13. Nico Hulkenberg (Williams Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Stunning and shock pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix
LOW POINT: Crashing in the tunnel on the first lap in Monaco
POLE position in Brazil was one of the best pieces of driving I saw all season and Nico Hulkenberg has established himself as an excellent racing driver, even though he is looking for alternate employment after Williams dropped him at the end of the season. Hulkenberg came with an excellent record in feeder series such as GP2 and A1GP, but he was too cautious and disappointed massively in the first half of the season. From Valencia onwards, he turned his fortunes around, with the Brazil pole being the peak of his season. Sixth in Hungary was his best result, though his best race came at Monza, finishing seventh and frustrating Mark Webber for much of the afternoon. Crashes in Monaco and frustration petulance in Valencia and Singapore shows he still has lots to learn, but this was a competitive rookie season.
14. Jaime Alguesuari (Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari)
HIGH POINT: Finishing ninth in Malaysia, pulling off two of the best overtaking passes of the season
LOW POINT: Attempting to drive Kamur Kobayashi off the road like a petulant schoolchild at the Japanese Grand Prix
HIS first full season in Formula One and Jaime Alguesuari certainly didn’t disgrace himself. In fact, he made Sebastian Buemi look like a monkey at times and he has established himself firmly as a feisty racer. This has led to some rash moves, such as running into Buemi on lap one at Hockenheim, and attempting unsuccessfully to drive Kamur Kobayashi off the road at the Japanese Grand Prix. However, he made the most of a difficult car, collecting ninth place in the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi and tenth in his home event at Barcelona. Alguesuari’s highlight of the season was an outstanding ninth in Malaysia, pulling off two sensational passes on Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg in the race. Next season will be interesting to see Jaime’s development as a racing driver.
15. Vitaly Petrov (Renault)
HIGH POINT: Outstanding drive under pressure from Alonso to finish sixth in the season finale in Abu Dhabi
LOW POINT: Crashing into Nico Hulkenberg less than four seconds into the start of the Japanese Grand Prix
VITALY Petrov has shown strong pace, especially in wet conditions. However, he lacked consistency and made some daft errors that cost his Renault team a shot at fourth place in the constructors’ championship. Petrov scored five points finishes, all notable efforts. His best weekend came in Hungary, qualifying seventh and winding up in fifth. Seventh in the wet in China was a strong showing, as was a ninth place finish at Spa from the back of the grid. Plus, he held off intense pressure from Alonso to come home sixth in the final race in Abu Dhabi. However, he has a tendency to become a magnetic attraction with the tyre barriers. Expensive wrecks in Spa (qualifying), Barcelona (practice), Japan and Korea (whilst in the points) might have cost him his drive. Petrov could be in for a nervous winter.
16. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Beating Vitaly Petrov fair and square in the Canadian Grand Prix
LOW POINT: Being part of the most spectacular shunt of the season with Mark Webber in Valencia
IT WAS always going to be a tough season to judge the drivers in the new teams, but Heikki Kovalainen can hold his head up high, after an excellent season for Lotus. 99% of the time, he was the class of the new boys, and on occasion, troubled the established teams. Canada was his highlight, ending just 0.2secs behind Kamur Kobayashi in qualifying and beating Vitaly Petrov’s Renault in the race. Twelfth in the Japanese Grand Prix was his best finish, though this mainly was achieved through attrition. Heikki will be best remembered in 2010 for being part of the spectacular smash with Mark Webber in Valencia, and having to put out a fire on his own in Singapore, when the marshals stood and watched his burning car. Heikki’s reputation has been well and truly restored this season, he can’t wait for 2011.
17. Sebastian Buemi (Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari)
HIGH POINT: Leading the Canadian Grand Prix for a lap and finishing a strong eighth
LOW POINT: Chinese Grand Prix practice, when both his front wheels flew off under braking for the penultimate corner
THERE is no doubt that Sebastian Buemi underachieved in 2010, after a strong rookie season in 2009. He was constantly outperformed by Jaime Alguesuari, in a car that was never the best, but it led to some uncharacteristic errors from the Swiss. Like Alguesuari, he achieved three points finishes this season with his best being an eighth place finish in Canada, which included leading the race for a lap and passing Michael Schumacher around the outside of turn one. He came ninth in Valencia, though being mugged by Kamur Kobayashi on the last corner of the race won’t have pleased the bosses. He crashed on lap one in Australia, China (after a nightmare experience in practice) and Germany. Sebastian has a lot to do in 2011 if he wants to carve out a longer stay in F1.
HIGH POINT: Finishing on Kobayashi’s tail to end up eighth in the Japanese Grand Prix
LOW POINT: His return to the sport in Singapore, which bought little reward
NICK HEIDFELD cut a forlorn figure for most of 2010, sitting in the Mercedes garage as a reserve driver, twiddling his fingers around, doing nothing. After a brief stint testing for Pirelli in the summer, Heidfeld was called into the Sauber squad to replace Pedro de la Rosa for the last five races of 2010. Consequently, it is difficult to judge his season, but he finished four times and gave Kamur Kobayashi a run for his money. Nick scored points in Japan (8th) and Korea (9th) and only narrowly missed out in Abu Dhabi, tracking Felipe Massa for most of the race. Unfortunately, due to his lack of sponsorship, Heidfeld could end up in the freeze and miss out on a full-time seat again next season, though he certainly proved everyone against of his undoubted consistency and racecraft in his five race stint this campaign.
19. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India Mercedes)
HIGH POINT: A potential career saving drive in Korea, finishing an excellent sixth
LOW POINT: Missing out on Q2 in Shanghai, then wiping out Sebastian Buemi and Kamur Kobayashi on lap one in the race
VITANTONIO Liuzzi was the biggest disappointment of the season, outclassed by Adrian Sutil in the Force India team and likely to be without a race drive next season, even though he has a contract to drive for Force India in 2011. At times, Liuzzi showed flashes of speed and potential, with fifth on the grid in Canada highlighting this. He scored most of his points in tricky race conditions, (7th) in Australia and (6th) in South Korea. However, the Italian was knocked out of Q1 on six separate occasions this year, and became a frequent visitor to a crash barrier as the season went on. Riding over the top of Michael Schumacher at the final event in Abu Dhabi pretty much summed up Liuzzi’s season in 2010: Absolutely forgettable!
20. Timo Glock (Virgin Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Reaching Q2 in both Malaysia and Belgium
LOW POINT: His frustration allowed Lucas di Grassi to match him in some race weekends
TIMO Glock might be kicking himself for walking away from a Renault race seat, to endure a torrid season in Virgin’s debut season. His stock has certainly dropped in recent seasons, and he will always be remembered as the man who gave up and handed Lewis Hamilton the 2008 championship, not that the Brits care about that. Glock did make the most of the wet conditions to make Q2 in both Malaysia and Belgium and he looked set to pick up a point in Korea, until Sebastian Buemi used him as a brake. On other weekends, he allowed Lucas di Grassi to match him, particularly in Valencia and Germany. Progress was being made towards the end of the season, but Glock will lookback on a missed opportunity for better results in a better car over the winter months.
21. Pedro de la Rosa (BMW Sauber Ferrari)
HIGH POINT: Finishing seventh in Hungary
LOW POINT: Getting sacked by Sauber five races before the end of the campaign
FINISHING the season testing for Pirelli alongside Roman Grosjean, Pedro de la Rosa has probably driven his final F1 race, after a horrific comeback season with Sauber. He only finished in the points once, a strong seventh place in Hungary and was overshadowed by the rising talent of Kamur Kobayashi in the team. It was surprising to see de la Rosa’s lack of effort to develop such an appalling car in the early stages of the season, particularly after all his hard work in the past as a McLaren test driver. This was highlighted by the team’s comments about Pedro after he was replaced by Nick Heidfeld for the final five races of the season. He is a nice guy, but sadly – his time has come and gone in F1.
22. Jarno Trulli (Lotus Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: None
LOW POINT: Everything
THERE were times this season when people will have wondered why Jarno Trulli was wasting his time in a backmarker car, especially when he has a perfectly good vineyard in Italy that produces fabulous wines. Trulli’s early season form was very erratic and moves such as the one in Monaco on Karun Chandok, which nearly took the Indian driver’s head off were attempts you would expect to see from a go-karter, not with someone who has fourteen years Grand Prix experience. Qualifying was as strong as ever for Jarno, normally ending up as the class of the ‘Class B’ teams, but Heikki Kovalainen battered him on a Sunday afternoon too frequently. Expect Trulli to be back in 2011, though he is well past his best in the sport.
HIGH POINT: Recording Hispania’s first ever finish in Australia
LOW POINT: Losing his drive through no fault of his own in mid-season
KARUN Chandok may count himself very unlucky to lose his drive mid-season, when Hispania needed cash and axed him from Hockenheim onwards for the money-spinning Japanese driver, Sakon Yamamoto. Chandok more than equally matched Bruno Senna in a poor motorcar, and recorded the teams first ever race finish in Australia. He stayed out of trouble in races, although he did hinder Fernando Alonso in Canada by accident that allowed Jenson Button to steal second spot from the Spaniard. With the Indian GP on the calendar for 2011, fingers crossed that Karun will get another chance in F1, because he deserves it for sure.
24. Christian Klien (HRT Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Outqualifying Senna by over a second on his F1 return in Singapore
LOW POINT: Only get three races to prove his quality as a top-line driver
AUSTRIAN Christian Klien has had a very tough time in the last few seasons, sitting on the sidelines as a back-up driver at BMW Sauber and Honda since Red Bull dumped him in 2006. Klien returned to the cockpit for the first time in four years at the Singapore GP and outqualified his team-mate Bruno Senna by a full second. Hydraulics failure ended his race prematurely, but he’d laid down his marker and raced again for the limping Hispania team in the final two events, again spanking Senna at his home event in Brazil, although the rookie did dominate him in Abu Dhabi. Like Nick Heidfeld, Klien is unlikely to drive again sadly, due to his lack of sponsorship levels, which is such a shame for someone who never gives up, whatever the situation.
25. Lucas di Grassi (Virgin Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Recording Virgin’s first-ever race finish in Malaysia, despite not having a big enough fuel tank to finish the race
LOW POINT: Crashing on the way to the grid at Suzuka, meaning he never even started
AFTER four years in GP2, Lucas di Grassi finally made the step-up to Formula One this season with the new Virgin team, but struggled to get to grips with the new toy. On occasion, he would be an equal-match for Timo Glock, but he often more looked like he was drowning out at sea like a drunk sea captain. His embarrassing crash on cold tyres at Suzuka – on his way to the grid was a mistake that not even a first-time road user should be making. With Jerome D’Ambrosio waiting in the wings, di Grassi may well have blown his chance.
26. Bruno Senna (HRT Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Outqualifying and outracing Lucas di Grassi in Istanbul
LOW POINT: Shamed in Singapore, finishing a full second behind Christian Klien in qualifying, on Klien’s maiden outing
THE name Senna made a welcome return to the sport, but sadly, Bruno couldn’t live up to the high standards of the his legendary uncle. True, he had a dog of a car, but Senna couldn’t get the most out of it and allowed Karun Chandok to match him and Christian Klien to beat him in the other Hispania. Even allowing rent driver Sakon Yamamoto to get close to him on occasion just doesn’t even describe how bad he was at times this season. He completed the least amount of racing laps and apart from Istanbul and Spa, never looked at home in the team. Although he probably has more chance than di Grassi in coming back next season for another bite of the cherry, don’t count on it.
27. Sakon Yamamoto (HRT Cosworth)
HIGH POINT: Outqualifying Senna in Korea
LOW POINT: Getting the drive in the first place!
SAKON Yamamoto is one of those drivers who simply isn’t good enough for F1, yet will never bugger off out of sight. His big sponsorship backers in Japan have seen to that, which meant we saw him more often than not in yet another backmarker team after experiences with Super Aguri and Spyker in the past. He gave Bruno Senna some areas to think about and was the more reliable driver in bringing the car to the chequered flag. However, Sakon has the charisma of Ann Widdecome on the Strictly Come Dancing floor; boring, dull and very uneventful to watch. The best you can say about Yamamoto is, he will do his maximum, whatever that may be.
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