IN THIS piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka provided the fans with a Super Sunday event, and it certainly was for Red Bull Racing, as they cemented their place at the top of both championship standings. So, this is the round-up of race sixteen out of nineteen in 2010, as five drivers still remain in the fight, with three races to go.
Sebastian Vettel – The Suzuka Maestro
In 2009, his Suzuka victory kept his limping championship aspirations open and this year, Sebastian Vettel managed to repeat the trend. He was utterly dominant in Japan, although Mark Webber kept him well and truly honest all weekend. An eighth pole position of the season was converted into his third win of the season, his first since June’s European Grand Prix at Valencia. In the last two races, Vettel has knuckled down and got the job done, and now can win the final three races and guarantee himself a fortunate championship. The momentum in the Red Bull camp has swayed back and forth all season, and it is now in the German’s court. After Belgium, anyone who put a bet on Sebastian winning the title would have looked like a complete fool. Now, he might well be the narrow favourite into the final three events.
Red Bull Racing – Both Drivers in the Title Fight, A Difficult Situation
With the constructor’s championship looking more and more likely that it will be won by Red Bull Racing, attention will slowly drift to the driver’s battle. With both drivers in the title fight, Christian Horner finds himself in a very difficult situation. Plus, with the events of Silverstone bound to still be floating about in Mark Webber’s mind, no favouritism must be allowed. I’ll give them that, they have given their drivers every chance to fight for the championship, but so did Williams in 1986 (Mansell & Piquet) and McLaren in 2007 (Hamilton & Alonso). On both occasions, the outsider, Alain Prost and Kimi Raikkonen stole through to claim the glory. Can Fernando Alonso provide a sting in the tail, and upset the Red Bull applecart. Don’t count the Spaniard out just yet, especially as Vettel and Webber have already proven this season, to have a chequered history.
Lewis Hamilton – Another Weekend of Woe
It was another dark weekend in Lewis Hamilton’s fading world championship challenge. A crash into the barriers at the formidable Degner curves left him with next to no track time in Friday practice. Hamilton went into qualifying further on the backfoot, thanks to Saturday’s washout and a five-place grid penalty for changing a gearbox. McLaren failed to spot that Hamilton’s box had collected terminal damage in his collision with Mark Webber in Singapore. Had they spotted the problem straightaway, Hamilton would have been a serious threat from third on the grid. Instead, their costly lack of judgement left Lewis languishing in eighth and needing a miracle in the race. That never looked like happening, and in the race, he lost third gear with his new gearbox, meaning he could only use fourth to seventh gear for the last 15 laps. Hamilton limped home in fifth, and put a brave face on the latest disappointment. Don’t write McLaren off just yet, but Korea next weekend is a win or bust situation for both Hamilton and Jenson Button if they want to stay in the title battle.
Robert Kubica – High Expectations Gone in Minutes
After his heroics at Spa, Robert Kubica would have been confident of his chances at Suzuka, a circuit where he could make the most of Renault’s excellent f-duct device. The Pole was stunning all weekend, qualifying an excellent third, following Hamilton’s demotion, over a second faster than team-mate Vitaly Petrov on Sunday morning. At the green, Kubica jumped a slow-starting Webber and was harrying Vettel, when a wheel fell off his car behind the Safety Car. Three laps in, and those high expectations of his had gone in minutes. Kubica probably didn’t have the race distance pace to beat the Red Bull’s, but the final podium spot was up for grabs, so this was a missed opportunity for Renault. With no score, the team can now forget catching Mercedes now for fourth in the constructor’s championship.
Japanese Chaos – Amateur Acrobatics from Petrov, Massa & Alguesuari
Five seconds into the Japanese Grand Prix and Vitaly Petrov’s race is already over, after one of the most amateurish pieces of driving I’ve seen in recent years. Starting 13th, Petrov made a great start, but failed to check his mirrors and cut across an innocent Nico Hulkenberg, when he was nowhere near clear of the Williams. Petrov then had the decency to blame Nick Heidfeld for the incident, but the television replays confirmed his fate. A five-place grid penalty in Korea beckons and the Russian can surely now kiss goodbye to hanging onto that Renault seat for 2011. If Petrov’s moment was crazy, Felipe Massa’s attempt to pass two cars on the grass was kamikaze! Massa screwed up qualifying on Sunday morning and started a dismal 12th. Into turn one; he attempted to pass Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil on wet grass, a move which you might expect from a debutant, but not a seasoned pro like Massa. His Ferrari slewed across the track and took out the luckless Vitantonio Liuzzi, destroying the Force India in the process. How Massa didn’t earn a grid penalty boggles the mind, considering his manoeuvre was just as bad as Petrov’s! To top off an amateurish day, Jaime Alguesuari takes the award for the daftest attempt at driving a rival off the road. Angered by a clumsy move that Kamur Kobayashi pulled on him earlier in the race, the Spaniard was passed again in the closing stages, around the outside of the hairpin by the feisty Japanese driver. Rather than accept defeat, he turned his Toro Rosso into a ramming rod! Despite three bashes at the Sauber’s sidepod, Alguesuari got what he deserved, which was a damaged front wing, and consequently lost the final point to team-mate Sebastian Buemi. It was a stupid moment of madness from a young driver who has shown flashes of talent this season, and rounded off a day of amateurish driving that would make Jedward look like music world beaters!
Forget Formula 1 at Suzuka – It’s more Like the Boat Race!
Saturday’s washout in Japan meant it was a repeat of the 2004 event, when a threatened typhoon in the region moved qualifying to a Sunday morning. The fans on Saturday that came got a soaking, and Kamur Kobayashi criticised the FIA for taking a full 90 minutes to cancel qualifying, when in reality, it never was going to happen. The conditions were more appropriate for the boat race, rather than an F1 qualifying session. The two-day event worked well here again in Japan, and although it shouldn’t be a permanent switch to this format, maybe we need to look into this area for races that could be affected more by the weather, like Malaysia and China for instance.
Kamur Kobayashi – Showing His True Potential on Home Soil
As the season has developed, Kamur Kobayashi has turned into an excellent race driver. Earlier in the campaign, Kobayashi looked like a nervous wreck, but as the Sauber has gradually improved over the season, so has the Japanese racecraft. Although he was sixth at Silverstone, Suzuka was undoubtedly his best performance of the campaign. He should have made Q3, but messed up the final chicane on his best lap and started back in 14th. Despite a poor start, and the wrong strategy, Kobayashi was the man of the race, pulling over brilliant passes into the hairpin on Adrian Sutil, Rubens Barrichello and team-mate Nick Heidfeld, as well as surviving an assault from Jaime Alguesuari. Seventh place was a fitting result; he looks set to only improve on his massive potential.
130R Shows It Bites Again – Lucas di Grassi’s Warm-Up Smash
Lucas di Grassi had impressed in outqualifying Timo Glock in Japan, but he didn’t make the start, after making a mess off his Virgin Racing car on the way to the grid! Di Grassi was warming up his tyres and brakes, when it appears he went offline in the daunting 130R corner, which despite recent modifications, still doesn’t take any prisoners. The result was one very battered Virgin and one rather sheepish Brazilian driver. Although it looked more like a car failure than driver error, this has done di Grassi no favours in his battle to hold onto his Virgin drive for next season.
Mercedes GP – Another Mixed Weekend
It was another mixed weekend for Mercedes GP, though they showed more competitive pace, which means that they are now almost uncatchable in their fight with Renault for fourth in the constructors championship. Michael Schumacher, having had one of the worst weekends of his career in Singapore, had one of his best weekends of his poor comeback season in Japan. Istanbul aside, Schumacher showed a consistent pace all weekend, and had the measure of Nico Rosberg throughout. However, Rosberg still outqualified the seven-time world champion, with a brilliant sixth on the grid, compared to tenth for Schumacher, although Michael had an f-duct issue in Q3. At the start, Rosberg botched his getaway, and was lucky not to be taken out by the out of control Massa at Turn One. He smartly pitted under the Safety Car, which allowed him to jump a faster Schumacher, despite Schumacher looking the faster, especially after he pulled off a great pass on Rubens Barrichello into the final chicane, shortly after the restart. A fantastic team result went sour with six laps to go, when a wheel flew off Rosberg’s car, pitching the hapless Nico into the barriers at the Dunlop Curve. Schumacher survived to finish a solid sixth, so despite the late DNF for Rosberg, slight progress was made.
BBC Gambles on Lee McKenzie Presenting – Did It Pay Off?
With Jake Humphrey away to cover the Commonwealth Games in Delhi for the BBC, Lee McKenzie moved up from pitlane duty to host the BBC’s coverage of the Japanese Grand Prix. Lee’s performance was never going to be upto the typical high standard of Jake, but it was a decent effort at short notice, although Jake’s presence was missed throughout the weekend. McKenzie did well to keep Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard on a tight leech, though her mathematical skills and calling Martin Whitmarsh, Martin Whittaker after the race left a lot to be desired! However, Jonathan Legard’s boring commentary in Suzuka could have spelt the death knell in his F1 commentating career, especially when BBC TV lost sound in the closing stages and we heard David Croft going bananas at Rosberg’s crash, when Legard’s version (heard on the highlights programme) had as much excitement as a wet sponge! Surely the BBC has got to consider promoting Crofty to its TV coverage. As for Lee McKenzie, it was an okay performance, but we will be glad that Jake is back to resume duty in Korea next weekend.
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