In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Onto Silverstone, the home of British motorsport and the rural Northamptonshire event certainly didn’t disappoint. McLaren fought back, Red Bull continued to implode and Ferrari had a mere. The new circuit certainly delivered, with action all the way. So, this is a round-up of the key events from round ten of a sensational F1 season in 2010.
Red Bull – Fractions Continue To Arise
Once again, the favouritism inside the Red Bull Racing camp exploded onto the scene at Silverstone, and left them fighting a losing battle with many F1 experts and the worldwide media. The row centred around two new front wings, which were brought to the event, only for one to break on Sebastian Vettel’s car in the closing exchanges of Saturday morning practice. With one wing beyond repair, Christian Horner made a staggering and crazy decision; to remove the other new wing from Mark Webber’s car and hand it to Vettel, insisting it had to be done, because Vettel was ‘ahead’ in the world championship. The result saw Vettel on pole, Webber fuming with second and the clear favouritism shown to Vettel again. Like in Turkey, Mark must have felt left out by these questionable decisions from the Austrian team, so it would be interesting to see his response.
Mark Webber – The Fightback to Silverstone Glory
The Mark Webber response was conclusive, as he said after the race: “Cheers guys, fantastic result, not bad for a No.2 driver!” He was aggressive and taking no prisoners off the startline, punishing Vettel for his poor getaway, then pushing him wide, as he had every right to do. As Vettel collected a puncture and was lucky to beat the medical car back to the pits, Webber drove into the distance, with the commanding poise he showed in Barcelona and Monaco. It was a perfect response from the Aussie, to his scary Valencia crash and a real slap in the face to the big bosses at Red Bull Racing. His fightback must be praised, even if he didn’t help himself too much in the battle for supremacy with Vettel. As much as Red Bull may not like it, he is a serious championship player and though the claim is that the air has been cleared with Christian Horner, divisions remain at large. Despite signing a renewed deal for 2011, will Webber stay on, when a call from Renault may tempt him away. The next few races in this riveting tale of beating the odds will tell us a lot about the present and the future.
McLaren – The New Package Fails To Deliver the Expected Pace
McLaren arrived at the British Grand Prix, with a new package that they believed, could finally take the fight to the dominant Red Bull package. It included new exhausts and the ‘blown diffuser,’ which has worked masterfully on the Red Bull this season, and more recently, at Williams. However, on Friday, the car looked imbalanced and difficult to control, with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button both complaining of its lack of driveability. On Saturday morning, the decision was taken to abandon the upgrade and revert back to the older settings. It left the Woking team firmly on the backfoot for the remainder of the weekend, but it was undoubtedly the right decision, if you go on the indication of Friday’s lap times. McLaren don’t normally get it wrong, but they will be hoping that come Hockenheim, the new package delivers from the outset, otherwise it could derail their championship tilt.
Brits At Home – Lewis & Jenson Save Our Sporting Summer!
After England’s dismal performance at the World Cup in South Africa, and Andy Murray’s failure to reach the Wimbledon final, the British sporting fanatics needed something to lift our spirits. This meant there was added pressure and incentives on the world champion Jenson Button, and championship leader Lewis Hamilton. McLaren’s new upgrade failure left them firmly playing catch-up, and qualifying didn’t yield a happy camp. Hamilton dragged his car round to 4th, with an impressive final lap time, but Button languished in 14th, his worst grid slot since he claimed his 2009 championship in Brazil, and claiming the car to be completely ‘undriveable.’ Although Webber won on Sunday, Lewis and Jenson saved our summer and saved McLaren’s weekend, with gutsy and impressive performances to 2nd and 4th in the race. If Red Bull continue their ‘let’s destroy each other’ tag, then we could be staring at the distinct possibility of a British world champion for the third successive year.
Fernando Alonso vs. Robert Kubica – Little Sympathy for Ferrari
It was a mere of a weekend for Ferrari, who left Northamptonshire with no points, and more probably, totally out of both championships. Despite their new radical package, which was introduced in Valencia, the team has only managed to claim four points in these two races. Felipe Massa’s race was destroyed by a first lap puncture, following a stupid lunge on team-mate Fernando Alonso at Chapel, which was always going to end in contact. No points in three races for the Brazilian, who is clearly still struggling to come to terms with this year’s car. As for Alonso, an appalling start left him on the backfoot, and on Lap 19, an ambitious, but brave move around the outside of Robert Kubica into Club saw the Spaniard cut the corner to get past his Polish rival. He wasn’t left much alternative, as Kubica did run him out of road, but Alonso carried on, convinced he had done nothing wrong, when he should have just let the Renault back through. A lap later, Kubica retired with a suspension problem, and then seven laps later, Alonso was given a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane and gaining an advantage. Once again, the timing of the Safety Car ruined his chances and left him visibly angry in the cockpit. I admit, with Kubica out of the running, that the penalty certainly did not fit the crime. However, if Fernando had just blended out of the throttle and let him past instantly, he would have avoided the ramifications. This was a very damaging weekend for Ferrari.
Nico Rosberg – Back On Form in Britain
Mercedes has had a real up-and-down season and another fine example of this, came at the weekend. After such a dreary performance in Valencia a fortnight earlier, they were back on some form of solid pace at Silverstone. Once more, Nico Rosberg was their leading light as he outperformed Michael Schumacher again, which is no longer a surprise. Since his early season podiums in Sepang and Shanghai, Nico’s own form had dipped of late, but he was back on it in Britain. Having lined up fifth, he took full advantage of Alonso’s penalty; Button’s poor qualifying and Vettel’s puncture to bag an unexpected rostrum. His move around the outside of Jaime Alguesuari during the race at Brooklands was one of the best of the season. In previous seasons, Nico may have backed out of such a risky move, but he seems stronger and more mentally up for it this time around. His lunge was timed to perfection and though it cost him a bargeboard, it won him the 3rd place result. If Mercedes are to win a race this season, and that’s a big ‘if,’ it will come from Rosberg, not Schumacher.
Hispania Racing – Why Was Bruno Senna Dumped?
Last Thursday, Bruno Senna turned up in the paddock expecting to drive at the back of the field. Inexplicably, he was dropped by Hispania Racing, and replaced with Japanese pay driver, Sakon Yamamoto. Senna has been largely anonymous this season, and been surprisingly outpaced on a regular basis, by the admirable Karun Chandok. However, he didn’t deserve the treatment he received last week. He should be back for Germany next weekend, but this was an odd move. If it is something to do with money, the Spanish team may not see out the season. Sadly, I can’t quite point my finger on it, another case of the new teams embarrassing themselves in 2010.
Adrian Sutil – Six of the Best
Last season, if saw a car with damage or in a spin, the high chances were, that would be Adrian Sutil. Now in his fourth full season, Sutil has got his act together and has strung an impressive sequence of results, which now stands at six successive points finishing results. Sutil is the main reason that Force India are still heading for a top six championship finish, and is always there to pick up the pieces. As in Malaysia, when he defended successfully from Hamilton, he stoutly did the same with the much quicker Vettel at Silverstone, and his countryman needed to use excessive force at Village to get infront. Needless to say Sutil was unimpressed, but he survived the skirmish and a bullish move on Michael Schumacher during the race was a particular highlight. If his Saturday qualifying performances improved, Adrian will be a major figure in the higher points reaches. Watch out for him at Spa and Monza, circuits which saw the Force India fly last year – as I think he has the talent and now, the consistency to cause a major surprise.
The New Circuit – Did It Produce What We Hoped?
The simple answer was yes. We saw close racing throughout the new circuit, and as Rosberg showed on Alguesuari, and Vettel on several rivals in the second half of the race, overtaking was possible to have an attack on. Although the flow of the circuit may have been broken up, with the demise of Bridge corner, Abbey is now a fully committed corner, that gives the driver maximum results if they give it the respect it requires. The BRDC can be very happy with the job achieved here, and if Bernie Ecclestone is even singing their praises, then this bodes well for the future of the British Grand Prix.
Sauber – Light at the End of Tunnel at Last?
The impact that former Force India technical director James Key has, is making the slow improvement for Sauber, giving the Swiss team light at the end of the tunnel, after months of terrible reliability and a car that lack pace and more evidently, sponsorship. Pedro de la Rosa has looked fairly pedestrian all season on his full-time comeback, but he was on fire at Silverstone, reaching Q3 for the first time this season and looking set for points, until an altercation with Sutil on the start-finish straight led to his rear wing breaking apart, throwing debris across the road and leaving the Spaniard with little option, but to park his car in the garage. Kamur Kobayashi was a solid 12th, only missing out on the shootout by 0.1s and in the race, produced another strong drive. He stuck to the tail of Button like glue in the early stages, passed Michael Schumacher in the pits, and kept Rubens Barrichello honest all afternoon. Sixth place was a worthy result, the team’s best of the season. The question is, can Sauber keep this renewed pace up till the end of the season now?
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