Why Silverstone is "not friends" with tyres

A series of high-profile failures late on in the British Grand Prix led to a heart-stopping finish for winner Lewis Hamilton. But with another race on the tyre-punishing Silverstone coming this week, there is cause for deep concern

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For all of the millions, if not billions, of pounds sunk into car development each year, every Formula 1 race's fortunes ultimately come down to a single-specification component common on each car.

Sure, you're able to stack the odds in your favour with a brilliant engine or an advanced aerodynamics package but, if you can't make the tyres work, you can kiss your chances in a race goodbye. After all, the tyres are the only thing that separates the car from the ground, except in cases when the undertray lashes against the kerbs...

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.