In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix turned the world championship battle on its head once again, as the two outsiders Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button charged back into the title race. Here is a round-up of round fourteen, as the curtain comes down on the European season.
Mark Webber – Does He Have the Title Advantage?
Mark Webber knew that the Italian Grand Prix was going to be a weak one for Red Bull Racing and himself. It was always going to be damage limitation for the Aussie, but his frustration after the race couldn’t be hidden. Webber has a nightmare couple of days of practice, stopping twice with electrical and fuel pressure problems, so to qualify 4th on Saturday was an admirable effort. All that hard work went to waste with another disastrous start, which had him back in 9th on the first lap. Aggressive passes on Michael Schumacher, Robert Kubica and Nico Hulkenberg showed Webber’s strong instinct to overtake. However, 6th place, on a day when Lewis Hamilton damaged his prospects severely, wasn’t what Mark was hoping for. Nevertheless, with the Red Bull expected to be the strongest chassis in the last five races, he now has the title advantage.
Lewis Hamilton – Are His Championship Chances Shattered Like His Steering?
Lewis Hamilton had to score big at Monza, knowing that this was the last circuit that his McLaren was going to have a clear advantage over Red Bull this season. Consequently, a radically improved Ferrari was not in the gameplan, and nor was Saturday’s qualifying session, leaving him in a frustrated 5th. Hamilton had taken the traditional Monza low-spec downforce setting, without the f-duct. However, Jenson Button had gambled on a different route and got it right. Annoyed going to the grid, Hamilton pulled off a 2007-spec move on Felipe Massa into the second chicane. He stuck his nosecone in an area where the Brazilian was always going to make unintentional contact with him, and the clash of wheels bent Hamilton’s right-front steering arm, sending the Brit into the gravel and out on the first lap. For Hamilton, the Italian Grand Prix was an utter shambles, and his championship chances have taken a significant and potentially knockout blow.
Fernando Alonso – A Crucial Weekend Pays Off
For Fernando Alonso, Italy expected him to deliver and he duly delivered, as a crucial weekend in his fading title bid paid off, with a handsome and popular win. Alonso’s pole position lap in qualifying was immense and the total commitment presented him with a great opportunity to dominate from the front, squandered by a poor start and allowing Jenson Button into the lead. Button’s unusual Monza high-downforce spec meant that it was impossible for Alonso to pass until the pitstops. Fortunately, McLaren pitted Jenson first, allowing Ferrari and Fernando to steal a tactical initiative. One lap later, Alonso pitted and to the tifosi’s delight, came out ahead and went onto win. With Ferrari being a one-man team, don’t discount Alonso from the final reckoning just yet, though he can’t afford to make any more silly errors.
Ferrari Escape Team Orders Disciplinary – Was The FIA Right?
Before the weekend begun, Ferrari was already breathing a sigh of relief, after they escaped any further punishment for the team orders debacle in Germany. It was a difficult call for the FIA, and despite deserving further sanctions, at least we should know come Bahrain next year that team orders are prohibited, whether the fans like it or not. Personally, I’m not a fan of team orders, but it is better if they are open for teams to use, rather than teams sneak around using it.
Nico Hulkenberg – Beginning To Show His Future Potential
He struggled to get to grips with Formula One at the start of his rookie season, but Nico Hulkenberg is now beginning to really show his future potential, and now has the measure of his Williams team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Eighth on the grid was a fantastic effort, as Hulkenberg made the Q3 shootout session for the fourth successive race. An excellent start saw last year’s GP2 champion zoom upto 6th and then, he did well to jump Robert Kubica at the stops. His defensive tactics against Mark Webber had to be questioned, especially by his consistent use of using the escape route down the first two chicanes. Nevertheless, 7th place was a good result, and I think he is now only going to get better, now that the ‘Hulk’ has settled into the sport.
Timo Glock – An Unlucky Figure throughout the Weekend
Virgin Racing had the right to be very happy with their weekend, especially as they won the battle of the new teams. Jarno Trulli’s late demise, with a gearbox problem allowed Timo Glock to take the honours, holding off Heikki Kovalainen in a race-long duel for position. However, Glock was out of luck at the start of the weekend, so his result to win the new teams scrap should be highly credited. He was victim to a blatant block by Vitaly Petrov at the beginning of Q1, meaning he would be beaten by the off-form Vitantonio Liuzzi from Force India. Then, a five-place grid penalty followed for a gearbox change, meaning Glock started plum last. Therefore, his race effort was a very valid performance.
Michael Schumacher – Will He Stay or Go?
BBC pundit Eddie Jordan started the rumours flying that the managers of Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil had been in and out of the Mercedes motorhome during the weekend. It means that the pressure is intensifying on Michael Schumacher’s future. Ross Brawn has already said that there will be a manager’s role for Schumacher in the future, but is that short-term or a longer vision? At Monza, Schumacher qualified a disappointing 12th, at least half a second behind Nico Rosberg all weekend. Despite another strong start, he finished a lonely 9th, on a track where he has excelled so much down the years. Schumacher didn’t look his usual bouncy self either all weekend, maybe the speculation is starting to get to the seven-time world champion a bit.
13 Races, 8 DNF’s – The Sobering Statistic of Bruno Senna
Bruno Senna is the most unreliable driver in 2010, certainly in the statistics of finishing races. He failed to finish once again at Monza, making it eight retirements in thirteen races. Even Sakon Yamamoto has finished almost as many races this season! Some of these DNF’s have not been Senna’s fault, largely because the Hispania lacks both speed and reliability. However, statistics don’t lie and at the end of the day, Senna has largely disappointed in his rookie campaign. Had it not been for money, I wonder if Karun Chandok should be back in the sport and not commentating for BBC Radio 5 Live.
The End of the European Leg – Time To Reflect
Monza brought the curtain down on a dramatic European season, consisting of nine races. Mark Webber has nearly won 50% of the European races this season (Spain, Monaco, Britain and Hungary) and heads for the five remaining flyaway races in the lead of the championship. Jenson Button is the only one of the five title contenders to have not sprayed the bubbly on the top step of the podium in Europe. Despite all the new races being added, with India joining the party in 2011, Formula One must never forget its traditional routes of races in Europe. Although the likes of Imola and Magny-Cours have disappeared in recent seasons, it’s nice to see races like Monte Carlo, Monza, Spa and Silverstone still with long-term contracts, and very much at the heartbeat of the Grand Prix circus.
Two Weeks Until F1 Returns To the Gaming World – Codemasters Big Gamble
There is less a fortnight away now from the return of Formula 1 to the gaming world. Codemasters, the makers of GRID and Colin McRae DIRT are launching F1 2010, due for release on September 24th. It’s a big gamble, but I have every confidence it will pay off. There will be an in-depth review of the game after the Singapore Grand Prix in two weeks time.
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