In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The final race of the four fly-away events was at a damp and soggy Shanghai in China. Once again, the mixture of wet weather and comedic pitstops led us all to a nail-biting conclusion; the bore of Bahrain seems like a century ago. So, this is the round-up of race four out of nineteen in 2010, as China produced another modern classic.
Jenson Button - Proof Why He Is World Champion
Jenson Button’s second win for McLaren showed the guaranteed proof of why he is a Formula One World Champion. Once again, like in Melbourne, it was Jenson who made the inspired call of staying out on dry tyres, during an early rain shower, when many of his rivals, including his team-mate Lewis Hamilton gambled and got it wrong. Many, included myself questioned Button’s decision to switch to McLaren from Brawn GP at the end of last season, especially by walking into the lion’s den of Hamilton’s team. Well, he is proving us all wrong and by staying cool, calm and collected, Jenson is getting the job done without any fuss whatsoever. Fifteen of the last twenty championships have seen the guy who led after four races go on to win the championship. Therefore, this bodes very well for Button to become a back-to-back champion. Carry on with this form, and it certainly cannot be discounted.
Lewis Hamilton - Is The Aggression Making Him A Villain Or A Hero?
In Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton didn’t make himself many friends, for his aggressive weaving tactics to keep Vitaly Petrov behind in his charge through the field. Rubens Barrichello was very vocal about it, as was Mark Webber. On Sunday, Hamilton was called to face the stewards again, this time for a dangerous incident in the pits with Sebastian Vettel. In the end, a severe reprimand was given to both, which was the right decision, as both had the chance to avoid dangerous driving, yet refused to do so. No-one can take the aggression out of Lewis; it is what makes him as a driver and his spectacular overtaking and charging are thrilling to see. However, sometimes, his aggressive attitude goes wrong and can really irk his rivals. Though we love to see more of this, Lewis has got to get a right balance between aggression and racecraft; otherwise he will make himself a villain within the F1 paddock once again.
Nico Rosberg - A Future Grand Prix Winner in the Making
The championship table does not lie; Nico Rosberg is second in the standings and is in undoubtedly, the form of his life. He is making Michael Schumacher look like an amateur, not a seven-time world champion. Like Button, Rosberg took the decision to stay out in the early stages and produced similar results. Though he was unable to hold back the charging McLaren’s, he did very well to finish on the podium for the second successive race. With a new Mercedes upgrade heading for Barcelona, it is surely only a matter of time before Rosberg becomes a Grand Prix winner, and I think it will be sooner rather than later. His consistency is very impressive at the moment and now, he is the only driver to finish in the top five in every race so far this season.
Wet Races - Stay Cool, Don't Panic
Once again, the wet weather threw strategy out of the window. It was essential for everyone to stay cool and not to panic. However, in those early stages, panic driving from many saw them lose too much time to be a race-winning factor. Fernando Alonso lost the plot and blatantly jumped the start, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull made costly errors in an error-strewn performances and Mark Webber produced another panicky performance when under pressure. If you follow the lead of Button, Rosberg and Robert Kubica, the results will pay dividends and as in Melbourne, all three drivers walked away with super final outcomes.
Hispania Racing - Early Signs of Moving Forward
After Bahrain, Hispania Racing was the laughing stock of the paddock. They didn’t even turn a wheel before free practice in the desert and Karun Chandok didn’t even do ten laps over the whole weekend. However, I’ve been impressed with how they’ve been getting it together ever since. Though Geoff Willis is rumoured to be unhappy at Hispania, surely something involving him as seen the team’s fortunes turn around. Chandok has now finished the last three races, team-mate Bruno Senna the last two, so reliability is something the team have. Pace wise, the team is also slowly improving, and were less than 0.5seconds behind Lucas di Grassi’s Virgin in qualifying. Hispania Racing is showing solid signs of moving forward and I think are now going to be here to stay longer than many initially anticipated.
Sebastian Buemi - A Weekend to Forget
Sebastian Buemi must be looking to the skies at the moment and wondering whether he is destined to finish the season uninjured. Having been speared by Kamur Kobayashi’s Sauber on the first lap of the Australian Grand Prix, Buemi’s nightmare beginning to 2010 continued in Friday first practice, when he suffered a terrifying shunt under braking for the penultimate corner on the Shanghai circuit. As he hit the brakes at around 196mph, both of his front wheels alarmingly detached in spectacular fashion, leaving the Swiss powerless to control his Toro Rosso missile. Less than forty-eight hours later, Buemi was t-boned again at the start of a Grand Prix. Having qualified a creditable 13th, despite basically no running on Friday, Buemi passed his team-mate Jaime Alguesuari off the grid and was challenging Robert Kubica into Turn 4. Suddenly, Buemi turned in and was clobbered by Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India and once more, Kobayashi. This was the ultimate horror weekend for Buemi, he will be looking forward to the longer break more than most and be relieved that he is actually in one piece.
The Spanish Grand Prix Doesn't Start At Barcelona - It Starts By Trying To Get Out Of Shanghai!
With the volcanic ash from Iceland, causing air travel chaos worldwide, there is the fact that the Spanish Grand Prix doesn’t start in Barcelona, it begins by attempting to get out of Shanghai! Bernie Ecclestone joked on Sunday that we could race here all season, should the worst happen. Red Bull and McLaren had lucky escapes when the air zones were shutdown last Thursday, just about beating the deadline to get upgraded parts out to China. Meanwhile, BBC pundit and former team boss, Eddie Jordan was stranded in London because of the flying faux-pas. As I write this blog now, airspace travel has re-opened, but some are struggling still to leave. BBC commentator Jonathan Legard and Sauber remain stuck in China, whereas Sam Michael, Ross Brawn and Mark Webber had safer and less traumatic journeys back to the UK. It certainly has been the talk of the F1 fraternity in the past week; let’s just hope everyone makes it to Barcelona on time!
Vitaly Petrov - Making the Most of a Cunning Strategy
Russian Vitaly Petrov has been by far, the best rookie so far in 2010. Despite arriving in China without a Grand Prix finish, he had shown flashes of talent already. A poor qualifying showing on Saturday was made up on Sunday, as Petrov made the most of his decent wet-weather ability and the cunning strategy deployed by the Renault team to score his first points in his career. Despite a mid-race wild 360 degree spin, Petrov pulled off clever moves on Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber in the closing stages, his 7th place finish was well deserved. With Kubica producing another trouble-free run to 5th, Renault has been by far, the best team in the midfield. Further upgrades could see the French team more of a regular front-running feature over the course of the season.
Michael Schumacher - The Knives Are Sharpening
Shanghai has never been Michael Schumacher’s favourite hunting ground and that continued last weekend. To be honest, he had a dreadful weekend, miles off the pace of Rosberg all throughout, whereas at least in Melbourne and Malaysia, he might have had better results, if for a bit more luck. On a wet-weather circuit, his previous specialist subject, Michael looked awash at sea. He did try his best and his defensive efforts on Hamilton were top class, so it wasn’t completely lacklustre. However, something isn’t gelling at the moment, his Mercedes handled like a pig, consequently leaving him to be a sitting target. A solitary point for his efforts must not see as much, and even Schumacher had to admit his frustration afterwards. He needs more time, but not much more, the knives are definitely going to be sharpening if Michael continues his lacklustre comeback at the start of the European season.
One Left on Jacks and the Other Starts Nine Laps Down - Virgin Racing Hit A New Low
Virgin Racing is the victim of some unpleasant jokes in the paddock, due to their name, but they really aren’t helping themselves at the moment. Despite having strong pace, more than capable of beating Lotus, a Morris Minor seems to have more chance of finishing a race. Lucas di Grassi’s Malaysia finish now seems like a minor miracle. Timo Glock was left on jacks and never even started, whereas di Grassi joined the race a full nine laps down and quit shortly afterwards. Coupled with not having a big enough fuel tank to finish a race at the moment, Virgin Racing is the current joke at the moment. I wonder what Glock is thinking now, turning down the chance to go to Renault, now limping along in this new team. He might well be regretting that decision if Virgin continue to be as embarrassing as this.
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