Lewis Hamilton suspects ‘unprecendented’ power deployment trouble at British GP

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton suspects that the Silverstone circuit will be an ‘unprecedented’ weekend for power deployment at the British Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Ferrari Media Centre

Seven-time Formula 1 world champion, Hamilton, believes the British Grand Prix will be one of the most ‘unprecedented’ weekends in terms of power deployment of the current regulations thanks to the nature of the British circuit.

Silverstone, while iconic, is a track filled with flat-out sections, such as the Wellington Straight, the run through Copse from Luffield all the way to Maggots and Becketts, towards Stowe. Due to this, there will be a limited number of places where the 22 drivers will be able to recover precious energy for their power units.

A definitive feature of the current F1 regulations is the requirement for energy management across the lap. As such, many drivers, including Hamilton, worry this will cause the biggest deficit of the season.

Ahead of the British Grand Prix, Hamilton has confirmed this issue has been on the minds of other drivers, claiming ‘the [MGU-]K’ will be off for a large part of the lap. He said:

“It’s not that I’m not confident. It’s that the fact is we’ve got long straights. I think this is going to be the most unprecedented weekend in terms of the power deployment.

“All us drivers have been talking on the drivers’ chat, just [about] how poor the power is going to be through this track. We run out of battery power. There’s only a few corners to charge the engine, so the K will be switched off for a large portion of the lap and that’s where we will struggle probably the most. The deficit could be twice as big.”

Ferrari identified improvements ahead of British Grand Prix

Hamilton called the Austrian Grand Prix a ‘reality check’ last time out as the Scuderia squad were unable to materialise a good result at the Red Bull Ring, dropping to fifth and eighth with Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, respectively.

The seven-time world champion has confirmed the team have a ‘great car fundamentally,’ but they lost time in the straights. In Austria, he reported the team were losing four-tenths on the straights, unable to make up the time in the corners.

“The fact is, as you could see in the race, we lose quite a lot of time,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s like four tenths that we lose in a straight line. It’s hard to recover that through corners.

“I think we’ve got a great car fundamentally, it’s just we’ve just got to continue to work to maximise what we can and get the best results we can, score as many points as we can until we can close that deficit.”

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Ferrari identified improvements ahead of British Grand Prix
• The Rise Of Racing Bulls: Can They Keep The Double-Points Streak Going At Silverstone?
• Formula 1 brings back LEGO cars for British Grand Prix
• Jeremy Clarkson’s Farm set to feed Alpine at British Grand Prix
• McLaren to run striking one-off livery at British Grand Prix
• Writers Verdict: 2026 Austrian Grand Prix
• Not straightforward says Mercedes drivers after double Austrian GP podium

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.