In two week’s time whatever transpires in the world of Formula 1, one thing is for sure, the wheels will be driven off some cars, literally or figuratively. Literally if the ongoing ‘Stepney-gate saga’ ends in peace and the drivers get on with it on the tracks and figuratively, if it ends in Mclaren being banned and the Bridgestones then coming off the MP4-22s for the rest of the season. Either way, the next ten days could decide a lot of things.

For one, it would be revealed if the performance pendulum has really swung back in Ferrari’s favor and gotten stuck there or does it still have the momentum to shift again. This season is without doubt the most exciting season in deciding who will be the driver’s and constructor’s champion. Sample this. After nine races, we are halfway through the year. There are two teams leading the field but none of them has a clear advantage. There are four drivers vying for top honours in each race but no one can predict who will come out on pole or rather, who will win the race. And more interestingly, there is no number 1 in either Ferarri or Mclaren, clearly meaning that the four title contenders have to slug it out on the tarmac and not in the team pits.

Compare it with the last two years and we had much better indicators, atleast by this same point in the season. In 2005, Alonso and Renault were more or less champions and it was just a question of how many times would Raikkonen’s car break down rather than if. And in 2006, although Schumacher tried hard, Renault’s consistency saw them through. For crying out loud, no third constructor emerged in the shadows in either of the seasons. Ferrari were driving almost nowhere in 2005 and pretty much the same can be said about mclaren in 2006. But this year you have BMW throwing a spanner in the works of both the title contenders, beginning from the Nurburgring.

If one had to pick one driver among the four as the most likely to win given the last nine races, it would be Lewis Hamilton. Yes the kid is in his first season and a world title this year is too much to expect but it is the ‘Hamilton Mania’ that has virtually assured the fans and the television viewers coming back after Schumacher retired. And he has not done badly. 9 podiums in his first nine races is the stuff dreams of any racer are made of. And he is virtually living a dream. The real test however starts now when the second half of the season begins. For the first time he made a real mistake and that too at his home grand prix, in not identifying the correct set up for Silverstone and then the early release of the clutch in the first pit stop.

The fact that Alonso has been quicker than him in the last two races is further going to compound his problems. The Spaniard is having a horrific season given his standards. Simply because he has always had the better of his team mates in his former teams, be it Renault or even Minardi. And here he is, trailing a rookie by 14 points. His comments are also not doing him any favours within the team. All he needs now is to buckle down and use his experience to great effect rather than make mistakes like he did at Magny Cours where instead of easily getting past the BMW of Heidfeld, he trailed him all race long.

Mclaren have had a wonderful season so far. They have won in Kuala Lumpur, Monte Carlo, Montreal and Indianapolis. Not to mention that even when their rivals were on the top step, they made it a point to have their drivers on the remaining podiums which has enabled them to open up a 25 point gap over Ferrari. Consistency wins you championships and Renault only proved that in the last two seasons. But what could be their undoing is the recent trends which show that after the Silverstone test, where new components were added to the car, Ferrari have come out much stronger. As eventually testified by Kimi Raikkonen in both France and Britain.

However this is the least of the problems the Woking based team should be worried about. The major threat is from the FIA on 26th July when they answer the espionage charges against them. For those who don’t know, Ferrari found a mole in Nigel Stepney, their factory technical director, who allegedly seems to have sabotaged the cars in Monaco with a white powder, and then to complicate matters, a 780 page design dossier of Ferrari F2007 cars spruced up in Mike Coughlan’s home, who happens to be a Mclaren designer. Needless to say both are currently suspended.

The Stepney-gate saga continues to haunt the sport unlike any other controversy in the past years. If it is proved that Mclaren had knowledge of the dossier held by Coughlan or he even showed them to some designing colleagues, it could mean either a points deduction or even a ban for the rest of the year for the silver arrows team. There is a possibility of the ban because Honda were banned for two races for using an illegal fuel tank on their car in 2005. And that is not the only Honda connection in this saga. Nick fry, their technical director has been in touch with the two men charged in the saga, for a possible move to the Japanese outfit. Not that it would make much of a difference, seeing that they have absolutely a mess of a car to build upon.

Which brings us back to the drivers. Felippe Massa is having a mixed season. Considering his team mate moved into a new team, he must have considered himself a contender for the world title and like his team mate, he may just have deceived us all. He won two races and was quicker than Kimi for a good part of the year. But all that suddenly changed midway through the Indianapolis grand prix when he suddenly started looking slow compared to the Finn. Since then he has made mistakes and nothing else. He attributes his loss in France to slow back-markers, but simply put, even though he was quick all weekend, he wasn’t as quick when it mattered most. In Silverstone, he drove a peach of a race after it was compromised on the starting grid itself, but how much is that the car’s fault is a doubt. He could have easily jammed the car himself. All in all, Massa is a much better driver than last year, but he has to comprehend the highest paid driver in F1 as his team mate.

Kimi Raikkonen, for the better part of the season, made it look like a wrong career choice as he failed to come to grips with his Ferrari. But his quote, ‘we are working on the car’, proved right in the US. It is said that in the Silverstone tests after that race, some of the components fitted onto the car, made it easier to handle for the Finn. He made a fine start to the season with the win down under but it’s his double victory recently that has rekindled that championship aspiration again. No doubt he is the driver to watch out for in the second half, Mclaren’s biggest threat, if they remain on track that is.

The rest of them are still there. But by no means as enthralling as the top two. BMW have the speed but the reliability and top class drivers are missing. However taking nothing away from the current ones, Kubica has become better after that horrific crash in Canada and Heidfeld has pulled off some sweet moves on Alonso’s Mclaren. Next best is Renault, where Kovalainen is more or less making sure that this is Fisichella’s last season in F1. They will have a run in much before the end of the season for third place honours.

Toyota are up next, although their collaboration with Williams is fetching them more results than the parent manufacturer, which given their huge budget is quite disappointing. On the one hand, Trulli seems to be in trouble almost each race (atleast that’s what he shouts on the radio) and Ralf Schumacher has totally lost it, save his qualifying in UK. Meanwhile, both Wurz and Rosberg are gaining themselves good racing points, the latter being a touch unlucky in the races.

Red bull may have the highest paid car designer in their garage, but their seamless gears are laid out on almost all race tracks, it’s that tightly packed inside the car. The fact that they have managed to finish less than half the races so far tells a story. The two Ferrari powered cars, Torro Rosso and Spyker are nothing worth writing about, except that both Liuzzi and Sutil have managed to impress without much ado.

Last but not the least, the mess that is Honda. Consider this. They have one point, that’s like three less than the Super Aguri team for whom they provide the engines. What makes it worse that while Barrichello actually drives the car, its Button who gets the point. Not to mention that they might find themselves embroiled in the spy saga, and one is tempted to leave the team to their problems. Because there is simply no solution in sight, atleast in 2007. Meanwhile Takuma Sato seems to have found his driving ability again, that overtaking move on Alonso at Magny Cours must be the highlight of his career.

All in all a gripping season so far, that too without Michael Schumacher and his antics. But it promises to be even more so as the man who replaced him gets ready to mount his title assault on the two Mclarens. It will be a race to the finish, till the last lap in Brazil. Just can’t wait.