The Formula 1 season returns to Britain this weekend with Silverstone set to host the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, one week after a chaotic British GP saw Lewis Hamilton finish on the top podium in extraordinary circumstances.
Hamilton extended his lead at the top of the drivers' standings over Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to 30 points after a third consecutive win, making it four wins in as many races for Mercedes.
While Hamilton dominated the race from the start, his seventh win at Silverstone was far from straightforward. He suffered a puncture on his front left tire in the final lap and could barely nurse the car home just ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
The Briton wasn't alone in experiencing tire issues, with Bottas plummeting from second to 11th after his front left tire burst two laps before the end, while Carlos Sainz's McLaren suffered exactly the same issue towards the end of the race.
"In the heat of the moment you have the adrenaline flowing and the fight for survival instinct comes out and I was able to stay calm and measured and try to bring the thing home," Hamilton said in the post-race press conference last week.
"But of course I was thinking of all the things that could have happened. If the tire gave up in a high-speed corner, it would have been a different picture. I'm just incredibly grateful that it didn't."
Tires will again be in the spotlight this weekend, with a combination of hot weather and a high-speed track featuring predominantly right-hand bends set to provide a lot of food for thought for the teams. At the same time, racing on the same circuit for two consecutive weeks means teams have time to make adjustments, which they would often lack in a normal season.
Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, however, the current season is anything but normal.
As was the case with the Red Bull Ring last month, Formula 1 organizers opted to schedule two races at Silverstone on consecutive weekends to fill up a calendar that looked forlorn after a swathe of races were canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, while simultaneously looking to minimize travels for teams and drivers.
While Formula 1 has gone to great extents to keep drivers and team staff in a bio-secure bubble, the threat posed by coronavirus remains all too evident. On Friday, Racing Point confirmed Sergio Perez will miss a second consecutive race after again testing positive for COVID-19. The Mexican missed the British GP last week and has returned a second positive test, which means he will once more be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg this weekend.
The latter will hope for better luck on Sunday, as he was unable to race last week after the car developed a mechanical problem before the start of the GP.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of Sunday.
When is the 70th Anniversary GP?
The fifth round of the shortened 2020 season is scheduled for Sunday, August 9. The race will begin at 2:10 p.m. local time (9:10 a.m. ET).
Where is the 70th Anniversary GP?
The honor of hosting the one-off 70th Anniversary GP falls to Silverstone, which staged the British GP a week ago.
Located approximately 80 miles north-west of London, the Northamptonshire track hosted the first-ever race valid for the Formula One World Championship in 1950 and the British Grand Prix has been a part of the calendar ever since—the only race, along with the Italian Grand Prix, to hold such status.
In the 70 intervening years the race has been held at Silverstone on 52 occasions, with Lewis Hamilton winning a record seven times.
TV channel
The 70th Anniversary GP will be broadcast live by ESPN. Coverage of race day begins at 8 a.m. ET on Sunday, with the race scheduled to get underway at 9:05 a.m.
Live stream
A live stream will be available via ESPN+ and WatchESPN.com, as well as Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV.
Odds
Lewis Hamilton remains the man to beat in the eyes of the bookmakers. According to Oddschecker, the Briton is a 2/5 favorite, with teammate Valtteri Bottas at 7/2 and Red Bull's Max Verstappen a 9/1 outsider.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Dan Cancian is currently a reporter for Newsweek based in London, England. Prior to joining Newsweek in January 2018, he was a news and business reporter at International Business Times UK. Dan has also written for The Guardian and The Observer.
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