Who are bringing in upgrades at Silverstone?

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has said that Ferrari and even Mercedes will be ones to look out for during this weekend’s Silverstone GP, and has said that come what may, he and his team cannot get complacent despite the 76-point lead they currently hold in the Constructor’s championship standings.

Key to note is that Red Bull are looking to win the British GP at Silverstone for the first time since 2012 (the 2020 70th Anniversary GP is not considered as a British GP) when Mark Webber won the race. The team also want to make up for the ghosts which haunted their race last year, as one can quite comprehensively say that Britain was the venue where Red Bull’s chance at the 2021 Constructor’s title slipped out of their hands, with Max Verstappen’s dramatic retirement and Sergio Perez’s poor weekend.

As we highlighted in a previous article, Ferrari’s problem has been their inconsistency in races with the car, sometimes the drivers and strategy while Mercedes’ fundamental problem lies within the basic design of the car, which is flawed. With how the season has progressed for both, Silverstone is likely the place where they choose to make a comeback.

Mercedes’ porpoising issues could’ve been exacerbated at Silverstone with the W13 bouncing up and down the long Hangar Straight, but in Toto Wolff’s own words he has faith in his engineers, and their focus to see the car back where it rightfully belongs, which is on the top of the podium. Moreover, the W13 is good with the type of high speed corners that Silverstone has so, it could be better. Mercedes are sure to bring in upgrades to try and get a P1 or maybe a top 2 since it is both their driver’s home race.

As for Ferrari, though they may have fallen back as compared to Red Bull in the past few races, they have brought far fewer upgrades as compared to red Bull within the same timeframe, which in an era of a budget cap could prove to be important as after a point RB won’t have enough resources left within the budget to bring upgrades, but Ferrari might.

The likely upgrades for Silverstone might be an aerodynamics or possibly an engine upgrade for Ferrari, while Mercedes will work on their chassis and their ever-present bouncing troubles. Horner has said that based on form at tracks like Barcelona and Canada, both his rival teams will be strong at Silverstone, which is why he said that under no circumstances will he or his team back off.

Mercedes showed some great pace at Spain while Ferrari kept Red Bull on their toes the entire race last time out in Canada, so it’s entirely possible we might see a 3-way fight at Silverstone, or at least Mercedes getting closer to the top two while RB and Ferrari duel it out. Mercedes has had quite a good race pace especially if you see Montreal where Hamilton was almost matching Verstappen in the race.

Do not miss this weekend’s race- it was a thriller last year, and this year the same venue could yet again be a crucial race, and the catalyst for an exciting championship-changing moment!