For the first time in six years, Lewis Hamilton will arrive at the British Grand Prix as the Formula One world champion.
Hamilton has tasted success at Silverstone twice before, and on both occasions he has gone on to secure the title.
In 2008, Hamilton, in only his second season, embarrassed his peers. As the rain lashed down in Northamptonshire, he stormed to victory as his rivals fell by the wayside.
He won by almost 70 seconds and lapped the entire field up to third. It was one of the greatest performances by a British driver in recent memory.
Six years later, Hamilton won again, albeit in different circumstances.
After he inexplicably aborted his final run in a rain-hit qualifying session, wrongly believing he could not improve on his time, he started only sixth. But by the end of Lap 5 he was up to second and on a charge as he began to reel in his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.
The German, whose lead over Hamilton before the race was 29 points, then suffered his first retirement of the campaign after his gearbox failed. Hamilton took charge of the race and never looked back, cruising to victory in front of his patriotic home crowd.
Hamilton had trimmed Rosberg’s lead to only four points, and he was then crowned champion in the year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.
In the 18 races following the 2014 British Grand Prix, Hamilton has won 10 of them. He has also finished on the podium at every race since, bar his infamous collision with Rosberg in Belgium.
Hamilton’s streak has taken him to fifth on the all-time list in terms of race victories, and he is tied with Sebastian Vettel in third for pole positions.
A 46th pole of his grand prix career on Saturday will see him sit behind only Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna in the all-time pantheon of qualifying greats.
Hamilton will also break Jackie Stewart’s 45-year-old record of leading 17 consecutive races if he adds just one more front-running lap on Sunday.
Put simply, Hamilton, despite being out-classed by Rosberg for arguably the first time this season in Austria last time out, is in the form of his life. And it would take a brave man to back against the man from Stevenage claiming his third win at Silverstone this weekend.
In contrast, Hamilton's former McLaren teammate Jenson Button's Formula One career threatens to fizzle out with a rather miserable whimper.
After spending the latter part of last season fighting to save his grand prix status, Button, who has never finished on the podium in his 15 previous Silverstone appearances, is in the midst of his worst campaign.
His record this season reads: 11th, DNF, 14th, DNS, 16th, 8th, DNF, DNF. He has just four points to his name.
“I don’t go into Silverstone thinking I might not ever finish on the podium, only when I’m asked about it. I still hold out hope,” a typically optimistic Button said.
“I want to be on the podium and win in front of my home crowd. When they’ve been so supportive, you want to repay them. You’ve got to be realistic and realise that is not possible right now, but it might be possible in the future.”
Button talks about “the future”, but there is every chance this could be his final act in front of his home crowd.
The 35-year-old driver, a veteran of 273 grands prix starts, has signed a one-year deal with McLaren and could be the fall guy for what must be regarded as the British constructor’s worst season in their history.
“Jenson has been in tough times before, and he also knows how quickly things can turn around,” BBC pundit Allan McNish said. “He has to look forward to see what might be coming down the line.
“But I am very sure there are times when he thinks ‘this isn’t what I signed up to’.”
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