2011 German Grand Prix - Hamilton secures thrilling German win

ECSTASY: Hamilton celebrates a great German success

LEWIS Hamilton used the cooler track temperatures at a very cold Nurburgring to win a thrilling German Grand Prix yesterday.  Hamilton produced a weekend of incredible performances to deliver his second win of the season, as Sebastian Vettel had an off-day infront of his partisan home supporters.  Vettel finished off the podium in fourth place, behind Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and the pole sitter, Mark Webber. 

     Hamilton qualified a sensational second on the grid, with one of the best laps of his F1 career.  He started behind Mark Webber and took full advantage of another terrible getaway from the Aussie.  Hamilton charged into the first corner ahead of Webber, whilst Alonso eased inside Vettel for third place.  A lap later, the Spaniard ran wide onto a wet patch at turn three and allowed Vettel back past him.  Further back, Nick Heidfeld connected with Paul di Resta, spinning the Force India driver to the back of the pack.

EXIT: Heidfeld tangles with Buemi and makes a spectacular exit

     On lap eight, Alonso showed his stunning straight-line speed to maximum effect, as he closed down Vettel and cruised inside him into the first corner.  Two laps later, Vettel made a very uncharacteristic mistake.  He got on a white line, hit a wet puddle and spun away seven seconds at turn ten.  This mistake left him with little hope of catching the top three for the rest of the afternoon.  Fellow German Heidfeld was doing much worse.  The usually reliable Renault driver was squeezed off the track by Sebastian Buemi approaching the NGK chicane.  Heidfeld went briefly airborne and ended in the gravel trap.  Buemi picked up a puncture and was given the blame by the race stewards, meaning the Swiss driver carries a five-place grid penalty into next weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

     At the front, Hamilton’s early tyre advantage had disappeared and Webber was right on the back of the McLaren.  As the marshals were recovering Heidfeld’s crashed car, Lewis got distracted and went in too deep into the first apex of the chicane.  He was a sitting duck, as Webber angled himself inside Hamilton at the Coca Cola curve.  However, the Brit wasn’t finished and used the slipstream to duck back infront approaching the first corner.  Webber pitted shortly afterwards and used the ‘undercut’ on fresher tyres to steal the lead from Hamilton in the first round of pitstops.  The problems continued for Vettel, as he was overtaken by a slightly reluctant Felipe Massa.  The world champion spent the remainder of the afternoon staring at the back of the Ferrari’s exhaust.

     However, Webber couldn’t pull away from Hamilton and Alonso and an earlier second pitstop backfired, as he dropped to third.  In fact, Alonso briefly had the lead on lap 33, but Hamilton drove clean around the outside of his bitter rival into turn two and his sensational bravery landed him back the lead.  Whilst Hamilton was having a great weekend, Jenson Button was having a mere.  A dismal qualifying and a very poor start left him stuck behind Vitaly Petrov for most of the first stint of the race.  Although he briefly worked his way upto sixth, a hydraulic problem forced Button into the pits on lap 36 and into a second consecutive DNF. 

     The question now was how slow the prime medium compound tyre was going to be in comparison to the option tyre.  Petrov was the guinea pig and his quicker pace suggested that the drop-off wasn’t as bad as anticipated.  Hamilton pitted with nine laps to go and traffic forced Alonso’s hand early.  This ended the Spaniard’s hopes of back-to-back wins.  Webber tried to stay out longer, but his softer tyres were past their best and he got nailed down into third.  Attention switched then onto a final lap pit showdown between Massa and Vettel.  The Red Bull mechanics put in the quickest stop of the day and a slow Ferrari pitstop allowed Vettel to take fourth position again on the last lap.

     The way was clear for Hamilton to take his 16^th career victory and his first points finish, let alone podium result at the Nurburgring.  Alonso finished four seconds behind to collect his fourth podium in five races, whilst Webber was left disappointed by his lack of pace that left him down in third and stretches his winless drought to a year.  Vettel finished fourth; the first race he has finished off the podium since Korea last year.  Massa was fifth, whilst Adrian Sutil illuminated Force India’s underperforming season with a great drive to sixth place.  The two Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher came seventh and eighth.  Schumacher wasn’t helped by a mid-race spin.  The final points went to the consistent Kamur Kobayashi and Petrov’s Renault.

     If McLaren and Ferrari can work together, we might still have a championship battle.  Sebastian Vettel showed some cracks in Germany and Hamilton and Alonso will be hoping to keep the pressure up in Budapest next weekend.

F1 2011 preview (Part 2)

THE new Formula One season begins this weekend, two weeks later than initially planned.  The Australian Grand Prix takes over the mantelpiece of the F1 opener, after Bahrain’s cancellation, following the current unrest in the Middle East.  With another big shake-up in the rules, another new race in India to look forward to and a rather stable driver market this time around, 2011 can beat the drama of 2010.  Can Sebastian Vettel defend his title?  Will Fernando Alonso bounce back from last year’s Abu Dhabi heartbreak?  How will Renault fare without Robert Kubica?  Is Michael Schumacher going to prove his critics wrong?  Have McLaren been sandbagging in testing?  All the talking stops this weekend in Albert Park, so here’s the inside guide.  

Force India Mercedes

14           Adrian Sutil (GER)

15           Paul di Resta (BRI)

As 2010 continued, Force India dropped down the pecking order and 2011 could turn into a very tough one for the Silverstone-based team.  The loss of key technical staff is James Key and Mark Smith has hit the team hard and testing form suggests that they could be looking backwards rather than forwards in the incoming campaign.  Adrian Sutil is a proven point’s scorer and ditched his accident-prone image last year to score some solid points results.  He will do well to match his best results of 5^th in Malaysia and Spa last season.  After four seasons in DTM, culminating in the 2010 championship, Scot Paul di Resta joins the grid.  He deserves his chance, and is bound to be more of a match for Sutil than Vitantonio Liuzzi ever was.  However, the car’s ultimate lack of pace could be the downfall for these two talented racers.

Sauber-Ferrari

16           Kamur Kobayashi (JPN)

17           Sergio Perez (MEX)

The distinctive feature of the Sauber last year was no sponsorship whatsoever.  However, with rich Mexican businessman Carlos Slim onboard, that changes in 2011.  Young Mexican Sergio Perez’s arrival is a interesting move, as it means there will be a lack of experience on the driver front.  Perez looks either fast or wreckless and he is bound to add a lot of flair and charisma to the team.  They have plenty of that in Kamur Kobayashi already.  The Japanese is expected to thrill everyone again with his no holds barred attitude of driving and has all the talent in the world, if he tones down on the wackiness that can lead the Japanese into serious trouble.  The car looks very promising but it may need early development if they wish to be regular point’s scorers.

Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari

18           Sebastian Buemi (SUI)

19           Jaime Alguesuari (SPA)

The departures of Gerhard Berger and Sebastian Vettel hit Toro Rosso very hard at the end of 2008, and they haven’t recovered since.  The car looks very strong and far more consistent than its previous challengers.  Even Lewis Hamilton has told the media to keep a watch on them.  Sebastian Buemi enters his third season and was a massive disappointment last season.  The Swiss driver is under pressure to deliver, especially with the highly-rated Daniel Ricciardo waiting in the wings as third driver.  Buemi will need to perform from the off, if he doesn’t want to go the same way as Scott Speed and Sebastian Bourdais; in earning the sack mid-season.  Plus, we know Franz Tost doesn’t accept any excuses.  Jamie Alguesuari is in a slightly more secure position and has the knack to pull off some daring overtaking moves.  He needs to improve his qualifying performances, and eliminate some of the careless driving which you’d expect to see from a rush hour driver on the M25’s hard shoulder!  With Ricciardo waiting and watching, the loser of this team-mate battle is likely to be out of F1, so this could be an intriguing watch.

Team Lotus Renault

20           Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)

21           Jarno Trulli (ITA)

Team Lotus, as they are now known were the class of the new teams in 2010, and have closed the gap to the midfield in winter testing.  With two experience racers and a strong reserve in Karun Chandok, excuses will be less vain this season.  The move to Renault engines and gearboxes has caused some severe reliability bugs, which has consequently hurt their testing mileages.  However, don’t be surprised if they begin to give Toro Rosso and Force India some severe headaches this season.  Points are a necessity this time around and Heikki Kovalainen looks a class driver, after his mere at McLaren.  Kovalainen is expected to lead the team from the front again and will cause some giant-killing upsets, similar to Takuma Sato at Super Aguri in 2007.  Jarno Trulli’s speed over one lap is still as strong as ever, but his racecraft last year was frankly dismal.  2011 is surely Jarno’s last chance to fulfil anything decent onto his CV, otherwise he will end up like Olivier Panis; winning the Monaco Grand Prix once and did very little else with so much supposed talent.

HRT-Cosworth

22           Narain Karthikeyan (IND)

23           Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)

Is this becoming the ‘Andrea Moda’ of 2011?  Remember that joke of the 1992 team that evaded taxes, cars broke down meters from rolling out of the garage.  Well, having your entire car failing to get through customs certainly qualifies for this title.  Narain Karthikeyan is only on board for Indian sponsorship whilst Vitantonio Liuzzi will bring experience of driving for backmarker teams.  With no pre-season testing AGAIN, it is once again going to be a battle for survival till the end of the season for HRT.

Marussia Virgin-Cosworth

24           Timo Glock (GER)

25           Jerome D’Ambrosio (BEL)

They were F1’s joke team of 2010, especially by not building a fuel tank big enough to finish the early season races.  However, the future looks bright, especially with backing from Russian sportscar brand Marussia and a confident new rookie in Jerome D’Ambrosio.  Timo Glock drove brilliantly in the second half of last season and will be there to pick up the pieces and grab the odd point, but they will struggle to be regular midfield runners.

Rules

As with nearly every F1 season, there have been some changes to the rules this season.  The 107% rule returns for qualifying for the first time since 2002 to prove that cars are quick enough to race, this will only apply to Q1 and if the qualifying session is wet, the rule will not be used.  Pirelli replaces Bridgestone as the tyre supplier and has been challenged by the FIA to produce a tyre that grains more and causes drivers to pit more often.  So far, this seems to have worked and it certainly spice up the racing.

     KERS returns after a season away and is once again optional for the teams to use it or not.  The most innovative concept for 2011 is an adjustable rear wing, which will aid more overtaking particularly on very long straights.  Gearboxes must now last five races instead of four in another case of cost cutting measures and the safety car rules have been tweaked once again with the overtake line abolished after the controversy surrounding it last year, meaning drivers again can only overtake when they’ve crossed the start/finish line at the restart.

For the 2011 season, I will be posting the following on the Formula One season

- A race report from all 19 events in the 2011 FIA Formula 1 World Championship

- NEW! F1 classic races (A brief lookback at six/seven classic events from the country that is about to stage a race that weekend)

- NEW! Replacing 'The Conclusions' will be a new personal blog.  'The Finishing Straight' by HappyDude88 will be online every Tuesday after the Grand Prix weekend, where I will be giving my own personal take on the weekend's events.

F1 2010 driver reviews (Part 2)

THIS is part two of my driver-by-driver review of the 2010 F1 season.


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.

18. Nick Heidfeld                 (BMW Sauber Ferrari)

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 (8^th) and Korea (9^th) 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, (7^th) in Australia and (6^th) 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.

23. Karun Chandok                                      (HRT Cosworth)

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.

2010 Korean Grand Prix - Alonso Gifted Sensational Victory

FERNANDO Alonso took a giant leap towards a third world championship, with a priceless win at the Korean Grand Prix.  The Ferrari driver was gifted victory at the Yeongam circuit, when Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire with a blown engine, with just eight laps to go.  In a sensational grand prix, that was heavily delayed and finished in darkness, both Mark Webber and Jenson Button also failed to score, while second place breathes new life into Lewis Hamilton’s faltering championship bid.

After a dry first couple of days at the inaugural event, raceday was dominated by grey clouds and constant rain.  After a ten minute delay to the start, FIA race director Charlie Whiting set the cars off behind the Safety Car.  Three laps later, the standing water was so much on the recent new surface that the race was suspended and held up for 55 minutes.  Another Safety Car restart and 17 frustrating laps later, the proper racing begun and Vettel, who had started on pole position took complete command of the race.

Whilst Vettel was faultless, his team-mate wasn’t.  Webber made a rare error on Lap 19, and ran wide onto some Astroturf, spinning into the concrete wall.  The Australian was powerless to prevent his Red Bull bouncing across the road and collected the innocent Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.  Mud and debris flew onto the track, as both cars pirouetted into the barriers and out of the event.  A Safety Car came out to clear up this mess, and Button’s race was also to be severely compromised by a poorly timed pitstop, and being unable to keep heat in his intermediate tyres.  He was left floating on the water, and a late race spin consigned the defending world champion to a disappointing 12^th place finish, and being 43 points behind the championship lead, with 50 left to play for, realistically finishes off his championship prospects.

Although Alonso and Hamilton kept Vettel honest, the German always had some extra pace in his back pocket.  Sadly, with just eight laps remaining, his car sounded sick and Alonso zoomed past the ailing Red Bull into turn one.  Moments later, Vettel’s engine blew up in spectacular fashion, which also leaves his chances of winning a maiden championship look very remote.  Alonso reeled off the remaining seven laps to secure his fourth win in seven races, and give him the lead in the world championship for the first time since Australia.  

Like Button, Hamilton struggled with grip from his intermediate tyres all day, but drove round the issues fantastically to finish second and rekindle his championship hopes.  Hamilton did jump Alonso in the pitstops, when the Ferrari was delayed by a loose wheel nut, but ran wide at turn one on a mid-race Safety Car restart and allowed Alonso back through.  That Safety Car came out after Sebastian Buemi sideswiped Timo Glock in the braking zone for turn three.

Felipe Massa scored some priceless points for Ferrari’s constructors’ championship cause, with a podium finish, and Michael Schumacher carried his Suzuka form into Korea to finish an excellent fourth, his best result of the season.  Rubens Barrichello looked set for fifth, but his tyres were worn down so much in the closing stages that he was gobbled up by the quiet Robert Kubica and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India.  Barrichello wound up seventh, with a late pitstop dropping Nico Hulkenberg to 10^th.  Kubica picked up some solid points again and Liuzzi’s drive could be a career-saving one, especially on a day where Adrian Sutil hit almost everything, and eventually made a clumsy lunge on Kamur Kobayashi to break his front suspension and retire with seven laps remaining.  Kobayashi survived this attack to claim eighth, with Nick Heidfeld backing up his team-mate, winding up ninth.

Alonso now has an eleven point lead in the world championship, with Webber and Hamilton all within a race win of the new championship leader.  Two races remain, and another stunning grand prix that left everyone breathless, you wonder what will happen next in Brazil, the scene of Button’s world championship clincher last year.

2010 Chinese Grand Prix - The Conclusions

In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.  The final race of the four fly-away events was at a damp and soggy Shanghai in China.  Once again, the mixture of wet weather and comedic pitstops led us all to a nail-biting conclusion; the bore of Bahrain seems like a century ago.  So, this is the round-up of race four out of nineteen in 2010, as China produced another modern classic.

Jenson Button - Proof Why He Is World Champion

Jenson Button’s second win for McLaren showed the guaranteed proof of why he is a Formula One World Champion.  Once again, like in Melbourne, it was Jenson who made the inspired call of staying out on dry tyres, during an early rain shower, when many of his rivals, including his team-mate Lewis Hamilton gambled and got it wrong.  Many, included myself questioned Button’s decision to switch to McLaren from Brawn GP at the end of last season, especially by walking into the lion’s den of Hamilton’s team.  Well, he is proving us all wrong and by staying cool, calm and collected, Jenson is getting the job done without any fuss whatsoever.  Fifteen of the last twenty championships have seen the guy who led after four races go on to win the championship.  Therefore, this bodes very well for Button to become a back-to-back champion.  Carry on with this form, and it certainly cannot be discounted.

Lewis Hamilton - Is The Aggression Making Him A Villain Or A Hero?

In Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton didn’t make himself many friends, for his aggressive weaving tactics to keep Vitaly Petrov behind in his charge through the field.  Rubens Barrichello was very vocal about it, as was Mark Webber.  On Sunday, Hamilton was called to face the stewards again, this time for a dangerous incident in the pits with Sebastian Vettel.  In the end, a severe reprimand was given to both, which was the right decision, as both had the chance to avoid dangerous driving, yet refused to do so.  No-one can take the aggression out of Lewis; it is what makes him as a driver and his spectacular overtaking and charging are thrilling to see.  However, sometimes, his aggressive attitude goes wrong and can really irk his rivals.  Though we love to see more of this, Lewis has got to get a right balance between aggression and racecraft; otherwise he will make himself a villain within the F1 paddock once again.

Nico Rosberg - A Future Grand Prix Winner in the Making

The championship table does not lie; Nico Rosberg is second in the standings and is in undoubtedly, the form of his life.  He is making Michael Schumacher look like an amateur, not a seven-time world champion.  Like Button, Rosberg took the decision to stay out in the early stages and produced similar results.  Though he was unable to hold back the charging McLaren’s, he did very well to finish on the podium for the second successive race.  With a new Mercedes upgrade heading for Barcelona, it is surely only a matter of time before Rosberg becomes a Grand Prix winner, and I think it will be sooner rather than later.  His consistency is very impressive at the moment and now, he is the only driver to finish in the top five in every race so far this season.

Wet Races - Stay Cool, Don't Panic

Once again, the wet weather threw strategy out of the window.  It was essential for everyone to stay cool and not to panic.  However, in those early stages, panic driving from many saw them lose too much time to be a race-winning factor.  Fernando Alonso lost the plot and blatantly jumped the start, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull made costly errors in an error-strewn performances and Mark Webber produced another panicky performance when under pressure.  If you follow the lead of Button, Rosberg and Robert Kubica, the results will pay dividends and as in Melbourne, all three drivers walked away with super final outcomes.

Hispania Racing - Early Signs of Moving Forward

After Bahrain, Hispania Racing was the laughing stock of the paddock.  They didn’t even turn a wheel before free practice in the desert and Karun Chandok didn’t even do ten laps over the whole weekend.  However, I’ve been impressed with how they’ve been getting it together ever since.  Though Geoff Willis is rumoured to be unhappy at Hispania, surely something involving him as seen the team’s fortunes turn around.  Chandok has now finished the last three races, team-mate Bruno Senna the last two, so reliability is something the team have.  Pace wise, the team is also slowly improving, and were less than 0.5seconds behind Lucas di Grassi’s Virgin in qualifying.  Hispania Racing is showing solid signs of moving forward and I think are now going to be here to stay longer than many initially anticipated. 

Sebastian Buemi - A Weekend to Forget

Sebastian Buemi must be looking to the skies at the moment and wondering whether he is destined to finish the season uninjured.  Having been speared by Kamur Kobayashi’s Sauber on the first lap of the Australian Grand Prix, Buemi’s nightmare beginning to 2010 continued in Friday first practice, when he suffered a terrifying shunt under braking for the penultimate corner on the Shanghai circuit.  As he hit the brakes at around 196mph, both of his front wheels alarmingly detached in spectacular fashion, leaving the Swiss powerless to control his Toro Rosso missile.  Less than forty-eight hours later, Buemi was t-boned again at the start of a Grand Prix.  Having qualified a creditable 13^th, despite basically no running on Friday, Buemi passed his team-mate Jaime Alguesuari off the grid and was challenging Robert Kubica into Turn 4.  Suddenly, Buemi turned in and was clobbered by Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India and once more, Kobayashi.  This was the ultimate horror weekend for Buemi, he will be looking forward to the longer break more than most and be relieved that he is actually in one piece.

The Spanish Grand Prix Doesn't Start At Barcelona - It Starts By Trying To Get Out Of Shanghai!

With the volcanic ash from Iceland, causing air travel chaos worldwide, there is the fact that the Spanish Grand Prix doesn’t start in Barcelona, it begins by attempting to get out of Shanghai!  Bernie Ecclestone joked on Sunday that we could race here all season, should the worst happen.  Red Bull and McLaren had lucky escapes when the air zones were shutdown last Thursday, just about beating the deadline to get upgraded parts out to China.  Meanwhile, BBC pundit and former team boss, Eddie Jordan was stranded in London because of the flying faux-pas.  As I write this blog now, airspace travel has re-opened, but some are struggling still to leave.  BBC commentator Jonathan Legard and Sauber remain stuck in China, whereas Sam Michael, Ross Brawn and Mark Webber had safer and less traumatic journeys back to the UK.  It certainly has been the talk of the F1 fraternity in the past week; let’s just hope everyone makes it to Barcelona on time!

Vitaly Petrov - Making the Most of a Cunning Strategy

Russian Vitaly Petrov has been by far, the best rookie so far in 2010.  Despite arriving in China without a Grand Prix finish, he had shown flashes of talent already.  A poor qualifying showing on Saturday was made up on Sunday, as Petrov made the most of his decent wet-weather ability and the cunning strategy deployed by the Renault team to score his first points in his career.  Despite a mid-race wild 360 degree spin, Petrov pulled off clever moves on Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber in the closing stages, his 7^th place finish was well deserved.  With Kubica producing another trouble-free run to 5^th, Renault has been by far, the best team in the midfield.  Further upgrades could see the French team more of a regular front-running feature over the course of the season.

Michael Schumacher - The Knives Are Sharpening

Shanghai has never been Michael Schumacher’s favourite hunting ground and that continued last weekend.  To be honest, he had a dreadful weekend, miles off the pace of Rosberg all throughout, whereas at least in Melbourne and Malaysia, he might have had better results, if for a bit more luck.  On a wet-weather circuit, his previous specialist subject, Michael looked awash at sea.  He did try his best and his defensive efforts on Hamilton were top class, so it wasn’t completely lacklustre.  However, something isn’t gelling at the moment, his Mercedes handled like a pig, consequently leaving him to be a sitting target.  A solitary point for his efforts must not see as much, and even Schumacher had to admit his frustration afterwards.  He needs more time, but not much more, the knives are definitely going to be sharpening if Michael continues his lacklustre comeback at the start of the European season.

One Left on Jacks and the Other Starts Nine Laps Down - Virgin Racing Hit A New Low

Virgin Racing is the victim of some unpleasant jokes in the paddock, due to their name, but they really aren’t helping themselves at the moment.  Despite having strong pace, more than capable of beating Lotus, a Morris Minor seems to have more chance of finishing a race.  Lucas di Grassi’s Malaysia finish now seems like a minor miracle.  Timo Glock was left on jacks and never even started, whereas di Grassi joined the race a full nine laps down and quit shortly afterwards.  Coupled with not having a big enough fuel tank to finish a race at the moment, Virgin Racing is the current joke at the moment.  I wonder what Glock is thinking now, turning down the chance to go to Renault, now limping along in this new team.  He might well be regretting that decision if Virgin continue to be as embarrassing as this.