LONDON (Reuters) -Three British winners have their sights on a home grand prix victory this weekend but Oscar Piastri could rain on that particular parade as Formula One returns to where the championship started 75 years ago.
Australia's championship leader can still count on plenty of support as a McLaren driver but much of the crowd, and certainly the 10,000 in Silverstone's sold-out 'Landostand', will be cheering more for British teammate Lando Norris.
Norris won Piastri's home grand prix in Melbourne in March, an added incentive for the Australian at Silverstone, and the pair are turning the season into a two-horse race as the campaign reaches the halfway point.
Piastri is chasing a sixth win in 12 races while Norris arrives from Austria on a high after dominating every practice session he took part in, taking pole by a huge margin and holding off his teammate to win.
The two are 15 points apart, with Red Bull's reigning four-times world champion Max Verstappen third overall but now a hefty 61 points off the lead after a first retirement of the season at his team's home track at Spielberg.
"My favourite weekend of the year," said Norris, who has yet to take back-to-back wins.
"It’s already a special circuit but to also have my family, friends, home fans and so many of the team there supporting us takes it to another level. I’ll try to make sure I give the fans a wave as I drive past."
Piastri recalled he had fans chanting his name at Silverstone not so long ago.
"I am not sure I will get that again but they have always been very accepting of me. I race for a British team. I am expecting that there will be more Lando fans than there are for me but that’s fair enough," he said.
HOME HERO HAMILTON
If Norris's support is strong, then Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton will always be the big sentimental favourite.
The last two races have been won by British drivers -- George Russell for Mercedes in Canada and then Norris last weekend. Could Hamilton make it three and send the crowd crazy?
The 40-year-old won with Mercedes last year for a record ninth time and taking that tally into double figures, in what will be his first home appearance in the Italian team's red colours, would be something else.
Ferrari are the only top-four team without a win this season, other than Hamilton's Shanghai sprint success, and the seven-times world champion has yet to stand on the podium for his new employers.
He has also gone 13 races without a top-three finish, a career low.
On the plus side, Ferrari were second fastest in Austria with Charles Leclerc third and Hamilton fourth and a new floor seems to be doing what it was supposed to do.
Hamilton usually manages to produce something special at Silverstone, set to welcome a record half-million fans this time over the four days.
Last year he turned up after 52 races without a win and seized one of the most emotional triumphs of his extraordinary career.
Russell, on pole as Hamilton's teammate last year, also has a strong chance -- particularly if temperatures cool -- and will be eager to bounce back from a tough weekend in Austria.
Italian rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli meanwhile carries over a three-place grid drop from Austria.
Britain's fourth driver, Oliver Bearman at Haas, will be targeting points while the same applies to British-born Thai Alex Albon at Williams.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Clare Fallon)
