This weekend sees the Formula One roadshow visit Silverstone for the British Grand Prix and former world champion Damon Hill reckons it could be the event during which the so far amicable relationship between McLaren drivers (and Englishmen) Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finally begin to fracture.
He may have a point. Both drivers are vying for the Formula One title, both drivers have won it and both drivers will want desperately to win their home Grand Prix.
Not only that, Red Bull have reapplied pressure by winning the last race in Valencia, Sebastien Vettel pipping both McLaren drivers to the chequered flag.
You’ll also remember the Turkish Grand Prix, in which Button and Hamilton fought for the win, Button overtaking his team mate before Hamilton retook the lead for the win. There was confusion over orders given to Hamilton to preserve fuel, allowing Button to overtake which added to the mounting tension.
Hill reckons all this, plus that desire to win the home race could finally boil over on the track.
“Jenson will not be letting Lewis get away with anything. Your closest most significant competitor is your team-mate and when you’ve got a team-mate as good as Jenson then it’s not a foregone conclusion.
“I know Lewis has the mindset of a driver who sees the normal state of affairs as him being first, which is great, and that’s what you’d expect but perhaps Jenson is a little bit more opportunistic and slightly more mature and realistic about things.
“This could be the start of the rest of the season [for the McLaren relationship].
“Traditionally Silverstone [is] smack in the middle of the summer, smack in the middle of the season, the preliminaries are over and from now on the clock is definitely ticking.
“There is only room for one guy.”
The interesting question is who McLaren want that one guy to be. Publicly they have stated they will let their drivers race for the right to be world champion, but privately they will be wary of an on-track war ruining either the chances of both drivers – not to mention McLaren’s own push for the Constructors Championship.
Red Bull, whose drivers have slipped back to third and fourth in the championship race and trail McLaren by 30 points in the Constructors race, will be hoping that is exactly what happens. Both Vettel and Mark Webber are still well in touch with the British drivers and even Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who trails Hamilton by 29 points, remains in with a shout of the title.
For the good of Formula One I hope Hamilton and Button are allowed to battle it out but they do it sensibly. A return to the heady days of Prost and Senna going head to head for McLaren would fantastic. That it’s a five way battle for the Drivers Championship only adds to the excitement.
Should be a cracking weekend.
As an aside, an interesting question was raised on our Facebook page about who the best driver in Formula One is – I went with Lewis Hamilton, as in my opinion he is the most naturally gifted out there. Mike Shaw disagreed, though he didn’t say who he thought was the best!
So…let’s have your opinions in the comments or on Facebook and Mike – put your money where your mouth is!
