The eighth pole position of the season for Lewis Hamilton ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg sets him up well for the race; unusually both of his previous British Grand Prix wins came from outside the top three. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas in the Williams edged the Ferrari drivers and they could remain ahead in the race as the Ferraris are not as strong on the hard Pirelli tyre, which must be used at some point. We could see either one- or two-stop strategies as a result.
The teams that will have strong race results will be the ones who don't lose too much time in the transition from medium to hard tyres in the race. Red Bull could come through strongly as they were arguably faster on that tyre. Carlos Sainz qualified in P8 but the Toro Rosso has higher tyre degradation than its rivals, which could hurt race strategy.
Strategy insights
Silverstone has the fastest corner combinations on the F1 calendar and is loved by the drivers, but it can be a real headache for the engineers and strategists. The reason for this is the high-speed corners, which put huge loads through the tyres. Pirelli brings the hardest tyres in their range to Silverstone and it is hard to predict their performance. Strategy for this race is dependent on how significant the performance difference is between the medium and hard compounds. Last year, a seven degree temperature change on race day meant they performed unexpectedly and made a one-stop strategy a competitive plan. Unless the temperatures rise too high this year, one stop should be the default again.