We’re at Round 9 of the 2015 calendar and F1 moves to Great Britain at the legendary Silverstone circuit. The circuit is one of the oldest circuit of the current F1 calendar and features long straights and corners which certainly make it a drivers track. The weather is a pleasant 24-26 degrees over the course of the weekend with overcast conditions and very less possibility of rain. A massive 140,000 full house audience is expected on Sunday, thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s strong connect with his home fans. While the momentum is on teammate Nico Rosberg’s side as of now (having won the last 3 out of 4 races), Hamilton will look to extend his lead of 10 championship points and give his home fans, a reason to rejoice.

As we head to the race weekend, here are some major talking points ahead of the race:

1. Time for Kimi to pull up his socks

We’ve said this over and over again in our previous race previews and we won’t shy away from saying this even now. Kimi Raikkonen is underperforming heavily and last race’s first lap was the lowest point of his season as of now, which largely comprises of staying behind his team mate Vettel and the Mercedes. With July 31st set up as the last date for Ferrari to decide whether to extend Raikkonen’s contract or not, he has only this race and the next one in Hungary to show why Ferrari must retain him. Starting from his performance on Saturday during Qualifying, to possibly challenging for a podium and maybe outperforming Sebastian, Kimi will be under some pressure after multiple rumours pointing out to Ferrari showing keen interest in Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo.
More on this here: Is Kimi Raikkonen worthy of his Ferrari seat? 

1. Rise of the Sahara Force India:

It might be a little too much to say, but in our honest opinion, Force India has done a great job with the new car, that is to debut this British Grand Prix, the team’s home grand prix. With two consistent and talented drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, they are already fifth in the constructors championship, and with the update B spec car, which made its debut at the Austrian test, they might even be able to challenge the struggling Red Bulls , or heck give them a tough time at the fourth place in constructors. The fans and the drivers are pretty excited. British Grand Prix might start the rise of the Force India.

Technical analysis of their car, here: Technical Analysis: Sahara Force India executes Plan-B

1. Will Silverstone bring back F1’s mojo?

In my short span of being a Formula One fan, there hasn’t been as much negative criticism of Formula One as it is going right now.  Martin Whitmarsh, the former McLaren team director said that the sport will crash and burn before it  will be able to bounce back up, while Richard Branson said that Formula E  will overtake F1 in terms of popularity. Not only them, the drivers and team principles have also been very vocal about the sport’s present state. Silverstone might be able to bring some positivity in the mind of the fans, especially since a whooping 140,000 are expected on race day. The historical significance of Silverstone, coupled by Lewis Hamilton and his strong attachment with the British fans, might make Sunday a good show, and for some time at least, silence the critics of the sport. The Silverstone circuit  is a perfect combination of straights and corners and is a pure drivers track. It has offered many exciting races over the years. If only it can reproduce the magic this year again.

Read more about one of the most controversial British Grand Prix ever

1. Penalties, penalties everywhere

The Austrain Grand Prix had Kimi Raikkonen finishing 18th in Qualifying, but he ended up starting at 14th position due to penalties given to other drivers. The ill fated McLaren drivers had a whooping 25 place grid penalty. And yea, it is a 20 car grid.  The penalties were confusing, severe and meant that engineer, reliability  pro-ness outweighed the skill and talent of the driver. They were a big turn-off for the fans, seeing greats like Red Bull and McLaren been given penalty after penalty. While these penalties are all fair, they’re still confusing for the fans. Fernando Alonso is again expected to take a grid penalty this race for a possible engine change after his new engine was destroyed last race due to crash with Raikkonen.

1. Tough fight for the top 10

Apart from Mercedes at the top, all the other positions within the top 10 vary with every race. While Williams has up their game to challenge the Ferraris for podiums, Ferrari are expected to be more fast themselves after their successful Austrian test. Behind the top three, Red Bulls, Force Indias, Lotus and Toro Rossos are all very close to each other, which makes their battle  very interesting during the race. The tight middle pack makes each team and driver push to the limit , because a single small mistake, and there will be others just running to grab your position. The battle is supposed to be even better this race in Silverstone, especially since the recently concluded Austrian test and Silverstone being largely a drivers track.