09 July,2011 08:11 AM IST | | Kunal Shah
Half-way through the 2011 season, it's been all about Red Bull's dominance and Mclaren's challenge
The British GP, which will be held at the traditional Silverstone circuit is much anticipated and the new Paddock area is not the only reason. The British GP is 9th round of the 2011 Formula1 season, which also means that the current season is almost half way through. Here's a quick round up on how the Top Five teams have performed till date
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel (left) & McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Pic/Getty Images
Red Bull Racing
Thanks mainly to world champion Sebastian Vettel, who has won six out of the eight races held thus far, RBR have maintained a 100% pole position record this season. Besides, Vettel's 186 and Webber's 109 points see them 1st and 3rd respectively in the Driver's World Championship. Barring their KERS problems, the Milton Keynes-based team hasn't put a foot wrong this season and are in the lead in the Constructor's Champion-ship with 295 points.
McLaren Mercedes
After a bad phase of pre-season testing, McLaren managed to get their act together to compete with the mighty Red Bulls. With 206 points in the Constructor's Championship, they are clearly the No 2 team on the grid. While their 89 points deficit to Red Bull Racing is a lot, the McLaren drivers are the only ones who have been able to beat the Red Bull twice this year. The first half of 2011 has shown that their race pace is similar to the Red Bulls and it is mainly their qualifying pace that they need to focus on.
Ferrari
The Italian team is considering writing their 2011 car off as it has been labeled as 'too conservative'. The car doesn't seem to like the harder compound of the Pirelli tyres and the team suffered from one of their worst starts to an F1 season after their drivers failed to break into the Top 5. However, the team has scored two podiums in the last three races and though they are 166 points behind Red Bull, they seem to be in a good position to topple McLaren as the second best team. Ferrari, like 2010, would be the only team to bet on to make a comeback in the second half of the season.
Lotus Renault GP
The Lotus Renault GP started off strong with Vitaly Petrov scoring a podium finish in the opening round in Australia. However, half-way through the season sees them 235 points behind the leaders Red Bull, but three points ahead of the mighty Mercedes GP team. The team's exhaust system has been labeled innovative, but might just see them lose more ground after the ban on blown diffusers starting Silverstone. The pitlane is expecting this mid-season regulation change to hurt Renault the most and it may be presumed that the team will lose some of its speed during the second half of the season.
Mercedes GP
The works' team from the German auto major has failed to impress yet again and is nearly 240 points down on Red Bull. The Mercedes GP car has been slow in qualifying and even slower in the race. The car lacks aerodynamic efficiency and is unable to utilise its tyres to their potential. The team has often relied on changing weather conditions to score a decent result in the race. The second half of the season would see the team be locked in an intense battle with Renault and the privateer teams, Sauber and Force India.
