chickendinner believe the Swiss driver will top the podium

Last year Hamilton buckled under the weight of expectation thrust upon his shoulders, but right now people are so quick to write him off that they probably think his dad would stand a better chance of winning the race. The lack of expectation will play right into Hamilton’s hands and he will win the British Grand Prix this weekend. Here’s why:

1. Kimi Raikkonen was victorious last year but five different drivers have won the last five British Grands Prix - Rubens Barichello, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

2. The Finn is also on a run of four races without a win and has only even once won the same Grand Prix twice in a row - in Belgium way back in 2005.

3. It won’t be Felipe Massa - he has never finished higher than fifth in five attempts at Silverstone.

4. And it won’t be the BMW’s, who failed to match the Ferraris and McLarens at Silverstone last year. A fortnight ago in France they had their worst result of the season, with neither driver finishing in the top four for the first time - Kubica came fifth and Heidfeld 13th.

5. You can count out Alonso too - the Spaniard has finished in the top two for three straight years but Renault haven’t won a race since 2006 and have managed one podium in 25 races. Last year the Renaults came seventh and eighth at Silverstone.

Why Hamilton has the edge…

6. Hamilton was fastest at Silverstone at periods last year - clocking the fastest time in first practise and qualifying - and missed out last year largely because of a driving error. Even with Hamilton out of contention, Alonso’s McLaren could maintain Raikkonen’s pace and finished just 2.459 seconds behind.

7. chickendinner wrote Hamilton off in France because the last time he had retired from a Grand Prix he followed with another error-ridden showing. Well the last time Hamilton encountered a retirement followed by a finish outside the top five he followed up with a victory - in this season’s opener in Australia.

8. France was the first time in four races that Raikkonen had outperformed Hamilton in a race and even that owed a huge assist to Hamilton’s ten place grid drop penalty.

9. The last British winner was David Coulthard in 2000 - the last time seven straight years passed without a Brit winning, Stirling Moss ended the run in the eighth year (1955).

10. On the last two occasions that Ferrari failed to win back-to-back races at Silverstone, it was a McLaren who won instead.

11. Last season Hamilton finished third in Australia with Raikkonen winning and he improved to win that Grand Prix this year. He finished third behind Raikkonen at Silverstone last year - can Hamilton make the ground up again?

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