In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Following a three-week break, which saw all the teams successfully make it back from China, despite the best efforts of the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano, Grand Prix returned to its heartland of Europe. The Spanish Grand Prix may not be remembered as the greatest race ever, but its dramatic twists in the last ten laps just showed how unpredictable F1 2010 is turning out to be. So, this is the round-up of race five in 2010, as Formula 1 assembled itself again with familiar territory.
Untouchable Webber Produces His Best Yet
Mark Webber arrived at the Circuit de Catalunya under pressure to perform. Once again, Sebastian Vettel was putting him in the shade at Red Bull Racing, and with his contract up for renewal at the end of the season; the Australian knew he had to start delivering strong race results to his almost impeccable qualifying form so far. This he did, and in crushing fashion. Brilliant on Saturday, and totally untouchable on Sunday, the winning margin of 24.5seconds was a clear reflection of his dominance in Barcelona. Webber reminds me a lot of Ralf Schumacher, though with a bit more aggression to his driving. On his day, Ralf could be invincible at the front of the field, and Webber is more of the same. Unlike his two successes last year, this win didn’t have to be such a hard fightbacks. Here, he showed he could lead from the front, producing the best drive of his career, even better than his maiden triumph at the Nurburgring last July. Mark has answered some critics in the best possible manner, and consequently, is right back in the championship mix.
The Technical Upgrade Battle: Who Won?
Barcelona was the first race where the majority of the teams would put onto their cars, the first round of significant updates. The clear winners in the technical upgrade battle were Red Bull Racing, who turned up with an even faster car in Spain. If they start to get the reliability right, which plagued Sebastian Vettel again yesterday, the rest should fear for sure, especially with another upgrade on the way for Istanbul. McLaren improved their qualifying pace and moved above Ferrari in the pecking order, but both established teams need to continue a fast alarming rate of development if they aren’t to be left behind. The other winner was Sauber, who with their first main update of the season, moved about both Williams and Toro Rosso on competitive levels. Kamur Kobayashi made Q3, and though a race result is still lacking the team, they definitely will be encouraged by some form of progress at last. Losers in the upgrade battle were Williams, whose updates upset the car’s balance and left Rubens Barrichello high and dry, eliminated in Q1 on Saturday. Also, Mercedes, who were pinning their hopes on their revised chassis, but they seem to have gone backwards, not forwards. Despite Michael Schumacher’s strong result, there will be some serious head-scratching going on, both at Brackley in Northamptonshire, and in Germany.
Hamilton Runs Out Of Luck, And A Left-Front!
2010 hasn’t been the best season for Lewis Hamilton so far, and he certainly does not have the points that he fully merits. Charging drives in Melbourne and Sepang through the field only resulted in a pair of 6th placed results and yesterday, his luck ran out again, in a cruel fashion. Two laps away from a superb second-laced finish, having beaten the seemingly invincible Vettel fair and square, the Brit suffered a left-front blow-out through the long-winding Turn 3. Powerless to control his car, Lewis ended in the barriers and with no points. Like Mika Hakkinen in 2001, who lost the win here with an engine failure on the last lap, McLaren will be rueing Barcelona’s cruel twists of fate. The team believe that the delaminating tyre was caused by a suspension problem, not an actual puncture. However, that will be of little consolation to Hamilton, who deserved far more than nothing out of a strong weekend, in which he had the firm upper hand over Jenson Button for the first time in 2010. At least he was phlegmatic about it afterwards, and Lewis’s time will come, patience is the key in this battle.
Michael Schumacher: A Badly Needed Result
Four races down into the great comeback and it hadn’t gone to plan for Michael Schumacher. Firmly in the shadow of his team-mate Nico Rosberg, the knives were coming out for the seven-time world champion. However, in a Mercedes that seemed to have lost touch with the top three teams, Michael returned to his old self in Barcelona. For the first time since returning, he felt much happier with the car, indicated by trouncing Rosberg all weekend. He qualified 6th, Rosberg 8th and although Rosberg was compromised by Robert Kubica’s robust startline tactics, which forced Nico the choice of grass or barrier, Schumacher had the measure of him throughout. He took full advantage of Button’s slipping clutch during the pitstops, and despite Jenson’s scathing criticism, produced a masterclass in defensive driving. Fourth place was a massive step forward, though he will need a quicker car to challenge regularly for podiums and victories in 2010. However, Ross Brawn should be worried about the 64-second deficit at the end of the race between the race winner Webber, and Schumacher’s Mercedes. This was a badly needed result for Schumi and he is well and truly back.
Felipe Massa: Where Has The Pace Gone?
In Bahrain, he matched Fernando Alonso all weekend, and if he had shown more aggression at the beginning, could well have won the season opener. Since then, the pace and confidence has gone completely from Felipe Massa. The Brazilian left Malaysia leading the championship, but is now seventh just two races later, following cautious races in Shanghai and Barcelona. He looked all at sea all weekend, and as Alonso starts to breed the team around him, Massa looks destroyed. His self-belief has gone, and he needs one of those reassuring chats from the management to restore his confidence. When he can’t even answer the question to his mysterious lack of pace in recent races, there must be a significant problem and the growing rumours of Kubica taking his Ferrari seat are not going to go away. He controlled Kimi Raikkonen fairly easily in their three years together, largely because of Kimi’s lack of hard-working attitude. However, Alonso is a different kettle of fish, and Felipe needs to buck his ideas up if he wants to stay with the Scuderia longer term, starting in Monte Carlo next weekend. I will be watching him very closely in the next few races, to see if his pace improves, or drops back even further.
Alonso’s Home Support Drives Him On
Even in a lacklustre Renault, Fernando Alonso always managed to pull something out of the bag on home soil and he did it again in his maiden Ferrari outing in Spain. Ferrari have slipped back significantly, since their ominous 1-2 in Sakhir two months ago, but Fernando is still picking up the points consistency, hence why he is only trailing Button by three points. This weekend, he was Ferrari’s only hope, with Massa hopelessly out-of-sorts from Friday practice. His drive on Sunday was competitive and assured, if not spectacular. He kept Vettel and Hamilton honest throughout, then benefited from their late dramas to record a deserved second place finish. The crowd celebrated it like a win, which shows how much they idolise their Spanish hero. Once again, Fernando Alonso showed what a world-class driver he truly is, and despite the car’s insufficiencies, is right in the mix at the front, which is great to see again.
Jaime Alguesuari’s Rising Star Continues to Grow
Alonso wasn’t the only Spaniard to score points at his home event, as Hamilton’s late crash promoted Jaime Alguesuari into 10th spot. Alguesuari has impressed me immensely in 2010 so far, he looks like a completely different driver from the end of 2009, and quite frankly, he is making the talented Sebastian Buemi look like an amateur at the moment. There are still moments of madness though, his chop on Karun Chandok resulted in a deserved drive-through penalty in the race, but his confidence is admirable, with another stunning pass on Nico Hulkenberg around the outside of Turn 1. He kept up with Adrian Sutil, held Robert Kubica behind him comfortably in the early exchanges too, Jaime is here to stay and once he gets rid of those mad moments he still can obtain himself to, can turn himself into a top-class Grand Prix driver.
Monaco Qualifying: Is A 24-Car Session Too Big?
There have been calls for the smaller teams to run in their own separate qualifying session in Monte Carlo next weekend. With Lotus, Virgin and Hispania looking miles behind still, after the first raft of updates, these calls will only get louder in the next few days, and maybe rightly so. However, the FIA has said that there will be no changes to qualifying in Monaco and so it should stay that way. Traffic has always been a problem around the principality, so timing is going to essential in getting it right next Saturday. I think the bigger lights, like Red Bull and McLaren, who want these changes to be implanted, should put up and shut up. Appreciate that we have 24 cars on the grid; a far cry from what we could have had if no-one replaced BMW and Toyota at the end of 2009. Sometimes, I think these teams to be careful with what they are saying, and not drive the smaller teams into oblivion. Next Saturday will be intriguing to watch, and everyone deservedly will have to put up with what they end up in qualifying, no matter what.
Rubens Barrichello: Channels Saturday Frustration into Sunday Experience
On Saturday afternoon, Rubens Barrichello looked frustrated and very fed up. Williams’s new modified updates had failed to improve the car’s lack of speed, in fact it had made it worse. Failure to get a clear lap, plus gravel debris in his radiator left Rubinho high and dry in 18th spot, and out of Q1. On Sunday, we saw a different and far more upbeat Rubens Barrichello. An outstanding opening lap, which saw him gain five positions was the stepping stone for a strong run to 9th place, giving the Grove team some much needed encouragement in this season of struggle so far. His valuable experience is proving essential as the team try to battle hard in their attempts to keep up with the rapidly improving midfield. This was an excellent drive from Barrichello, keep an eye out on him causing some more surprises later in the campaign, in a car, which at the moment has so far, failed to deliver on a spectacular note.
The Pits: Mirror, Signal, and Then Manoeuvre (The Alonso-Rosberg Case)
The pitlane is a dangerous place in Grand Prix racing; everyone knows that, just look at the Vettel/Hamilton race down the pits in China three weeks ago. This time, it was Ferrari and Fernando Alonso who drew the short straw, with a lack of communication from both driver and team. At the start of Q3, Alonso swung out of his pit garage and straight into the path of the oncoming Nico Rosberg, who had to brake heavily to avoid an impact with the Ferrari, which could have turned out to very nasty indeed. Derek Warwick and the FIA stewards penalised Alonso and Ferrari with a £13,500 fine, but it’s a bit alarming that we have now had two very dangerous incidents in the pits in successive races. Sooner rather than later, that luck will run out and whoever makes this mistake again may face far more severe repercussions as far as penalties go.
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