstone on Sunday.