Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris have won all but one of the grands prix so far this season, with George Russell victorious in Canada
F1 Correspondent at SIlverstone
British Grand Prix
Venue: Silverstone Date: 6 July Race start: 15: 00 BST on Sunday
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app
McLaren’s Lando Norris predicts that Sunday’s British Grand Prix could be a “great race” with six cars in with a chance of victory.
Norris qualified third, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on the front row, and Mercedes’ George Russell and the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc behind.
Piastri, who leads Norris by 15 points in the world championship, said it “could well be a six-car fight for the win” between all those cars, and Russell, Norris and Verstappen all agreed.
The closeness of competition in qualifying already suggests that – just 0.23secs covered the top six qualifiers despite both Ferrari drivers making mistakes on their final laps.
But the way the teams have prepared their cars for the race adds extra potential for variability.
Verstappen grabbed pole with the final lap of qualifying after he and Red Bull decided to take some rear downforce off his car.
Partly that was to cure understeer – a lack of front grip – in his handling balance. It gives him an advantage on the straights but will make the car slower in the corners.
McLaren and Ferrari have gone for a different balance between cornering and straights from Red Bull – and from each other.
‘Opportunity for everyone’
Verstappen said: “All the cars have quite different speed traces. We are very fast on the straights and slower in the corners.
“Ferrari is quick in the corners so the slowest on the straights, and McLaren is in the middle of all that.
“It depends on who can keep their tyres alive. This year that has been a bit of a struggle for us, but hopefully with what we did to the car that will help at least.
“For sure, I can see a proper battle. Even in the long runs, there were a lot of cars that were quick. Even in qualifying, it was all quite tight.”
Norris said: “I’m loo
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