Qatar Airways British Grand Prix
Location: Silverstone, England
Course: Silverstone Circuit
Course Length: 5.891 km
Laps: 42
British Grand Prix Preview
The British Grand Prix seems to deliver every year, even when there's a dominant driver in the field. With things relatively open this season, we should expect some fireworks on Fourth of July weekend. We have to begin with some off-track happenings, as Mercedes and Max Verstappen continue to move toward potentially creating a seismic shift in the F1 world.
On track, Lando Norris managed to temporarily halt the momentum of Oscar Piastri. While those two drivers look likely to continue to battle, McLaren has a clear advantage over the rest of the field. Ferrari introduced an upgrade that seems to have effectively leveled them in their battle with Mercedes for second in the Constructors' standings and podium finishes.
Further down the field, Aston Martin and Kick Sauber a couple of the bottom-five teams with momentum heading into the weekend.
Key Stats at Silverstone
- Number of Races: 60
- Winners from Pole: 22
- Winners from top-5 starters: 56
- Winners from top-10 starters: 60
Previous 10 British Grand Prix Winners
2024- Lewis Hamilton
2023- Max Verstappen
2022- Carlos Sainz Jr.
2021- Lewis Hamilton
2020- Max Verstappen
2019- Lewis Hamilton
2018- Sebastian Vettel
2017- Lewis Hamilton
2016- Lewis Hamilton
2015- Lewis Hamilton
Silverstone is an 18-turn circuit that is considered one of the most demanding on tires due to the combination of fast corners and more technical areas of the track. It's also generally a high-speed track, as drivers can stay on throttle for roughly 70 percent of the lap.
Interestingly, Pirelli sent teams with a softer set of tires this year than in recent seasons with C2, C3 and C4 in play. The goal is to create a wider range of strategies on race day. We've seen a combination of one and two-stop strategies win recently at the track. The softer set of tires will push more drivers toward the latter option in 2025, but daring teams could run an exceptionally long stint and hope to capitalize on using only one stop.
Weather is always a factor at Silverstone. Things can change rapidly, but we are projected to see rain at the start of qualifying. That could shake up the starting grid as compared to a typical weekend.
DraftKings Value Picks for the British Grand Prix
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 DraftKings Picks
Max Verstappen - $13,000
Oscar Piastri - $12,800
Tier 2 DraftKings Picks
Max Verstappen - $11,400
Charles Leclerc - $10,400
George Russell - $10,200
Lewis Hamilton - $9,400
Tier 3 DraftKings Picks
Fernando Alonso - $6,000
Alex Albon - $5,800
Nico Hulkenberg - $5,600
Carlos Sainz Jr. - $5,000
Tier 4 DraftKings Picks
Esteban Ocon - $4,200
Gabriel Bortoleto - $3,600
DraftKings Constructor Values
McLaren - $16,000
Ferrari - $10,000
Mercedes - $9,500
Williams – $4,200
Sauber - $3,400
Formula 1 DFS Picks for the British Grand Prix
Captain – George Russell - $15,300
Charles Leclerc- $10,400
Fernando Alonso - $6,000
Isack Hadjar - $4,600
Esteban Ocon - $4,200
Constructor- Mercedes - $9,500
McLaren is clearly the best team and thus have the best two driver options, but pairing them together as driver-constructor is all but impossible. Qualifying will dictate a lot, but pairing Russell together with Mercedes allows for a well-rounded roster. Leclerc or Hamilton and Ferrari is a similar option. Based on practice, Ferrari looks to be the better option, but Mercedes offers a cleaner build.
Barring a big surprise on Saturday, the build is pretty straightforward from there. Alonso and Ocon are locked in as clear values. Both should contend for points and have either been the clearly established lead driver (Alonso) on their team or have emerged as the leader of the team in recent races (Ocon).
Liam Lawson defeated his teammate for the first time in the season last weekend at Austria, but I'd expect Hadjar to be back on top for Racing Bulls this weekend, making him another good value option.
Two wild cards will be what we see from Williams and Kick Sauber. Williams looked to be the clear top team in the midfield, but they have slumped due to lack of execution and technical troubles in the last three races. It will be interesting to see how they look. Sauber has been on an upward trajectory, potentially opening the door to rostering one of Hulkenberg or Bortoleto if one well outperforms the other or other drivers in their tiers.
Formula 1 Betting Picks for the British Grand Prix
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 10:00 AM ET Saturday
Race Winner – Lando Norris (+150), Lewis Hamilton (+650)
Points finish – Fernando Alonso (-140), Esteban Ocon (+550)
The McLaren drivers should be the clear favorites in this race, the question will be which is the preferred option. Norris took back some momentum from Piastri at Red Bull Ring and has led both practices sessions completed at the time of this article being drafted. For now, I'll take him as my preference. If he takes pole Saturday, his odds well shorten. For those that want to bet on a McLaren driver, making the selection before qualifying is key, unless you want to take the contrarian route after qualifying.
Hamilton has been dominant at the track and has proven he can put together a special performance even when his car isn't the best or second best in the field. He put together a solid weekend at Red Bull Ring, so the combination of narrative and perhaps him finding his footing at Ferrari put him in the conversation as a relatively long-shot winner.
Selecting drivers to finish with points offers a similar safe vs. riskier option. Alonso has taken off with Aston Martin's upgraded car, finishing ninth, seventh and seventh in the last three races. Ocon has either qualified well or Haas has executed strategy well for him across the last several races. His fearless style also fits well for wet races/qualifying, which is a scenario that could arise this weekend. If Ocon qualifies poorly, Haas is likely to try to execute a one-stop race, so I'd be willing to take the value even if things don't go according to plan Saturday.
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