2017 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Vettel leads Hamilton by twenty points. Mercedes leads Ferrari by thirty-three points in the Constructors’ Championship.

Previous race

At Spielberg, Bottas won after Vettel was unable to pass him despite pressuring the Mercedes in the closing laps. Ricciardo held off Hamilton for third, allowing Vettel to extend his championship lead.

Between-race developments

On 11 July, the British Racing Drivers’ Club activated a break clause in Silverstone’s contract with Formula One Management. Unless a new deal is signed, 2019 will be the final British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Milestones

Hamilton equalled Jim Clark’s record for most pole positions at the British Grand Prix in qualifying. A fifth British Grand Prix win would equal the records held jointly by Clark and Alain Prost.

Practice

FP1 featured the public début of the “shield” cockpit protection device — a reinforced perspex structure mounted to the monocoque, designed to deflect debris from the driver’s head. Ferrari tested it with Vettel, who cut the run short and reported that the shield’s concave shape distorted his vision and made him dizzy. Bottas went fastest in FP1 at 1:29.106, ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen. Bottas was also fastest in FP2, ahead of Hamilton and Räikkönen. Hamilton topped FP3 at 1:28.063 — a tenth faster than Vettel in second — with Bottas third.