After a week off, Formula One returns to the British countryside for the
2022 Formula One British Grand Prix. As it is every year, people from across the world will flock to the historic Silverstone Circuit to see these titans of motorsport race. With upgrades and track changes plenty, there are quite a few talking points heading into the weekend. Here are just a
few major storylines
for the 2022 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix.
Image Courtesy of F1
The 5.891 km (3.66 miles) Silverstone Circuit sits in the English countryside and features two DRS zones. The 52-lap race will be live on ESPN at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 10th and on F1TV.
After a two-week break in the schedule, teams travel to the UK to race at the historic Silverstone Circuit. This weekend, there will be car upgrades all across the grid. Silverstone is a targeting point for car upgrades because six of the ten teams are headquartered in the UK. It is easier for teams to upgrade their cars while not incurring large shipping costs. Heading into the 2022 British Grand Prix, two teams are at the center of the upgrade conversation: Mercedes and Aston Martin.
For Aston Martin, the goal of their upgrades is to separate themselves from the midfield. These upgrades come at a key time in the season for the Silverstone-based outfit. Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel is pushing the car to the limit and achieving good results while Lance Stroll has been inconsistent at best. If the upgrades do their job, Aston Martin could become a much bigger mid-pack threat during the back half of the season.
Mercedes on the other hand hope to firmly enter the top tier with Ferrari and Red Bull. While both cars have finished every race, their pace is yet to match that of the aforementioned teams. With team principals and drivers all collectively intrigued at what is to come, this race may be just what the silver arrows need.
Image Courtesy of F1
Since their season-opening salvo, Ferrari’s championship hopes have run off into a metaphorical gravel trap. After claiming two of the first three races, Red Bull won the last six races while Max Verstappen claimed the win in five of them. Charles Leclerc went from 34 points up in the Drivers’ Championship to now 49 points down and tied for second place. Most of that has not been the fault of the Ferrari drivers though. Multiple engine and mechanical failures caused multiple DNFs to pile up in that span of time. Even when the car didn’t malfunction, Ferrari would still find a way to mess up like what happened in Monaco. They appear to be cursed in recent weeks.
That could all change this weekend though. After a bevy of Red Bull-favored street circuits, the schedule returns to Silverstone, a traditional race track. This may play into Ferrari’s favor given their performance at the Spanish Grand Prix prior to Leclerc’s retirement. If Ferrari can qualify well and keep their car from quitting on them, they are very much in contention to win this weekend.
For the majority of the 2022 season, Alfa Romeo has been a one-driver team. That one driver would be Valteri Bottas, the loveable Finnish driver who so far has finished in the points in all but two races this year. Zhou Gaunyu, Bottas’ teammate at Alfa Romeo, is the polar opposite. While Guanyu has two points finishes, he also totals three retirements this year. None of the retirements are faults of his own, they are strictly mechanical issues that are out of his control.
Yet, last week he had the best weekend of his rookie season to date by making Q3, finishing 8th and finishing ahead of his teammate Valteri Bottas. If Guanyu can continue this momentum, Alfa Romeo becomes an infinitely more competitive mid pack team. His performance this weekend will prove if that momentum can continue or if he will fall flat.
What do you think? Tell Christian about other potential storylines on Twitter at @TheWiz_SPM.
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