A few races ago the thinking in the paddock was that Ferrari held the advantage in the slow corners. Remember Spain?

McLaren and Ferrari were evenly matched in the first two sectors — coincidentally high speed corners and straights. It was in sector 3, as series of tight bend and the odd chicane, where the Scuderia eeked out a half a second advantage.

No more. At Silverstone and also at Hockenheim, the Working-based outfit have proved they have the pace to beat Ferrari. Interestingly the teams are evenly matched in the fast part of the track, with the McLaren having the edge in the twisty Stadium section.

It was a good but not great drive from Hamilton to secure pole. Sure he beat Massa by two-tenths and he professed after not to have made too many mistakes but in-car footage showed him having to continuously correct the wheel to keep the car on the road.

Perhaps I'm being too harsh and the wind was the major cause but the McLaren didn't look as well set up as it did in Montreal say.

Kovalainen was always a few tenths slower than Lewis and looked to struggle a little. On his first Q3 flyer he went off at turn 12 and on his second flying lap his tyres met the dirt on the last corner. Still, it was good enough for P3.

There are two huge disappointments: Kimi Raikkonen and BMW. The Beemers struggled all weekend with Heidfeld qualifying in twelfth and Kubica in seventh. If anything the Red Bull, Renault and Toyota are catching up with them. The win in Canada is masking a disappointing middle third of the season. The best BMW can hope for is a podium from Kubica.

Raikkonen is the surprise of the weekend. He struggled to a glorious P6 — his worst qualifying performance since Melbourne. Moreover, he really struggled with the car. It looked to have terrible understeer in the first sector and Massa was always three- to four-tenths faster.

Although it is easy to go from hero to zero in this game, Kimi's form is inexplicable. Perhaps he'll charge at the start and move up the order; perhaps he's carrying a ton of fuel — it is difficult to say. However, it does raise the question of how great a driver the mecurial Finn is. I don't think Michael Schumacher would ever have let himself get in this position.

And that brings us on to the rest. Jarno Trulli in his Toyota and Fernando Alonso in his Renault qualified ahead of the Finn.

Contrast Alonso's fourth place with Piquet's 17th — Alonso is a great driver but Briatore must have moved mentally beyond Piquet. Actually it shows how well Hamilton did coming straight from GP2 and matching the double World Champion's pace from the off.

And Glock? One eighth place finish in a reasonably competitive car isn't good enough. With Nakajima impressing in the Williams Glock may not have that long either.

Who'll win?

Hamilton must be strong favourite, especially if it stays dry. With Massa starting on the dirty side of the track Heikki may get a jump on him and allow Lewis to pull away. If it is wet you'd back Hamilton on current form but his victory is much less certain. Kimi and BMW will pray for rain.

Current forecast: showers are a possibility but it is likely to be dry. Advantage McLaren.