PREVIEW: Heading straight to Silverstone for Round 7

FIA Formula 2 heads to Silverstone for Round 7 of the 2026 season, and a race weekend that will further shape what has already been a brilliant title fight.

Four drivers are separated by 28 points, and it's only two that separate Gabriele Minì at the top and Nikola Tsolov in P2, 108 to 106.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Practice kicks off the weekend's on-track offerings, with the green light scheduled for 10:00 local time on Friday.

Qualifying follows in the afternoon, with the grid-setting session beginning at 14:55 local time.

The first race of the weekend is on Saturday, with the Sprint taking place at 13:45 with the top 10 from Qualifying reversed on the grid.

Sunday's Feature Race brings the curtain down on the weekend and the first half of the 2026 campaign. Lights out is scheduled for 11:15 local time.

STAT PACK

• With his win in Spielberg, Nikola Tsolov is up to four wins and counting in 2026
• Gabriele Minì secured his seventh podium of the season last weekend, the most of any driver so far this year
• With Rafael Villagómez's P3 finish in the Sprint, every driver has scored a point this season
• Silverstone features two DRS zones, the first along the Wellington Straight and second on the Hangar Straight

FROM THE GRID – John Bennett, TRIDENT

"Silverstone is a very fast and flowing track, it's very technical. I really love driving it. I know it's a favourite track for a lot of other drivers and it’s one of the most fun on the calendar.

“It’s great for racing, always gives a lot of action. I think into Brooklands is quite a good place for an overtake. Also up into Stowe, if you can follow through the Maggots Becketts complex.

“It’s very special to me personally. Being my home track it's an incredibly cool feeling to race at the British Grand Prix in front of all the fans and then for me personally, this is where I got my first win in racing. So hopefully I can add to that tally this coming weekend.”

TECHNICAL PREVIEW

Pierre-Alain Michot, FIA Formula 2 Technical Director

"Silverstone is a circuit that demands the most from the tyres, with plenty of high-speed corners to contend with around the near six-kilometre lap.

"Abbey, Copse, Maggotts and Becketts and Stowe are the fastest corners on the track and high-energy zones tyre-wise.

"Aerodynamic performance is key, and with a high average speed, braking demand is not much of an issue. There are two DRS zones around the lap, so expect plenty of overtaking into Luffield and Stowe – Turns 6 and 15."

PIRELLI PREVIEW

The compounds selected for the British round of the Formula 2 championship are Hard and Soft. Degradation of the softer compound is expected to be high, given the significant lateral forces acting on the tyres around the Silverstone circuit. In the Feature Race, the theoretically quickest strategy involves starting on the red-marked tyre. The pit window, should drivers succeed in managing the compound, is between laps 7 and 9. The Soft is also the tyre that stands to benefit the most in terms of grip if track temperatures are high, as could be the case over the upcoming weekend, notwithstanding the unpredictability of the British weather. Those lining up on the Hard will attempt an alternative strategy, most likely banking on a well-timed neutralisation.