‘Mercedes could be a factor’ at Silverstone, claims Horner

Christian Horner believes Mercedes could bring improvements that will make them “a factor” in the battle for victory at Silverstone next weekend.

Mercedes have confirmed they will be bringing improvements with them to the British Grand Prix and, while they are unlikely to be the only ones doing so, they are hoping those upgrades combined with a smoother track surface at Silverstone could fall in their favour.

And with the majority of the teams being based in the UK and several drivers heading home, the Red Bull team principal is hoping for better fortunes than last season – when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided at 180mph at Copse on the first lap, in a watershed moment of the 2021 campaign.

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“It’s always a thrill to race at Silverstone,” Horner told the F1 Nation podcast after the chequered flag in Canada.

“It’s our local race, we’re only 15 minutes up the road. I’m sure there’s going to be huge support for Lewis and George and Lando.

“But, you know, we’re going there leading both championships, as we did last year, but just hoping for a little bit of a better end result than what we got.”

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Mercedes showed in Canada that they were able to stay closer to Red Bull and Ferrari in front in the final 15 laps in Montreal, once the late Safety Car had been pulled in.

Horner acknowledged that Ferrari may well