2010 F1 Season Review

© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com

Most would agree that the 2010 F1 Season was one of the greatest championships ever run, and Abu Dhabi was the perfect setting for Formula One to make history by being the first championship to have gone down to the wire with no less than four drivers in contention. Every race was unpredictable as was the outcome of the F1 World Champion.

The drivers and teams faced a mammoth 19 race season, just one below the maximum permitted by the Concorde agreement. Yet, despite arriving at Abu Dhabi via Australia, Malaysia, China, Spain, Monaco, Turkey, Canada, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Brazil, no driver or team ever managed to establish a dominant position in the championship hunt. The battle between Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren would be season long.

Early season saw the championship lead pass between Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, McLarens’s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Meanwhile, steadily picking up points was Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. While battling on the track Vettel and Webber were feuding in the team too in an attempt to become the favoured driver. Red Bull, to their credit, never gave an inch and both drivers would be fighting to the very last without interference.
Team orders would however raise their head twice in the season. The first at Silverstone when Mark Webber had a front wing removed from his car and given to Vettel owing to Vettel crashing and destroying his own. Webber hit out at the team – “Not bad for a number two driver” he stated on the team radio after winning in style. However the second incident was to have much bigger repercussions, or at least should have. Ferrari defied the ban on team orders to help Alonso pass Massa for the lead at the German Grand Prix. Ferrari denied any wrongdoing in their usual “it wasn’t me” style despite public outcry and the FIA let them off as seasoned F1 fans might expect.

Aside form team orders new boys Lotus managed to get in to hot water with their parent company Proton and face an interesting challenge to restore the traditional Lotus name in time for the 2011 F1 season.

Politics were pushed to one side as the season began to heat up. Red Bull had dominated from the start as the Adrian Newey designed car was streets ahead on aerodynamics and innovation. A seemingly flexible front wing that was continuously commented on by other teams was passed as legal by the FIA which gave added down force while a pull-rod rear suspension added further grip and greater traction than it’s rivals.

Red Bull were frequently targeted by rivals with claims of secret ride height controls and the aforementioned front wing. Rules governing the front wing were tightened as the season progressed but it mattered little to Red Bull and they continued to steamroller themselves to the 2011 Formula One Constructors Championship.

© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com

However, not everything was plain sailing at Red Bull. They could have possibly won before the penultimate race of the season if they could have produced added reliability. In Bahrain Vettel suffered from a almost unheard of spark plug failure, then dropped points again in Melbourne with brake failure. Alonso took the points at Bahrain and Jenson Button picked up the win in Melbourne after a fantastic call on tyres as the rain came.

Come Malaysia however and Vettel took a win beating team mate and arch rival Mark Webber. The big news followed in China when Button again won in the wet leaving Hamilton fans scratching their heads after many predicted a whitewash for the McLaren man. However the success was to be short lived and after a great start top the season, Button faded quickly.

When the teams arrived in Europe another title contender entered the frame.  Vettel had expected to do well at Spain and Monaco but it was the Aussie Webber that took wins in both. This suitably wound up Vettel and left Red Bull with the headache of two drivers taking points from one another. Red Bull ‘advisor’ Helmut Marco annoyed Webber as he gave the media a host on unconvincing arguments as to why Webber had been victorious not the long time Red Bull backed German.

Webber expressed how put out he was by telling the media “I’m an inconvenience mate” in his typical Aussie, no holds barred style. The line may have had some truth, Red Bull had marketed themselves around their 23 year old protégée, and Webber winning didn’t follow their marketing plan. But nevertheless, better to be winning than not.

Turkey was the pivotal point between the two Red Bull drivers. Webber leading had been asked by the team to turn down the engine and save fuel while Vettel close behind has been instructed to do the opposite. Vettel pulled along side to take the lead and was squeezed by Webber close to the grass. Vettel was however through but in a misjudged moved flicked his car to the right and hit Webber who had left just enough room but no more. The pair collided and left victory to Hamilton.

Hamilton was himself chased by his own team mate Button. The pair fought a similar battle with Button briefly getting passed before Hamilton retook it in aggressive style. The McLaren boys showed the Red Bull pair how team mates should battle – tough, but without contact. The Brits did have a flashpoint post race but after a discussion it was put to bed and their relationship seemed to strengthen. The same could not be said in the Red Bull camp. Both drivers blamed each other and members of the team pointed the finger at Webber leaving most fans bewildered. The relationship was never the same again.

Lewis Hamilton took another victory in Canada and took the lead of the championship. Vettel hit back claiming his second win of the season in Valencia. Webber meanwhile had a scary accident when his Red Bull hit the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen as Webber misjudged the braking capabilities of the Lotus. The Red Bull was launched in to the air and performed a 360 degree backflip before landing and hitting the barrier.

Then came Silverstone where Webber hit back with a victory of his own. The incident with the front wing hadn’t helped the mood and only strengthened Webber’s resolve that he was by no means an equal number one driver.

McLarens form had dipped and Red Bull were looking extremely fast. Ferrari meanwhile were off the pace. Alonso had shown cracks and mistakes were costly. In Monaco he had crashed in practice which had a knock on effect in later sessions. Some would say this cost him the title but everybody had bad luck at times. The Ferrari F10 was off the pace again in Turkey and Alonso messed up at Silverstone with a poor attempt at taking a position of Robert Kubica in the Renault which meant he cut the corner and then failed to give the position back which resulted in a somewhat harsh drive through penalty. Some would say these are errors you would not expect from a twice world champion.

Alonso however was not down and out. Instead he dug his heals in and chased his team mate Massa for the lead in Germany. Massa had a tough season in 2010 and never looked to trouble Alonso except for the German Grand Prix. It would have been a fitting return for Massa to have continued to hold off his team mate but that isn’t how Ferrari operate. Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley asked Massa to move over in the least convincing coded language he could muster, apologised and watched Alonso move on past. Ferrari claimed Massa had used his judgement for the good of the team but anybody who saw Massa’s face post race were not convinced. This was cheating, and everybody knew it.

© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com

Alonso made the Tifosi happy by taking a victory at Monza after taking the lead from Button who lead early doors. Hamilton crashed with Massa. The McLaren driver crashed with Webber in Singapore and ended up second best. Alonso drove a superb race keeping Vettel at bay and took victory. The Spaniard had rose from nowhere and had became Webber’s biggest title threat. Vettel, Button and Hamilton were all still in the frame though.

On to Japan and Vettel was the driver to beat. Vettel repeated his 2009 victory with Webber in second. Alonso took the championship lead at the inaugural Korean Grand Prix after Red Bull had a nightmare with Webber and Vettel suffering from a crash and an engine failure respectively.

A Red Bull one-two at Brazil left fans shocked when Vettel kept the lead to win from Webber despite the high risk that the crown would go to Alonso and Ferrari. Questions were asked about the teams priorities and this overshadowed the fact Red Bull had just won their first World Constructors crown. Webber’s chances were growing slimmer and Abu Dhabi was set to be a phenomenal event.

By this point Button was now unable to take the championship and team mate Hamilton had a slim chance at best. In the prime spot was Alonso, Webber had a good chance should Vettel help him and Vettel had a slim but viable chance at best. Vettel for his part dominated the race ahead of the two McLaren’s of Hamilton and Button. Ferrari opted to be conservative and brought Massa and Alonso in early in response to an early tyre stop from Webber.  Webberhad a poor race and Ferrari were caught in mid pack traffic ruining their chances.

Renault were strong and Petrov kept Alonso behind for lap after lap. Alonso needed to pass and catch Rosberg ahead to win the championship but the The Renault and Petrov proved too strong.  Vettel won the race not knowing that he had won the championship. Alonso followed Petrov home and demonstrated extreme petulance by waiving his fist at the Russian driver on the slowing down lap. Regardless of whether Alonso though he should be allowed through or not it was vettel’s day and Germany had a new hero.

© P-H Cahier / F1-photo.com

Michael Schumacher had an anonymous season struggling to match team mate Rosberg for pace but signs of old form were starting to return towards the end of the season. A superb race in Japan was most likely the highlight but many had questioned the seven times champions ability to cut it against one of the strongest grids in years. Schumacher took it in his stride, and with a season under his belt, should be strong in 2011.

The 2010 F1 season sets up 2011 very well. The grid will boast no fewer than five world champions – but 2011 has a lot to live up to!