Will Mercedes hold strong form at Silverstone? We have to be honest'

Wolff expects less speed than Barcelona

Mercedes team principal Wolff and technical director Mike Elliott agree that it will be difficult for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to continue the team's strong form at Silverstone this weekend. Russell is still on a run of exclusively 'top five finishes' and Hamilton scored his second podium in Canada, yet the team is not in great shape. Red Bull Racing and Ferrari are too far away.

Elliott says to Formula1.com "We have to be honest with ourselves and say that at the moment we are a little bit behind the frontrunners Ferrari and Red Bull. I do think Silverstone is a circuit that suits us better, like Barcelona." Wolff agrees with Elliott that Silverstone is good hunting ground for the silver arrows, but also has reservations: "Silverstone has been good for us in the past and it is better than the last three tracks. But It's not Barcelona. We have to control our expectations and work very hard. We have to come up with solid solutions. Not only for Silverstone, but also for the future."

Silverstone hunting ground for Mercedes

Since 2013, Mercedes have only been beaten twice at the circuit. That was in 2018 by Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari and in 2020 by Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing. In 2013, Nico Rosberg won the race for Mercedes. The other seven years were won by Hamilton. Along with his 2008 win, Hamilton is the record holder for the most number of wins at Silverstone. Hamilton also took eight wins at the Hungaroring in Hungary. The Briton shares the record of eight wins on one circuit with Michael Schumacher who won the French GP at Magny-Cour eight times.