Damon Hill is fully expecting the battle for this year's Formula One world title to start to boil over at this weekend's British Grand Prix.

Five drivers, spearheaded by a British one-two in Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, are separated by just 29 points as the season reaches its halfway point at Silverstone on Sunday.

"It's just been on simmer for the moment. Now it's going to start to boil over," said Hill. "This could be the start of the rest of the season. Traditionally, with Silverstone smack in the middle, the preliminaries are over."

The fact the past two world champions and McLaren team-mates are in front, just six points apart, adds to the spice of the occasion, one Hill feels "is going to be even better than it has ever been before". But, with Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in the mix, along with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, 1996 world champion Hill expects this year's title battle to go right down to the wire.

He added: "From now on the clock is definitely ticking and you are going to run out of opportunities. If you're not in the frame now you are going to be watching it slip out of your fingers. Now they're warmed up. They all know where they are positioned, and there's only room for one guy to go through."

Speaking at Silverstone, the president of the British Racing Drivers' Club is predicting a thrilling showdown between the two home-grown heroes on Sunday.

Hamilton treated his fans to a stunning victory in 2008, and is determined to savour such success again, whilst in stark contrast Button has not been on the podium in ten attempts on home soil.

"Your closest, most significant competitor is your team-mate," added Hill. "But when you've a team-mate as good as Jenson, it's not a foregone conclusion.

"Lewis has the mindset of a driver, under normal state of affairs, that sees him being first and the rest second, which is great, one way of looking at it and what you'd expect from a competitor.

"But perhaps Jenson is a little bit more opportunistic, will be slightly more mature and realistic about things, but will not be letting Lewis get away with anything.

"So between the two British drivers, in possibly the best car, you are going to have a very close, fascinating battle, which is great for everyone."