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F1 British GP: Can Norris take the battle to Verstappen on home soil?

The British Grand Prix completes the third leg of a gruelling triple header this weekend as all eyes turn to Silverstone for Round 12 of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship. 

But after the Championship battle reached boiling point in Austria, what can you expect this weekend? 

 

There will be several rookies taking part in Free Practice One on Friday. Franco Conapinto will replace Logan Sargent for Williams, Jack Doohan will step in Pierre Gasly at Alpine and Oliver Bearman will get another run out in a Formula One car for Haas.

His FP1 outing comes a day after the announcement that he will drive for the team full-time next season.

 

The Max Verstappen vs Lando Norris is about to get serious.

We all know the respect and friendship between three-time World Champion Max Verstappen and one-time race winner Lando Norris, but following their incident at the Red Bull ring, things might just be taking a turn for the worst. 

Even the Twitter wars between the teams seem to be making a return with McLaren sharing the analysis from Sky Sports Anthony Davidson about the incident and previous examples of Verstappen’s driving style that some have called aggressive. But with the British crowd very much behind Lando Norris this weekend at Silverstone, things could just heat up once again this weekend. 

However, Red Bull is bringing new upgrades that they believe will help restore their big lead as the fastest team. 

 

Home hero Lewis Hamilton will also drive around Silverstone for the final time in the Mercedes works car ahead of his move to Ferrari next season. 

Even though he has had a difficult few seasons, with his Mercedes not quite up to the standard he had during the start of the hybrid era, you can never count the Stevenage-born driver out of the equation when it comes to Silverstone. 

 

But what about the circuit the drivers will be racing on. 

Silverstone is the fifth longest circuit on the current F1 calendar and it is one of only three circuits, along with Spa-Francorchamps and Monaco where each corner has a name. 

 

It’s a home race for many of the teams. Aston Martin are based just across the road, with Mercedes and Red Bull also being based close by in Brackley and Milton Keynes. 

 

Free Practice one kicks off at 12.30pm on Friday in the session that will feature several young drivers before the normal line-ups return for Free Practice Two at 4pm later in the day.

Saturday will start with the final practice, FP3 at 11.30am, with qualifying taking place at 3pm. 

The British Grand Prix will then take place on Sunday at 3pm, with 2023 Eurovision host and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham singing the National Anthem ahead of the race.

 

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