British Grand Prix Preview - Is Mercedes' Dominance Weakening?

As one of the most popular races of the season approaches we have reached a very interesting point in the championship. Canada and Austria highlighted a chink in Mercedes' armour and the German team must be starting to tense slightly. While it is obvious that they are still well ahead of their rivals in terms of race pace they certainly aren't exerting the dominance they had at the start of the season. This is a track in which their chief rivals Red Bull have done well at over the last couple of years having had at least one car finish in the top 3 consistently since 2009. Mercedes' Nico Rosberg won the event last year while his teammate Lewis Hamilton won it last for Mclaren in 2008.

Nigel Mansell once said a home crowd is worth a second a lap so will Hamilton take this statement to heart? The Briton hasn't won since Spain and retirement in Canada has given Rosberg a sizable advantage in the championship this is a big opportunity for Hamilton to turn it around. Looking at their rivals it's been a great year for Daniel Riciarrdo. The Australian has performed magnificently against his teammate, four time world champion Sebastian Vettel and it could play to his advantage this weekend as Vettel has finished behind his teammate more times than not over the last few years at the British Grand Prix.

I can't finish this preview without mentioning Williams. After their increased performance in Austria you have to ask the question is their season going to improve from here. Their qualifying pace spoke for itself two weeks ago and while their race pace still isn't up to Mercedes' speed there's no doubt their rivals took notice. Even if Mercedes have another dominant weekend the battle for honours behind them will be fascinating.

Personally I think the big talking point this weekend is going to be the continued rivalry between Rosberg and Hamilton. With both drivers having achieved success here in the past it'll be very interesting to see how it unfolds. Also Niki Lauda has come out this week and said that the improvement in performance from their rivals hasn't gone unnoticed so the question is is that a call for the team to start getting defensive and if so will that mean team orders? At this stage in the season I can't see it but Mercedes certainly isn't going to throw away another potential 1-2, particularly if their rivals are closing in.

All questions will be answered this weekend as the teams descend on Silverstone. Enjoy the British Grand Prix!