King sees potential for first podium at the ‘surreal’ Silverstone GP weekend

And he admits, having been a frequent visitor to the track as a spectator, it will be an unusual experience being the one out in the action.

“I have been to Silverstone for the Formula One weekend for the past four or five years now so to finally be driving on the weekend is a bit surreal,” he explained.

“That said, I am really looking forward to driving there as the fans always show some great support and it has a great atmosphere.

“Silverstone has some spectacular curve combinations with compression forces of up to 5G.

“This together with an extremely fast race pace make this circuit one of the most strenuous of the season.

“I think the biggest thing for Silverstone, as it always is in with GP2, is the tyre management; with the high speed corners and a lot of traction zones, it will make for some high tyre wear.

“Even though qualifying is very important as always I think you will be able to overtake there as we have two DRS zones coupled with some heavy breaking zones.”

Being involved on his home Grand Prix weekend could not come at a better time having produced some speedy performances at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

“Everything has been going well,” the 21-year-old added.

“My speed is very good, so I feel it is just a matter of time until I get my first podium.

“I do think that realistically a podium is possible at Silverstone and I feel we can start to challenge for wins and podiums consistently.

“Austria was a good weekend pace wise (but) I was slightly disappointed not to come away with more points.

“My speed really did deserve more but to get fastest lap in the last race was a good box to tick looking ahead to the rest of the season.”