The Silverstone circuit is usually where we are able to figure out who are the contenders and who are the strugglers in F1. As we enter the 2nd half of the season in F1, we can surely separate some of cars that are destine to challenge for the top spots while others hanging around to make headlines for themselves. The podium seems to have a good presence of McLarens lately and with Red Bull Vettel on the heels, it’s set to be a showdown in Silverstone. Many teams will go to England with modifications in search for a win or a better performance than they had in Valencia. The race will taken place in Silverstone from the 9th July where the race will on the 11th of July.

Half way into the F1 season, things are turning out to be more exciting than first thought. Turkey saw the 8th race of the season turn out to a McLaren 1-2 finish. This result shows that both McLarens and Red Bull are interchanging for the top spots and yet the season is unpredictable for the moment. After some magnificent racing in Montreal, we head back into Europe where Valencia will play host to the Europe Grand Prix from 25th June to 27th June 2010. For the first time this season, it is McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton leading the Drivers’ World Championship.

The race circuit is 5.901km with the race distance at 306.747km. All drivers’ will need to complete 52 laps to be crowned as champion of the circuit and Michael Schumacher holds the record of the lap time of 1:18.739 still stands since 2004. Sebastian Vettel won this race in 2009 in the Red Bull car.

Dominance

If there was one team dominating F1 then we will have to go back to the Ferrari days which saw both Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso reign the F1 circuit. However, that is not the case as we go into Silverstone, both Red Bull and McLaren are pushing each other hard on the top of the league. The top seat has been exchanging hands in every circuit and Silverstone will prove to be another. Valencia saw the return of Sebastian Vettel in the hot seat while team mate Mark Webber flew in the air and crashed out of the race. Both McLaren maintain their consistency of being on podium while Lewis Hamilton reignited the feud with Ferrari Fernando Alonso. Their bitter rivalry resurfaced when Hamilton overtook the safety car and left Alonso to dry, falling from a top spot challenge to finishing 8th. Teammate Felipe Massa is really have a torrid season finishing 11th after starting 7th on grid. Silverstone will see another intense battle between the McLarens and Red Bulls.

Upcomings

The Mercedes have certainly taken a bit of dip when it comes to result. Their poor performances from both Schumacher and Rosberg have given others in the middle pack to overtake them as leaders in that field. Renault Robert Kubica has risen to the challenge while Adrian Sutil is slowing creeping into the frame. Valencia saw some new contenders that could be hoping for a strong 2nd half of the f1 season, both BMW Sauber Kamui Kobayashi and Williams Ruben Barrichello scored points. Barrichello was more on song as he finished four in the race, benefiting from the safety car.

Verdict

This is a circuit that has been dominated by British drivers in the last two season, both Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button have gone on top of Silverstone, but this time they will battle it out as team members of McLaren. Their consistency of being able to finish in the podium spots seems just a matter of time when they are able to depose the Red Bulls to fight the internal battle that they have been longing for. Hamilton and Button have the best team but first they will need to take out Vettel out of the race before they are safe to take each other out. Vettel is hanging on to whatever he has to offer in order to get inbetween the fast McLarens. The Red Bull cars are fast and can challenge the McLarens but they are not experience enough as a team to mount that challenge. The Red Bulls are individualist compare to the McLaren but never doubt Vettel’s ability to win races. Silverstone will be somewhat a challenge when it comes to grid position and whichever teams occupies the majority of the top three spots are more likely to win Silverstone. Hamilton and Button are favorites, watch out Alonso as he could be a man on the mission to ruin Hamilton’s chances for any glory in the 2nd half of the f1 season.