Mid-season Review - Top 5 - 13/07/10

1 – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)



Throughout the first flyaway phase of the season, Hamilton showed plenty of speed and fighting spirit without the luck required to emerge as a winner in 2010. An unfavourable tyre call and collision with Mark Webber in Australia and a difficult qualifying in Malaysia meant that his scorching progress through the field on both occasions didn’t get him on the podium. A tactical masterstroke by teammate Jenson Button kept him off the top step at China and the Spanish GP saw a certain 2nd place finish snatched away from Lewis in the closing stages thanks to car failure. However, come Turkey and Canada, the McLaren had made up noticeable ground on the dominating Red Bulls. Hamilton won the Turkish GP after forcing the Red Bulls into the now infamous pressure error that left the way clear for Lewis’s first win of 2010. Just as in his debut season of 2007, Hamilton followed up his breakthrough win of this year with a second consecutive victory, and the subsequent lead of the championship. What was more remarkable about his Canadian performance was the fact that it was the sole occasion on which a Red Bull hadn’t started from pole this season. Despite the McLaren appearing visibly slower than the Red Bulls in Valencia and Silverstone, Hamilton bagged a brace of 2nd place finishes to maintain his lead of the world championship. Lewis has shown himself to be arguably the best overtaker in the sport currently, coming out on top during memorable tussles with Button, Alonso, Rosberg and Schumacher. The only blots on his copybook this year consist of the harsh words he’s had for his team during the races and weaving in front of Vitaly Petrov during the Malaysian GP. Hamilton’s ability to consistently finish high up the order and invariably move forward from difficult positions in a race will see him to this year’s World Championship if the Red Bull duo continue to fall over each other and suffer the bad luck that has stopped them from running away with both titles this year.


2 – Robert Kubica (Renault)



Right up until the beginning of the Lewis Hamilton phase of the 2010 World Championship began in Turkey, Robert Kubica was the driver of the season. An unfortunate start to the year in Bahrain masked the true progress and potential of the Renault team, until an inspired drive to 2nd place in Australia’s varying conditions made it clear that F1’s first Pole was back. Kubica followed what appeared to be a one-off result in special circumstances with seven more points finishes, a run that ended with his first retirement of the season in the recent British GP. Those points finishes included a 4th place finish in Malaysia and 3rd place in Monaco. As always, Kubica’s ability on temporary circuits has shone through in 2010, with his Renault being a genuine pole position threat in Monte Carlo and Montreal. To come back from the difficult 2009 that both Renault and Kubica have had and fly out of the traps as they have done in the first half of the season has been magnificent to see, and a timely reminder of the talent at his and Renault’s disposal. Kubica has also demonstrated he has lost none of his fight, often having to employ defensive tactics to maintain an early race advantage. His head-to-heads with Schumacher in Canada and Alonso in Britain will have indicated a significant unwillingness to relent. You get the feeling that he’s gotten the absolute maximum out of his package every weekend, thoroughly putting rookie Petrov, who has actually done reasonably well, in the shade.


3 – Jenson Button (McLaren)



Incredibly, Jenson Button has probably done more for his career, reputation and legacy as a top F1 driver and world champion in the first half of the 2010 season by moving to McLaren and taking on home-grown hero Hamilton than through his efforts for Brawn GP in 2009. Two glittering early season victories in Melbourne and China highlighted Button’s speed, tactical nous and confidence in himself, firmly establishing Jenson as a serious title contender and the biggest intra-team challenge to Hamilton since Alonso. With Jenson’s easy manner warming him to the team, his tenure at McLaren will undoubtedly be longer than the Spaniard’s. Despite the strong start, the unforgettable battle with Hamilton at Turkey, his pass of Alonso to claim 2nd at Canada and a strong recovery drive at Silverstone to bag 4th from 14th on the grid, Lewis is slowly exerting a measure of superiority over Button on sheer performance in qualifying and race results. Button has also shown slightly less aggression in overtaking than Hamilton has, and is starting to find more limiting issues within the car at certain weekends. However, a similar ability to always move forward in races and his proximity to Lewis in the standings means that as upgrades continue to be placed on the MP4-25, Button will always have a shot at victory and subsequently, retaining his driver’s title. More than ever Jenson needs a weekend where he outperforms Hamilton in order to maintain the credibility of his championship bid as a first year McLaren driver.


=4 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)



When you think of Sebastian Vettel in 2010, every image of a race-winning, pole-owning, world champion elect outing is accompanied by the memory of a brake failure, engine burst, pointless collision, drama. The incident with Mark Webber at the Turkish GP 3 races ago is still casting a shadow over operations at Red Bull, which undoubtedly affects the drivers. Questionable driving from Vettel on that occasion, as well as a similar jink towards Hamilton in the Chinese GP pitlane and his clumsy pass on Sutil at the recent British GP have all painted the picture of a driver who’s still on the verge of becoming the full article. Despite all of this and despite the fact that the Red Bull RB6 is without a shadow of a doubt the class of the 2010 field, Vettel has produced spectacular laps in qualifying and should really have more than the 2 wins this season to his name. Technical issues have robbed him of wins at Bahrain and Australia where nobody, including Webber, appeared to be on the same racetrack. If at any point this season a modicum of consistency and calm descends upon the Red Bull garage, Vettel is still close enough to the McLaren boys in the standings to deliver the championship that this car, alleged intra-team favouritism and his ability can clinch. Ten races into the season and we’re still waiting for that to happen, but we’ve had glimpses at Malaysia and Valencia of what is possible when a weekend goes to plan, and Seb’s scything late-race recovery drive at Silverstone has shown what’s possible when it doesn’t. The excitement and interest in this year’s title race has undoubtedly been helped by the issues faced by RBR, but however many future titles Vettel amasses, to miss an opportunity like 2010 for Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel would be criminal, even for someone who is close to being painted as the new F1 villain.


=4 – Mark Webber (Red Bull)



On the opposite side of the Red Bull garage sits Mark Webber, at the opposite end of his career to Sebastian Vettel. It is incredibly difficult to separate these two as Webber has had equally glittering moments to Vettel this year, including a string of poles and two stunning wins at Barcelona and Monaco, as well as a controlled drive under difficult conditions for him personally at Silverstone. A very public spat with his teammate and now possibly his team may have earned Webber sympathy and followers, but at this stage of his career and with the opportunity he has to finally claim a major world championship, the outspoken Aussie may do well to get his head down and concentrate on the business of winning. Something he did most admirably at the British GP, but winning against such internal adversity will inevitably take its toll. In contrast to the highs, you always feel Webber’s style of attacking and defending will lead to incident. His collision with Lewis Hamilton in Australia, the horrific airborne episode with Heikki Kovalainen in Valencia and to a much lesser degree with Vettel at Turkey could all have been easily avoided. Valuable points lost on such occasions have allowed Hamilton and Button to creep ahead in the title chase. However, the way Webber is resisting any possible attempts by RBR to engineer Vettel into the lead driver position could help to keep the team honest as every move they make is widely and publicly dissected. Regardless of the immensely superior machinery at his disposal, Webber has followed up his breakthrough year admirably in regards to consistently being at the front and showing himself to be a regular race winner and series leader now he is free of his leg injury. The 2010 world championship is as much of a reality for Webber as it is for Vettel as long as the Red Bull management do not exert their authority too often over the race team’s operations and attempts to keep things equal between the two, although Christian Horner and Adrian Newey’s role in the British GP front wing debacle should not be understated.

Photographs by Paul Hitchens

Turkish Grand Prix 2010 - 12/06/10

On lap 40 of the Turkish Grand Prix, the 2010 Formula 1 season exploded. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel who were joint-leading the world drivers’ championship and running 1st and 2nd in the race, drew up side by side in their constructors’ championship leading Red Bull Renaults on the approach to turn 12. The race leaders, the championship leaders, the very spearheads and pacesetters of Formula 1 2010, point-to-point, neck and neck, producing one very unexpected victor. But how did things reach that stage?

Having bagged a third successive pole, the Aussie was odds-on favourite to consolidate his position as the man on form. Vettel looked to have something for him right at the end of Q3 but a roll-bar failure meant he only lined up 3rd on the grid, the Red Bulls split by Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren. Jenson Button closed out the second row confirming the pace advantage of the Red Bulls who were flat through turn 8, and the McLarens armed with their effective F-ducts. They were followed by Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, the young German again being pipped by the Old Man. Renault looked to be the 4th fastest team in Turkey all weekend with both cars sandwiching Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso again found himself facing a difficult race after making a mistake on what would have been his best lap and lining up 12th as a result, although he didn’t believe he had the pace for Q3. Sauber finally had something to cheer as Kamui Kobayashi made Q3, also Bruno Senna qualified his Hispania ahead of Lucas Di Grassi’s Virgin. After announcing their imminent split with Dallara, this is a major result for a team that has had dominion over the back row for most of the season.

As the lights went out, Vettel turned P3 to P2 by passing Hamilton before turn 1, but crucially Lewis regained the position slipping up the inside out of turn 2, hanging it around the outside for 3 and making it stick. A very important move in the race as it placed the McLaren between the Red Bulls, forcing the pace of the frontrunners to remain hot for the duration of the event. The significance and consequences of that fact would be felt for many days after the race. Michael Schumacher also fashioned a great start for Mercedes, passing Button around the outside of turn 1, but a repeat of Barcelona was avoided for Button as he re-took 4th place from Schumacher before the lap was out. The events of lap 1 clearly demonstrated how difficult it would be for any car to shake the McLarens. Elsewhere, Nico Hulkenburg and Sebastien Buemi came together on the opening lap in keeping with their seasons so far. After Buemi felt the need to make clear to the media that he finished ahead of his teammate in Monaco, 16th place in Turkey will rankle.

The first part of the race consisted of Hamilton very much keeping pace with Webber up front, the straightline speed of the McLaren bringing it into contention by turn 12 despite the time and ground lost in turn 8. Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button running 3rd and 4th also remained in close attention while rapidly dropping the rest of the field. Vettel was the first of the frontrunners to pit as Red Bull brought him in a lap before Webber and Hamilton pitted nose-to-tail at the end of lap 15. They would have departed nose-to-tail as well had Hamilton not had an issue with the left rear, allowing Vettel to nip ahead for 2nd place as the McLaren lost ground. Button stayed out a lap further and was closer to the leading pack as a result after his stop.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who started the season with a great debut victory for the marque celebrating their 800th GP in Turkey, pitted early at the end of lap 11. This allowed him to leapfrog a number of cars ahead of him and put himself in the points after a disastrous qualifying. In a season of 7 races so far to have collided with Button and Schumacher at the start of the Australian GP, to have started towards the back and retired due to a bad tyre call in Malaysian GP qualifying, to have jumped the start in China, to have put the car into the wall in Monaco GP Practice when winning pace was evident, Alonso’s Turkish GP qualifying mishap marks one of the most error-strewn starts to a campaign the double world champ has ever experienced. It is a reflection of the bizarre happenings this year that Alonso is still well in touch with the championship leaders.

The suspense continued to build as Hamilton made advances on Vettel, forcing Vettel in turn to put pressure on Webber up front, exchanging fastest sectors and laps. A sense of anticipation was building unlike anything experienced so far this year, a certainty in the air that something cataclysmic would unfold at the front of the Turkish Grand Prix against a backdrop of possible rain. All the while, fuel consumption at McLaren was an issue as the pace turned out to be hotter than predicted. By lap 39 Mark Webber had been asked to turn down his engine, something he later alluded to in the press conference, while apparently Vettel had managed to eke out his fuel consumption a lap further. This allowed him to run the engine richer for a lap or so longer, thus bringing us to the point of convergence on lap 40. Vettel, having gotten a great run on Webber from turn 8 onwards, looked right then ducked left on approach to turn 12. Webber, as he has done to so many others, squeezed Vettel onto the marbles leaving just enough space for a solitary Red Bull RB6 which Vettel duly filled. Time slows down. Both cars maintain their line for a miniscule moment in time, or was it miniscule? How long was it for? A second? 10 seconds? Vettel moves half a car-length ahead, his rear wheels alongside Webber’s sidepod. Then, eager to elbow his way into a better corner entry, Vettel visibly turned the wheel to the right and drove into Webber’s side. Both were spat off the track, Vettel’s car with terminal damage, Webber requiring a pit stop. McLaren cannot believe their fortune as Hamilton and Button inherit the lead.

The gravity of this event may well be felt strongly throughout the rest of the season and throughout Red Bull Racing as it has highlighted that the much lauded team spirit in RBR isn’t quite the beacon of unity once believed. The extreme sports brand that turned itself into a serious F1 team now has a serious F1 problem. Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko openly sided with Vettel, despite his protégé having a penchant for turning right on opponents (see Vettel vs Hamilton in Shanghai pitlane), and Christian Horner has had much smoothing work to do since. Webber had allegedly requested that Vettel back off, but his request was denied due to the close proximity of the McLarens. Neither driver has accepted any blame for the incident 2 weeks on.

That was not the end of the excitement at Istanbul Park as on lap 49 with both McLarens being urged to save fuel and look after their tyres amid a few spots of inconsequential rain, Hamilton was assured by chief engineer Phil Prew that Jenson would not overtake him after he turned down the wick. Hamilton backed off considerably through turn 8 allowing Jenson a strong run at him. He made a move around the outside of turn 12, which became the inside of turn 13 and the subsequent lead of the Turkish GP. Button’s compromised entry into the final corner allowed Hamilton the opportunity to re-pass him into turn 1 where after very light contact, he retook the lead. A demonstration to Red Bull as to how teammates battling for the lead should respect each other’s track position and anticipate a competitor’s whereabouts on the tarmac during such an occurrence. The contrast couldn’t be starker between the two sets of events, however McLaren were not to come out of the Turkish GP smelling of roses amid accusations of fuel saving and tyre management instructions being used as a disguise for team orders. The two McLarens proceeded to follow each other home to record their second one-two of the season, and Hamilton’s first victory of 2010. Lewis’s less-than-ecstatic demeanour after the race and the obvious confusion fuelled rumours of misunderstood team orders. Genuine fuel and tyre concerns remain McLaren’s official explanation for the confusion and backing off.

Behind the fortunate McLarens, Webber managed to hobble back to the pits for new tyres and a replacement front wing, while having enough of a gap back to Schumacher in 4th place to retain the final podium position. Schumacher himself held teammate Rosberg off again to finish just ahead. Behind the Mercedes duo, driver of the season so far Robert Kubica put on another solid show in his Renault ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso’s somewhat clumsy pass on Vitaly Petrov in the closing stages promoted him to 8th behind his stable mate, but Petrov needed to pit for new tyres due to a resulting puncture, dropping him out of a well-deserved points finish. Adrian Sutil passed Kamui Kobayashi as well late on, the latter scoring BMW Sauber Ferrari’s first point of the 2010 season.

So who exactly was the aforementioned unexpected victor of the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix? Was it Lewis Hamilton who showed enough pace and tenacity in Turkey and indeed all season to be deserving of the win regardless of the energy drink explosion ahead of him, giving McLaren the lead in the constructors’ championship? Was it Mark Webber, who in light of the ensuing intra-team drama and seeming marginalisation actually came out of the Turkish GP with an extended points lead in the drivers’ championship? Or was it in fact the millions of F1 supporters and fans who witnessed a magnificently tense race which for once actually had a fitting climax with equal measures of gasp-worthy drama and unforgettable side-by-side racing at the very front? One desperately hopes that in future, “fuel-saving”, “tyre management” and the forced reigning-in of F1 drivers’ competitive instincts by nerve-shattered team principals do not rob us of the very things that made the 2010 Turkish GP unforgettable.

Monaco Grand Prix 2010 - 06/06/10

The right man, at the right place, at the right time. This is Australian, Mark Webber, at Red Bull Racing in 2010 winning the Monaco Grand Prix. No longer Mark Webber, expert qualifier or Mark Webber, most unlucky driver in Formula 1. Back to back pole positions followed by two consecutive crushing victories have elevated Webber to the joint lead of the 2010 F1 drivers’ championship alongside teammate Sebastian Vettel. Despite securing every pole position in 2010, Red Bull racing had managed to hand half of the season’s victories to their competitors, but now finally their two drivers have found their way to the top of the standings, with no sign of a development plateau for the car. It was inevitable that with such pace to burn, eventually the Red Bull crew would get it together and start chalking up wins, and now that the victories are flowing and Webber and Vettel sit atop the table, the chase truly begins.

Webber’s race was certainly not a straightforward lights-to-flag affair, requiring careful management of the lead through a total of four safety car periods. The first safety car summons was for Nico Hulkenburg who lost control of his Williams in the tunnel on lap 1 due to front wing failure, the second was for the other Williams of Rubens Barrichello on lap 31 where a rear failure sent him into the wall coming up to Massenet corner. The third occasion was for a suspected loose drain cover where Barrichello had crashed, and the most memorable was the last approximately 3 laps before the finish for Jarno Trulli’s ill-advised move on an unsuspecting Karun Chandhok into Rascasse, ending up with Trulli’s Lotus sitting atop the HRT. Having passed the incredible Robert Kubica at the start for second place, Vettel never looked like challenging Webber for the lead even with 4 restarts. Kubica had qualified on the front row and his Renault looked sharp all weekend, most believed he would be the first driver to take pole position away from Red Bull in 2010, but it wasn’t to be and he stayed well in touch with Vettel to claim yet another podium in 2010. Another reminder that the explosive Robert Kubica who stormed onto the F1 scene in 2006 is still very much around, and still very much a future champion.

The rise of Webber and Vettel to the top of the charts has not been purely a result of their devastating pace, just as they were handing out points to their rivals earlier in the season, others have conspired to send gifts the other way too. World champion and former championship leader Jenson Button had a very short Monaco GP. After only making it as far as lap 3 he said “I knew after the formation lap that there was a cooling cover left on the left-hand sidepod, where the radiator is. We thought everything was going to be okay, and it would probably have been fine if we hadn’t had a Safety Car”. McLaren’s other Brit, Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth and stayed there all afternoon, being told much to his disliking that he had to look after his brakes from quite early on.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who was probably the only driver who could have challenged Webber for victory on Sunday, had yet another compromised weekend. Alonso went quickest in both Thursday practice sessions, and was quickest in P3 on Saturday when he lost control and crashed his Ferrari into the barriers, writing it off for qualifying. He had to start Sunday’s race from the pitlane, but benefited greatly from the early caution as he used the opportunity to change immediately onto the harder compound for the rest of the race. After dicing with Lotuses, HRTs and Virgins (especially a wild Lucas Di Grassi) and passing most of them at the chicane, showing good pace he was able to leapfrog most at their first stops and run 6th behind Lewis Hamilton when all had settled down.

Alonso was also involved in the race’s biggest talking point on the final lap as the fourth safety car period came to an end. Due to the Trulli-Chandhok sandwich at Rascasse, it was believed that the race would end under safety car conditions, but the news came that the safety car would pull into the pits on the last lap, leaving Webber, Vettel, Kubica and co to cross the line at racing speed. Rule 40.13 of the F1 sporting regulations states that "if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pitlane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking". Alonso was running 6th at this point and Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes 7th, Michael appeared to catch Fernando unawares at Rascasse on the restart and passed him into Anthony Noghes corner to take a provisional 6th place. Cue complaints, stewards’ inquiries and much evidence presented. The track showed a green flag situation and that was Ross Brawn and Mercedes’s defence, but in the end Schumacher was handed a 20 second penalty which dropped him out of the points. Alonso definitely responded on track to Schumacher’s advances but was unable to keep him from passing and nearly lost his left rear on the barriers, so that certainly didn’t help his cause when he claimed his team advised him not to pass Hamilton due to these new safety car rules, and there was clearly a green light displayed. There is undoubtedly a debate there about using the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law, but unfortunately for Mercedes the letter of the law was very clear, but there is something to be said about the difference between a race ending under safety car conditions, and bringing the safety car in on the last lap. The rules have since been clarified, as you would expect.

Ferrari’s other driver, Felipe Massa, had one of his best showings of the season so far, qualifying a respectable 4th on the grid and staying there all race not too far behind Vettel and Kubica, and never really being threatened by Hamilton’s McLaren. Outscoring Alonso again while being slower generally is keeping Felipe within touching distance of the leaders, and if his pace picks up when he is able to get the F10 to his liking, days like this will count. Other interesting intra-team rivalries at Monaco included Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi finally rediscovering a semblance of form as he outqualified Adrian Sutil and made Q3, however Sutil got the better of him in the race as they finished 8th and 9th. There are considerable rumblings regarding the replacement of Liuzzi with Paul Di Resta, given his perceived lack of competitiveness compared to Sutil and the fact that his seat for 2010 owes much to the transfer of Fisichella to Ferrari. It could be though that it’s wishful thinking from the media as opposed to a genuine feeling of dissatisfaction from the team, after all with no in-season testing how wise would it be?

At Mercedes, despite returning to his habit of outqualifying Schumacher albeit by a significantly smaller margin, Nico Rosberg lost out at the start and was not able to find a way past Michael even though he ran longer at the pit stops and set a series of blistering laps. It was all academic as Schumacher’s penalty promoted Rosberg up to 7th place. The early season poise, confidence and precision of execution appears to have temporarily deserted Rosberg, who felt he was capable of pole at Monte Carlo. The team accepted responsibility however for putting both cars on the same piece of tarmac during qualifying, costing both a better grid slot. Annoyingly for Mercedes, rumours persist about favouritism and a change in development direction to suit the returning multiple champion, even though Monaco saw the return of the short wheelbase car. Fans of Schumacher will be pleased to see the old dog returning to his old tricks at the end, regardless of the outcome it’s hard to believe Alonso won’t have taken a dent to his pride. The pace appears to be trickling back and the awareness of opportunity, backed up by tactical genius will undoubtedly see Schumacher on the podium before long. Fans of Formula 1 (not necessarily the same as Fans of Schumacher) will be hoping Nico rediscovers some of his early 2010 sparkle and registers a debut win before too long.

As well as Force India getting both drivers into the points for the first time, Monaco was important for Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi who scored his first point of the year thanks to the 20 second penalty handed to Schumacher. Jaime Alguersuari’s strong performances have put Buemi significantly in the shade at an establishment where there is precious little patience for underperforming drivers.

So finally, after a career that has included such lows as airborne upside-down Mercedes CLR Le Mans cars, a blown engine within an ace of winning the Monaco GP in 2006, a young German in a Toro Rosso wipe him out from behind in Fuji’s 2007 torrential downpour and even a passing tram cutting power to his car as it crossed tramlines at Singapore in 2008, Mark Webber’s luck is coming good. Untouchable at the last two Formula 1 events during a season where every driver and team have experienced peaks and troughs in fortune, the Aussie who began his full professional international career alongside German legend Bernd Schneider is beginning to show his might to another German legend of the future in Sebastian Vettel. With both Red Bull drivers leading the drivers’ championship, and the team leading the constructors’, their superiority over the rest which has been threatened since Bahrain is now a cold reality, wherever you look.

Spanish Grand Prix 2010 - 13/05/10

A whole winter of rigorous testing, a mini-season of flyaway events, four grands’ prix worth of practice sessions, qualifying and races rife with difficult circumstances and opportunities to display latent qualities. This is what it took for Jenson Button to establish himself as a multiple race-winner and equal to Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. This is how long Nico Rosberg had to toil in order to cement his position as Mercedes front man and serious competition to million-time world champion Michael Schumacher. This was the amount of time required for Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel to distil their incendiary pace and apparently fragile vessel into crushing dominance laced with respectable reliability. Yet, despite two months of tide-stemming battle against prevalent perception, it has taken a single weekend of rain-free happenings in Barcelona to reaffirm the old beliefs.

Schumacher outperformed and outpaced Rosberg all weekend at Mercedes, spending a majority of his race repelling the gentle advances of Button’s McLaren. The inevitable opinions surfaced again, that Mercedes and Ross Brawn have tailored the Mercedes to Schumacher’s preferences at the expense of a previously promising teammate. Rosberg vehemently denied such stories throughout the weekend and claimed the improvements to the car were genuine. Jenson started 5th ahead of Schumacher but due to a costly pit lane episode emerged behind Schumacher and spent the rest of the day there. Various attempts by Button to pass into turn 1 were foiled by the Old Man moving across to the inside, forcing the McLaren to go around the outside. Predictably, whispers emerged that McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton would have continued up the inside and forced his way through at the first possible opportunity, as opposed to the impression one got watching Schumacher remain completely in control of the situation, comfortably keeping Button at bay and finishing 4th ahead of him.

Hamilton, having qualified 3rd behind the dominant Red Bulls and just ahead of home favourite Alonso, had a good start and nearly stole the lead from the Red Bull pair. With no change in position at the very front, the race settled down very quickly as the top four of Webber, Vettel, Lewis and Alonso led the way. Lewis spent an impressive-yet-typical Spanish GP afternoon staying well in touch with Vettel’s Red Bull, even leapfrogging him in the pits as Vettel had more pit lane difficulties. Hamilton’s excellent drive to second place unravelled 2 laps before the end as a wheel rim failure caused deflation of the left front tyre, sending him off at high speed, rewarding Alonso’s Ferrari and Vettel’s ailing Red Bull with the final podium spot.

Sebastian Vettel’s ailing Red Bull. A familiar phrase this year, however it is possible that Red Bull’s continuing reliability headaches were somewhat soothed by the crushing speed they displayed with Mark Webber’s stunning pole position nearly a full second a head of Hamilton in 3rd. Webber and Vettel’s speed was such that despite finishing so far ahead of the second placed Ferrari of Alonso, it was widely believed that Webber had left much in reserve. Vettel for his part managed to maintain thoroughly respectable race pace even after an extra pit stop and the shadow of impending brake failure forced him into cruise mode for the closing stages of the race. A tremendously ominous Red Bull one-three capped a Spanish GP where their early season advantage seemed to have actually grown over the chasing pack, with no hint of an F-Duct or outboard mirrors. What is not to be forgotten though is that five races into the 2010 season, Red Bull drivers are neither first nor second in the drivers’ championship with the team still keen to hand gifts to rival outfits. Mark Webber can clearly lead faultlessly from the front, but surely the team are concerned how most of the issues are occurring on Vettel’s machine. Much like the Brazilian GP last year, Mark’s imperious performance was somewhat sidelined by Hamilton and Vettel’s late race incidents, as well as the considerable airtime dedicated to Schumacher and Button. But make no mistake, this win was far from academic.

The fact that no team is having their season unfold according to plan is terrific news for the championship battle. Button still leads on 70 points with Alonso just 3 behind on 67. Vettel sits third on 60 points with teammate Webber next on 53. The biggest losers have been Hamilton and Rosberg who endured no-scores. Other drives of note include Rubens Barrichello’s run to 9th and Jaime Alguersuari’s eventful journey to 10th and another championship point. Both made spectacular starts, passing multiple cars and then consolidating their positions. Jaime again put another great move on fellow rookie Hulkenburg, but undid much of his good work by taking Karun Chandhok’s front wing with him during a botched lapping manoeuvre. His extra pit stop and subsequent drive-through penalty probably cost him further 2010 glory. There was further confirmation also of the genuine points scoring pedigree of the Force India and Renault in Sutil and Kubica’s hands respectively, as well as Fernando Alonso’s continued advantage over the seemingly baffled Felipe Massa at Ferrari.

So should we relax in the comfortable and familiar knowledge that order has once again been restored to the F1 universe, a place where overtaking doesn’t occur, where races are decided by pit lane blunders, a place where hyped drivers eclipse their teammates even if they are behind, a world where a Newey car can be one second per lap faster than its rivals and still not win the title? A few days in Monte Carlo ought to make these questions a little bit more difficult to answer.

Chinese Grand Prix 2010 - 21/04/10

You get the feeling that the 2010 Formula 1 season is going to put a number of lingering questions surrounding the sport and its drivers to bed. Is Jenson Button a worthy champion? How good is he? Can he repeat his success in a car that isn’t dominant alongside Lewis Hamilton? How will Michael Schumacher fare against the next generation? Does Nico Rosberg have what it takes given the right machinery? Are Renault a spent force? Is it possible to succeed in F1 with a proper startup operation given enough time?

Just as with the first race of the year in Bahrain, it’s perilously easy to answer all of the above questions at this stage, but certainly the evidence is mounting for each case. Another exceptional tyre call from Button paved the way for his and McLaren’s second win of the season, while teammate Lewis Hamilton again provided the lion’s share of entertainment and ended up a close second behind Button at the flag. Starting 5th and 6th respectively, the McLaren drivers were disappointed with qualifying and yet another Red Bull front row, but in their own signature styles made their way to the front. Button’s decision to stay on slicks during the first rain scare secured him track position behind early leader Rosberg, track position that he never surrendered even after his lead was wiped out by the second NASCAR-inspired safety car period for debris on the circuit. His soft touch on the tyres ensuring the life of his rubber throughout the various treacherous stages of the race, even Jenson managed to overshoot the hairpin before the end of the lap as the rain increased. That set up a nervous finish as Hamilton closed the gap to 1.5s, but Button held on to win his 2nd race for his new team in 4 starts, taking him to a career total of 9 victories and the championship lead.

Lewis’s race was altogether more dramatic as he made a beyond-last minute decision to pit for intermediate tyres on lap 3, cutting across the gravel and painted off-track surfaces to get into the pits, a decision that he himself later described as an error. Within 2 laps the intermediates were destroyed and seeing how well Rosberg, Button, Kubica and Petrov were doing on the slicks, most of the field including Hamilton pitted again to lose the intermediates. Having made it into the pits ahead of polesitter Vettel, who himself had been stacked behind Webber at the first pit stop due to the Aussie passing him into turn 1, Hamilton was released from his pit box as Vettel drew alongside. As the two raced out of the pit lane, Vettel was seen to feint right and push Hamilton close to pit mechanics and equipment, earning both a post-race reprimand from the stewards. Hamilton then passed Barrichello, Webber and Kovalainen before pulling a double pass on Vettel and Sutil when the former didn’t manage to cleanly pass the Force India driver at the end of the back straight. After a memorable exchange with Schumacher that finally bore fruit on lap 17, Hamilton’s post-race comments all but implied that he was unimpressed with the German’s aggressive defending. Following the second safety car period where most were caught off guard by leader Button’s slowing before the restart, Lewis squeezed Webber off track. Further victims of the number 2 McLaren included Schumacher (again), Petrov, Kubica and eventually Rosberg, who was leapfrogged in the pits. Another spirited and impressive Sunday performance, but the cold truth is that Hamilton was outqualified again by Button, as well as beaten on strategy regardless of outright pace. Second place was a great reward for his efforts, and the safety car a great gift from Jaime.

Mercedes managed to produce a second successive podium performance in Shanghai thanks to Rosberg’s fine 4th place on the grid and the decision to remain on slicks during the first period of the race. Nico succeeded in holding off both McLarens at the start and led the race when the Red Bulls pitted for intermediates early on. Showing good pace initially, Rosberg was under no threat from Button, even stretching the gap to 4 seconds before an off-track excursion on lap 20 eliminated his advantage and handed the lead to Button. Post debris car, Rosberg was running about 2sec behind Button until Hamilton got his scent and started hounding him around lap 35. Employing effective switchbacks and imaginative use of the defensive line, Nico put up a stirring defence for his position, forcing Lewis to pit on lap 37 in order to make up time on fresher tyres. Indeed Rosberg emerged from his own pit stop behind Hamilton on lap 39, having made his point to those who accused him of capitulating to Hamilton in Melbourne. Their sparring had allowed Button to stretch his lead and the remainder of Nico’s run to 3rd place was consumed with keeping the charging Ferrari of Alonso at bay, which he did through intelligent prioritising of his tyre life. This was a result to celebrate for Mercedes and Rosberg, even if they were forced to play bridesmaid to yet another 1-2 from a rival team, but one is forced to think what Nico could have achieved without his off-track moment and the intervention of the second safety car. You want to believe that given the opportunity and the machinery, Rosberg will be a race-winner and championship contender, and given the expected development of his car and the impressive performances to date he probably will still mature into just that. It should also be remembered that the eventual winner of the Chinese GP and current world champion had a similar extracurricular moment during the race.

What of Michael Schumacher? Much more pronounced tyre degradation coupled with an early final pit stop meant that he was struggling to stay afloat come the end of the race. Early progress through the changeable conditions and battles with Hamilton showed he had lost none of his racecraft and despite a significant pace differential could make trouble for drivers looking to put a move on him. Sutil and Vettel made their way past after the second safety car, but Felipe Massa found it much harder, actually being forced off the tarmac by his former mentor before eventually making a move stick. Michael’s lack of success was, according to him, dictated by an inability to pace himself and manage the life of the new intermediate tyres. Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug continue to fight his corner, insisting that he hasn’t shown what he’s got yet, that circumstances have not favoured him and that improvements and a return to form are inevitable. Of course, if Schumacher is regularly amongst the frontrunners by midseason, this period will be forgotten, as will the supposed death knells on his comeback. Regardless of perceptions and the unusual circumstances surrounding the last 3 races, Schumacher will not be allowing the press or his rivals to decide when to catalogue his return as a failure and an error of judgement, but that determination and promise of improvement needs to bear fruit sooner rather than later.

Amid denials of engine concerns and farewells to outboard mirrors, Ferrari rendered almost all of their good work from qualifying useless as Alonso jumped the start, rounded the Red Bulls and led into turn 1. Salvaging 4th place from a day where he had to make 5 trips through the pit lane, including a drive through penalty for that start, is a feat to be applauded. Alonso, aided hugely by the second safety car, did well to overtake drivers such as Sutil and Schumacher on a day where he unbelievably found himself staring at Massa’s gearbox again. One of the lasting memories of the 2010 Chinese GP will be that of Alonso sliding down the inside of Massa aggressively on pit entry, forcing Massa to be stacked behind him as Alonso had a new set of inters fitted, thus losing Felipe a number of places in the process. There was never any question of who was the faster Ferrari driver this weekend (or even this season) but clearly Fernando was desperate to not sacrifice any more of 2010 behind Massa, despite most of it being nobody’s fault bar his own. This incident, apart from arguably rescuing the Chinese GP for Fernando, was pure gold for those again looking to fan the flames of an Alonso intra-team dispute. The difference is this time his teammate really doesn’t look to be as much a threat to him as a regular inconvenience. Surely this won’t be the case throughout the rest of the year, but for now Massa’s performances have been far from stellar. We await another incident free Alonso-Ferrari weekend in order to gauge their true position in the current 2010 hierarchy.

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull again suffered the curse of the 2010 polesitter and had yet another forgettable Sunday. As if being passed by teammate Webber into turn 1 wasn’t bad enough, he was a victim of switching to intermediates early on. Webber’s pass meant that Vettel had to wait behind Mark to be serviced, costing him valuable track position. Later on, Webber hitting one of the air jacks caused further delay to Sebastian’s following pit stop. Bad luck aside, the Red Bulls just didn’t have the pace in those conditions. Vettel looked at one point to be capable of staying with Hamilton on his charge back up through the field, but eventually he had to settle for 6th place with fading tyres, which is not such a bad reward considering all the drama. Webber’s day was even worse, being pushed so wide at the second restart and eventually being passed by Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, eventually coming home 8th. Considering both Red Bulls were on the same strategy as Hamilton, there will be much to think about when comparing the relative pace and finishing position of the aforementioned McLaren driver. How many more front row starts can Vettel afford to let slip through his fingers?

Renault will be thoroughly pleased with yet another demonstration of how much talent and racing nous is still present within their team despite high profile departures. Both Kubica and Petrov secured valuable track position at the start by staying out on slicks, and if not for Alguersuari’s front wing bringing out the safety car, Kubica may well have had another podium finish well clear of Hamilton and Alonso who eventually got by him. Renault’s successful start to the season, Kubica’s continuing run of remarkable performances and Petrov’s first points of the year are a staggering return for a team who had been all but written off. They are a constant beneficiary and thorn in the side of the so-called top teams who continue to find ways of wrecking their own race weekends. It is doubtful that in normal dry conditions they could score so competitively for the rest of the season, but with such strategic guile and Robert’s safe hands, anything is possible. Petrov’s spin undoubtedly cost him further points, but his late pass on Webber will no doubt endear him further to the management.

Elsewhere, Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen briefly ran as high as sixth in the points and ended up ahead of Hulkenburg’s Williams. Surely the promised upgrades and improvements to the Lotus car will make them an even more respectable outfit worthy of their place on the grid. Hispania also managed to bring both cars home, with Senna 2 laps down on winner Button. Sauber’s season continues to depress as a promising start for De la Rosa was marred by more Ferrari engine trouble and Kobayashi was involved in the first lap carnage. Virgin Racing also have better times to look forward to as both cars retired. Jaime Alguersuari’s weekend promised better after he outqualified the more experienced Buemi yet again, but as Buemi was removed by the spinning Force India of Liuzzi on lap 1, Toro Rosso had to settle for a 13th place finish after decaying tyres and a front wing replacement cost Alguersuari track position. Had he not pitted early with suspected, but subsequently no front wing damage, and had he not made a mess of passing a lapped HRT car this may well have been another points score for the ever-improving young Spaniard.

What is making the 2010 season such a classic year is not solely down to the presence of four world champions, or a packed grid of 24 cars, or even the unpredictable weather affecting results. It is a combination of the above, but more importantly, it is the fact that so many of the top drivers in their various teams are performing at a peak level in their careers and delivering performances throughout the grid that are worthy of mention and notice, whatever obstacle they may encounter. It is as a result of this phenomenon and against this backdrop that drivers such as Schumacher and Massa appear to be disappointing currently.