In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Onto round three, as the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix is examined more in-depth. Following the classic of a race that Melbourne provided us, Sepang bought the unpredictability from the weather and a jumbled-up grid which meant Sunday’s racing was not going to be dire at all. So, this is the round-up of the weekend three of 2010 as Formula 1 tackled the energy zapping heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur.
Red Bull Racing: Finally Get The Job Done, Are They Back On Track?
Well it took a while, but finally Red Bull Racing managed to produce the goods on a Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, it was Mark Webber’s day, as he took the brave risk to put on intermediate tyres on a wet track and he reaped the rewards. Sebastian Vettel opted to play cautious and wound up off the front row of the grid for the first time since Brazil last season. However, Vettel produced a dominant drive on Sunday, leading from the first corner, practically from start-to-finish. Webber will be annoyed with himself for leaving the door wide open at the first corner and Sebastian was never going to say no to such an invitation. It soon turned into a demonstration battle, as Red Bull highlighted at last the speed and reliability combined together. The question is have they got back on track, quite possibly so. They are back in the race, no doubt about us.
Wet Weather Qualifying – Ferrari & McLaren Show Their Idiocy!
When it rains in Malaysia, it pours in biblical proportions and it made complete chumps of some of the best engineers in the business. Whilst the midfield and rear-end teams put in a banker lap in the early stages, Ferrari and McLaren waited in their garages, convinced that their high-spec technology would pay off and they could go out later in the session when the rain stopped. Big mistake, as humans could have called it better over technology. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were left high and dry in the pits and out of first qualifying, whilst Melbourne winner Jenson Button scraped into Q2, but aquaplaned off the track into the kitty litter, leaving him down in 17th. On race day, the two main teams did their best, but it was only really Hamilton who showed his overtaking capabilities. From 20th, he forced his way through to 6th, where he got stuck behind Adrian Sutil and that was that. Button was hindered by an early tyre stop, which left his prime tyres shot to pieces by the end. Massa was very tentative, but 7th place did inherit him the championship lead, whilst Alonso’s gearbox broke on the formation lap, had a sticky downchange to cope with throughout, then his engine exploded two laps from home. For Ferrari and McLaren, this was a weekend to forget. Elementary errors gave Red Bull an open goal, which they successfully converted.
The Malaysian Weather – Always Expect the Unexpected
Whenever the F1 teams turn up in Sepang, they must expect the rain, which can turn a race on its forehead quite literally. It made qualifying one of the best spectacles seen for many a year, and soon, the question on everyone’s lips was when, not if it would rain on Sunday. Once again, the weather gods played chicken with us, and in the end, we ended up with a bone-dry race, despite all the earlier forecasters. This was a weekend where everyone had to expect the unexpected.
Sauber – Winter Testing Must Seem a Distant Memory
BMW handed over the reins last November, and now will be thinking, ‘Phew! We definitely made the right call.’ Winter testing must seem like a distant memory for the Sauber team, when they were one of the consistent pacesetters around. Now, they have a lack of speed, lack of direction, no sponsors and almost zilch reliability. For an experienced team to have an engine blow up on the way to the dummy grid is inexcusable, not what Pedro de la Rosa would have had in mind for an early bath. Team-mate Kamur Kobayashi’s engine didn’t last much longer, only nine laps before he had to park his car too. These are testing times ahead for the Swiss team, if they don’t buck their ideas up, it could well be a long, trying season. Technical director Willy Rampf is retiring from the sport after the Chinese Grand Prix, and he is probably wanted that exit to come sooner rather than later.
Nico Rosberg – Quietly Getting the Results
F1 2010 might be all about the likes of Vettel, Alonso, Button, Hamilton and co, but Nico Rosberg is quietly going about his business with minimum fuss, which will be delighting Mercedes team Principal Ross Brawn and the senior German board members. Rosberg had another strong weekend in Kuala Lumpur, registering his first ever front row in qualifying, then producing a lonely, solid drive to 3rd spot, the team’s first podium finish. His consistency sees himself just four points off the top of the drivers’ championship. Not bad for someone who has hardly been mentioned of so far in 2010.
Alguesuari and Hulkenberg Get Their Just Rewards
Many congratulations to Jaime Alguesuari and Nico Hulkenberg, who both registered their first F1 points, finishes in Malaysia. Toro Rosso’s Alguesuari was very aggressive and his new found form truly worked, with top class overtakes on Hulkenberg and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. He deserved his two points and outpaced his most highly-rated team-mate Sebastian Buemi. For once, Toro Rosso’s faith may well just pay off. Hulkenberg, a winner in Sepang before in A1GP was a Saturday star, poaching his Williams through to fifth on the grid. On Sunday, the lack of race pace with the Williams was well-documented, but Hulkenberg kept his head down, beat Rubens Barrichello and benefited from Alonso’s late DNF to register a noteworthy point. Just rewards for the pair of them.
The Failing of Michael Schumacher – It Is Not Going To Plan!
When Michael Schumacher ended up deciding to return to Formula 1, I don’t think even he could have imagined to be struggling this bad. Once again, he was outperformed all weekend by Rosberg and in qualifying, conditions which would be really suited to his likeability, he struggled to break the top ten, then burnt out his rear tyres in Q3 and ended up being the weakest of the five Germans in the final shootout. Despite an excellent start, Schumacher was falling into the clutches of the scrapping Hulkenberg and Vitantonio Liuzzi when a wheel nut came loose, forcing his premature departure from the race. Nine points from three races, the comeback is not going to plan and the pressure therefore in increasing on Michael the Great to deliver.
Lotus Racing – A Sweet & Sour Home Weekend
It was Lotus home weekend, with the high-profile Malaysian sponsorship, but it turned into a sweet and sour weekend. Heikki Kovalainen took full advantage of Ferrari and McLaren’s idiocy to make Q2, so winding up 15th was like a celebration to Lotus. Sadly, he made a dogs dinner of the start, spent much of the race stuck behind Lucas di Grassi, then made a horlicks of an overtaking pass on the Brazilian, picked up a puncture, then retired with a hydraulic problem. Team-mate Jarno Trulli received a clobbering from his former team-mate Timo Glock early on, then limped on to the finish, also with hydraulic problems. This was Lotus worst weekend so far, but there is no need to panic yet, as still look the crème of the crop out of the new teams.
Virgin See the Chequered Flag – It’s A Miracle!
Miraculously, despite not having a big enough fuel tank, Virgin Racing saw the chequered flag for the first time, in the hands of Lucas di Grassi. Despite ending up with fumes before the end, di Grassi did enough to bring his car home in 14th place, giving the team a much-needed boost after a trying start. Timo Glock has yet to see the chequered flag this season, like Petrov and Kobayashi. He hit Trulli early on with an over-ambitious overtaking attempt and ended in the gravel. Nevertheless, this is very encouraging for Virgin. Also of note, both Hispania cars of Karun Chandok and Bruno Senna made the finish, so the new teams are now all beginning to pull their act together.
Reintroducing KERS – The pros and cons
Finally, the members of FOTA held a meeting to thrash out early proposals in how to ‘spice up the racing.’ FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh insists that it’s too early to draw conclusions, but reintroducing KERS was a major debating point. KERS (Kinetic Energy System Recovery) was introduced in 2009, but only McLaren and Ferrari made their systems work to any substantial use. BMW and Renault abandoned their development early on and the other teams saw no use to it. I can’t honestly see what pros there would be in reintroducing KERS, except for the environmental issue. It was one of the biggest expensive mistakes that Formula 1 made, so going back there would be considered as totally crazy.
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