Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

This is the best way to ensure you have interest throughout the race - support almost everyone.

This group have Dutch, German, Danish, French and British flags to wave on so they’ve got it all covered - unless Charles Leclerc of Monaco, Finland’s Valtteri Bottas or Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo wins!

We have (from left) Becky Boiling, Pete Lacy, Andrew Cole, Louise Cole, David Boiling and Ed Ryder.

The group, who hail from Devon, North Wales, Suffolk and Northamptonshire have been camping on site and here are their top 10 essentials they need to survive the camp site.

Alcohol, toilet roll, kettle, Pot Noodles, flip flops, stove, tent, tea bags, sun cream and an ice box (which they’ve named Kimi)!

Image source, BBC Sport

From manager to spectator, England boss Gareth Southgate is attending the British Grand Prix today.

As always you can listen to BBC Radio 5 live commentary of the race. It's online only so tune in via this page.

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Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

It’s one of those incredible days of sport where you just don’t know what to watch. Not only have you got what promises to be a brilliant British GP, but also the Cricket World Cup final between England and New Zealand and the men’s singles final at Wimbledon with Novak Djokovic against Roger Federer.

Maybe you fancy some Tour de France action or the Netball World Cup? What about the Scottish Open golf and don’t forget about the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals in football?

For Nicole Gallacher though, camping with her family just opposite the Silverstone circuit, it’s an easy choice.

She says: “I think you should be watching Formula 1 because there’s no dress code, not so many rules and always a lot of fun. I might keep up with a bit of tennis but that’s nowhere near as exciting as this - no-one crashes in Wimbledon.

“Seeing the adrenaline and how fast the drivers are actually going, seeing them spin and then correct it, it’s just so impressive.”

Image source, BBC Sport

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Silverstone

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari have been unexpectedly competitive in Silverstone, and Charles Leclerc came oh-so-close to take pole position, missing out by just 0.079secs. In fact, halfway through qualifying, Ferrari though they were on for their second pole in a row, after Leclerc performed so strongly on mediums in the first and second sessions. But their car was more competitive on the medium on one lap than on the soft, and he ended up just missing out. Does that mean they should have gone for the medium for the race start, as Mercedes and Red Bull have? Team boss Mattia Binotto says no - the race is a different thing. The suspicion has to be that Ferrari will go for a two-stop with Leclerc.

As for Sebastian Vettel, he has been out-paced for the third race in a row. He did not drive at his best, complaining that he could not “feel” the car, always the key issue he requires to be at his best. But even if he’s done his perfect lap, the feeling was that he would still have been 0.3secs behind Leclerc, who is really beginning to build up a head of steam in the last few races.

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

Silverstone. Always a great option for a stag do. But what do you dress the stag up as?

How about 1982 world champion Keke Rosberg (and, of course, father of 2016 champion Nico)? Keke never had the best of records in Britain and did not finish in the points once, but Nico performed better, winning in 2013, coming second in 2015 and third in both 2010 and 2016.

This group (from left, Mikko, Jake, ‘Keke’, Jami and Oskari) have come over from Finland for the occasion and they’ve also seen races in Italy, Abu Dhabi and at Spa. Apparently I’m the first person to realise Keke Rosberg is the intention as many people think ‘Keke’, getting married next week, was actually James Hunt.

Who’s going to win today? Someone shouts up ‘Bottas’ another shouts ‘Raikkonen’ as they keep it patriotic before another breaks ranks and says ‘Verstappen’.

Image source, BBC Sport

A significantly classier but slower lap round Silverstone for Kimi in the parade ahead of today's race!

The names Verstappen... Max Verstappen. Can the Dutch driver follow up his win in Austria with another strong result today?

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

Image source, BBC Sport

This has proved to be a very popular spot for a photo - a statue of legendary driver Ayrton Senna, the three-time world champion who won the British Grand Prix in 1988 at a wet Silverstone. If you want some Senna merchandise then you’re in luck too.

Image source, BBC Sport

But if 1976 world champion James Hunt was more your type of driver then just go to the other side of the store for all the merchandise connected with Hunt, a winner here in 1977.

Image source, BBC Sport

At least we now know that Lewis has a back-up car, should he need one!

Kayleigh: A lovely man who got here much, much earlier than I did has let me move my things onto the grass where he is - moved his chair and everything- so I’m right up against the fence. Not long to go now!

This is tremendously British. Get that man a cup of tea!

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

Friends Gavin (left), Anish (centre) and Chris are all loving the British Grand Prix this weekend and delighted that it stays at Silverstone for the foreseeable future.

“I love the noise, the smell, the atmosphere, everything. It’s the British Grand Prix, you just have to come and support the British drivers and now there are three of them racing, it’s great,” says Anish, at Silverstone for a seventh time.

Gavin adds: “It’s really good news that they are keeping it here for at least another five years. This is where Grand Prix racing started and the place with the biggest amount of followers.”

Chris is cheering on Lewis Hamilton as he “wants him to keep going and break all the records”. But who is going to win? Well they’ve all got a bet on someone different. Chris went first so chose Hamilton, Bottas is Gavin’s tip so Anish went for Charles Leclerc.

Image source, BBC Sport

Some fine names on the below list.

A victory today for Lewis Hamilton will put him top of the pile.

Image source, .

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

Image source, BBC Sport

They are both Mercedes fans and their team has claimed their seventh successive British pole position but Tracey Jones and Richard Lincoln, both enjoying their second Silverstone experience, were among thousands of people hoping that Lewis Hamilton would be starting on pole.

“I’m sure Lewis will do it for the fans as he likes to do,” said Tracey. “He has won from 14th and all sorts of places and the crowd will lift him up and he will be victorious. Everywhere you go the majority of fans are Mercedes. It’s a lovely atmosphere, you don’t get this anywhere else.”

Richard adds: “It depends on whether it rains. If it does you would normally say it would be Lewis’ track - he knows the track inside out - but it has a new surface with a lot of oil and if it rains it could be like an ice rink.”

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

Image source, BBC Sport

Jamie Chadwick, the current leader in the all-female W Series, is hoping to one day race in Formula 1 and is at Silverstone this weekend in her role as development and sim driver for Williams.

The 21-year-old holds a 10-point lead in the inaugural W Series with two races to go - the next one being in Assen, the Netherlands on 20 July - but for this weekend is watching on enviously.

“Ultimately Formula 1 is the dream and I’m under no illusions how difficult it’s going to be. My role (at Williams) is a development one so mainly sim work and factory based but the amount I’m learning from that is huge,” she said.

Asked how she thinks Williams will get on this weekend she says: “We have to look at bridging the gap. The season hasn’t been where we want to be but it’s not going to happen overnight and we’ve started to see the gap decrease.”

On fellow Briton George Russell, Chadwick adds: “He is a super talent and highly respected by the team. They strongly believe he will be a world champion one day.”

Former England defender Rio Ferdinand has written a lengthy and impassioned defence of Lewis Hamilton.

It's a long Instagram post and well worth a read but here's a snippet of what he posted.

Ferdinand said: "If all these interests outside F1 were hindering his performances then I would get the questions on his lifestyle but he is breaking records and could well win his sixth world title this year!

"If you can enjoy your life doing things YOUR WAY, AND WIN, then you are really really winning in life as a British sportsman - but don’t forget to talk very British, dress very British, and most importantly live in the UK otherwise there will be questions on your patriotism!"We should all celebrate a champion who is One Of Our Own!"

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Silverstone

Image source, Getty Images

The focus on Lewis Hamilton is pretty sharp at all times, but it intensifies exponentially at the British Grand Prix, and the five-time champion is often confronted by issues that usually stay in the background.

Although Hamilton is immensely popular, anyone who spends any time on social media will know that there are those - and a fair number of them - who do not take to him. For a number of reasons, from the way he dresses, to the way he speaks, to his jet-setting lifestyle, or where he lives - his base in Monaco, but he spends a lot of time in either New York or LA. On Saturday after qualifying, he was asked why he thought people questioned his ‘Britishness’.

He was cagey at first: “I don’t really know. I don’t really have a good answer for that.” Then team-mate Valtteri Bottas injected: “We all live in Monaco!” And Hamilton decided to answer: “We all do live in Monaco. It’s crazy now because I remember growing up, watching Jenson Button and all the youngsters come through, and every one migrated to Monaco and no-one ever said anything about it at the time. Of course, when I did, they had something to say about it.

“But no matter how often you go abroad or elsewhere in the world, you come back to the UK and you see the beautiful countryside, you see this great… y’know, the history of Formula 1 and motorsport which is really here, and I see all my family who are also here and this is, of course, feels like where my heart is and ultimately fully British. Of course, I still like to honour my family heritage. My family are from the Caribbean.

“People have a right to their own opinion. If you look around, there’s a lot of Team LH caps. The support that I’ve had has been just incredible and it’s been growing over the years, and while, of course, there’s always going to be people with negative views on things, I feel like every day is an opportunity to try to turn those that do have a negative view on things. I guess over time I’ll do more and more positive things for the country. Ultimately, I go to all these race and I lift the British flag proudly. There’s no-one else in this sport that’s raised it so high. At the moment, probably that’s not enough. I’ll keep looking out for what else I can do. And for those who do follow me, I really do appreciate their support.”

Michael Emons
BBC Sport at Silverstone

Former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho loves his Formula 1 and was spotted in the paddock for qualifying yesterday as he was a guest of Ferrari.

It has been a great summer of sport and Mourinho is loving it as he has also been seen live at the Monaco Grand Prix, Wimbledon, the Fever Tree Tennis Championships at Queen’s and also the Women’s World Cup as he was in France for the hosts quarter-final against the United States.

Anyone would think he doesn’t have a job.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Speaking of Lando, he popped by BBC Sport towers last week and we took the chance to have a bit of fun with him.

Check out the video below.

Lando does love his milk... how will he fair in his first home Grand Prix?