STATS
Here you will find the winners of each race and what their starting positions were. My opinion of the race at its conclusion will be here as an advance copy of my recap of the last race that usually is at the start of the next article. For World Driver and Constructor Championship standings (see World Championship Sub-Page). Please click on Race Title as a link to the original article published in the “Wine and Food of Formula 1″ series.
NEWEST UPDATES AT END OF PAGE
CONGRATULATIONS TO:
RED BULL RENAULT (AUT) WON FIA WORLD CONSTRUCTOR’S CHAMPIONSHIP
RED BULL RENAULT’S SEBASTIAN VETTEL (GER) BECAME THE YOUNGEST DRIVER TO WIN FIA WORLD DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Race Finish (3/14/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:58.287, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 2nd
2nd Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:59.732, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
3rd Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:59.560, Team: McLaren – Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
4th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 2:00.218, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 1st (Pole)
5th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 2:00.236, Team: Mercedes GP(DEU), Start Position: 5th
6th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 2:00.204, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 7th
7th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:59.970, Team: McLaren – Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 8th
8th Place: Mark Webber (AUT), Fastest Lap: 1:59.487, Team: Red Bull Racing Renault (AUT), Start Position: 6th
9th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:59.906, Team: Force India-Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 12th
10th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:59.833, Team: Williams – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 11th
11th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 2:00.474, Team: Renault(FRA), Start Position: 9th
12th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:59.393, Team: Force India -Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 10th
13th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:59.964, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 18th
14th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 2:01.401, Team: Williams -Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 13th
15th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 2:02.701, Team: Lotus - Cosworth (MAL), Start Position: 21st
16th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 2:00.080, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th.
17th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 2:02.930, Team: Lotus – Cosworth (MAL), Start Position: 20th.
18th Place (did not finish- mechanical): Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 2:01.650, Team: BMW Sauber – Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 14th.
19th Place (did not finish – mechanical): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 2:11.104, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 23rd.
20th Place (did not finish – mechanical): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 2:07.062, Team: Virgin - Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 19th.
21st Place (did not finish – mechanical): Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 2:04.307, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 17th.
22nd Place (did not finish – mechanical): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 2:05.255, Team: BMW Sauber – Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 16th.
23rd Place (did not finish – mechanical): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 2:09.361, Start Position: 22nd.
24th Place (did not finish – mechanical): Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: did not make a full lap, Start Position: 24th.
RECAP:
I personally liked the old rules of refueling when needed and strategy built around pit stops, leaving it up to the teams as to how much fuel they needed at the start and how many pit stops. Now, as all cars start with a full tank and cannot make a pit stop for fuel, it has made the race just a bit less exciting. Let’s hope that the FIA changes this rule while still making refueling safe. I think that the drivers, except perhaps in the back of the pack, will finish the race fairly close to their starting positions in a perfect race. However, there are always problems like a bad pit stop, road conditions, mechanical failure, accidents, or driver error that can change the dynamics of a race. More pit stops and more or less fuel to make the car faster or heavier from the start and throughout the race is only part of what makes the race suspenseful. Now the cars get lighter and lighter as they go, which adds a new element of strategy for the driver and team.
Bahrain was a very good race. Felt sorry for Vettel though, starting in Pole Position, he was leading throughout the race only to have a mechanical problem keep him from winning. He still finished fourth, but I think he was the one to beat at this race. It was nice seeing Michael Schumacher back too. He did very well after a three year absence. The cars have changed quite a bit, as have the tracks, in three years. He has even said that he does not expect to win the championship this year while he gets a feel for the new system. However, he is a competitor first and I have no doubt that he is in this to win, if he does not, it will not be because of driver error in my opinion.
Ferrari is back! Finishing 1st and 2nd, it was nice to see again. Fernando Alonso did very well and Felipe Massa returning after the major crash last year for second place was a pleasure to see as well. It has been the first of nineteen races, there is a long way to go and it is still wide open – anything can happen in this sport.
Race Finish (3/28/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:29:291, Team: McLaren-Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
2nd Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:29.570, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 9th
3rd Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.537, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA) Start Position: 5th
4th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:29.707, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
5th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:28.489, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 6th
6th Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap:1:28.506, Team: McLaren -Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 11th
7th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.685, Team: Force India -Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 13th
8th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.210, Team: Williams – Cosworth , Start Position: 8th
9th Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:28.358, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
10th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:29.185, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 7th
11th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:29.713, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari, Start Position: 17th
12th Place: Pedro de la Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:30.587, Team: BMW Sauber – Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 14th
13th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:33.638, Team: Lotus -Cosworth (MAL), Start Position: 19th
14th Place: Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:35.045, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 24th
15th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:34.230, Team: Virgin – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 21st
16th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:36.607, Team: Virgin – Cosworth, Start Position: 22nd.
17th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:31.556, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 1st.
18th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:43.223, Team: Force India – Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 10th.
19th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:43.132, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 18th.
20th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 2:27.276, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 23rd.
21st Place (did not finish): Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: DNF Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 12th.
22nd Place (did not finish): Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: DNF, Team: Williams – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 15th.
23rd Place (did not finish): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: DNF, Team: BMW Sauber - Ferrari (CHE) Start Position: 16th
24th Place (did not finish): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: DNF, Team: Lotus – Cosworth, Start Position: 20th.
RECAP:
Sebastian Vettel had pole position for the race as he did in Bahrain. Again, he was leading for most of the race, when he had mechanical failure. The Red Bull Team appears to have the fastest cars for this year’s F1 season, but unless they resolve their mechanical issues they will have one very frustrated driver on their hands. There is a chance that Vettel could have won both these races, but we will never know that for sure now. Some say it is just racing, that is true; however, mechanical failure is also “just” preventable too, so they better get their acts together soon. Michael Schumacher, racing for the Petronas Mercedes GP team, had a good starting position despite what some say was blocking in qualifying. However, he had a driver’s nightmare happen on the first lap when Alonso and Button appeared to have a run in and veered into Schumacher causing a bit of an accident. Schumacher however got the worst of it as his front wing was destroyed and had to make a pit stop early in the race to replace it. This pushed him to last place (the 24th position), but he is tough and pushed forward with skill and finesse to finish in 10th place to pick up championship points. Lewis Hamilton also had a great race considering he had a disastrous qualifying round. Because of that he started in the middle of the pack (in the 11th row) to finish in 6th grabbing more points as well.
Mark Webber also had high hopes for at least a podium finish for his native Australia but that did not happen either. As far as Felipe Massa for Ferrari, Australia became his second consecutive podium finish coming in third and coming in second in Bahrain.
Race Finish (4/4/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:37.813, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 3rd
2nd Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:37.054, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 1st
3rd Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:38.129, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 2nd
4th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:38:074, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 6th
5th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:38.160, Team: Force India – Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 4th
6th Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap:1:37.745, Team: McLaren -Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 20th
7th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:37.784, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA) Start Position: 21th
8th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:38.501, Team: McLaren-Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 17th
9th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:39.489, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari, Start Position: 14th
10th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:39.124, Team: Williams – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 5th
11th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:37.610, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 13th
12th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest lap: 1:39.428, Team: Williams – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 7th
13th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:37.231, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 19th
14th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:43.224, Team: Virgin – Cosworth, Start Position: 24th
15th Place: Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:44.790, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
16th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:45.334, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
17th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:44.484, Team: Lotus – Cosworth, Start Position: 18th
18th Place (did not finish – Hydraulics): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:42.701, Team: Lotus -Cosworth (MAL), Start Position: 15th
19th Place (did not finish – Gearbox): Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:40.693, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 11th.
20th Place (did not finish – Throttle): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:42.835, Team: Force India -Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 10th
21st Place (did not finish – Wheel): Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:42.166, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 8th
22nd Place (did not finish – Engine): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:43.405, Team: BMW Sauber - Ferrari (CHE) Start Position: 9th
23rd Place (did not finish – Spinned Out): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:46.388, Team: Virgin – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 16th
24th Place (did not finish – Engine): Pedro de la Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: BMW Sauber – Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 12th
RECAP:
Sebastian Vettel came in first after a lot of frustration with two pole positions for the first two races and failing to take the podium because of mechanical failures. Vettel starting from 3rd position pretty much led throughout the race after over taking his teammate, Mark Webber. This is Vettel’s 1st win of the season and his 6th career win. Mark Webber, coming in second after winning pole position and was over taken by Vettel early and both drivers for the Red Bull team led throughout the race. This is Webber’s 1st podium finish for the 2010 season. With this win the Red Bull team has had five 1-2 finishes for its history. Nico Rosberg for Mercedes GP. Rosberg started in 2nd position. This will be his first podium finish for the 2010 season. I think this is a driver to keep an an out on. He is in the shadow of his teammate for Mercedes GP, Michael Schumacher. He has had better starts and finishes than Schumacher for the last three races and think he will only get better. Luck has not been on Schumacher’s side since coming out of a three year retirement. The last race he had a decent starting position, but was involved in an incident that was not his fault, but took out his front wing and had to pit way too early, pushing him to last place for a bit before his driving ability pushed forward to gain points. This race, he had a wheel problem that took him out of the race. Another driver that I do not think is getting attention that he deserves is Robert Kubica for the Renault team. Having 30 points, he is now within ten points from taking the lead for the world driver’s championship, but he will have to keep up this pace to to stay on pace with Massa in 1st with 39 points, Alonso with 37 points, Vettel with 37 points, Button with 35 points, Rosberg with 35 points, and Hamilton with 31 points.
Qualifying saw a few shockers, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton for McLaren Mercedes were knocked out in the 1st qualifying round and started in the back of the pack, while Jenson Button for McLaren Mercedes was knocked out of the 2nd qualifying round and started in the middle of the starting grid. Button was last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix winner, last year’s world driver’s champion, and was the winner of the last race in the Australian Grand Prix. With this in mind, they all ran a great race. However, Lewis Hamilton showed the driving ability that made him World Driver’s Champion a few years ago. Starting in 20th position, he maneuvered the track well moving up with skill to finish in sixth place.
Race Finish (4/18/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:46:42.163, Team: McLaren-Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap:1:46:43.693, Team: McLaren -Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 6th
3rd Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:46:51.647, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 4th
4th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:46:54.032, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
5th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:47:04.376, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 8th
6th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:47:15.473, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 1st
7th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:47:29.763, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 14th
8th Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:47:34.335, Team: Red Bull Racing – Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
9th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:47:39.959, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA) Start Position: 7th
10th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:47:43.912, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 9th
11th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:47:45.037, Team: Force India – Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 10th
12th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest lap: 1:47:45.828, Team: Williams – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 11th
13th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:47:53.579, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari, Start Position: 12th
14th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1 lap behind, Team: Lotus -Cosworth (MAL), Start Position: 21st
15th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1 lap behind, Team: Williams – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 16th
16th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 2 laps behind, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
17th Place: Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 4 laps behind, Team: HRT – Cosworth (ESP), Start Position: 24th
18th Place (did not finish – Hydraulics): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Lotus – Cosworth, Start Position: 20th
19th Place (did not finish – Clutch): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Virgin – Cosworth, Start Position: 22nd
20th Place (did not finish – Technical): Pedro de la Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: BMW Sauber – Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 17th
21st Place (did not finish – Accident on 1 lap). Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Scuderia Torro Rosso – Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 13th
22nd Place (did not finish – Accident on 1st lap): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: BMW Sauber - Ferrari (CHE) Start Position: 15th
23rd Place (did not finish – Accident on 1st lap): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Force India -Mercedes (IND), Start Position: 18th
24th Place (did not finish – Engine Failure before race): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Virgin – Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 19th
RECAP:
Jenson Button won his second Formula 1 race of this season for McLaren Mercedes. Button was last year’s World Driver’s Champion and with this win, now leads with 60 points for this year.
Lewis Hamilton, Button’s teammate for McLaren Mercedes, and another World Driver’s Champion, ties for 3rd place with Fernando Alonso for Ferrari with 49 points each.
Nico Rosberg, I mentioned in the article itself as the driver to watch, now is in 2nd place for World Driver’s Championship with 50 points after this race.
With the 1-2 finish by McLaren Mercedes, they now lead the World Constructor’s Championship with 109 points. Also, with this win, it is the first time in more than 44 races the team has had a 1-2 finish.
It was also a very good day for Great Britain as the team and both drivers are from there! Congratulations.
Before the race even started there was an engine failure of the Virgin-Cosworth driven by Timo Glock and never started the race. Then the race started with both Sebastian Vettel (on pole) and his Red Bull Renault teammate, Mark Webber (starting from 2nd) had a terrible start and were quickly overtaken by Fernando Alonso for Ferrari. Alonso was under investigation by the stewards for a false start, but it did not go anywhere. Then on the first lap an accident between Buemi, Kobayashi, and Liuzzi. This brought out the yellow flag and the safety car (a Mercedes SLS AMG!) for a lap or two. Buemi, Kobayashi, and Liuzzi were out of the race.
There was a lot of excitement in this race as there was a threat of rain at every turn. It saw a lot of pitting for change of tires and therefore lots of changes in position. Vettel and Webber never got their bearings again and the fight for first was first throughout the race. Rosberg took the lead for many laps before being overtaken by Hamilton and Button. It did rain for most of the race, coming down heavy at times, but not enough to stop the race. This race had a lot of inquires, from the start, but all were pretty much handled during the race with one exception, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were leaving Pit Lane when it appeared that Hamilton sped up and veered his car into restricted areas. As of this writing, the stewards were going to investigate this after the race and make a decision as quickly as they could. It is through the grapevine that if there is a penalty at all, it will probably not affect the race results. I guess that is still to be seen. Once Button and Hamilton passed by Rosberg it was pretty much the finish of the race. Rosberg fell behind from what appeared to be a slide off track from the rain. This race was what Formula 1 racing is all about. Great driving, excitement, strategy, close finishes, and excellent coverage on Sports Channel’s part.
Although the economy is affecting even China, this race saw one of the largest turnouts in attendance. The Chinese love Michael Schumacher (just about as much as they love Ferrari his old team) and most came out to see him race again. Schumacher continues to be frustrated though. His return after three years is seeing him in championship points and with respectable finishes over some of the younger drivers. I just think the three year absence is taking its toll. He is very patient and so should we with his performance to date. He has said he did not expect to win many races this year, but teams are more impatient now and unlike when Schumacher was with Ferrari, teams are changing drivers without much of a chance to grow with a team. Schumacher is also very competitive and although he says he holds expectations down, I have a feeling he wants at least a podium finish this year!
UPDATED 4/25/10: As expected, the stewards did not penalize Hamilton and Vettel for the pit row incident with more than what came to a slap on the wrist.
Race Finish (5/9/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:24.828, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:24.846, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 4th
3rd Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:25.176, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
4th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:25.529, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 6th
5th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:25.166, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
6th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:25.497 , Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 9th
7th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:25.845, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 11th
8th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:25.466, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 7th
9th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:25.728, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 17th
10th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:25.655, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th
11th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:25.470, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 19th
12th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:26.083, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE), Start Position: 10th
13th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:25.455, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 8th
14th Place (DNF crash on final lap, blown tire or rim failure TBD): Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:24.357, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 3rd
15th Place (DNF mechanical problem last lap): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:25.924, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 16th
16th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:26.863, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 13th
17th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.564, Team: HRT – Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 18th
18th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:29.776, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 22nd
19th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.904, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 23rd
20th Place (did not finish 42nd lap): Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:26.724, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 14th
21st Place (did not finish 27th lap). Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:32.014, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
22nd Place (did not finish 18th lap): Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:30.411, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 12th
23rd Place (did not finish 1st lap): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 21st
24th Place (Did Not Start Race – Mechanical): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 20th
RECAP:
Mark Webber (1st). His first Formula 1 win of this season for Red Bull Renault. This is Webber’s third career F1 victory. Started from Pole position and led throughout the race and at times among the fastest laps. Webber, with this win, is currently in 4th place with 53 World Driver’s Champion points for this year. Webber, along with his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, have had the most first row starts this season so far.
Fernando Alonso (2nd). Got a bit lucky. Drivers ahead allowed their leads to escape from them for one reason or another. Nonetheless, being patient is also a strategy that paid off as he kept focused on the race and did not make any major mistakes. He was definitely the Spanish crowd’s favorite. They acted as if he won the race! But, he is from Spain and the crowd loved him, as much as they love Ferrari too. Alonso had a great start for Ferrari with a win the first race of the season in Bahrain. He has kept in the points and did have three podium finishes out of five starts. He is now second, so far, for World Driver’s Champion with 67 points, only 3 points from Jenson Button who currently leads in points.
Sebastian Vettel (3rd). This must be a very frustrating time for Vettel. He has one of the fastest cars on the circuit, has started from pole position several times and along with his teammate, Mark Webber, has started from the front row more than any other driver. He has had mechanical failures in several races robbing him of a better position and this race was no different. He still manages podium wins and is currently in 3rd place with 60 points for World Driver’s Championship, only 3 points behind Alonso and 10 points behind Button. The season is still young, so there is plenty of time for problems to be corrected, but I guess what I am saying is, there should not be this level of mechanical problems at Red Bull Renault. They have an excellent driver in Vettel and it is their error not driver error keeping the team from being in first place in championship points, this is my opinion of course.
Before the race started there was a problem with Heikki Kovalainen car with Lotus and was pulled into the pits and did not start. The race started well with Webber taking the lead from his pole position and holding first place throughout the race.
One of the biggest surprises of the race came in the final lap when Lewis Hamilton had what appeared to be at first a blown tire sending him crashing into the wall. Some said that it was actually a rim failure and he could have made the podium if this did not happen. Because this was the last lap, he still came in 14th place and he also had the fastest lap of the day at 1:24.357.This was too bad, he was racing very well.
The aero improvements made to most of the cars had its impact. Among some changes made:
Mercedes GP. Mainly to Schumacher’s car and it was to his liking, see below. They brought in a longer wheel base, massive air boxes in rear of car, and a new F-duct, which interrupts the airflow to the rear wing and reduces drag on the straights, to name a few. Red Bull Renault and McLaren has new front and rear wings, among other things. Scuderia Ferrari, has a newer engine and driver controlled F-ducts. Sauber-Ferrari has some minor changes and the new F-Duct; they also picked up a sponsor, Burger King. Other teams had similar improvements from diffusers, brake ducts, engine covers, rear floor, etc. Formula One racing sees some of the most technological advances made to their cars and often in season. These changes were made for better stabilization, down force, maneuverability especially in cornering, among other things.
The most exciting thing to watch throughout the race was a battle between seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, coming out of a three year retirement, and two time World Champion Jenson Button when Schumacher passed Button in the 17th lap. Schumacher was definitely using strategy and implementing its tactics. This can only come from patience, experience, and loads of knowledge. Button, wanting to pass Schumacher was having a very difficult time doing so. Button’s McLaren is faster than Schumacher’s, even though both engines are Mercedes. Because of this Schumacher made this deficit up in his precise cornering ability and experience. Many thought that Schumacher should have let Button by, say what? This is racing folks and the hard truth is they are out to win. More importantly Schumacher’s teammate, Nico Rosberg had a terrible start and was faltering throughout the race and would not make needed points in this race. Was Schumacher supposed to let another team win, no. He wanted championship points, not only for himself, but also for his team. It was fun to watch. Schumacher won over Button, taking 4th place, because he did a better job during this race than Button. The next race could be different, this is F1.
Word is circulating that Robert Kubica (POL), currently racing for Renault, and Ferrari have signed an option. If this is true, then he could be racing for Ferrari in 2011 or 2012. I heard of this over a month ago, from all places a Facebook friend from Poland, but at the time it appeared that Ferrari was off to a great start and with Massa doing well after a terrible accident last year, that the only way Massa would go is if he wanted it, perhaps because of complications from his accident. Now, Massa has not been doing that well from race to race although, he still keeps in championship points for himself and his team. Word is that it would be Massa that would be the driver to go, as Alonso is doing better. I also heard the Massa’s contract is up as well, so we will see how this goes. I will report anything concrete.
Race Finish (5/16/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:15.318, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:15.192, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 3rd
3rd Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:15.352, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 2nd
4th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:15.503, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 4th
5th Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:16.219, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
6th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:15.905, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 24th
7th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:15.959, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 6th
8th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:15.963, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 12th
9th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:16.142, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 10th
10th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:16.493, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 13th
11th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:16.381, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 17th
12th Place (See below – finished 7th but passed Alonso final lap still under safety car rules, was penalized and placed 12th): Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:15.580, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 7th
13th Place (DNF breakdown 73rd lap): Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:16.405, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 14th
14th Place (DNF crash on 70th lap): Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:19.553, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
15th Place (DNF crash on 70th lap): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:19.340, Team: HRT – Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 19th
16th Place (DNF break down 58th lap): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:18.401, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 18th
17th Place (DNF break down 58th lap): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:20.130, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
18th Place (DNF Crash on 30th lap): Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:19.074, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 9th
19th Place: (DNF break down 26th lap) Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:18.775, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE), Start Position: 16th
20th Place (DNF break down 25th lap): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:22.255, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
21st Place (DNF break down 22nd lap). Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:20.775, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 20th
22nd Place (DNF break down 21st lap): Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:19.270, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 15th
23rd Place (DNF break down 2nd lap): Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 2:14.285, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 8th
24th Place (DNF crash 1st lap): Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 11th
RECAP:
1st Place - Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault. There he goes again! Started race from the Pole and led the race from start to finish and at times with some of the fastest laps of the day. This is Webber’s second win for this season and his fourth career victory. He ties for first place, with his teammate Sebastian Vettel, for the World Driver’s Championship with 78 points.
2nd - Sebastian Vettel (Germany) for Red Bull Renault. He started in third position, but there would be no stopping him from taking second to finish. He now ties Mark Webber for first place for the World Driver’s Championship with 78 points.
3rd Place – Robert Kubica (Poland) for Renault. He started in 2nd position in the first row. He is now in 6th place (tied with Lewis Hamilton) for the World Driver’s Championship with 59 points. This is Kubica’s second podium finish of the season as he came in second in Australia.
This was the second 1-2 finish for the Red Bull Renault team for the season (the first was in Malaysia). This team has either sat on pole position or in second position on the first row for the start of every race this season so far. The teammates and team have shared the podium now three times for the season. I would say they are currently dominating the other teams and drivers; however, there are thirteen races left so it is still too early.
This race is also a shout out to Renault engines, although different teams, all three podium finishes were with Renault engines.
The race started well with Webber taking the lead from his pole position with his teammate, Sebastian Vettel starting in 3rd passing Robert Kubica who starting in second. Then during the first lap the yellow flag came out and safety car on the track as there was a single car crash on the exit of the tunnel by Nico Hulkenberg in his Williams. Looked pretty nasty, but he was fine, the car though was not and he was out of the race. During this time, Fernando Alonso pitted for new tires, which would end up being a very good move by Ferrari.
While the safety car was still out, on lap 3, Jenson Button, last year’s World Driver’s Champion and Monaco GP winner, had smoke coming out of his car in what appeared to be a blown engine, I am not a mechanic however. He was out of the race after this. There was some talk that a mechanic for the McLaren team left “something” inside the car that should have been taken out prior to the race causing the engine to overheat. If that is the case, “although these things happen” that crew member will have a very long trip home in silence with the team I bet!
The safety car was out to the 6th lap. From this lap through about the 29th lap, Alonso was doing some great driving. As I put in my last article on Monaco, under the starting positions, I said that Alonso had an accident in early morning practice and did not make the qualification rounds and therefore started the race in 24th position, the very last position. He systematically maneuvered his way up to sixth, in my opinion, brilliantly. He also pitted early under safety for new tires that would take him through the end of the race.
Around the 31st lap the safety car came back on the track again. Rubens Barrichello had a single car incident and crashed into a wall and had his car turnaround practically in the middle of the course. It appeared the car went over something but was hard to tell. However, after the safety car left the track at about lap 34, the safety car came back on again at lap 43. It turns out that there was a loose drain cover on the road where Barrichello crashed, but it did not appear to be anything so the safety car went back in. On lap 74, only two laps before the end of the race, there was another terrifying incident. Jarno Trulli’s Lotus went over the car driven by Karun Chandhok with the HRT team. Chandhok was holding his head, but appeared to be alright thankfully. Both cars were taken out, but this incident caused the safety car out again up to right before the end of the race at lap 78.
As the safety car pulled in, and it was not clear if it was still under safety and/or yellow flag conditions, some teams thought that they were still under safety while others did not. This is important because something happened toward the finish line when Michael Schumacher, who was in seventh place, passed Alonso for sixth position. Schumacher’s team Mercedes GP either gave Schumacher the green light to pass or chose to do so on his own, it was not clear. Under safety rules, a car is not allowed to pass another car on the final lap and all cars must maintain their positions, but was it in safety or was Alonso over the safety car line before Schumacher passed him?
Well, as of this writing after the race, the stewards have penalized Schumacher and the Mercedes GP team by adding time and pushing Schumacher from seventh (or would that be sixth?) to 12th. This also caused Schumacher and his team valuable championship points as well. However, it is still not over, as of this writing, as the Mercedes GP team plan to appeal the decision. Right now you have Mercedes vs. Ferrari as far as differences of opinion on the rules. Ferrari thought that it was still under safety and therefore told their drivers not to pass. Mercedes on the other hand, believe that the race was once again active after the safety car pulled in. The question is, was there a yellow or green light at the end of the race or is it more complex than that, under the hundreds of pages of rules and regs? Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team boss and longtime friend and associate of Schumacher, believes he is correct. The F1 circuit can be a bit of a soap opera at times as most of its characters have a history. In this case, one of the four stewards is former race car driver Damon Hill. There is no love lost between these two since 1994 when there was a collision between the two that caused Hill to lose championship points and ultimately made Schumacher World Champion Driver that year. Alonso and Schumacher also have a history and no love loss there either from an incident in Monaco during qualifying, of which Schumacher was penalized.
Mercedes GP has 48 hours to lodge their appeal, so we will see. Check back here for any new information. Otherwise, any final resolution (outcome changed or not) will be reported in the next article on the Turkey Grand Prix under “Recap of Prior Race”
UPDATED 5/18/2010 REGARDING SCHUMACHER MATTER MENTIONED ABOVE: Mercedes GP decided to not appeal the stewards decision at this time for what they say is the good of racing, whatever that means! The good of racing is doing the right thing no matter what. However, Damon Hill, Schumacher’s long time nemesis and was one of the stewards, was receiving death threats if you want to believe that. It appears to be a rather nasty situation no matter what side is right. So with that, maybe it was best to let the decision stay. There are still some out there that are saying it is not quite over yet. Hmmm, we will see.
UPDATED 5/20/2010 SCHUMACHER MATTER. The governing body of Formula One, the FIA, has announced that the last lap safety car rule is confusing and therefore needs to be changed. Wonder if they will also revise their ruling of the 20 sec penalty on Schumacher and the Mercedes GP team? Hold your breath? NOT!
All in all Monaco was a great race, not the fastest, but certainly exciting and full of intrigue, as usual.
Other news items after the last race:
NEWS: With Bridgestone tires perhaps pulling out from Formula One, this has opened the door to other possibilities. For one, Michelin brought up an idea for F1 to go from their 13” rim tires to 18”. Now this is good and bad. The teams will have to redesign their cars for this which will cost them a pretty penny. In these economic times, it is hard to see what impact this could have. However, this will also bring the cars more into line with consumer cars and this would mean more tire companies would advertise as well. This new tire vendor could be announced by the next race or longer. At this time, it is hard to say if Bridgestone would be interested again in if F1 moves to make the rims wider, more in tune to what consumers would order, or not. Tire manufacturers interested so far are: Pirelli, Michelin, and Cooper Avon, and perhaps Bridgestone if the rim redesign is implemented.
NEWS: 5/25/2010 – UNITED STATES F1 FANS WILL HAVE GRAND PRIX ON HOME TURF FOR NEXT 10 YEARS!!! Austin, Texas won the bid to build a brand new facility for F-1 and eventually other forms of motor sports. With 2012 as the first race, this will be welcome to racing fans in the US. The US market trails other countries for their love of F1, mainly because it is never to be found here and even in season, most of the races televised live from other countries are usually on too early in the morning to see live, plus there are no American personalites in this sport like a team or driver. This will be an exciting move. There was speculation that Upstate New York was bidding for 2012 as well. As of this writing though, it is not confirmed if this is still a possibility of an addtional US circuit. Now, that an F1 race is coming to the US, perhaps we can get a team and/or driver too!
Race Finish (5/30/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:30.075, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 2
2nd Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:29.895, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
3rd Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:29.195, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
4th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:29.810, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 5th
5th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:29.977, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 6th
6th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:29.580, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 7th
7th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.996, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 8th
8th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:30.011, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 12th
9th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:29.959, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 11th
10th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:30.891, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE), Start Position: 10th
11th Place: Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:30.421, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 13th
12th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:29.535, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
13th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:31.421, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 18th
14th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:30.933, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 15th
15th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:29.165, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 9th
16th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:29.588, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 14th
17th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:30.320, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 17th
18th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:32.265, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
19th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:33.257, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 23rd
20th Place (did not finish on 52nd lap): Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:34.585, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
21st Place (did not finish on 46th lap): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:34.247, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
22nd Place (did not finish crash 39th lap): Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:30.181 , Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 3rd
23rd Place (did not finish on 33rd lap): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:34.363, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 20th
24th Place (did not finish on 32nd lap): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:34.463, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 19th
RECAP:
1st Place – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) for McLaren Mercedes. This is Hamilton’s first win of the season and his third podium finish.
2nd – Jenson Button (Great Britain) for McLaren Mercedes. This is Button’s third podium finish.
3rd Place – Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault. This was Webber’s 4th podium finish, his 4th start from pole, and his 6th start from 1st row – more than any other driver.
This was a bad day for Mark Webber and Red Bull Renault. None of us, including him, could say that he would have won for sure, but his teammate Sebastian Vettel tried to pass him mid race and crashed into Webber. Webber maintained composure, but was then put into third. Vettel “retired” from the race. As mentioned above, Webber has started from pole this season four times, he has started from 1st row six times (out of seven races to date), and has had four podium finishes, proving that this 33 year old driver is showing his mettle. I have mentioned in past articles how frustrated Vettel must be at how things are going and was backing him up quite a bit as most of his woes have been mechanical. However, with this race the damage caused was because of driver error and impatience in my opinion, not anything else.
Race car drivers are not like the rest of us. They risk their lives for a sport and they do so because they love it, every part of it. This makes them who they are, the good, the bad and the ugly. There are some egos, of course, and it is when this gets in the way is when racing accidents caused by driver error can happen. Vettel is not egotistic, in my opinion, instead he was going into this season as the golden boy of Red Bull Renault because of his crafty and speed oriented driving from past seasons that many were comparing him to Michael Schumacher. For Webber’s part, many thought he was the man on the bubble at risk of not returning to Red Bull next season despite the fact that he was doing well. So when Vettel started this season taking pole position three times it was expected that he was going to win these races. When this failed to happen, Vettel no doubt became very agitated at this turn of events and on top of this, the Red Bull Renault team had the fastest cars on the circuit.
So far, Vettel has had only one win, one second, and one third place out of seven races this season. All drivers want to win, but when a driver tries to overtake his teammate leading the race that wants to win as well, most often it will end badly without team cooperation and approval. Webber could have won his third straight win putting him way ahead in championship points over the other drivers (he now has a slim lead of 5 points). With a win by Webber and a second (or even a third) by Vettel this would have secured an advantage for Red Bull Racing Renault in Constructor’s Championship points as well. Plus if Vettel came in 2nd or 3rd he would have gained championship points and perhaps would have been the second highest in points after Webber. However, tomorrow is just another day and in racing things can change quickly with twelve more races to go. Hope Vettel can recoup and move forward, he certainly has the skills to do so.
While Red Bull Renault was having a soap opera of a day, the McLaren team benefited. With two World Driver’s Champions as teammates, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, these drivers drove with a lot of skill and speed. Next to the Red Bull Renault team, McLaren has the fastest cars on the circuit right now, much to the angst of the other teams and drivers, including Ferrari. Hamilton came out in second position at the start of the race, but Vettel caught him early and there was a race for second between these two drivers for most of the race up to when Vettel crashed into his teammate. Hamilton lucked out when this happened and from third place, he was now the new leader. Prior to this, there was another battle between Button and Michael Schumacher for fourth place but Button was finally able to pass Schumacher with a faster car. So when the Vettel/Webber incident happened, Button went from fourth to second. Webber maintained his composure was able to keep his car on the road despite the accident, but was now in third place ahead of Schumacher.
Even after the Vettel accident, you would think that another team would not want to make a similar mistake. WRONG! Button from second was challenging his own teammate, Hamilton, who was now leading the race and in fact clipped one another. Button was able to pass Hamilton briefly, but Hamilton wanted no part of that and fought back, won the challenge, and retook first place. This gave Hamilton his first win and third podium finish of the season and gave Button his third podium finish (including two prior wins this season). This was also McLaren’s second 1-2 finish of the season so far.
NOTES:
1. It is interesting that Button and Hamilton have not had a 1st row start all season.
2. Even though McLaren has had two 1-2 two finishes this season to date, Red Bull Renault with Webber and Vettel have had two 1-2 finishes to date this season as well (could have been three perhaps?).
3. Red Bull Renault has had a front row start in all seven races so far.
4. Do not think that this is the way Ferrari wanted to celebrate their glorious history’s 800th racing start. They have not been doing very well this season. Only one start from 1st row at the first race in Bahrain with Felipe Massa, one win in that race with Fernando Alonso, and only three team podium finishes so far. Is this a pattern? Started out well, but something is happening with the fierce stallion. Both drivers and the team need to get it together, there is still time. Hopefully, they will solve their problems or is this why they are looking into other drivers? Something amiss that is for sure.
Race Finish (6/13/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:17.806, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 1
2nd Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:18.144, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
3rd Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:18.207, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
4th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1.:18.417, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd (please see below, after qualifying yesterday he was in 3rd position on the 2nd row, however Webber was penalized for the team’s change out of the gear box, so all drivers moved up 1 position from the 5th position up)
5th Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:18.148, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 7th (had won 2nd position in 1st row, but they changed a gear box and was penalized 5 positions and therefore started in 7th position in the 4th row).
6th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:17.832, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 10th
7th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:16.972, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 8th
8th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:19.784, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th
9th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:19.349, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 5th
10th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:19.530, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 9th
11th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:19.577, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 13th
12th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:19.842, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
13th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:18.912, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 12th
14th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:19.175, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 11th
15th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:18.325, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 6th
16th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:20.654, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 19th
17th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:19.453, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 14th
18th Place: Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:21.884, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
19th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:21.937, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 23rd
20th Place (did not finish on 50th lap): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:21.669, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 20th
21st Place (did not finish on 42nd lap): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:20.791, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 19th
22nd Place (did not finish 30th lap): Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:20.574, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 17th
23rd Place (did not finish on 13th lap): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:24.524, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
24th Place (did not finish on 1st lap): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: did not complete a lap, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE), Start Position: 18th
RECAP:
From the start there was a run in between Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Force India and Felipe Massa in his Ferrari, both needed pit stops for repairs and went to the back of the pack. Next on the 2nd lap a collision with a wall caused an early retirement for Kamui Kobayashi and his Sauber-Ferrari. Mark Webber in his Red Bull Renault starting from 7th, instead of the 2nd spot because of the penalty for a new gear box, overtook Jensen Button for 4th place around lap 4. With Lewis Hamilton leading for McLaren, Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Renault was breathing down his neck and Vettel took the lead for awhile, with Webber in 2nd position when Hamilton took his pit stop, along with Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari. Actually while Hamilton was in pit lane and after the Red Bull team in 1st and 2nd, on lap 9, Michael Schumacher for Mercedes GP was in third with Vitaly Petrov for Renault was in 4th. However, Vettel, Webber, Schumacher, or Petrov have not gone in for their pit stops yet at that point. Hamilton out of pit lane was battling Alonso for 5th (they had an earlier run in coming out of the pits). Both Red Bulls pitted in the 15th lap and this seemed to change momentum.
After this, there were several changes in 1st and 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and so on until it reached a bit of stabilization. The Red Bull team were having several problems with tires and had to pit more than they hoped and in fact at one point, you could see the rubber coming off Webber’s tires that he needed to slow down and therefore allowed passing by other cars. It was not long after all cars made their pits once, some twice, that Hamilton was once again in the lead, followed by his teammate Button in 2nd. The race then was for third with Alonso, Vettel, and Webber, of which that race was won by Alonso, with Vettel 4th and Webber 5th. Liuzzi had his best finish all season so far coming in 5th (this was a brilliant piece of racing too), and with all the mishaps for Massa (from what I could tell none were his fault) he came in 6th with some brilliant racing too.
This was Hamilton’s 2nd consecutive win for the season and was Button’s second consecutive 2nd place, making this 1-2 for McLaren the 3rd time this season. Hamilton also seems to like the Montreal course as this was his third career pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix and his 18th career pole position.
All I can say, is this was great racing. It keeps getting better and better too with each race as some drivers and teams are getting into their groove, so to speak.
NOTES AND RUMORS:
1. Karun Chandhok (IND), for HRT F1 Team (ESP) could be at risk of not returning next season. Like rainmakers are for business and law firms, bringing with them clients and income to the firms they are hired at, a race car driver can often play this role as well in needed funding, especially for a team still in start up. In this case, Chandhok had commitments of over $5 million from various Indian corporate backers and they have not been able to deliver so far. He has not faired very well this season either. Chandhok, is also the only driver now racing, that has family living in Texas, the home of the new F1 racing circuit for 2012 in Austin.
2. This was the first race this season where Red Bull Renault did not have a driver in pole position. However, Mark Webber qualified 2nd putting him in the first row with Sebastian Vettel, his teammate, in third in the second row. This was the 8th straight race were Red Bull Renault had a driver starting in the first row. Even with the penalty mentioned above, putting Webber back in the fourth row because the team had to switch out the gear box (cannot make changes to the cars after they are qualified without penalty), Vettel was moved up to 2nd position in the first row.
Race Finish (6/27/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:39.141, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:39.156, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 3rd
3rd Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:38. 766, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 7th
4th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:39.489, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 9th
5th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:39.542, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 6th
6th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:39.803, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 13th
7th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:39.517, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE), Start Position: 18th
8th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:39.889, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 4th
9th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:40.084, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 11th
10th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:39.878, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 12th
11th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:40.208, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 5th
12th Place: Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:40.430, Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 16th
13th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:40.327, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 17th
14th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:40.100, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 10th
15th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:38.968, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 15th
16th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:40.305, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 14th
17th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:42.414, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
18th Place: Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:43.820, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
19th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:42.319, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 22nd
20th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:42.927, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
21st Place (DNF – ): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:41.770, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 19th
22nd Place (DNF on 49th lap – mechanical): Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:40.790, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 8th
23rd Place (DNF on 8th lap Crash): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:46.130, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 20th
24th Place (DNF on 8th lap Crash): Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:44.064, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
RECAP:
Team domination. This will mark Red Bull Renault’s 4th win. McLaren already has 4 wins for the season as well. This means of the nine races so far, it has been between Red Bull Renault and McLaren bringing home the wins.
There has been only one race of the nine so far won by a team other than McLaren or Red Bull Renault and that was in the first race of the season in Bahrain where the win went to Ferrari with Fernando Alonso taking the win.
From the start there was plenty of excitement. Vettel took the lead from the pole position barely, with Hamilton taking second over Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber who started in 3rd place. It was actually an unusually terrible start for Webber as Hamilton’s move pushed him back to 9th place on the first lap where he was battling Heikki Kovalainen for position. Michael Schumacher had a very nice start moving up four positions to 11th place from his terrible starting position after a not so great qualification the day before. Fernando Alonso, now in 3rd. Not much change happened from the 2nd lap to the 8th lap.
On the 8th lap, a horrific accident between Mark Webber for Red Bull Renault and Heikki Kovalainen for Lotus happened (see video below). In what appeared to be Kovalainen trying to be a nice guy, he moved over for the faster Webber but both cars actually took the same path. When Webber went to pass, this is when his front end clipped Kovalainen. This flew Webber up into the air like a rocket at take off and landing upside down, flipping over, then into a wall. Webber the trouper that he is just got out of the car and acted like nothing happened! He has had some experience in horrific crashes though. In his earlier days as a driver, and before F1, he was racing in the 24 hour LeMans when his car took a similar lift off and landed over an embankment. He came out of that one just fine too and this was before many of the safety measures were implemented – so this guy is tough as nails. When you see the video below, this will give you some idea how dangerous this sport really is and how light these cars actually are. Unfortunately though, this accident took Webber out of the race as well as Kovalainen. The safety car came out and there was a mad rush by most all of the teams to the pits for tire changes. A few stayed behind however, most notable Schumacher and Kamui Kobayashi.
On lap 12, while the safety car was still on the track, Schumacher was called in for his pit stop. On his way out of a really good pit stop, he was met with a red light (meaning to come to a stop before leaving the pit lane). This went on, as timing is everything, because the safety car was still on the track but did not pass pit lane yet and because of this, there is a rule that states that no cars can leave pit lane ahead of the safety car. This was just bad strategy on the part of the Mercedes GP team and this put Schumacher all the way back to 24th – last place. The safety car came in on the 16th lap when Alonso came in for a pit stop, as did his teammate Felipe Massa, both for Ferrari, when Alonso came out of pit lane he was now in 9th and Massa in 17th.
After his pit stop, Alonso cried foul and claimed that Hamilton jumped past the safety car earlier in the race and claimed he stuck by the rules while still in 3rd place and did not pass. The stewards reviewed his complaint and found that Hamilton was wrong and deserved a drive through penalty (this is going through pit lane at the required reduced speed through the pits), this would normally have caused Hamilton to drop at least 4-5 positions, from his 2nd place position he was in, once completed. However, low and behold, it appeared that Hamilton has a bit of blooming luck as he was so much faster than Kobayashi who was in 3rd place. Kobayashi, who still did make a pit stop yet, was holding off Jenson Button for third place and was slower as well. The result was that Kobayashi did not pass pit lane by the time Hamilton came out. Therefore, there was no change in position and Hamilton still held 2nd. This in essence meant that this penalty imposed on Hamilton had no affect, except perhaps in needed time to catch Vettel for first. This made Alonso furious! But, I say those are the brakes – so to speak, this was the stewards call. Other cars also appeared to be guilty driving too fast behind the safety car earlier and they were being investigated with a penalty to be imposed, if found guilty, after the race. These drivers included: Button, Kubica, Liuzzi, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, Petrov, Sutil, di La Rosa, and Buemi. On the 51st lap, Nico Hulkenberg had mechanical failure and his car came to a complete stop. This was unfortunate as he was in position to gain more championship points and was racing one of his best races of this season.
After the race, the stewards did find the nine drivers above guilty of driving too fast under safety and they were all imposed time penalties. This did have some affect on the outcome for a few in championship points, but did not change Button’s position. His fastest speed left enough room for the penalty to not change his position from 3rd place. When all was said and done, it was a fantastic race and Kobayashi never did make a pit stop which was amazing – the Sauber team should be very proud of that and his driving his best race of the season.
British Grand Prix 2010Race Finish (7/11/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:32.364, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:32.758, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
3rd Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:32.952, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 5th.
4th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:33.003, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 14th
5th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:33.615, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 8th
6th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:33.558, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 12th
7th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:31.967, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
8th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:34.337, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 11th
9th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:34.171, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 10th
10th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:33.989, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 13th
11th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:34.018, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 20th
12th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:32.980, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
13th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:32.484, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 15th
14th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:30.874, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
15th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:31.646, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 7th
16th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:36.519, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 21st
17th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:36.251, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 18th
18th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:36.415, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 19th
19th Place: Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:38.798, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
20th Place: Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), replacing Bruno Senna (BRA) for this race, Fastest Lap: 1:38.309, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
21st Place (DNF – 44th lap spun out – retired): Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:33.748, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 17th
22nd Place (DNF on 29th lap – mechanical): Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:35.883 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 9th
23rd Place (DNF on 19th lap – mechanical): Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:36,846, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 6th
24th Place (DNF on 9th lap – mechanical ): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:40.641, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 22nd
Recap:
1st Place – Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault. This is Webber’s 3rd win for this season. He started in 2nd position and quickly overtook his teammate Vettel for 1st and there was no stopping him from that point forward. It is Webber’s 5th podium finish of the season. Webber is now in 3rd place with 128 World Driver’s Championship points. Great driving and the man is on mission.
2nd Place – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) for McLaren Mercedes. This is Hamilton’s 6th podium finish of the season. He started from 4th position and he and Webber were one-two for most of the race. Hamilton also showed his great driving skills today, with this 2nd place finish, he gathered enough championship points to maintain his lead for the FIA World Driver’s Championship with 145 points.
3rd Place – Nico Rosberg (Germany) for Mercedes GP. This is Rosberg’s 3rd podium finish of the season. He is now in 6th place for the World Driver’s Championship with 90 points.
As mentioned, Mark Webber was a man on a mission after learning that the higher ups at Red Bull Renault wanted his teammate Sebastian Vettel’s car to be upgraded with a new front wing for better aero results, but not his racing car. Vettel had pole position going into the race with Webber in 2nd starting position. When the race started Webber took the lead from Vettel and as Vettel tried to take the lead from Webber, he went off course and busted his tire while doing so. Vettel had to pit and left it in 24th place (last). Vettel did some great driving though to end the race in 7th place, but it was Webber that won and I am sure he is very pleased sending Red Bull Renault yet another message.
Some other great driving, Jenson Button (GBR) for McLaren (GBR) finished in 4th place coming from 14th starting the race after a terrible qualifying round the day before, he is still in second place in championship points. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) for Sauber-Ferrari (CHE) is also picking up his game starting in 12th position to finish in the points in 6th place. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) for Force India (IND) also had a great race starting in 20th and finishing in 11th. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) for Williams-Cosworth (GBR) is also having better races as time goes by. Michael Schumacher (Germany) for Mercedes GP however, continues to decline a bit but is still in the game. He has finished most races with championship points accumulated for him and his team.
Nico Rosberg racing for Mercedes GP, still continues to do very well coming in 3rd for the third time this season so far. He also continues to be under the radar, while other drivers from other teams, as well as his own teammate Michael Schumacher get more air and print time, he has been racing very well. He is also very patient for his age and I have never seen him do anything crazy that would put him or his team at risk of losing points, at least not yet. As mentioned in prior articles, he is a driver to watch and as he gains more and more experience we should see more podium finishes, if not wins, barring any mechanical issues.
As far as team domination for the starting grid and pole position, this goes to Red Bull Renault. In nine of the ten races so far this season one of the two drivers won pole position in qualifying for the race. Sebastian Vettel has had pole position five times and Mark Webber four times. Both Red Bull Renault drivers have had either pole or the second position on the first row for all ten races. Another stat, Red Bull can also claim both drivers starting in the first row together four times. This really is amazing. However, tell that to the McLaren team as Hamilton and Button have finished 1-2 or in 1st or 2nd more often and this is why the drivers and constructor are leading in championship points. This could have been a different outcome had there been less in-fighting and some mechanical issues in several races by the Red Bull Renault team.
German Grand Prix 2010Race Finish (7/25/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:15.880, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 2nd
2nd Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:16.097, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
3rd Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:15.824, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
4th Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:16.503, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 6th
5th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:16.451, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
6th Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:16.678, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 4th
7th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:17.166, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 7th
8th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:16.609, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 9th.
9th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:17.088, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 11th
10th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:17.198, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 13th
11th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:17.100, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 12th
12th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:17.029, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 8th
13th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:16.836, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 10th
14th Place: Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:16.527 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 14th
15th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:16.971, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th
16th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:16.596, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 21st
17th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:16.687, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 19th
18th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:18.211, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 23rd
19th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA) for this race, Fastest Lap: 1:20.861, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 20th
20th Place (DNF – mechanical 56th lap): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:20.664, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 18th
21st Place (DNF – mechanical 50th lap): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:20.703, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 24th
22nd Place (DNF –on 19th lap retired from earlier incident with teammate): Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), replacing Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:23.541, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
23rd Place (DNF – mechanical 3rd lap): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 2:14.452, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 17th
24th Place (DNF on 1st lap – from incident with teammate): Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
Race Recap
1st Place –Fernando Alonso for Ferrari.
2nd Place – Felipe Massa (Brazil) for Ferrari.
3rd Place – Sebastian Vettel (Germany) for Red Bull Renault.
I find it a disgusting part of the sport when there are two drivers running neck to neck for position and the team interferes. What I mean by this is that throughout the race Massa was leading Alonso, his Ferrari teammate for first. Alonso is a two time driver’s champion and is leading in points over Massa this season. It is also Alonso’s first season with Ferrari and Massa was the so called number one driver for the team going into this season. Massa, driving for Ferrari, suffered from what many thought would be career ending head injuries last season in a crash in last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. He fought back and came back to driving for Ferrari for this season.
For this race Massa was driving very well and was not going to let his teammate by without a fight as he wanted a win for himself. However, any points he would gain winning this race would only take from Alonso’s points in his quest for another championship. At this point, as far as the Constructor’s Championship points, Ferrari would still have the same points with either driver taking 1-2. So what happened to make me a bit angry? Alonso was basically applying pressure on the team to have Massa let him pass for a win as he was going faster, but Massa bettered Alonso in driving strategy and he could not pass him. My question would be, if Alonso was doing such a great job, why could he not get by his teammate?
So what did the team do?? They radioed Massa in a cryptic message saying that Alonso had faster speeds than he did, this is hidden messaging to mean — let your teammate, Alonso, pass even though you are winning the race. Massa did not reply to his team and kept racing – in the lead. As both drivers work for the team, the team comes first (sometimes). Massa decided to give the favorite son, Alonso, a pass and take one for the team, but he also made it darn clear that he was doing so voluntarily as to not let it appear that Alonso passed him by with better driving. Alonso went on to win the race, only his second of the season so far with Massa coming in second.
I want to say from a fan’s perspective, when the outcome for the team will remain the same — teams should just butt out of the driver’s racing their race and not favor one driver over the other. In my opinion, they owe Massa big time for this. There was a penalty imposed upon Ferrari after the race by the Stewards for $100,000 for the way the team handled this affair and a hearing is yet to be scheduled with the regulating body the FIA, some think though it will be in September and is regarding the rule governing Team Orders.
At the start the Ferraris quickly sandwiched in Sebastian Vettel, in his Red Bull Renault, who started in pole position. From there it was Massa and Alonso in first and second. For most of the race, except for pit stop transitions, it was Massa leading the race, followed by Alonso, and Vettel for third and that is how it probably would have ended if it were not for Ferrari’s decision. Instead, it was Alonso, Massa, Vettel to finish in that order. Vettel, a German and lives near Hockenheim, made his native Germans happy nonetheless with a podium finish. There were a few other teammates fighting one another for position as well. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button for most of the race fought for fourth spot with Hamilton winning that battle and Button coming in fifth (Mark Webber pretty much was on his own for 6th where he finished), then there were the two teammates for Mercedes GP and for the home crowd, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg battling for 7th or 8th. However, it was Robert Kubica (Poland) for France’s Renault that finished 7th. Schumacher was leading Rosberg earlier in the race, but that changed towards the end of the race with Rosberg finishing 8th and Schumacher 9th. Vitaly Petrov (Russia), also for Renault, finished 10th.
The crowd was lighter than in prior years, as I mentioned earlier, their economy like ours is hurting and their unemployment statistics are very high. The officials at Hockenheimring said that it could have been worse if it were not for Michael Schumacher’s return to racing. They claimed his return added at least another 15,000 or more sales and the concessions apparently did very well with Schumi’s caps and other memorabilia.
Hungarian Grand Prix 2010Race Finish (8/1/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:22.651, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
2nd Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:23.195, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
3rd Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:22.362, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
4th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:23.329, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 4th
5th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:23.799, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 7th
6th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:24.204, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 10th
7th Place: Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:24.342 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 9th
8th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:24.205, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 11th
9th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:24.282, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 23rd
10th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:22.811, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 12th
11th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:25.372, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 14th
12th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:25.449, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th
13th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:25.358, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 16th
14th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:27.457, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 19th
15th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:27.429, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 20th
16th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:27.674, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 18th
17th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA) for this race, Fastest Lap: 1:28.093, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
18th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:27.287, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
19th Place: Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), replacing Karun Chandhok (IND), Fastest Lap: 1:29.278, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
20th Place (DNF – mechanical 23rd lap): Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:26.258, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
21st Place (DNF – mechanical on 23rd lap): Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:26.825, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 8th
22nd Place (DNF –on 15th lap tire mishap in pits): Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:27.594, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 6th.
23rd Place (DNF – Incident on 15th lap): Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:28.177, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 13th
24th Place (DNF – mechanical on 1st lap): Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: n/a, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 17th
Recap
1st Place – Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault.
2nd Place – Fernando Alonso (Spain) for Ferrari.
3rd Place – Sebastian Vettel (Germany) for Red Bull Renault.
Mark Webber now leads all other drivers in wins for this season with four. This win also put him first place in points for the coveted FIA World Driver’s Championship. He is really a remarkable driver. People have tried to make his teammate Sebastian Vettel the next Michael Schumacher. However, in my opinion, Vettel is still young and it shows with the kind of mistakes that come from youthful impatience. While Webber shows maturity and patience and this is what has pushed him forward, that and being very competitive. Webber when he is in the lead rarely gives up that position and it was true with this race as well after he took the lead when both Vettel and Alonso pitted before the safety car came on the 17th lap.
With Webber’s win and Vettel’s third place, they now made their team Red Bull Renault the lead for the FIA World Constructor’s Championship as well, dethroning McLaren Mercedes.
Speaking of McLaren it was not a very good race for either driver, Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button, both from Great Britain. Button started the race in the 11th position after a terrible qualifying session the day before. He was lapped toward the end of the race and finished in 8th. Hamilton was racing ok, until the 24th lap when the car had mechanical failure and he was out of the race.
There were several incidents in this race. Vettel was slapped with a penalty for not keeping within 10 car lengths of the safety car when it was out between the 17th and 18th laps. Many thought he was holding back other cars from positioning themselves to catch up to Mark Webber when the safety car pulled in. His penalty was a drive through; this is when a driver must drive through pit lane at the required lower speed. He did that, but was still able to maintain his position coming out of pit lane as he was so much faster going in than the cars behind him.
Another oddity happened in pit lane when Robert Kubica (Poland) and Adrian Sutil (Germany) came in while the safety car was out. Kubica’s pit crew gave him the green light to leave the pits, but it was not safe to do so and caused Adrian Sutil to run into Kubica’s car taking Sutil out of the race. This could have happened in all the confusion that happened only moments before when the Mercedes GP pit crew released Nico Rosberg (Germany) when his back tire was not secured causing the tire to bolt from the car into the pit crew of the William’s team. Rosberg was out of the race because of this.
NOTE: A pit crewman of the Williams team, Nigel Hope, tried to block the tire with his body from hurting others in pit lane and was knocked unconscious for a bit. He went to the track medical facility and was back in the pits doing his job later that race! Hope said later he “was a bit sore” — well I guess so! This hero seems to be doing well now and many people owe him a lot of cold ones to say the least!
In another incident at the end of the race, Michael Schumacher (Germany) was in 11th and Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) in 10th. The first 10 drivers finishing the race receive championship points for themselves and their teams so competition was fierce for this spot. In what looked like Schumacher trying to pass his old teammate Barrichello, now racing for Williams (both were with Ferrari years ago and no love loss between the two), appeared to move into Barrichello’s space almost pushing him into the wall. This could have been very dangerous and certainly was not good sportsmanship, but Barrichello prevailed coming in 10th over Schumacher. After the race, Schumacher was penalized 10 grid positions for the Belgium Grand Prix and this will be a huge disadvantage for both driver and constructor Mercedes GP.
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (word for word) regarding the Hungarian GP:
“Today’s race was probably was one of the toughest that I have had so far. It was pretty edgy to drive the car on the limit so I had to fight my way through the race, and at the end, it was like walking on ice. Regarding the overtaking manoeuvre with Rubens, I indicated pretty early that I would move towards the inside and not simply give up the line, and there was just enough space for him to pass me without touching each other. It was a hard fight, and this is what we are here for, but I accept that the FIA stewards saw it as too hard. I look forward to the break now and to coming back out of it stronger in Spa.”
RUBENS BARRICHELLO (word for word) regarding the Hungarian GP:
“We had a car that in terms of performance was capable of finishing P5 or thereabouts, but taking the chance to start on primes always left us liable to a Safety Car. It came too early to box for the option tyre, so I had to stay out until we found a window that would allow me to attack for points. I had to work pretty hard for the point in a fight that wasn’t fair or clean, but I will let others be the judge of that. All I am clear about is that I am a racer and in such situations, I never back off.”
Belgian Grand Prix 2010Race Finish (8/29/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:49.069, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 2nd
2nd Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:49.395, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
3rd Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:49,807, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 3rd
4th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:50.111, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 6
5th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:50.477, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 8th
6th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:51.688, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 14th
7th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:51.914, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 21st
8th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:51.749, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 17th
9th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:51.175, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 23rd
10th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:51.576, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 11th
11th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:52.267, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 12th
12th Place: Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:52.537 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 24th
13th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:52.966, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
14th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:51.864, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 9th
15th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:50.868, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 4th
16th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:55.797, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 13th
17th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:55.705, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 22nd
18th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:55.268, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 20th
19th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:55.103, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 15th
20th Place: Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:55.484, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 19th
21st Place (DNF – 37th lap spun out – retired): Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:51.374, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 10th
22nd Place (DNF on 15th lap – crash): Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:52.879, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5h
23rd Place (DNF – mechanical): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 2:20.201, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 18th
24th Place (DNF on 1st lap – crash): Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: N/A Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 7th
Recap
1st Place – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) for McLaren Mercedes. This is Hamilton’s 3rd win and 6th podium finish of the season. He gathered enough championship points to overtake Mark Webber to lead in the FIA World Driver’s Championship with 182 points.
2nd Place – Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault. This is Webber’s 7th podium finish for this season. Webber is now in 2nd place with 179 World Driver’s Championship points.
3rd Place – Robert Kubica (Poland) for Renault. This is Kubica’s 3rd podium finish of the season. He is now in 7th place for the World Driver’s Championship with 104 points.
This was a very exciting race. Webber was left behind from his pole position in what appeared to be gear box problems. This put Hamilton starting in 2nd into 1st, with Kubica in 2nd. Webber went all the way back to 7th place from his start. Jenson Button moved to 3rd and Sebastian Vettel moved to 4th on the 1st lap. Shortly after the 2nd lap Rubens Barrichello (Williams) crashed into Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) spinning both into the kitty liter! It took Barrichello out of the race, but Alonso had some adjustments made in the pits and he out racing again. This brought out the safety car.
Michael Schumacher who started in 21st after his 10 spot penalty for hazardous driving at the end of the Hungarian Grand Prix, showed his stuff in moving all the way up to 12th position. During this time Button overtook Kubica for 2nd. Vettel and Kubica get into an incident and in the 17th lap Vettel and Button collide! This took Button out of the race. In lap 27 Vettel took out Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) and he had to end the race, Vettel continued. Later in lap 37, Vettel and Alonso get into an incident in pit lane but both cars continue on to the race. However, in lap 38 Alonso spun and stalled his car almost in the middle of the track. This brought out the safety car and Alonso was out of the race. In the meantime Webber moved from his terrible start that put him into 7th and moved all the way to 2nd for the finish of the race. Hamilton 1st and Kubica 3rd. Must hand it to Schumacher though, despite his start in 21st he moved to 7th to finish the race.
There was so much back and forth it was hard to keep my head on straight. As for Vettel, what is up with him? He is driving like this is a demolition derby rather than a race of skill. The Red Bull teams needs to talk with this fellow. This is not the first race this sort of thing has happened, he has gotten into accidents, ruined his teammate’s chances at a win after colliding into him a few races back and he still keeps on going. Amazing.
Some interesting stats for the season so far:
- As far as pole and first row starts it is hands down the Red Bull Renault team with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Vettel has had 7 pole positions and Webber has had 5 pole starts. Vettel and Webber have been in 2nd spot on the first row 7 times. As for both drivers for the Red Bull team starting from the first row together, it has been for 6 starts so far. Bottom line is that for all thirteen races so far Red Bull with either Vettel or Webber has had a start in the first row for all races (either from pole or 2nd position).
- For wins, Mark Webber still leads overall with 4 first place finishes. Lewis Hamilton ( for McLaren) has had 3 wins. For the thirteen races held to date the winners have been among only five drivers, as mentioned Webber and Hamilton, the others all with two wins each: Fernando Alonso (for Ferrari), Jenson Button (For McLaren), and Sebastian Vettel (for Red Bull Renault). This is definitely team domination by Red Bull Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari.
As mentioned in prior articles, the reason Red Bull Renault is not far ahead of the rest with all of their dominance in starting positions is because of mechanical problems and driver errors/accidents on Sebastian Vettel’s part (see above). It is still a close championship race with only 3 points separating the two frontrunners for the driver’s championship. Sebastian Vettel who is currently in 3rd position in points so far has a 31 points to make up to be in first. As each race goes by from this point, a breakout could happen if Webber and Hamilton have some wins over the other. But they will need a 1st or 2nd place finish with every race in order to stay at the top which makes the next few races the indicator of a breakaway or a close finish. This is true for the World Constructor’s Championship as well, with Red Bull Renault currently in the lead with 330 points to MacLaren’s 329 points – 1 point is all that it is.
Italian Grand Prix 2010Race Finish (9/12/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:24.139, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:24.598, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 2nd
3rd Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:24.575, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3
4th Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:24.493, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 6th
5th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:24.491, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 7th
6th Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:24.278, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 4th
7th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:24.576, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 8th
8th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:24.560, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 9th
9th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:24.947, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 12th
10th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:25.239 Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 10th
11th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:25.224, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 14th
12th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:25.102, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 19th
13th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:24.644, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 20th
14th Place: Pedro de La Rosa (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:26.325 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 16th
15th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:25.472, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th
16th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:24.937, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 11th
17th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:27.765, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 24th
18th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:27.822, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 18th
19th Place: Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:28.875, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
20th Place (DNF – 50th Lap): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:28.171, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
21st Place (DNF – 46th Lap): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:29.017, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 17th
22nd Place (DNF – 22nd Lap): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 1:30.880, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
23rd Place (DNF – 1st Lap Crash): Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: N/A, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
24th Place (DNF – 1st lap): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: N/A, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 13th
Below is an advance draft (subject to last minute revisions, corrections, or updates) of the recap section that will appear in the “Wine and Food of Formula 1 – Singapore Grand Prix article”.
RECAP
1st Place – Fernando Alonso (Spain) for Ferrari. Winning for Ferrari’s home crowd, this is Alonso’s 3rd win for this season and with it his 5th podium finish. This win also produced the first win at Monza for Ferrari since 2006, which now is its 18th Monza win, more than any other team.
2nd Place – Jenson Button (Great Britain) for McLaren Mercedes. The reigning World Driver’s Champion this is his 5th podium finish (including 2 wins).
3rd Place – Felipe Massa (Brazil) for Ferrari. This is his 3rd podium finish of this season so far. He has not won a race so far.
This was the last European race of this season and it certainly ended up being a grand affair for the home crowd with a Ferrari win and a show podium finish – Congrats!
Going into this race Lewis Hamilton was in first, barely, with 182 points to Mark Webber in 2nd place with 179 points. Well let’s look at what these two did at the race shall we. Webber qualified to start the race in the 4th spot (2nd row) which was quite good as his car had constant engine problems like the week before. Hamilton started from the 5th spot (3rd row). Now the start of the race it Jenson Button in his McLaren starting from 2nd takes the lead from Fernando Alonso for Ferrari who had pole position, then surprise – surprise Lewis Hamilton runs into Felipe Massa (the other Ferrari starting in 3rd) and Massa recovers, but Hamilton does not – he was out of the race! For Webber, he had another awful start that appeared to be mechanical problems and went to 9th place! Oh my. After this there was a lot of jockeying for position and many lead changes in the mid pack and the back of the pack.
On lap 29 an ambulance is seen in pit lane and it turns out that when Hispania Racing Team (HRT) driver, Sakon Yamamoto was in pit lane a mechanic (some reports have him as a radio tech) was hurt after being knocked down by a tire. He was in the hospital for several days but is apparently doing well now, thankfully.
On the 36th lap Button, still leading the race makes his pit stop and it was a fast one, but Alonso was still on his bumper.
On the 38th lap as Alonso was picking up speed and gaining on Button when he made his pit stop. This is where a lead change can occur if the driver and his crew make a perfect stop when coming out of pit lane, they can take the lead if the fellow in 2nd (or any spot for that matter) is slower at the time coming around the course. Well, this is what happened. Alonso made a very quick stop in pit lane, was able to come out ahead of Button, and then became the leader of the race. The crowd went nuts – a Ferrari was now leading the Italian Grand Prix!
In the meantime, Webber was been going through the course passing other drivers from his disastrous start and moved to 4th. His teammate Sebastian Vettel was also maneuvering around the track throughout the race and was battling Webber for 4th. Vettel had yet to make a pit stop for the entire race and the team decides to bring him in on the 52nd lap (it was a 53 lap race). Vettel was picking up speed on Webber prior to that. Now it was his turn to do an Alonso and try to get out of the pits in front of Webber. He did. However, Nico Rosberg also caught up to Webber and was now in 5th place, with Webber in 6th.
The finish: Alonso 1st, Button 2nd, Massa 3rd, Vettel 4th, Rosberg 5th, Webber 6th, Nico Hulkenberg (for Williams and had an impressive race) 7th, Robert Kubica for Renault in 8th, Michael Schumacher (Mercedes GP) 9th, and Rubens Barrichello (for Williams) 10th.
NOTES/RUMORS:
1. The World Driver’s Championship changed cars again. Mark Webber managed to stay in enough points to regain his first place status he had two races ago. Lewis Hamilton who took the lead away from Webber the last race spun out and crashed on the first lap – he was out of the race. This was a very interesting race with a lot of changes and surprises. With Vettel coming in 4th in the race, it kept Red Bull Renault in 1st place for the World’s Constructors Championship.
2. As mentioned in my prior article, this was the first time in 30 starts that Ferrari won pole position. The crowd went crazy and when both Ferrari drivers made it to the podium, the crowd went crazy again. The Italians love their red Italian Stallion!
3. Also mentioned in the last article, Red Bull Renault had a first row start for every race up to this one. The chain was broken at the Italian Grand Prix.
4. Rumor mongering that Michael Schumacher could be calling it quits at the end of the season. I am not sure about this. He was hired to use his experience to build a better team for Mercedes GP under his old friend Ross Brawn. I think there is a game plan here for the Mercedes GP team and it includes Schumacher staying around a bit longer until they work together to perfect their cars. I think a game of chess is at play here and it includes a lot of strategy and patience, even though the short-term results are not that great, looking to the long term is what makes a team successful. We will see though, at age 41 and after being brought out of retirement into a completely new age and technology, he could decide to retire as a driver for good.
5. With an American circuit added for the F1 2012 racing season in Austin, Texas I was hoping that there would also be an American team and/or driver to add to the excitement and marketing efforts in the United States. So far – no cigar. There is talk and press releases hyping what they call the next best thing, Esteban Gutierrez as the new test driver for Sauber in 2011. Gutierrez is from Monterrey in Mexico just 400+/- miles from Austin, Texas. He is an accomplished GP3 (Grand Prix 3) racer and there is no mention at this point of his racing F1 in 2012, the GP3 and GP2 are all on the schedules as well. The GP2 and GP3 are like the minor leagues in baseball; they provide the training and skills to move up to the F1 Grand Prix and are under the same teams as in the F1. FIA, we still need an American racer and/team to get the US race fans hyped, as I have mentioned, it is nice to have an F1 race on American soil again, but people become fans of a team or driver not a place.
6. You can say that the last of the races of the 2010 season could be based on the old and the tired vs. the spanking new and fresh – I mean engines that is! Each season, teams are provided up to eight engines for each of the two drivers for the season. If they go over that, there is a hefty penalty of 10 positions back in the starting grid. Currently, it appears that Mark Webber of Red Bull Renault (and current point’s leader for the driver’s championship) has been playing chipmunk and hording his engines, he has two in reserve. He is not the only chipmunk though; the other three are Rubens Barrichello (Williams Team) and both Renault drivers Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov. Ferrari has used their full allotment of engines for both drivers. The rest have either none or one engine left.
7. Musical Chairs. Is 2007 World Driver’s Champion Kimi Raikkonen coming back to F1 for Renault? Rumors are flying with that one. It is always possible he will come back, but it will be interesting, if does, if he actually ends up at Renault. There are also rumors that Filipe Massa of Ferrari could be going to Renault, swapping out Robert Kubica to Ferrari. Love rumors, these are usually spread by the driver’s agents, for most part, as a means to an end for negotiating out better terms and contracts. We will see. This is the time when many drivers and teams get into horseracing, as there is plenty of jockeying for position!
8. Former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld who was the reserve driver for Mercedes GP prior to his taking on the role as test driver for tire manufacturer Pirelli back in August, has now replaced Pedro de La Rosa for the Sauber-Ferrari team. His first race will be in Singapore. Pedro de La Rosa is now the new test driver for Pirelli Tires. Are you getting all of this?? Congrats to them both.
9. Lotus Racing will be under its famous racing name of the past Team Lotus in 2011.
Singapore Grand Prix 2010Race Finish (9/26/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:47.976, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:48.141, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
3rd Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:49.706, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 5th
4th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:49.711, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
5th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:50.125, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 7th
6th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:50.334 Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 6th
7th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:49.255, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 8th
8th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:52.079, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 24th
9th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:52.473, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 15th
10th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:52.213, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 17th
11th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:51.903, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 12th
12th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:52.333, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 11th
13th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:49.680, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 9th
14th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:49.710, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 13th
15th Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:52.513, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 20th
16th Place (Engine Fire – 58 Laps): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:53.051, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 19th
17th Place (DNF – 49th Lap): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:53.559, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 18th
18th Place (Crash – 36th Lap): Nick Heidfeld (Great Britain), Fastest Lap: 1:52.475 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 14th
19th Place (Crash – 35th Lap): Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:50.750, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 3rd
20th Place (DNF – 31st Lap): Christian Klien (AUT), Fastest Lap: 1:57.766, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 22nd
21st Place (Crash Lap): Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 153.957, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 10th
22nd Place (Crash – 29th-30th Lap): Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 1:57.962, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
23rd Place (DNF – 27th Lap): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:56.683, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 21st
24th Place (DNF – 1st lap): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: N/A, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 16th
NOTES:
1. Fernando Alonso won the Triple Crown for a race and that is starting from pole, leading every lap of the race, and having the fastest time. The last time that happened was with a Ferrari driver called, let me see – oh, Michael Schumacher back in 2004 at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
2. Alonso’s win is his 2nd consecutive and his 4th of the season tying Mark Webber.
3. Alonso’s win also made him 2nd place in the championship race with 191 points.
4. Mark Webber coming in 3rd managed to stay in the points to keep his first place status with 201 points for the World Driver’s Championship. 10 points ahead of Alonso.
5. Lewis Hamilton was 2nd in championship points going into this race but had a run in with Webber, crashed and was out of the race on the 35th lap. Hamilton is now 3rd in points and 20 points behind Webber.
6. This race was rather boring up to the 29th lap when a lot of activity started to take place such as when Webber passed Hamilton. From there it was a very interesting race with a lot of changes and surprises.
7. Sebastian Vettel finished 2nd and is now 4th in championship points.
8. Vettel coming in 2nd in the race and Webber 3rd also kept Red Bull Renault in 1st place for the World Constructor’s Championship with 383 points to second place McLaren with 359 points.
RUMORS:
Could there be only 3 races instead of 4 left?
This could be a big one, if true. I failed to mention in my article on the Singapore Grand Prix a very big rumor in that Korea is not ready for the Korean Grand Prix for late October. Korean officials were in Singapore to meet with the FIA and others to discuss. Out of that meeting, rumors began to fly that this could actually happen – no Korean Grand Prix. If there is no Korean Grand Prix this could have major implications for drivers and constructors regarding the championship. The drivers and teams will not be the only ones affected if there is no race. The fans that made plans to attend the race will not be happy and neither will all the sponsors that lined up for the race. This could be a major setback for F1 racing in general. Let’s hope they can get their acts together!!! First and foremost though is that the track be safe.
UPDATE: KOREAN GRAND PRIX IS ON – TRACK PASSED INSPECTION! WILL BE HELD OCTOBER 24, 2010.
Please note that after this date, a family and business matter came up that took me away from travel and the time to research and write any further articles in this series. So the last four races of the Formula One season for 2010 were not published in the Wine and Food of Formula 1 series.
I did have time to watch some of the last races though and below you will find the race results. With the final race of the season, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 14, 2010, come back later that day or the next day for the results of the race and the World Championship.
Japanese Grand Prix 2010
Race Finish (10/10/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:33.653, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:33.474, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
3rd Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:33.823, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 4th
4th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:33.529, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 5th
5th Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:35.182, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 8th
6th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:34.853, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 10th
7th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 134.486, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 14th
8th Place: Nick Heidfeld (Great Britain), Fastest Lap: 1:35.521 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 11th
9th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:35.597 Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 7th
10th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:35.116, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 18th
11th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:34.365, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
12th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:37.620, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 20th
13th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:39.710, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 19th
14th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:39.813, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 22nd
15th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 1:40.329, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
16th Place: Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:39.806, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
17th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:36.108, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 6th
18th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:36.319, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 15th
19th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 2:41.378, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 3rd
20th Place (DNF ): Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 9th
21st Place (DNF – Crash): Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 12th
22nd Place (DNF – Crash): Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: n/a, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 13th
23rd Place (DNF – Crash): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: N/A, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 17th
24th Place (DNF ): Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
Korean Grand Prix 2010
Race Finish (10/24/10) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:50.257, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:50.430, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
3rd Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:50.502, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 6th
4th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:51.835, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 9th
5th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:51.604, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 8th
6th Place: Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:51.371, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 17th
7th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:51.564 Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 10th
8th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:53.086, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 12th
9th Place: Nick Heidfeld (Great Britain), Fastest Lap: 1:53.263 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 13th
10th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:51.982, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 11th
11th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:51.962, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 15th
12th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:52.193, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 7th
13th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:55.018, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 21st
14th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 1:59.290, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
15th Place: Sakon Yamamoto (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:58.313, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
16th Place (DNF – Crash): Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:52.601, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 14th
17th Place (DNF): Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:50.375, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
18th Place (DNF – Crash): Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:53.031, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 20th
19th Place (DNF – Crash): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:58.102, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 19th
20th Place (DNF – Crash): Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:56.768, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 16th
21st Place (DNF – Crash) : Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 2:02.635, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 22nd
22nd Place (DNF): Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 2:05.161, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 18th
23rd Place (DNF – Crash): Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 2:00.025, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
24th Place (DNF – Crash): Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 2:00.652, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 5th
Brazilian Grand Prix 2010
Race Finish (11/7/2010) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:14.283, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 2nd
2nd Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:14.047, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 3rd
3rd Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:13.855, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 5th
4th Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:13.851, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
5th Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:13.932, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 11th
6th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:14.184, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 13th
7th Place: Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:15.219, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 8th
8th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:14.985, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: Pole
9th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:15.161, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 7th
10th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:14.748, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 12th
11th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:15.695, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 14th
12th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:14.997, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 22nd
13th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:15.935, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 19th
14th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:15.227 Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 6th
15th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:15.330, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 9th
16th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:15.485, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 10th
17th Place: Nick Heidfeld (Great Britain), Fastest Lap: 1:15.068 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 15th
18th Place): Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:17.161, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 20th
19th Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:17.316, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 18th
20th Place: Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:17.695, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 17th
21st Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 1:17.731, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
22nd Place: Christian Klien (AUT), Fastest Lap: 1:17.690, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
23rd Place: Lucas di Grassi (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:.16.767, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
24th Place (DNF – Crash): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:16.940, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 16th
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2010 – Race 19 Final Race of the Season
Race Finish (11/14/2010) Top 10+ Finishers at End of Each Race are Awarded Championship Points With the Top Points Leaders at End of Season Winning the World Championship (Drivers and Constructors):
1st Place: Sebastian Vettel (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:41.739, Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: Pole
2nd Place: Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:41.274, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 2nd
3rd Place: Jenson Button (GBR), Fastest Lap: 1:41.636, Team: McLaren Mercedes (GBR), Start Position: 4th
4th Place: Nico Rosberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:41.711, Team: Mercedes GP, Start Position: 9th
5th Place: Robert Kubica (POL), Fastest Lap: 1:41.753, Team: Renault (FRA), Start Position: 11th
6th Place: Vitaly Petrov (RUS), Fastest Lap: 1:42.311, Renault (FRA), Start Position: 10th
7th Place: Fernando Alonso (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:42.227, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 3rd
8th Place: Mark Webber (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:42.196 Team: Red Bull Renault (AUT), Start Position: 5th
9th Place: Jaime Alguersuari (ESP), Fastest Lap: 1:42.727, STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 17th
10th Place: Felipe Massa (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:42.725, Team: Scuderia Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 6th
11th Place: Nick Heidfeld (Great Britain), Fastest Lap: 1:42.673 Team: Sauber F1 Team (CHE) Start Position: 14th
12th Place: Rubens Barrichello (BRA), Fastest Lap: 1:42.669 Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR) Start Position: 7th
13th Place: Adrian Sutil (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:42.695, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 13th
14th Place: Kamui Kobayashi (JPN), Fastest Lap: 1:42.733, Team: Sauber-Ferrari (CHE), Start Position: 12th
15th Place: Sebastien Buemi (CHE), Fastest Lap: 1:42.626, Team: STR Ferrari (ITA), Start Position: 18th
16th Place: Nico Hulkenberg (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:42.397, Team: Williams-Cosworth (GBR), Start Position: 15th
17th Place: Heikki Kovalainen (FIN), Fastest Lap: 1:45.378, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL), Start Position: 20th
18th Place: Lucas Di Grassi (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:46.126, Team: Virgin-Cosworth (GBR), Starting Position: 22nd
19th Place: Bruno Senna (BRA), Fastest Lap 1:46.255, Team HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 23rd
20th Place: Christian Klien (AUS), Fastest Lap: 1:46.646, Team: HRT F1 Team (ESP), Start Position: 24th
21st Place: Jarno Trulli (ITA), Fastest Lap: 1:45.979, Team: Lotus Racing (MAL) Start Position: 19th
22nd Place (DNF – Mechanical): Timo Glock (DEU), Fastest Lap: 1:46.837, Team: Virgin Racing (GBR), Start Position: 21st
23rd Place (DNF - Crash 1st Lap): Michael Schumacher (DEU), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Mercedes GP (DEU), Start Position: 8th
24th Place (DNF – Crash 1st Lap): Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Fastest Lap: n/a, Team: Force India (IND), Start Position: 16th
For latest championship standings please follow this link Championship Standings for the latest points to date for all drivers and constructors.
Next race: MARCH 2011.
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Copyright 2010 WineFoodChat
Wow, you really know your stuff. I like F1 now because of your articles. Doing this next year will be great.
Great sport, did not pay much attention to it before you. Live in the states it is NASCAR or die. You said there is a Texas F1 race, can I get tickets? Want to bring a bus load of people this is actually trur racing.
You really hit it home. I never appreciated this kind of racing before because they were not USA. You made me think about the strategy behind it all and it is not just about going around in circles waiting for the next crash. Wouls like to go someday, just wish more could be on live in my timezone.
Nicely done and funny too in many areas. It is nice to see humor now and then in this sport!
Wow, was just going through this site, wished I knew about it during the season. As I am British guess what teams and drivers I enjoy most
You bring a fresh approch to F1 coverage. In, fact you have converted me to how you say a foodie and now want fine wines. Cannot wait to see your articles wish you write more. Hope my English is right.