The escalating title rivalry between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton is expected to rouse something of a pantomime atmosphere in central England this weekend when the duo rejoin their battle at the British Grand Prix.
Less than a week after a somewhat flat Austrian contest in the Styrian Alps, where Valtteri Bottas triumphed for Mercedes and the two protagonists finished second and fourth, a more feisty and fizzy affair at the flat but high-speed circuit is to be expected.
The popularity and reputation of the championship-leading Vettel, of Ferrari, has been severely tarnished in recent weeks while Hamilton has suffered a sequence of misfortunes to slip 20 points adrift.
It is a classic scenario in which to expect a raucous home crowd to give Hamilton great support while his rival, like any good ‘panto villain’, should be ready for something else.
But that is only the personal level of the background to what this year has developed into a fascinating duel between two great teams — the well-heeled, well-paid and stylish Italians from Ferrari, and the more pragmatic and modern Mercedes, champion of the last three years.
This is sure to be understood well by the big crowds at Silverstone, where more than 120,000 are likely to attend on Sunday if the weather is favourable.
Hamilton, also, has good reason to wish to claw back some points by winning his home race for a fourth year in a row and a fifth overall, to draw level with Alain Prost’s record.
The three-time world champion’s boss at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, believes Hamilton has had his fair share of bad luck and hopes that the momentum will swing back his way in front of his home crowd.
“My opinion is Lewis has had all the bad luck that you can have,” said Wolff.
“We’ve let him down with the head-rest and we’ve let him down with the gearbox and now it’s about time to fight back and hopefully that’s going to happen at Silverstone.”
Out of the limelight
Hamilton himself has kept out of the limelight since making his disappointed exit from the Red Bull Ring last Sunday, but admitted: “I don’t have a crystal ball, but it doesn’t look great at the moment.
“And how am I going to turn that? We’ve still got a long way to go, it could easily switch within one race, but the bigger that gap gets, the more pressure builds.”
