The pendulum has swung back and forth over the course of the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 Series.
Yet today on a chilly, blustery afternoon at Silverstone Robert Wickens seized back the championship initiative with a dominant victory from pole position, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Rossi.
After Jean-Eric Vergne stalled prior to the start, Wickens knew a win would not only propel him to the top of the standings again but also with quite a considerable margin over his Carlin team mate.
With Vergne only able to finish 13th, Wickens now leads the championship by 21 points.
And the Canadian was only too aware of the importance of his third win of the season.
He said: “It’s big. The championship is winding down now so anytime you can lead it is positive.
“It is definitely key for me to take the lead back and hopefully I can maintain the gap or perhaps stretch it out a bit more.
“When the gap was just half a second or six tenths you do not really have that cushion to lock up or run wide so I was slightly concerned, but I knew that at the pace that I was driving I wasn’t going to put a wheel wrong.
“I never felt pressured by Alexander but I knew that if I made a mistake I would have been in trouble.
“Luckily enough for me he overheated his tyres trying to stay with me and I was able to pull out a second before he got passed by Daniel."
Wickens’ total of 171 points puts him in a commanding position at the top of the standings with just five rounds to go.
However, the championship leader does not appear to be playing the numbers game just yet as he looks to secure the title.
“To be honest, if second was all I could have done I’d have been happy with it, but when you fly off from the start and lead the first few laps you should win really.
“If you win, you are going to do really well in points but in this race I knew Jean-Eric was going to struggle to score and it would not have been ideal for him.
“If I can go into Barcelona with a comfortable lead, where I just have to score points, then I am in an ideal situation."
It may be August but as ever the British summer remained elusive, with the threat of rain and constant issue for the teams as well as high tail winds.
Nevertheless, Wickens was in command from start to finish and is keen to replicate today’s performance tomorrow.
“The car was a bit inconsistent at times because of the wind and I was struggling in the first sector because of it.
“I just really didn’t expect it to be that strong and I found myself constantly over slowing into corners and things like that, which I couldn’t figure out why because it felt like I was going quicker than I was in qualifying.
“Overall, though, I’m really pleased.
“Obviously I want to go and get pole as I know on flat out pace we are pretty strong.
“I think Daniel was doing miracles in the last couple of laps given the times that he was doing but I think over one lap pace I should be a strong contender tomorrow. "
Josh.
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