Bottas could spoil Lewis Hamilton's homecoming in practice

British Grand Prix practice one
Channel 4 & Sky Sports F1, 10am Friday

Lewis Hamilton is confident there will be no repeat of the reliability problems that blighted Mercedes in Austria last week when he bids for a sixth British Grand Prix victory on Sunday.

The Silver Arrows failed to score a point for the first time this season but the home hero told the press at Silverstone his team have worked flat out since their Spielberg disaster and believe they have found a fix for the race-ending issues.

Hamilton trails Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who finished third in Austria, by a point in the world championship. But with Mercedes having scored front-row lockouts in qualifying in France and Austria, Mercedes look the cars to beat for outright pace.

Last year they topped the timesheets in both Friday practices, with Valtteri Bottas pipping Hamilton in the morning and afternoon sessions.

The value bet looks to be to back a similar scenario at Silverstone this year.

Bottas has a decent record at the track, finishing second twice and he led briefly when he was with Williams in 2015.

The Finn beat Hamilton to pole position in Austria and while he has had no luck in races this season there is no reason to doubt his ability.

Silverstone is one of the fastest circuits on the calendar with prolonged periods of full throttle.

Austria winner Max Verstappen is worried that his Renault-powered Red Bull will not have the poke to live with Mercedes and Ferrari this weekend.

However, the track is also one of the most abrasive, so the well-balanced Red Bulls, which look after their tyres well, could come on strong in the race.

Recommendation
V Bottas fastest in practice one
1pt 7-2 Hills

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