2015 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Hamilton enters Silverstone with a ten-point lead over Rosberg, who has won the past two rounds.

Previous race

Rosberg won in Austria, his third victory of the season. Massa finished third for Williams — his first podium of 2015 — after a wheel nut problem during Vettel’s pit stop dropped the Ferrari from third to fourth. On the opening lap, Räikkönen suffered heavy wheelspin on his harder tyres, swept wide at turn two, and crashed into Alonso’s McLaren, which was lifted on top of the Ferrari; both drivers walked away unharmed. Hamilton receives a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit exit white line during his stop.

Car upgrades

Force India introduce a revised B-spec version of their VJM08 at Silverstone, featuring a shorter nose with distinctive “nostril” openings. After the wheel nut problem that hampered Vettel in Austria, Ferrari revise their wheel nut system. Manor Marussia have new sponsorship and an updated livery.

Milestones

This race marks the 900th Grand Prix to be contested by at least one car using a Ferrari engine.

Tyres

Pirelli supplies the medium compound as the prime tyre and the harder orange-banded compound as the option — the two hardest dry-weather tyres in the range.

Practice

Rosberg is fastest in the first session on Friday morning after recovering from early hydraulic problems that required his team to exchange his gearbox. Verstappen finishes third, 1.2 seconds back, demonstrating the Toro Rosso is competitive this weekend. Test drivers participating include Jolyon Palmer for Grosjean at Lotus, Susie Wolff in Bottas’s Williams, and Raffaele Marciello for Ericsson at Sauber.

The second session is red-flagged early when Grosjean gets stuck in a gravel trap at Luffield. Rosberg stays fastest; a second red flag is brought out when Merhi beaches at the same spot. After the Williams drivers finish only tenth and twelfth, Massa states his team is behind Red Bull at this circuit.

Hamilton takes charge in the third session on Saturday morning, half a second faster than his teammate, while Rosberg spends much of the session in the garage while the team investigates a possible gearbox oil leak. The two Ferraris and both Toro Rossos fill positions three through six. Alonso is confined to just six laps.