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| READY: The battle is about to begin |
2009 went with a blur and Formula One has always seemed to raise the bar. 2010 was the greatest season ever in the sport’s 60-year history. Four world champions, three new teams, two main regulation changes – with refuelling banned for the first time since 1993 and a new points scoring system that encouraged drivers to push for the victory and as it turned out, one world champion – the youngest ever in its established history.
All eyes were on the season opener in Bahrain, but it produced a stinker of a race. Fernando Alonso won on his Ferrari debut, gifted the win after Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull was powerless to resist the Prancing Horse, thanks to a faulty spark plug. Felipe Massa finished an excellent second in his first race back in F1, following his near-fatal accident in Hungary in 2009. Lewis Hamilton completed the podium, whilst Michael Schumacher made a very quiet return to the sport, finishing a distant sixth, behind team-mate Nico Rosberg. He’d get used to that feeling for the rest of the season.
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| BRAVE: Button sprays the bubbly after his first McLaren win |
If Bahrain failed to deliver, Australia certainly did. A dramatic race in mixed conditions saw Jenson Button make it back-to-back victories in Melbourne. Button’s brave move to be the first driver to switch onto slick tyres was the key to this success, coupled with more bad luck for Sebastian Vettel, the German this time spinning into the gravel with brake failure. Lewis Hamilton was unhappy with his team calling him in for a second unnecessary pitstop, and then had a late collision with Aussie favourite Mark Webber, restricting the pair to sixth and ninth at flag fall. Robert Kubica was a stunning second for Renault, whilst Ferrari extended their constructors championship lead with third and fourth for Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.
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| KEY: Vettel slides inside Webber to set-up Malaysia win |
Stupidity was the only word to describe Ferrari and McLaren’s qualifying session in Kuala Lumpur, as they were caught out by one of Malaysia’s tropical downpours. Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were all eliminated in Q1, whilst Jenson Button spun into the gravel and went out in Q2. With their rivals severely compromised, the reliability finally held out at Red Bull as Sebastian Vettel took his first victory of 2010. Vettel passed Mark Webber on the first corner to lead his team-mate home, whilst Nico Rosberg scored Mercedes first podium on their return to F1 as a manufacturer. Hamilton, Massa and Button recovered to sixth, seventh and eighth, but a late engine failure for Alonso lost him the lead in the world championship to his Brazilian team-mate.
Jenson Button produced another brilliant drive to win the Chinese Grand Prix in wet conditions. Button made another well-judged call on the tyre strategy and once again, his gamble paid off, as he led home Lewis Hamilton to a McLaren 1-2. Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica made similar decisions which worked off, with Rosberg on the podium for the second successive race and consistent Kubica bagging fifth place. His team-mate Vitaly Petrov finished an outstanding seventh, becoming the first Russian ever to score world championship points. Despite grabbing the front row, it was Sunday pain for Red Bull, with shocking pitstops and lack of grip leaving Vettel and Webber back in sixth and eighth. Webber was already under pressure . . . but he would answer those critics very quickly.
Down in eighth in the championship standings after the first four races, Mark Webber had to start performing, and he did with a dominant victory in Barcelona. The first race in Europe saw the Red Bulls end up nearly a second quicker than their rivals in qualifying and Webber drove into the distance, with a commanding advantage that had been rarely associated with him before. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton put in an outstanding drive and looked set to sandwich the Bulls, until a catastrophic tyre explosion sent him into the wall and out of second place with just two laps to go. Vettel, hobbled by brake trouble managed a podium, behind Spain’s hero Alonso, who drove coolly to second. Michael Schumacher showed a marked improvement in his form, finishing fourth.
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| SOAKED: Mark Webber cherishes his Monaco success |
One week later and Webber looked again untouchable on the streets of Monaco, winning from pole to take the lead in the drivers’ championship for the first time in his career. Alonso, quickest on Thursday smashed his Ferrari into the barriers on Saturday morning and ruled himself out of qualifying. A solid strategy got him upto sixth, but it was another silly error from an outstanding champion. Robert Kubica was inspired all weekend, getting his underpowered Renault onto the front row and finishing third, only beaten by Webber and Vettel, who jumped him off the startline. There were four Safety Cars and twelve retirements, one of them was Jenson Button, who stopped on lap three with a cooked engine, costing the world champion his lead in the standings to Webber.
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| EXTRAORDINARY: The moment the Bulls tangle in Turkey |
For forty laps in Istanbul Park, Red Bull looked like they were coasting to another 1-2 finish. Webber had taken another pole position and once Vettel jumped Hamilton at the pitstops, it looked like a processional drive to the chequered flag. Then, Vettel powered past Webber, only to turn right into the Australian into a left-handed corner. The result was catastrophic. Vettel spun out of the race and Webber lost the win, having to pit for damage and salvage third place. This highlighted clear fractions within the Red Bull camp. Hamilton won his first race of 2010, with Button making it a McLaren 1-2 instead, though Lewis seemed unimpressed that Button carried on racing, when the cars were saving fuel. Ferrari had a mere, with Massa and Alonso a very poor seventh and eighth.
After a year away, F1 returned to North America and Lewis Hamilton produced a mega drive to win in Montreal and gain the ever-changing lead in the drivers’ championship. He took the first non-Red Bull pole of the season and managed to handle the abrasive track surface the best. Alonso pushed him hard, but traffic hurt his challenge and allowed Button to steal second and complete a perfect British day in Canada. Engine issues limited Vettel to fourth, whilst a gamble on strategy didn’t work out for Webber, leaving him a frustrated fifth. Michael Schumacher’s driving standards were called into question, after dangerous moves on Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa during the race. He finished out of the points, after being passed on the last lap by both Force India drivers.
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| HORROR: Mark Webber flips over Kovalainen in Valencia |
Onto the Valencia street circuit and Vettel reminded us all of his championship qualities, with a fautless drive to victory at the European Grand Prix. Whilst he was flying high, Mark Webber was literally flying, smashing into the back of Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus at 185mph and being launched into the air. It was terrifying accident, but amazingly, Webber walked away without a scratch. Hamilton finished second, despite a drive-through penalty for overtaking the Safety Car, which angered Alonso, who lost out badly in the scramble. The Spaniard finished an upset eighth, even being passed by the stunning Kamur Kobayashi in the last two laps. Jenson Button finished third, whilst Rubens Barrichello showed a major improvement for Williams, ending up a brilliant fourth.
The divisions in the Red Bull camp came to the public eye at Silverstone and it was Webber who felt unloved. Vettel’s new front wing broke in practice, and the decision was taken by the hierarchy to remove the new part from Webber’s car and give it to Vettel before qualifying. Christian Horner claimed it was done, because Vettel was ahead in the championship at the time, though many were unconvinced. Vettel took pole position, but picked up a puncture on the first lap, before launching a spirited recovery to seventh. Webber’s response was crushing, a fantastic victory ahead of Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Button. The Ferrari’s touched on the first lap, leaving Massa out of the points again and Alonso wound up 14th, after receiving a penalty for cutting a chicane whilst passing Kubica. Ferrari’s championship challenge looked in tatters. . .
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| SWITCH: Massa lets Fernando Alonso through in Germany |
That was rekindled at Hockenheim, but in highly controversial circumstances. Whilst pole-sitter Vettel was busy driving Alonso into the pitwall, Massa stormed into an early lead. However, the Brazilian was struggling on the prime tyres and with Vettel catching Alonso, the team took swift action. Rob Smedley’s message was clear for millions to understand; “Fernando is faster than you.” One lap later, Massa allowed Alonso through for Fernando to win the race. Outrage followed at a blatant use of team orders, but the FIA only found Ferrari guilty of breaching regulations and slapped them with a $100,000 fine. It was an unsavoury moment and crushed Felipe Massa’s spirit for the rest of the year. His season never recovered, whilst Alonso’s went from strength to strength.
Seven days later, the Red Bulls were awesome in Budapest, lapping at times nearly two seconds faster than their rivals. Once again, they locked out the front row, but Vettel was caught napping at a Safety Car restart, fell back too far from Webber and earned a drive-through penalty. Webber went on to win and take the championship lead, whilst Vettel was third and seething. Alonso wound up second and with Hamilton retiring, due to transmission failure and Button an uncompetitive and lapped eighth, the five title contenders were separated by just twenty points. Michael Schumacher was lynched by the media and his fellow peers for a malicious defensive move that nearly but Rubens Barrichello in the pitwall in the closing stages. Schumacher apologised for his actions, but was still docked ten grid positions for the next race. Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil were also lucky to escape injury after a bizarre collision in the pitlane, which ended both their races.
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| SMASH: Vettel drives into Jenson Button at Spa |
After the summer break, the teams reunited at Spa and Hamilton was in commanding form, winning in Belgium from Webber and Kubica to regain the championship lead. Button’s championship hopes took a massive blow when Vettel drove into the side of his McLaren in a failed overtaking attempt. Jenson scored nothing and nor did Vettel, after another collision later on with Vitantonio Liuzzi. Alonso qualified only tenth and after being speared by an out-of-control Barrichello on the first lap, crashed himself in tricky conditions late on. Was Spa the deciding factor in the battle . . .?
Not so, as Alonso reignited his fading championship chances, with victory in his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver. Despite losing his hard-earned pole position to Jenson Button off the grid, his strategy was better and Fernando leapfrogged Jenson at the stops. Button’s second place was built on an inspired call on set-up, which got Hamilton all worked up. Lewis lost his cool on lap one and clouted Massa in an impossible attempt to pass, which ended with the McLaren in the gravel with bent steering. Webber started fourth and made a shocking start, leaving him back in sixth, after a long-race scrap with Nico Hulkenberg, but Vettel kept his hopes alive with a fighting fourth place.
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| INFERNO: Heikki Kovalainen extinguishes his Lotus fire |
Once again, Alonso set the standard in Singapore, winning from pole position in F1’s night spectacular. Vettel hounded him hard all race, but had to settle with a cool second place. Webber was once again in the thick of the action, making contact with Hamilton after a Safety Car period to clear up a crash between Bruno Senna and Kamur Kobayashi. It was minimal, but enough to damage the McLaren’s rear suspension and leave Hamilton out again of another race that he badly needed points. Webber survived to finish third, ahead of Button, Nico Rosberg and Barrichello. Robert Kubica pulled off six overtaking passes in eight laps to charge through from 13th to seventh, whilst Heikki Kovalainen suffered an engine failure, then thanks to incompetent marshalling, bravely put out the rapidly increasing inferno that had been his Lotus with a sole fire extinguisher.
The torrential downpours in Suzuka meant fans got a super Sunday of qualifying and race action. It didn’t affect Vettel, who drove marvellously again to earn pole and win the race at a canter. Webber wound up second, to keep his championship lead. Hamilton crashed heavily in practice on Friday, then took a gearbox change and to compound his woes, suffered a loss of third gear in the race. He hobbled home fifth, behind championship rivals Alonso and Button, leaving his championship hopes hanging by a thread. Robert Kubica could have been a factor, but his wheel fell off early on, whilst second, Lucas di Grassi crashed on his way to the grid, whilst spectacularly poor driving from some left Vitaly Petrov, Nico Hulkenberg, Felipe Massa and Vitantonio Liuzzi all out of the race on lap one.
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| DISBELIEF: Vettel's smoky car after his crushing Korea blow |
Korea’s inaugural race was an absolute belter, though we had to wait an hour for the action to begin, due to the inclement weather conditions. Webber crashed, and then collected the innocent Nico Rosberg, which would be a terminal blow to his championship hopes. A poor set-up left Button struggling to 12th and all but mathematically putting him out of championship contention. Vettel looked set for another victory, until he suffered a cruel engine failure with just nine laps to go. His hopes of the title also now looked very slim. All this opened the door for Alonso to laugh his way literally to the chequered flag and a priceless victory. Lewis Hamilton kept his hopes alive, with a fighting second place, whilst fourth matched Michael Schumacher’s best finish of the season.
Nico Hulkenberg was the toast of the paddock in Interlagos, producing a stunning lap to take pole position in drying track conditions. Meanwhile, Jenson Button was lucky to escape unharmed from an attack on his bulletproof car on Saturday evening. In the race, Vettel and Webber charged past the powerless Hulkenberg on the opening lap, and cruised to a 1-2 finish, wrapping up the constructors championship for Red Bull. Alonso finished a solid third to hold an eight point lead into the decider, but Button was eliminated from the battle, as fifth wasn’t enough and Hamilton’s fourth place left him needing all but a miracle to take his second world championship.
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| DROWNING: Lewis and Jenson drown the 2010 champion |
The season finale in Abu Dhabi saw Alonso heading to the UAE with an eight point lead over Webber. Vettel was fifteen points adrift and Hamilton twenty-four behind. Vettel took pole position and drove away from the competition to win the race and eliminate Hamilton from the battle to be champion. Would be enough though against his main two rivals? A scary collision between Schumacher and Liuzzi on lap one forced and early Safety Car and allowed Rosberg, Petrov and Jaime Alguesuari to pit and get their pitstops out of the way. When the soft tyres grained up, Webber pitted and Ferrari panicked under pressure, calling both Alonso and Massa in. It left Fernando and Mark drowned back in seventh and eighth, behind the late-stopping Kubica and the early-stopping Rosberg and Petrov. All this gave Sebastian Vettel the crown of 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Champion.
What a champion, what a battle, what a season! More of the same in 2011 please!
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