The signs that suggest Mercedes can win the Silverstone F1 race

Red Bull and Max Verstappen scored an early blow against Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes at Silverstone, with sprint qualifying race victory. But that doesn’t mean Sunday’s grand prix is a foregone conclusion. Although Verstappen starts as the favourite, here’s why Mercedes still holds hope of winning

Alex Kalinauckas Jul 18, 2021, 11:21 AM

Upd: Jul 18, 2021, 11:59 AM

The worst thing about Formula 1’s Silverstone sprint qualifying race is that the shootout duel between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in ‘normal’ qualifying on Friday night now becomes a footnote, the Black Arrows driver’s brilliance in front of his adoring home crowd unrewarded by a 101st category pole.

But the best thing about it is the way it has aligned the title rivals on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix – because of the potential for further swings between them if certain circumstances play out. Verstappen will start from pole, statistically his eighth in the official recognition list – a bizarre reward for he and Red Bull underachieving in qualifying.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.