F1 British Grand Prix qualifying prediction, free betting tip

Free F1 tips, best bets and analysis for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix qualifying at Silverstone on Friday.

Where to watch

Practice Channel 4 & Sky Sports F1, 2.30pm Friday
Qualifying Channel 4 & Sky Sports F1, 6pm Friday

Best bet

Lewis Hamilton fastest qualifier
1pt 15-8 Hills

Weekend format

Friday
One hour of practice from 2.30pm to 3.30pm, followed by a standard qualifying session starting at 6pm. This will decide the grid for tomorrow’s sprint qualifying race.

Saturday
A further hour of practice from midday to 1pm, followed at 4.30pm by a 17-lap race. The ­result of this sprint race will decide the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. The sprint race also offers ­championship points – three to the winner, two to second place and one for finishing third.

Sunday
A 52-lap full grand prix race, starting at 3pm.

Preview

The Formula One world championship began at Silverstone 71 years ago, and this weekend the sport returns to its spiritual home trialling an innovative weekend format.

Friday mornings are usually spent on race preparations, so it will be quite a shake-up for them to have one hour to fine tune their cars for evening qualifying after afternoon practice.

While Friday evening's qualifying will be of the usual format, the times will decide the grid for Saturday's inaugural sprint race, rather than Sunday’s grand prix.

However, Friday’s session is likely to be of the same importance as any other qualifying, so it’s unlikely we will see any radical tactics.

Lewis Hamilton arrives at his home event knowing that even if he takes maximum points he will not leave Silverstone with the championship lead.

After three pole positions and three wins at the last three events, Red Bull star Max Verstappen has a stranglehold on the title race.

Seven-time world champ Hamilton has not won any of the last five races – his longest drought since a disastrous beginning to the 2016 season.

However, this latest run has coincided with the series mostly visiting tracks at which Hamilton’s Mercedes has traditionally not been at its best.

Two street circuits and a pair of races at the Red Bull Ring will have been marked up on Mercedes’ calendar as potentially vulnerable events. In between, Hamilton came within two laps of winning in France before Red Bull’s alternative strategy earned another victory for Verstappen.

But Silverstone is firmly the domain of Hamilton and Mercedes. In the first of the two races at the track last year Hamilton won despite driving the whole last lap on three wheels after a tyre failure.

A week later he had to settle for second as unusually hot temperatures upset the pecking order. But Hamilton has won seven times at Silverstone and he knows he has a great chance of stopping Verstappen’s run this weekend.

On the flip side, if the Dutchman defeats Mercedes again this week then Hamilton’s prospects of winning a record eighth drivers crown this year look bleak.

Single-lap pace has not historically been Verstappen’s forte, but after three straight pole positions he is odds-on to extend the run.

However, this weekend is unconventional enough for that to look too short, and Hamilton could represent better value.

His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas has a decent qualifying record at Silverstone, but the Finn’s future at the team is in the balance and he has a history of not performing at his best when off-track distractions weigh on him.

Lando Norris is one to watch at his home track. The McLaren driver missed out on pole in Austria last time by just 0.05 seconds.

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