Silverstone: Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team will look for “ko” who has the potential to determine the defending champion Mercedes and Hero Hero Hero Hamilton at the British Grand Prix this weekend which displays a new form of qualification.
After overthrowing the first hat-trick from successive victory to move 32 clear points from seventh champion Hamilton, the 23-year-old Dutch was in a proud form.
Red Bull wasted five consecutive wins to lead the two championships after nine races.
But he acknowledged that Hamilton, 36, remained a formidable force, especially at home in Silverstone.
The Briton has won a record seven times in the warfield of war warfare which often scores in Central England where a crowd of 140,000 capacity is expected on Sundays.
This will be the biggest presence at sports events in the UK since the start of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
“I really respect Lewis and we don’t take anything,” Verstappen said.
“We take every race one by one, but, of course, I hope to get out of the race with 29 points.” Usually it will be a maximum of 25 points for victory and one for the fastest round.
There are additional points offered this weekend through ‘The Sprint’ which is used for the first time as an alternative for traditional qualifications.
This will take place on Saturday afternoon and, like traditional qualifications, will decide on the position of the grid for the 52 lap race week.
Sprint is part of the experimental format aimed at attracting younger audiences with three top three given three, two and one point.
They will also be taken on the lap of the victory march and served with a ‘retro’ bouquet of respect for the history of sports.
100km non-stop competition will take about half an hour.
The initial position for ‘Sprint’ will be decided by three-part qualifying hours on Friday afternoon, replacing the second free practice.
That will mean Friday opening free practice hours are the only chance of the team to find competitive arrangements for these conditions.
Sprint is then scheduled to be held in Italy and in one other race in the season.
Hamilton and Mercedes will be under acute pressure when they try to catch their slides.
British without victory in five races since the Spanish Grand Prix in May, when he led the title race.
The team hopes that the possibility of recognition of renewal can close the performance gap on the Red Bull.
“We expect a very strong performance from Mercedes and Lewis,” said BOS Team Christian Horner.
“He is at home and will be supported by the crowd, but if we can win in Silverstone, it will be a very significant victory.” Hamilton won the UK event last year, but was beaten by Verstappen in the ’70th warning’ race only a week later when the circuit hosted two consecutive contests behind the closed door.
The decision to allow homes to attend the race secure the future of the circuit, said the executive director of Stuart Pringle.
“Our ability to survive Covid is stacked towards us if we don’t have a crowd,” he said.
“This is really critical.” Red Bull Number Sergio Perez and Mercedes Counterpart Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are expected to be in a serious fight but many fans will entertain McLaren Briton Lando Norris, who was robbed after attending the England-Italian Euro 2020 final at Wembley.
Norris is the only man who scored points in every race this year and has three finished podiums.
His compatriot George Russell of Williams was looking for his team’s first point since 2019.
Although very shaken by his experience, Norris said it would be ‘in the right zone’ to enjoy racing in front of home fans.
“I’m really looking forward to him,” he said.
However, Hamilton will attract most of the energy from fans because he aims to add a record of 100 parute positions and 98 wins and reduce the deficit in his offer for the eighth world title.