Lewis Hamilton To Use Softer Tires At Silverstone Circuit This Week

Lewis Hamilton when his car tire broke last week (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Lewis Hamilton will face new challenges when Formula 1 returns this week. At the Silverstone Circuit later, the British racer will use softer tires and will face warmer temperatures.

Last week, the Mercedes team racer won the British Grand Prix. However, he won it dramatically because the left front tire of his car broke on the last lap before finishing.

The finish of the race on the former airfield's circuit came after he had covered more than three-quarters of the distance on just one set of tires.

Pirelli, the tire supplier in F1, will bring a softer compound to the grand prix which marks the 70th anniversary since the first grand prix was held at Silverstone in 1950.

"One level lower will be a challenge for all of us and will no doubt make us all pitstop at least two times," Hamilton said as quoted by Antara on Thursday.

"Of course our car is much faster this year, we used the same tires as last year, they (Pirelli) were not able to develop better tires to deal with the pressure this year, so it will be a serious challenge, I think," said the rider. who is now ahead of his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas by 30 points at the top of the standings.

Meanwhile, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff confirmed that he would anticipate this.

We've crunched the numbers on @ LewisHamilton's last lap at Silverstone 📈📊Just how good was he? 🤔 # BritishGP 🇬🇧 # F1 https://t.co/3BmYsJuEHA

- Formula 1 (@ F1) August 5, 2020

"The hotter conditions made the competition tougher last weekend and softer tires meant more pit stops and variability in strategy, so we can look forward to an exciting fight," said Wolff.

Hamilton has won the last three out of four races in a season that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The racer is eyeing his seventh title and is still the favorite for this year's champions.

If he finishes on the podium this weekend, Hamilton will match the record 155 podium finishes set for Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher.

One more win will also put him three grand prix championships away from Schumacher's record of 91.