Verstappen eager to win Red Bull’s home race at Silverstone

Max Verstappen hopes to win his first British Grand Prix in front of his Red Bull Racing team just up the road from their Tilbrook factory.

Silverstone is just 21 miles from the doors of the team’s factory on Bradbourne Drive, with many employees making the trip to the race on Sunday, where they hope they will see their car win their eighth race of ten this season. In the hands of Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Red Bull have won the last six races.

Controversy has followed Verstappen into this weekend’s Grand Prix after his girlfriend’s father, three-time world champion Nelson Piquet used racial slurs to desribe Lewis Hamilton. The pair collided at Copse corner in the race last year, eliminating Verstappen while Hamilton went on to win the race.

“I’m looking forward to going back to Silverstone as it’s a real classic and historic race on the calendar,” said Verstappen, who leads Perez in the championship by 46 points. “There are so many amazing fans there and it’s nice to know that we are just down the road from the team at the factory in Milton Keynes.

“It’s also good to be heading back to a traditional racetrack after quite a few street circuits.

“The performance this weekend will depend on whether we find a good balance and we also need a decent tyre strategy as degradation will be high there.

“So there’s plenty of things that we need to get right this weekend, it won’t be smooth sailing.”

Perez had a nightmare weekend last time out in Canada. After crashing during qualifying and starting down the order, his car suffered mechanical problems early on and prompted the Mexican to retire.

The Monaco GP winner said: “It’s always hard to have a weekend off when you have had a tough race, like I did in Canada, so I am coming into Silverstone with a lot of desire to put things right.

“As a team we are on an incredible run and I am here to keep contributing to those results by performing to my best and getting the most out of this car.

“Montreal was the first time I have felt it hasn’t hooked up for me in the RB18 and this weekend is all about getting that great feeling back for me and getting back on the podium.

“I have been working hard with my team and we know where and what we need to work on, we’re ready for a good weekend.”