The 2010 Formula One Season Review Part Two: GERMANY TO ABU DHABI

By Luke Gardener

The second half of the 2010 Formula One season was just as thrilling as the first, and it all started with the controversy surrounding the use of team orders when they were clearly used in Germany. Ferrari had decided to swap Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in order for the Spaniard to win. Felipe Massa’s race engineer Rob Smedley stated, “Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understood that message?” The sheer transparency of this breach of the team orders rule meant Ferrari were summoned to an FIA hearing, but the team surprisingly kept their points and got away with a light slap on the wrist in the form of a fine of $100,000 – small change to one of F1’s largest teams. The race itself was dominated by Ferrari, and it was to be the start of a brilliant second half of the season for double world champion Fernando Alonso.

The Hungarian Grand Prix was next up and Red Bull’s Mark Webber took an impressive and hard fought win, with Alonso second and Vettel third after he was penalised for straying to more than ten car lengths behind the safety car. Lewis Hamilton retired with a gearbox failure while Jenson Button had a forgettable race, finishing in eleventh and failing to score a point. The race was packed with action, with a tyre flying down the pit lane as well as Vettel nearly missing the pit entry and Kubica and Sutil colliding during their pit stops. This anarchy was caused due to the safety care being deployed and all the teams rethinking their strategies.

Next up was arguably the greatest track on the F1 calendar: Spa in Belgium. Mark Webber took another pole position for Red Bull but was unable to finish the weekend with the race win as this honour went to Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, who picked up his third win of the season. Things looked good early on for McLaren as Jenson Button was ahead of Vettel and not far away from Hamilton, but then Vettel tried an uncharacteristically dangerous move which sent Button out of the race and left Vettel with significant damage. With the temperamental weather Button, Vettel and Alonso all failed to score a point, leaving Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber as the big winners of the weekend. The last stop in Europe was the famous Monza circuit in Italy, and the man who was leading Ferrari’s second half of the season fight, Fernando Alonso, managed to pick up a massive victory. Jenson Button was able to split the Ferrari drivers and finished second to keep himself in the championship hunt while Lewis Hamilton collided with Felipe Massa on the first lap, leaving him with another retirement. So, after the last race in Europe Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton were the championship favourites with just five points between them but Alonso, Button and Vettel were not far behind with 24 points covering the top five drivers.

With just five races remaining Formula One moved into Asia and Singapore for the only night race on the calendar. The race was action packed and saw Fernando Alonso gain his second successive win and third of the season with Sebastian Vettel second, Webber third and Jenson Button fourth. Lewis Hamilton retired once again after being too aggressive when trying to overtake Mark Webber after a safety car period. It meant that he slipped to third in the championship while Alonso was on the charge and up to second. October 10th saw Round 16 of the championship come from Suzuka in Japan, another circuit which is up there with Monza or Spa as a drivers’ favourite. The Red Bull drivers showed their domination as they led from lights to flag to get an impressive one-two, with Vettel coming in ahead of Webber. Fernando Alonso finished third while Hamilton’s bad luck continued as he lost third gear near the end of the race dropping him to fifth when he was chasing Alonso and letting teammate Jenson Button through into fourth. The championship was still just as tight with five contenders remaining but Mark Webber still the favourite as he led Fernando Alonso by 14 points.

Korea was a new venue for Formula One in 2010 and with doubts over whether the track would even be ready in time, many drivers were concerned that shortcuts may have been taken and their safety could therefore be at risk. Korea was action packed as the race started under the safety car, with the track soaked after taking hours of persistent rainfall. It was an awful race for Red Bull, as Vettel suffered an engine failure while Webber failed to finish after hitting the barrier hard after spinning off the road. Jenson Button also failed to score a point as he couldn’t control his McLaren in the severe conditions so it was Fernando Alonso who took the win followed by Lewis Hamilton in second place. It marked Alonso’s fourth win out of the last seven races and he led the championship for the first time with just two races remaining.

The Interlagos circuit in Brazil always provides huge entertainment, and in past years it has been the race track where the championship winner had been crowned. Jenson Button won last year for Brawn while Lewis Hamilton won the championship in Brazil the year before. The shock of the weekend was without doubt in the qualifying session, when with a drying track Nico Hulkenberg for Williams took pole position by more than a second, an unprecedented margin in F1 terms. The race itself was uneventful, with Hulkenberg dropping back as expected and Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Hamilton and Button finishing in the top five positions. However, this did mean that Red Bull claimed their first ever constructors world championship to the delight of team principal, Christian Horner. Jenson Button was now too far back and the title challenge was between four men, although it looked increasingly unlikely Lewis Hamilton would be able to win, as he was 24 points adrift and would need all the title challengers to effectively fall off the road.

Abu Dhabi saw the culmination of an intense nineteen-race long 2010 Formula One season and although the race may not have been action packed, strategically it was fascinating. Jenson Button managed to jump Fernando Alonso into third at the start of the race while Hamilton stayed in second and Vettel led. At this point Alonso was still in a world championship winning position but when Webber pitted earlier than expected Alonso felt he needed to cover his main championship threat and pit as well. However, this proved to be the wrong decision as it left them behind Vitaly Petrov, Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg meaning they finished seventh and eighth respectively. Sebastian Vettel was therefore the man to watch as he stormed to a victory and an unexpected first Drivers World Championship. After the race Vettel was heard crying emotionally at hearing the news and thanking all of the team around him who had secured a drivers and constructors championship for the first time. 2010 was truly the year of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.

2010 was without doubt a great year for the leading motorsport franchise in the world. There had never been five contenders for the driver’s championship who could realistically win for such a long period. With Vettel winning the championship it now means that there will be five World Champions on the grid for next season and a hungrier than ever Mark Webber. The question is can 2011 live up to the twists and turns we saw throughout what many are calling the best season ever for Formula One?

2010 TOP FIVE DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1. Sebastian Vettel – 256
2. Fernando Alonso – 252
3. Mark Webber – 242
4. Lewis Hamilton – 240
5. Jenson Button – 214

2010 TOP FIVE CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

1. Red Bull Renault – 498
2. McLaren Mercedes – 454
3. Ferrari – 396
4. Mercedes – 214
5. Renault – 163