Lewis Hamilton

The British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday, won by Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, marked the halfway point in what will go down as one of the great seasons in Formula One, and the drivers’ championship is now beautifully balanced between four men with eight races to go.

The key question for British motor sport fans is whether Lewis Hamilton can hold on to become world champion in his first season, or will he be caught and overtaken by one of the three more experienced men chasing him, Fernando Alonso, his McLaren Mercedes teammate, and the Ferrari drivers, Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.

Hamilton has started life at the top and has been easily the most consistent of the four so far, with nine podium finishes, an incredible feat. His performances have given him a jump on the others — he is 12 points ahead of Alonso and 18 and 19 points, respectively, ahead of Raikkonen and Massa.

Simple, you might think; Hamilton is in a position to press on and win, and he has shown the ability and the temperament to do so. He is also handling the pressure of being out in front and has shown in junior racing that he knows not only how to lead a championship but also how to win it.

But it is never easy in Formula One. Assuming that the battle between McLaren and Ferrari continues to seesaw in terms of the performance of the cars, the odds are that Hamilton is likely to spend the rest of the season fighting a rearguard action to try to hold on, rather than lifting off from the others in a solo charge for glory.

The hounds chasing the fox are, at the moment, led by the “Iceman”, Raikkonen, who is on a charge after two consecutive wins, and Alonso, who is showing signs of starting to get the most out of his McLaren and its Bridgestone tyres. Alonso appears increasingly irritated by his teammate and on Monday gloated about finishing in front of the Briton at Silverstone.

“Saturday I went faster than [Hamilton] but then with less fuel in the tank he was able to win pole, and it seemed that there was a big party. Because of that, finishing ahead of him tastes even sweeter. Since Canada, I have been a lot quicker than him. I should always be one step higher than him on the podium each time.”

The Times, London