The best circuit for the next Verstappen-Norris battle! 2024 British GP Preview

[00:00:02] Before we begin, I wanted to give a huge shoutout to the folks at Amazon Music for partnering with us on this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast. But more on this later. Right then, let's get right into today's episode. Finally feels like the podcast is complete!

[00:00:37] Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Inside Line F1 Podcast. There's not two of us. Touchwood, thank goodness. F1 Stats Guru is back as well. There cannot be anything else we begin with. Because man, we've missed you. Dude, how are you firstly? What's the mood like?

[00:00:53] The mood is great. I'm glad to be back. I know it's been a while. But looks like I came at the right time, right before the British Grand Prix.

[00:01:02] There's been a lot happening in Formula One. A lot of controversy, a lot of discussions on whose fault it is. But it looks like Formula One is firmly back. We have a very good battle on our hands and looks like I've come back at the right time.

[00:01:15] It feels really good to be back and speaking and chatting Formula One with you guys. What do you mean controversy? What do you mean coming back to whose fault it is? I mean, is that still open for discussion? It's been a while.

[00:01:32] Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, what I mean is, you know, you weren't there for the Austrian GP review. So I'm going to grill you. Was Max Wishtappen... I know you heard it. I did hear it. Our listeners haven't heard your take on the incident.

[00:01:48] Was Max Wishtappen at fault? Yes or no? I'll put it in better words. Come on. Okay, fine. If you want me to put it in very straight words, I think there was... Yeah, I think Max was at fault to some degree.

[00:02:05] And the only other thing that I really want to say to everyone who's been trying to discuss whose fault it is, I only feel that the world would be a better place if people shed the mentality that my driver can do no wrong.

[00:02:17] That's all I want to say. My goodness. The downtime has made you Saint F1 Stats Guru. But yes, let's go on. It's British Grand Prix time. Epic race, a historic circuit to have this epic rivalry resume at Sommel.

[00:02:37] I can already see you scratching your beard saying, which corner are they going to battle at this weekend? It's such a good point, you know, because we come from the best circuit to battle at in Formula One,

[00:02:50] which is Austria literally passing Paradise to Silverstone, which can only be the second best circuit to pass at. We've got so many straights, incredible corners that have got so much wheel to wheel action. Maggots, Vekas, Chappell, incredible to watch.

[00:03:02] But after that, when you get to the straights and then the corners immediately, you see so many passing opportunities. And it can only get me wondering, right? We're seeing another epic battle or rather potentially legendary battle come to this legendary circuit.

[00:03:18] We've come to see Vettel and Alonso have epic battles here. Vastappen and Hamilton, not calling that an epic one. That is a terrible one, honestly. But Hamilton versus himself in 2008, Mansell versus Piquet in 1987. So many crazy stories.

[00:03:33] And finally, Sundaram, we're getting to the stage where the gloves could well be off. But do you think they will be here this weekend? I want them to be because that is Formula One, don't you think?

[00:03:46] I think because we've kind of been a little bit used to the whole Vastappen-Red Bull dominance that we've kind of forgotten what battles actually are like. We've seen drivers chasing Vastappen. We've seen that happen with Steins in Vastappen in Canada a couple of years ago.

[00:04:04] We saw Norris chasing Vastappen at Imola, but going wheel to wheel with him, it's really been a while. And seeing Red Bull under pressure also, it's really been a while that the team has been put under that sort of immense pressure that things are not going right.

[00:04:19] Pit stops are not working and they're being caught up by their rivals. So it's good to see that we are back at a stage where two drivers are going wheel to wheel. They're banging wheels. Someone's pushing someone off track.

[00:04:32] And this is the sort of Formula One I love seeing. I think that's why you often say 2021 was one of the best F1 seasons that we've witnessed. And I'm glad that it's back to that very stage once again.

[00:04:45] Not only are we seeing two drivers who could win, they are very, I would say, very much matched in terms of pace and even in terms of eagerness to win. So I'm very much happy and I hope that this battle continues through the rest of the season.

[00:04:59] I'll tell you the other battle I'm looking forward to is the war of words that will continue. Andrea Stella, a very, very calm, very soothing, very logical voice in the paddock versus Christian Horner, very passionate, very backing his driver sort of team principal.

[00:05:17] They've already had a go at each other through individual media. Right. That's going to resume. But I also think the next headline in this whole Lando Norris-Wishtappen battle that we saw in Austria is going to be Lewis Hamilton's.

[00:05:33] The media will ask him, what do you think of this? Do you think Max has gone unchecked from 2021? Do you think there is a correlation? Toto Wolf has already said there is no correlation.

[00:05:44] That's what you'd expect Toto Wolf to say because remember he is standing in line to sign up Max Wishtappen. At this point, he cannot be the one standing up saying that's it. Max has gone unchecked from 2021. That's why we are seeing this version of him in 2024.

[00:06:00] So Wolf has an underlying hidden reason to not be a part of these war of words. But Lewis Hamilton, he is going to be the one driver whose comments will matter. And there's a good chance Lewis Hamilton will become a saint again.

[00:06:16] He'll say I have no comment or he'll just say something like, I've seen the visuals, we've all seen it. There isn't much to discuss. What do you want me to say? And he's sort of going to allude to it but not take sides,

[00:06:27] which is what a statesman like Lewis Hamilton would do, I would say. I see you're feeding in the ideas. You're feeding the media all the ideas. That's why Viya Play got here. That's what a producer is meant to do. Ask all the grilling questions to all the drivers.

[00:06:42] Nicely done. But the only difference is this race now I am actually on camera. So I have to make sure that I have to make sure I tone down some of my criticism with some of these drivers. But let's tell you.

[00:06:56] But I know a lot of listeners come in and listen to the inside line F1 podcast, so why not? So if you're wondering where Kunal is on camera, that's on Viya Play. They are the official broadcasters of Formula One up in the Nordics.

[00:07:07] And Kunal is not just a producer for them. He's also now appearing on camera very often, in fact, for a few of the races. And he's also an FIA accredited F1 journalist, apart from being the former marketing head of Force India.

[00:07:19] F1 stats guru, by the way, he's back. He is one of the most followed Formula One pages on the internet for any sorts of content. But his content is different and better because of all the numerical connections you get to see as a result.

[00:07:32] And his work has been featured in so many major websites. Autosport, motorsport.com, you name them. Anna also, David Croft, he's going to be back on comms duties. He has also featured F1 stats guru stats very often too. And well, this is myself. My name is Somal Adora.

[00:07:47] I am the voice of the MotoGP Indian Grand Prix, along with the Indian Racing League, the Indian Supercross Racing League and many other motorsport championships, including some other sports here and there as well. That's us. Let's talk about what to expect on the track this weekend though.

[00:08:03] And overall, right, I get a good sense, Sundaram, that this is going to be the best possible weekend to see more battling between Westappen and Norris. Because if you cast your mind back to last year, we saw something interesting.

[00:08:16] At this stage, McLaren was sixth in the Constructors Championship. They had just come off a good qualifying in Austria, but not really the best race. Norris got his first, actually only his second podium, second P2 in history at this very circuit last year.

[00:08:32] And McLaren qualified two in three while being the sixth constructor in the standings. Clearly, this circuit favors them. Andrea Stella has come out to the media and said that the high speed corners, the cooler conditions, it was a one off last year that works for them.

[00:08:46] It's not going to be a one off now, is it? Definitely not. It's not going to be a one off. And last year, if you remember, at the start of the British Grand Prix,

[00:08:55] Norris jumped Westappen and he was in the lead for, I think, four laps before Westappen got the lead back. So yes, this sort of circuit does suit McLaren. It's a high speed, very fast flowing circuit, which is right up McLaren's alley.

[00:09:10] And like I said, the eagerness that Lando Norris is showing is also because he now understands that he has a car that can go for the kill, that can go for the win. The past year has been a year of upgrades and getting better.

[00:09:25] But right now he firmly believes and it's also why he's disappointed that he did not win in Austria or even in the previous races. He knows he has a car worth winning and you don't know how long that's going to last.

[00:09:37] We've seen how that trajectory has literally fallen down with Aston Martin who were fighting for podiums last year. You never know when a car who's fighting for race wins could go down back to the midfield. So Norris knows his time is now. He's very eager, very desperate.

[00:09:54] He wants to win another race and many more for his career, obviously. But it looks very well poised for Westappen to go up against Norris, the two main actors, I would say, for this race.

[00:10:08] And I'm very, very excited. It couldn't be at a better race than Silverstone, the birthplace of Formula One and where it all started 74 years ago. Yeah, it is the 75th British Grand Prix. It started 1950, the first ever Formula One World Championship Grand Prix ever.

[00:10:28] And you said the two actors this weekend will be Westappen and Norris. Yes, I know if I know Samuel Welly is going to throw in saying, but guess what? Even Oscar Piastri is going to be an actor this weekend.

[00:10:40] But truly speaking, wait before you get to Piastri, I have a better actor, not a better racer, but a better actor to speak about. I think McLaren or rather I know McLaren is going to have Rowan Atkinson, Mr Bean himself in their garage.

[00:10:56] And I can only imagine his antics should Lando Norris win. Or maybe his antics will be better if he doesn't win given his expressions and how incredible his demeanor can be. He's a serious but still a very, very funny guy. And so I'm looking forward to that.

[00:11:15] And then yes, high speed circuit, fast, technical. The driver can make a fantastic difference around this circuit. We've seen Oscar Piastri go well against Lando Norris, even more so at such high speed circuits. Right. So that's something I'm really looking forward to.

[00:11:35] I know Somil, you're almost trying to change loyalties from Carlos Sainz to Oscar Piastri now, aren't you? No, wait. There are two different parts. There's the mind and there's the heart.

[00:11:46] The heart will always say Carlos Sainz and we'll get to why this time it could be a bit of a tricky weekend for Ferrari and why it's so puzzling about where they are. But the reason why I bring in Oscar Piastri is look at his record here.

[00:12:00] Formula 2, 2021, smashed it, got pole position, got the fastest lap. Again, the race got a bit too chaotic and couldn't really get that win.

[00:12:07] But last year, first year in Formula 1, driving a car that's not really the fastest comes up to Silverstone and is only a tenth behind his far more experienced teammate at a circuit that Norris has driven multiple times before. That's a great performance.

[00:12:22] In the race, I think he went down to P4 if I'm not mistaken. And that's just last year. You see the way he's becoming more decisive on the moves, right?

[00:12:31] To hang it around the outside of Sergio Perez the second time after being pushed out wide the first time, that's grit. And that grit takes you a long way, which is probably the reason why so many people rate him so highly, don't they Kunal?

[00:12:44] But the reverse question should be now, I think McLaren should expect more from Piastri. Seeing these things, he's no longer a second or a junior or a second fiddle driver anymore.

[00:12:54] If anything, they should be knocking on his door and saying Oscar, now is your time to make it 2v1. I think that's a fantastic assessment of Oscar Piastri. For how long will you keep saying he's the younger driver, the rookie, etc.

[00:13:09] And I mean, we've all had younger siblings where suddenly if you're the older one, you're like, but isn't the younger child actually old enough to not be called the younger sibling anymore or called a baby anymore?

[00:13:22] Although that sounds harsh, but in Piastri's case, it was just Barcelona where he was just off horribly. Otherwise, he's pretty much been up there, there and thereabouts alongside Lando Norris since his debut in Formula One last year, I would say.

[00:13:40] I think he remains to be. He, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris have probably finished all the races this season. And I know that the two McLaren drivers have scored points in all of them apart from Norris breaking that streak in Austria. So that's something to look forward to.

[00:13:59] But if I can switch to talking of your other driver, Somel, which is Carlos Sainz, one thing about Silverstone, which might affect Ferrari this weekend is yes, it's fast. Yes, it's technical, but it has those long radius corners and Ferrari have typically started to struggle.

[00:14:21] And Sundaram gave us example of Norris wanting to win now because he's got the package. He gave this example of Aston Martin last year. I would say let's also take the example of Ferrari this year. Few races ago they were winning. Okay, they won with both the drivers.

[00:14:37] Only team on the grid to have won a race with both drivers. But look at them now. They're pretty much all over the place and that's just how it goes.

[00:14:48] It shows how competitive it is in Formula One that you want to win when you need to win or you need to win when you get the chance to win. I don't like saying this, but it sounds like typical Ferrari for some reason.

[00:15:01] All the promise, all the pace that they end up showing at the start of the season. And it's also probably typical Perez showing a lot of promise, showing a lot of pace, lots of podiums, sometimes the odd win here and there.

[00:15:13] And they just kind of fall backwards after Spain or after the first set of upgrades come in. And it looks like Ferrari are nowhere. It looks like they've probably gone even behind Mercedes at this point.

[00:15:27] And Mercedes have been in tremendous form these last couple of rounds and they have a great track record at Silverstone as well. Obviously Lewis Hamilton's home race. So it's going to be very, very difficult for Ferrari, like you said.

[00:15:40] And probably they also have a couple of issues with the suspension if that's what I'm hearing and also with downforce.

[00:15:47] So if that's the case, the next couple of races are going to be very crucial for them because we have Silverstone, Hungary, then Spa races there where downforce is very, very crucial. So all eyes on Ferrari and I know a lot of Ferrari fans are literally praying.

[00:16:02] It looked it looked all great. It looked wonderful after Monaco, but everyone's gone back to the whole depressive state once again. And it's not good to see.

[00:16:12] And it looked so wonderful after Monaco that everyone was counting the gap between Leclerc and Verstappen and saying, oh, could they make a comeback, win the championship, put Red Bull under pressure? And they've literally gone down to being the fourth fastest team already in Formula One.

[00:16:31] I mean, imagine this in the last three races ever since. So Monaco was also the switching factor for Mercedes. They put that front wing on. They've optimized performance. And since Monaco, I think in Canada and Spain, Russell was leading the first lap.

[00:16:48] OK, and yeah, because in Spain he sort of made that overtake into turn one. And he literally led the last lap in Austria as well. So Mercedes has suddenly found themselves up there as well in the last three races. And of course, it is with a British driver.

[00:17:04] So Mercedes, all British driver line up. But home race for Mercedes, home race for seven out of the 10 Formula One teams, home race for three drivers, Hamilton, Norris, George Russell. I guess, right. Home race also for Alex Alban as well. Yes, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:17:24] And Oliver Bayman, who's going to take to FP1. So lots of reasons to cheer for the teams as well as for the drivers and the fans. And of course, home race for Formula One, right?

[00:17:36] Not just this is where it was born, but even though it is owned by Liberty Media American, the offices that run the sport are all in the UK. I'd like to throw in a couple of stats before we go ahead. We missed it.

[00:17:51] Because you're speaking about Ferrari and Mercedes. And if you look at the last three rounds itself, Ferrari have scored just 39 points. The last three rounds in Canada, Spain and Austria. Compare that with Red Bull that have 79, McLaren have 84 and Mercedes have 100 points.

[00:18:10] So this is the battle Mercedes versus Ferrari. Ferrari have just 39 points in the last three rounds. Mercedes have 100. And another stat probably not something that Lando Norris fans are going to really like.

[00:18:23] So whenever Lando Norris suffers a race retirement or a DNF, he's never followed that up with a podium. The best he's done is a P5 at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Let's see if he can kind of change that this weekend. Oh, that surely has to.

[00:18:39] That surely has to. I mean, we all are really expecting a big performance from McLaren. But it's funny that we're only discussing Mercedes what 16 minutes into the episode. Where the last race winner was actually a Mercedes driver with his home race coming up. It's funny.

[00:18:55] And I just like to wind this whole conversation back to Hamilton more than Russell now. Because look at the way it's all going. He's the one leaving the team. I mean, if you have just... Okay, let's step forward 10 years down the line.

[00:19:09] Let's imagine you're a new Formula One fan who's just discussing the legacy of Lewis Hamilton. And you look at the numbers. Seven time world champion leaves the team where he won everything. Because he got beat by a younger driver who won two races.

[00:19:21] Whereas Hamilton, the reigning champion of all those years, won none. And that's a bit of a tainted legacy to have. I don't know if it's tainted. But the pressure is on him, isn't it? Even the qualifying record is in there.

[00:19:36] And the point I'm trying to make is here that Lewis should... And he would also be feeling frustration that when Mercedes were there to win the race, it was once again not him. Oh yes, absolutely. I think Ferrari would be feeling the loss as well.

[00:19:51] Saying earlier in the season in Monaco we took the win. In Australia when Max had the problem, we took the win. So Ferrari's of course dropped down. But Lewis definitely because he's not there in qualifying.

[00:20:04] He wasn't there to pick up the pieces when it came to George Russell. Of course, very magnanimous of him to immediately wish Russell. He was clapping on the outlap and so on. And at the moment if we were to take the top four teams,

[00:20:16] Lewis Hamilton is eighth in the drivers' championship with 85 points. He's the only driver to have not scored a century of points. OK, George Russell on the other hand, seventh place, just one point away from Oscar Piastri in sixth place.

[00:20:32] And seven points away from Checo Perez in fifth place. So I expect the drivers' championship to also sort of spin around after Silverstone and definitely look very different after Spa heading into the summer break as well

[00:20:50] because Checo Perez is definitely not going to be in the top five. I think he will be seventh or eighth by the end of the season because that's another driver who Red Bull is hired to pick up the pieces

[00:21:01] but has failed to do so since so many races now. So, you know, the narratives remain the same, whether it's a Jeddah that you go to a new circuit, whether you go to an Austria, one of the most gorgeous circuits,

[00:21:17] or whether you go to a legendary circuit like Silverstone. And those narratives is what we keep bringing to you. But I think they just in my head, in my heart at least, Somil and Sundaram get amplified at a circuit like Silverstone where I'm like these drivers, these babies,

[00:21:37] if you were to think of them in the F1 context, 75th British Grand Prix coming up and you have 20 year olds who are driving. Basically, they weren't even born when the first race ever happened and they are going to be racing. They're going to be creating their stories

[00:21:54] and building on their rivalries across the same, you know, maggots, beckets, chapel, going through these iconic corners and the race circuit at Silverstone itself. I'd like to feed a little bit of optimism and hope to the Lewis Hamilton fan base this weekend.

[00:22:14] I know they've not had the best of season so far, especially seeing George Russell take podiums and the odd race win as well. Lewis Hamilton has always been on the podium at Silverstone in the hybrid era and that's a streak of 11 races

[00:22:30] that he's been on the podium at Silverstone. So let's hope and see if we can continue that streak this weekend as well. Yeah, that'll be interesting to watch as will be the case of Aston Martin coming into their home race as well. Where are they?

[00:22:47] Well, last year they walked into this race if I'm not mistaken as what, the second highest constructor? Yeah, that must have been the case. But eventually we come to a situation where they are absolutely slap banged nowhere. No, and the funny thing...

[00:23:04] And it's even more a home race for them. They're like 20 meters from the gates of the Silverstone circuit, you know. So painful to see them where they are, but who knows, they've had... They have news. They've hired Andy Cowell. You were mentioning, yeah. No, no, no, go on.

[00:23:25] Yeah, okay, so they were hiring... Some lag in our recording. Okay, anyway, they've hired Andy Cowell from Mercedes HPP. The guy basically was a managing director there. He's now become the group CEO. Martin Wittmarsh is out from that group CEO role himself.

[00:23:44] But Sundaram, you mentioned Mercedes and their dominance, the fact that they've taken eight wins out here in the last 11 seasons. But I remember they also took eight consecutive pole positions from 2013 to 2020. And that too with all three drivers, Bottas, Rosberg and Hamilton themselves.

[00:24:06] So qualifying will of course be something we look at. Although, you know, in my mind, Austria was a bit of an outlier with a four-tenth gap to pole. I'd love to think of Spain, two-thousandths of a second, Canada literally on the same time.

[00:24:21] And I believe the smallest pole margin at Silverstone has been three-thousandths of a second. Happened in 2000 and happened in 1994. So could we see qualifying get as exciting as well? And for all the McLaren fans out there, McLaren's last pole position here was in 2008.

[00:24:42] And do you guys want to guess who the driver was? Lewis Hamilton? No, wait, 2008. Heike Kovalainen. Oh, it was Heike Kovalainen indeed. Yeah, he was the one. The other McLaren. The other McLaren, yeah. And Saumil, I know, I know, okay, you didn't get this,

[00:25:05] but you'll be happy to know that in Austria for the first time in seven races, Kaule Sainz actually outqualified Charles Leclerc. Hopefully for you that trend continues. And he was the one who beat Charles Leclerc in what year? 2022. Got his first race win away as well.

[00:25:24] I'm going to rub that in, of course I am. But one more thing to watch out for this weekend, guys. I think the horses are going to be fun, isn't it?

[00:25:32] I mean, they're going to be racy for sure, but they also get a circuit where they get to race. Haas normally tend to defend in the most aggressive manner. Alkenberg, bit more respectful than Magnussen.

[00:25:42] But I'm really keen to see just how all out they go this time out. And that for me is going to be the entertainment factor I'm looking for as well, Gastly versus Ocon, because they've always been so close to each other.

[00:25:53] And at Silverstone, the entire motto of the circuit is let them race. So I feel that's going to be pretty good as well. I think so. And Silverstone actually will, the checkered flag will mark 50 percent of the season already over.

[00:26:07] OK, and I love how we all started the season thinking, my goodness, another Max and Red Bull domination. And now suddenly it looks like the other way it's going to go. Right? Because it's going to be 50 percent to an exact number because 12 races done,

[00:26:24] three out of the six sprints will also be done by the end of this race as well. But I would say when it comes to predictions, Somal, Carlos Sainz is not going to be my top pick for the podium places.

[00:26:43] I think I'm going to go with Lando Norris. I think we're going to see a war of words. I think we're going to see a lot more there.

[00:26:51] But Lando Norris is probably going to win even if Max takes pole position because that's just McLaren and Lando are going to figure it out at some point how to break this as we go.

[00:27:04] And, you know, the purists will always love fair racing, whereas those who watch Formula One purely for entertainment will want those wheel to wheel battles.

[00:27:15] And one of the McLaren upgrades for this weekend will be more spokes on there on the floor of their car just in case somebody comes too close to try and get them out of the race and push them off the circuit.

[00:27:26] Sundaram, quick predictions from you. Who do you think is going to win? I'm going Norris. I'm going Norris. It's a home race for him. He's coming in with probably a lot of anger as well from what happened in Austria.

[00:27:40] So I think you're going to see something very special from Lando and maybe even from George. But I really expect Lando and Max to be on the podium though. Interesting. Samil, you hyped up Piasri all midway through the episode only to now pick Lando Norris.

[00:27:57] I mean, that's not done. I'm going to force you to change your prediction. If he finally gets it, I'm going to back the guy. No, I think he's going to be up there. I really... If he nails qualifying. Exactly.

[00:28:13] He did in Monaco. Come on, Oscar, we're looking at you now. If you nail qualifying, our money is on you. Not that it matters to you anyway, but here we go.

[00:28:21] But either way, I think it's going to be a close race finish because if I remember correctly, and I remember this, that the last two races at Silverstone, the race winning margin was 3.7 seconds, exactly the last two races.

[00:28:36] So irrespective of dominance or not or what, I think that's going to be what's going to happen. Also, I think Oliver Behrman might just get announced at some point as Haas' driver for 2025. What better race to do that than his home race? He's also driving FP1.

[00:28:55] Franco Cola Pinto is driving FP1 for Williams. Who else is there? Jack Doohan is driving for Alpine. And talking of Jack Doohan, could he be announced at some point? I mean, Australia went a few races ago. So Alpine's home race, given that they are not too far away.

[00:29:14] But we spoke of Williams and Williams for the first time in 24. They have had two back to back Q1 exits, which to me is a bit of a concern.

[00:29:26] They seem like they are waiting in line to sign up Carlos Sainz and not the right way to be in that queue if you don't really have the fastest car.

[00:29:36] Because just leading up to Austria, they made a list of all the hires they've had, all the technical people joining the team.

[00:29:44] And clearly that was for the world to know, but more so the Sainz family as well saying guess who's coming and you should be the one joining us. Is Sainz really going to Williams? Because I thought Sargent outqualified Alwin. That basically means he's getting an extension.

[00:30:03] Logan Sargent also reached Q2 at Silverstone last year, if that helps in any way whatsoever. And for my former team, which is now running as Aston Martin, they've actually failed to reach Q3 for the last two races in a row.

[00:30:20] And on a more serious note, I am concerned with what's happening with Fernando Alonso because he just seems completely out of shape. Not physically, but in that car when he's driving.

[00:30:34] So I really hope he's able to get the car underneath him where he's not battling with Joe Guan Yu ever again in his long or long to follow motorsport Formula One career.

[00:30:47] Come on, you don't have to do Joe Guan Yu that dirty. He's literally fighting with his idol. Let the guy have some peace. Let him have a good moment. Samuel, there's one more thing you picked up after Austria. The C3 is back in action. It's the soft compound.

[00:31:04] For McLaren, if you remember your whole analysis, which I'm so proud of that you did, the C3 compound is there this weekend. It's the soft. So I'm not sure that will be the race tire, given how aggressive the lateral forces are on the tires itself.

[00:31:20] I mean, you go through Stowe and you're hitting almost 6 G's, which is probably the highest of the circuit. So will the C3 be there? And I think the safety car probability is 83 percent. So that will be something that the teams will factor in. And pole position is one.

[00:31:38] The safety cars come out in each of the last 11 races at Silverstone. And five out of the last 12 races were won from pole and 10 out of the last 12 were won from the front row.

[00:31:53] I'm sure Sundaram has more information. In fact, I also picked up for the first time in Max Wichtappen's career. He has failed to convert three poles to wins this season, but his previous three years he's only failed to convert four poles to win.

[00:32:12] So that's how competitive it's gotten in Formula One as well. I'll give you one last time, which is something which I stumbled upon just a couple of hours ago. So in Austria he started from pole position. He finished the race, but he did not finish on the podium.

[00:32:28] And that's the very first time in his career that's happened. He's never, I mean, this is the first time that he's started a race from pole, finished the race, but not stood on the podium. There are a couple of examples of Britain 2021. We know how that went.

[00:32:44] There's also Italy 2021, but he retired from those races. But Austria was the very first time he finished a race from pole and he was not on the podium. And the last time he finished a race outside the points, Belgium 2016, nearly eight years ago. Wow, dude, that's a while.

[00:33:04] Yeah, I've pleased all the Verstappen fans after giving me a verdict at the start of the episode. And I'm sure they're happy. No, but watch out for a good driver. Assuming they stayed on. That's what typically I've seen.

[00:33:16] The minute you say something wrong about Verstappen or Hamilton, that's it. I'm not listening to these people this weekend. We can't be pleasing any particular driver. We just like to give the analysis of things as we see it.

[00:33:30] And this weekend, we are going to see lots of craziness. So you better join us for our British GP review that's going to come out on the Monday after the race, which is the day after the race immediately. So stay tuned for that.

[00:33:41] Subscribe to the Inside Line F1 podcast and follow us on all of our social media channels to interact with us as well. During, before, after the race, we can answer all your questions on the show as well.

[00:33:53] Check out the links in the description below and I will see you on Monday. Bye bye. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Inside Line F1 podcast.

[00:34:22] Before we ended, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to Amazon Music once again for partnering with us on this episode of the podcast.