In stark contrast to 2009, no one driver emerged as dominant in the early stages of the 2010 season. Fernando Alonso won the opening race of the season in Bahrain after Sebastian Vettel's engine misfired, with Alonso becoming just the sixth Ferrari driver to win on debut for the Italian team. Reigning World Champion Jenson Button claimed victory in Australia for the second year in succession, whilst Vettel won in Malaysia, setting up a unique situation that would last for the rest of the season whereby no driver would win a race while leading the World Championship.
Button became the first driver to win more than one race with victory in China, but Mark Webber would be the first to take back-to-back victories with wins in Spain and Monaco. Webber was leading the Turkish Grand Prix when team-mate Vettel attempted a pass on lap 40 that ended with the two Red Bulls colliding; Vettel retired whilst Webber recovered to finish third behind eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Hamilton would match Webber's feat of back-to-back victories by claiming first place in Canada.
The middle of the season saw controversy, starting at the European Grand Prix in Valencia following a disputed safety car ruling. Mark Webber collided with Heikki Kovalainen at the fastest point on the circuit, the collision destroying Webber's front wing and launching Webber into a somersault. The safety car was deployed immediately, joining the circuit behind race leader Vettel, but ahead of then-second placed Hamilton and the Ferraris of Alonso and Felipe Massa. Hamilton overtook the safety car as it emerged from the pit lane but after it had crossed the safety car control line. It took the race stewards twenty minutes to pass verdict on the infringement, and while Hamilton was issued with a drive-through penalty for his actions, it had little effect as he was already well clear of the rest of the field.
The British Grand Prix marked the halfway point of the season and was the source of further controversy, this time in the Red Bull garage as the "Red Bull Civil War" spilled over into open hostilities when team principal Christian Horner removed the team's Silverstone-spec front wing from Mark Webber's car and placed it on Vettel's for qualifying and the race after the German driver damaged his in the final practice session. Webber won the race after Vettel developed a puncture on the first lap and was forced to pit.
The German Grand Prix saw a return to form for Ferrari, with both Alonso and Massa quickest over the course of the race meeting. On the anniversary of his accident, Felipe Massa led most of the race before a message from the Ferrari pit appeared to be a coded instruction telling Massa to move over and let Alonso through, granting Alonso seven extra World Championship points for his ultimate win. Ferrari were fined US$100,000 for the use of team orders to deliberately alter the outcome of a race and faced further sanctions at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in September where they face charges of bringing the sport into disrepute, though the hearing would ultimately acquit Ferrari on the grounds of a lack of evidence.
After finishing sixth in Germany, Webber won again in Hungary after Vettel broke an obscure safety car rule and was issued with a drive-through penalty that demoted him to third, while Lewis Hamilton won a wet Belgian Grand Prix from Mark Webber and Robert Kubica while Vettel was involved in a collision with Button that eliminated the incumbent World Champion whilst Vettel was handed his second drive-through penalty in as many races. Fernando Alonso retired after an uncharacteristic mistake in the wet. The European season ended in Italy, with Alonso claiming his third victory of the season and adding a fourth to his tally and his first Grand Slam in Singapore.
The 2010 season also saw the debut of three new teams, Virgin, Lotus and Hispania. The teams were often more than three seconds per lap slower than the established teams. After fighting reliability issues early in the season, the three teams soon established themselves with Lotus leading the way, their best result being a twelfth place for Heikki Kovalainen in Japan. Virgin struggled after discovering their fuel tank was too small, forcing them to push their development schedule back five races in order to build a car that could finish the race. Hispania were the slowest of the three, and by mid-season were rotating their drivers on a regular basis, but a pair of fourteenth places by Karun Chandhok in Australia and Monaco put the team ahead of Virgin in the Constructors' Championship for most of the season.
Red Bull reasserted their dominance in Japan, with Vettel winning comfortably from Webber and Alonso third. They were prepared to continue their performance in a rain-delayed Korean Grand Prix, but an early accident eliminated Webber and a late engine failure for Vettel handed the victory to Alonso. Nico Hülkenberg claimed his maiden pole position for Williams by over a second in changing conditions in Brazil, but Red Bull went on to claim their fourth one-two finish of the season, claiming enough points to be declared World Constructors' Champions in just their sixth year of competition.
In the week leading up to the final race of the season, Red Bull repeated their intentions not to use team orders, a decision they were widely criticised for as allowing Mark Webber to finish ahead of Sebastian Vettel would have meant he trailed Fernando Alonso by just one point ahead of the race in Abu Dhabi. However, the Australian struggled to find speed across the weekend, qualifying behind Alonso and unable to find a way past the Ferrari driver for most of the race. Like Webber, Alonso had opted for an early pit stop in his tyre strategy, but emerged behind Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov. Taking into account the cars ahead of them that had yet to stop, this meant that Alonso would be running sixth on the road when he needed to finish fourth to claim the title.
McLaren's Jenson Button took the lead of the race when Sebastian Vettel pitted, the 2009 World Champion attempting to extend his lead enough to avoid a costly encounter with Robert Kubica after Lewis Hamilton got caught behind the Renault driver; passing Kubica would give him a chance to catch Vettel, who would resume the lead when Button pitted. Button needed a lead of twenty-two seconds to rejoin the circuit ahead of Kubica and Hamilton, but Kubica was able to match him on lap times and McLaren were forced to pit Button, who rejoined fourth behind his team mate, becoming third when Kubica pitted. While Kubica was expected to rejoin somewhere behind Mark Webber, Vitaly Petrov had held Webber and Alonso up enough that when Kubica completed his stop, he joined the circuit ahead of them, adding his name to the list of drivers Alonso needed to pass in order to win the World Championship. Sebastian Vettel won the race, with the McLarens second and third. Alonso was unable to find a way past Petrov and so finished seventh, handing the title to Vettel by four points. Abu Dhabi was the first time Sebastian Vettel had led the 2010 World Championship.
2011 Season Schedule
Initially, this season was scheduled for a massive 20 races. However, due to circumstances that are far bigger than motorsport, the season, for now, has been trimmed down to 19 following the delay of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the season opener. The FIA is scheduled to make a decision on when to have the race, assuming the conditions allow it. Other changes include Brazil and Abu Dhabi switching places, which promises a far more exciting track for the season closer. This season also sees the addition of a new circuit and Grand Prix, the Indian Grand Prix, towards the end of the year. For now, construction has been going smoothly, so we may expect less of a possibility of that race being canceled, as was almost the case with the new Korean Grand Prix of last year.
CANCELED Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix
Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir - 13 March
1 Qantas Australian Grand PrixAustralia Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne - 27 March
2 Petronas Malaysia Grand PrixMalaysia Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur - 10 April
3 UBS Chinese Grand PrixPeople's Republic of China Shanghai International Circuit - 17 April
4 Turkish Grand PrixTurkey Istanbul Park - 8 May
5 Gran Premio de EspañaSpain Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona - 22 May
6 Grand Prix de MonacoMonaco Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo - 29 May
7 Grand Prix du CanadaCanada Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal - 12 June
8 European Grand PrixSpain Valencia Street Circuit - 26 June
9 Santander British Grand PrixUnited Kingdom Silverstone Circuit - 10 July
10 Großer Preis Santander von DeutschlandGermany Nürburgring - 24 July
11 Eni Magyar NagydíjHungary Hungaroring, Budapest - 31 July
F1GAF Mid-Season Review Part 1/Part 2
12 Belgian Grand Prix
Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa - 28 August
13 Gran Premio Santander d'ItaliaItaly Autodromo Nazionale Monza - 11 September
14 Singapore Grand PrixSingapore Marina Bay Street Circuit - 25 September
15 Japanese Grand PrixJapan Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka - 9 October
16 Korean Grand PrixSouth Korea Korean International Circuit, Yeongam - 16 October
17 Indian Grand PrixIndia Jaypee Group Circuit, Greater Noida - 30 October
18 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand PrixUnited Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit - 13 November
19 Grande Prêmio do BrasilBrazil Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo - 27 November
To no ones surprise, the top teams retained their pairings from the previous year. Without a doubt the biggest news is the hopefully temporary loss of Renaults Robert Kubica, who was heavily injured in an horrific rally crash between F1 testing. Fortunately for Robert, recovery seems to be coming along well, with doctors very positive about his progress, but unwilling to provide any forecast on his return. Until then, Nick Heidfeld, a former team mate, and worthy stand-in, will take his place with Renault.
This years GP2 graduates include GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado for Williams, Sergio Perez for Sauber, and Paul di Resta who comes in as reigning DTM champion. Most of the drivers that lost their seat from the 2010 season (Hulkenberg, Senna, Chandhok, Yamamoto and De la Rosa) have landed in testing or reserve driver roles. Vitantonio Liuzzi, who had his contract cut short with Force India, will partner up with Narain Karthikeyan for HRT.
Current Driver Lineup
Red Bull Racing Renault
1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
2 Mark Webber (AUS)
McLaren Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (GBR)
4 Lewis Hamilton (GBR)
Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso (SPA)
6 Felipe Massa (BRA)
Mercedes
7 Michael Schumacher (GER)
8 Nico Rosberg (GER)
Renault
9 Nick Heidfeld (GER)
10 Vitaly Petrov (RUS)
Williams Cosworth
11 Rubens Barrichello (BRA)
12 Pastor Maldonado (VEN)
Force India Mercedes
14 Adrian Sutil (GER)
15 Paul Di Resta (GBR)
Sauber Ferrari
16 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)
17 Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX)
STR Ferrari
18 Sebastian Buemi (SWI)
19 Jaime Alguersuari (SPA)
Lotus Renault
20 Jarno Trulli (ITA)
21 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)
HRT Cosworth
22 Narain Karthikeyan (IND)
23 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA)
Virgin Cosworth
24 Timo Glock (GER)
25 Jerome D'Ambrosio (BEL)
Without a doubt the biggest change for this year in terms of tech is the return of Pirelli. Replacing Bridgestone, Pirelli may have accomplished exactly what people have been asking for. Perhaps too well. Drivers have mentioned the fact that prime tires simply aren't lasting as long as they should be, with perhaps one or two great laps before a massive drop off in performance. Most teams believe races will require at least three or four stops for tires, and even then, that may not be enough.
The huge array of controls for the modern F1 car have become even more complicated this season, with the return of KERS and the addition of the movable rear wing. It seems the drivers are split as to whether the controls are an issue. Some say this is to be expected of a driver but other feel that it may pose a danger on the track. We will certainly see soon enough.
2011 Technical Revisions
Farewell to F-ducts and double diffusers
Two of the most overused technical watchwords of the past two seasons will be made redundant next year, as both double diffusers and F-ducts are banned. Indeed any system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited from 2011.
The return of Pirelli
Following Bridgestones decision to withdraw at the end of this season after 13 years, the Italian company will take over as the sports sole tyre supplier from 2011. The Italian company, last part of F1 in 1991, will provide all teams with rubber for the next three years, in compliance with existing F1 sporting and technical regulations.
Adjustable rear wings
Under new moveable bodywork regulations for next season, drivers will be able to adjust the rear wing from the cockpit, with the current moveable front wing due to be dropped. The systems availability is expected to be electronically governed and under initial proposals it would only be activated when a driver is less than one second behind another at pre-determined points on the track.
A comeback for KERS
A badge of honour for some, a bugbear for others on its debut in 2009, KERS is to be reintroduced next season after the teams mutually agreed to suspend its use in 2010. KERS - or Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems - take the waste energy generated under braking and turn it into additional power. This is then made available to the driver in fixed quantities per lap via a steering wheel-mounted boost button.
On top of the laundry list of changes brought on by new and returning tech, this years team launches have raised eyebrows on every fan, technology literate or not. One of the first things to catch peoples attention was Renaults forward exhaust, which has been emulated with little success since its discovery. McLaren surprised people with its L-shaped side pods, which were intended to emulate Le Mans series cars. Williams got everyones admiration with its impossibly neat rear packaging, the envy of every team around. Its fragility, however, remains to be tested.
Just like last year, our humble group of Gaffers will fake-race every race. Register with F1RaceManager.com under our league, NeoGAF, password, gaffers. It's all for fun, of course and the top six members of the top worldwide league will win bragging rights and HATS HATS HATS. We won last year, we can do it again this year. Remember to answer the trivia questions and place bets on the races for extra millions which can make a major difference when starting out for that big boost in standings.
S. L. said:
SEASON WIN-COUNT FINGER STYLE
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- Season summary from Wikipedia
Big thanks to S. L. for the fantastic banners and season win tracking. Like last year, I'll be posting up previews for every upcoming race.
If anyone would like to add to what I've written under each section, feel free to PM me and I'll add it in there. I'll credit you in the bottom of this post.
GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES.
