Pole Position for Vettel in Abu Dhabi GP

Photo Credit: World Lorenzo Bellanca/ LAT Photographic

Arranged in a four-way battle for the World Driver's Championship, the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will resolve whether it will be the Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, or one of the Red Bull Racing pilots consisting of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel who will take Formula 1 racing's great honour.

Qualifying for the final 2010 Formula 1 race on the Yas Marina circuit started with Alonso's Ferrari blasting to Q1 fastest time with a 1 minute, 40.170 second time ahead of the Mercedes GP car of Nico Rosberg. The Red Bull-Renaults held close to the top times less than two-tenths of a second off the Q1 session leader.

As Q2 session begun, the Toro Rosso-Ferrari of Sebastien Buemi was eliminated on virtue of Q1 times along with the new-for-2010 Formula 1 teams. The last race of the year to be declared as rookie organizations, Lotus Racing, Virgin GP and HRT have regrettably been feeding off the bottom of the Formula 1 grid almost exclusively this season without a single F1 constructor point scored so far in 2010. Battling amongst themselves, Lotus Racing has prevailed as the top runner of the three teams finding Virgin GP as a worthy adversary for many events. While lackluster results in the standings, these teams have been the constant focus off the track with news and rumours for the 2011 season. 

Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull-Renault would take the Q2 session lead into Q3 where he would earn the pole for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a 1 minute, 39.394 second lap around the 3.541 mile track. Running the least laps in all of the top-10 drivers, the German driver Vettel hammered in his 10th Formula 1 pole of 2010 far outreaching any other competitor. Vettel's run also tallies the 15th pole position in the 19-race Formula 1 tour for Red Bull Racing team as a whole. 

Behind Vettel, Lewis Hamilton shot up 4 grid positions from his Q2 time to place his McLaren-powered Mercedes-Benz on the front row. Fourth place in the points championship, Hamilton is very much a long-shot for the 2010 driver's title. Since the McLaren driver is 34 points behind the lead entering the final grand prix, the only scenario which will allow Lewis Hamilton to celebrate the 2010 Formula 1 driver's title is a catastophe to his rivals for the championship.

Starting 3rd is points leader Fernando Alonso who ran his Ferrari just under 4/10th of a second short of Vettel's pole time. The second McLaren-Mercedes driven by 2009 Formula 1 Driver's Champion Jenson Button slots 4th beside Alonso's Ferrari. Suffering a massive fall-off from previous the previous qualifying sessions of the day, Mark Webber could only muster a 5th fastest time at the end of Q3 placing the closest challenger to Fernando Alonso's lead safety behind the Ferrari prior to the race's start.


2010 Formula 1
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Qualifying Order

  

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
6. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari
8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
9. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault F1
11. Robert Kubica Renault F1
12. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari
13. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
14. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber-Ferrari
15. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes
17. Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari
18. Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth
20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth
22. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth
23. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth
24. Christian Klien HRT-Cosworth

Vettel Takes Brazilian Grand Prix; Red Bull Clinches Manufacturer's Title

Photo Credit: Andrew Ferraro/ LAT Photographic

The penultimate round in the 2010 Formula 1 tour, the Brazilian Grand Prix started with four drivers in contention for the season's world driver's championship. Suffering a massive meltdown during the Korean Grand Prix, the Red Bull Racing duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber left without scoring championship points. With Webber parked, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso cleaned up racing to victory on the wet Korean race circuit propelling himself into 1st place with an 11-point advantage.

Contrary to the Korean Grand Prix, the weather for the Brazilian Grand Prix was an absolutely bright, sunny day. However, Saturday qualifying did present a watered-down Autódromo José Carlos Pace track. As the track transitioned, Williams F1's Nico Hulkenberg surprised many by claiming pole ahead of Red Bull Racing and McLaren.  

Hulkenberg's honour was quickly disregarded by the Formula 1 field as the Williams-Cosworth was simply no match for the Red Bull-Renaults off the standing start. With Sebastian Vettel using a superior start to out-drag his fellow German native into the first corner, Mark Webber got by the Williams on the track's third turn. As Nico Hulkenberg continued a gradual drop down the running order to settle within the bottom end of the top-10 for the duration of the event, the Red Bull Racing cars installed themselves into Brazilian Grand Prix's top race positions.

Formula 1 current driver's points championship Fernando Alonso weaved his way into third place but his Ferrari lost touch with the Red Bull-Renaults. By mid-way through the 71-lap grand prix, the gap between 2rd place and 3rd was over 16 seconds. Unable to fight for the front, the McLaren-Mercedes race cars of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button ran competitively but were unsuccessful in preserving the team's chances for the manufacturers championship.      

Unlike the Korean Grand Prix which resulted with a sizable casualty list, the Formula 1 race at Brazil ended with one official retirement. That solitary vehicle not finishing the Brazil Grand Prix was the Force India-Mercedes of Vitantonio Liuzzi that ended the race with a collision into the turn 2 pit road wall at lap 50. As the wreckage of the Force India-Mercedes littered within the narrow off-track area, safety car period was necessary to clean up the turn 2 portion of Autódromo José Carlos Pace circuit.

Under the brief period behind the Mercedes SLS AMG safety car, some teams used this opportunity to take on fresh slick tires. McLaren and the Mercedes GP pitted while the top-3 maintained its composition. As the race was sent back to green on lap 56, the restart had a collection of slower race cars separating the 3 top Formula 1 cars aiding in Vettel's defense of the lead over Mark Webber.

While Liuzzi's crash was the only race-ending collision, their was no shortage of contact on the Brazilian race circuit. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa ended his home country's grand prix in 15th place after no fewer than two incidents of contact with other race cars. The latest incident occurred between Massa and Renault's Vitaly Petrov in turn one as they were fighting for position late in the grand prix. Both drivers continued to finish the race. Other Brazilian drivers including Rubens Barrichello and Bruno Senna were also presented with disappointing results in their home grand prix wanting to impressive the country where their careers were first stoked.

Despite some minor drama regarding fuel mileage concerns on the final laps, the Red Bull-Renaults rolled down the track's front stretch with Sebastian Vettel taking the victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Mark Webber's second place run guaranteed Red Bull Racing their first constructor title in Formula 1 with a 48 point cushion over McLaren heading into the final race at Abu Dhabi.

Playing follow the leader throughout the event, Fernando Alonso settled with 3rd gaving up points to both of his main drivers title opponents. Moving from 11 points behind to a tighter 8 point gap behind Alonso, Webber closes along with teammate Vettel now 15 points away from lead. Finishing 4th in the Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton barely holds onto F1 World Championship contention but would need an awful amount of trouble to plague the forward three in the points at Abu Dhabi in order to gain the McLaren driver's 2nd F1 title.

Other qualifying on pole, Nico Hulkenberg's race resulted with a respectable 8th place run improving two spots thanks to the pitting during the safety car period.


2010 Formula 1
Brazilian Grand Prix
Race Results

 

1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP
7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP
8. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth
9. Robert Kubica Renault F1
10. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari
11. Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari
12. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
13. Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari
14. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth
15. Felipe Massa Ferrari
16. Vitaly Petrov Renault F1
17. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber-Ferrari
18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth
20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth
21. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth
22. Christian Klien HRT-Cosworth
23. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth
24. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes

Former Ferrari F1 Boss Todt is New Elected President of FIA

On Friday October 23rd, the FIA (Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile) elected Jean Todt as their new president. Having a distinguished career with Ferrari's racing program during the team's famed Schmacher-era of Formula 1 (1996-2006), Todt had also been involved in the management of sports car and rally car efforts for Peugeot. Challenged for the vote by Finnish rally champion Ari Vatanen, Jean Todt 135 of the 200 member FIA committee secures him to take over the position held by Max Mosley since 1993.

Through three terms and a 16 year reign, outgoing president Max Mosley was principal of many unpopular moves in Formula 1. Started following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and three-time F1 champion Ayrton Senna in the 1994 round of San Marino, Mosley pushed teams hard to on stringent crash testing of Formula 1 cars. In the United States, Mosley also received considerable heat for the bizarre event of the 2005 United States Prix. When than-tire supplier Michelin discovered their Formula 1 rubber compound was poorly suited to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, FIA under the command of Mosley refused all concessions to remedy concerns. As Michelin-equipped cars were ordered not to race by the tire company, only six cars (fielded by Ferrari, Jordon, and Minardi) competed in the 2005 in what has arguably become the biggest blunder in organized auto racing. Through much of this regime, Max Mosley enjoyed the support of F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

Instead leaving as an unpopular figure based on personal actions unrelated to motorsports, key members of the Formula 1 world wanted Mosley's tidy resignation so the FIA would not endure possibilities of enduring embarrassment. Granting that courtesy to the FIA, Max Mosley immediately endorsed the choice of Jean Todt as the motorsport's sanctioning body's next president.

Jean Todt's start of a four-year term as FIA president has indicated the employment of a commissioner to run the Formula 1 championship. This plan, releasing the FIA board from certain decisions for the F1 series, is also expected to filter into FIA-sanctioned rally car and GT series.

Button Clinches 2009 F1 Championship at Brazilian Grand Prix

As Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber won the Brazilian Grand Prix for Formula one second last round of 2009, the man of the hour was not even on the podium. Brawn GP's driver Jenson Button rose to the spotlight relished his 5th place finish. Though not so impressive by itself, the points finish was more than enough to lock Englishman's hard-earned Formula one title after a Cinderella-like 2009 grand prix season.

After 10 seasons of competition in the formula one world championship, Jenson Button spent much of that time overcoming the excessive hype from his introduction as a 20 year old driver in the 2000 F1 season. Having just one grand prix victory prior to 2009, Button's career looked less than certain after Honda decided to withdraw from formula one after 2008. As Honda's F1 program was bought by the team principal Ross Brawn, Brawn was confident enough on Button's abilities to retain the now 29 year old racer.

Contending with the essentially new team of Brawn GP at the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Jenson Button promise showed in a brilliant performance which would shape the most interesting underdog efforts in Formula One. Outwitting established teams names of McLaren and Ferrari, the Mercedes-Benz engined Brawn stormed to pole and set himself up for victory in Australia. Giving the Brawn GP car a win in its inaugural outing, Button turned heads which had than been focused on Lewis Hamilton or even Kimi Räikkönen. Winning five of the six races following the 2009 F1 season opener, early year tear propelled the team as the top outfit in motorsports in only months.

However, as the season appeared to become a cakewalk for Button and Brawn GP, other Formula One teams applied themselves to the axiom 'standing still is moving backwards'. While teams stepping up their efforts is not a surprise, amazement came from which the fact that Red Bull Racing was providing the greatest challenge to Brawn GP. 22 year old Sebestian Vettel carried the Red Bull Racing flag for 2009 as he held close to Button in the point standings. Rubens Barrichello, who supported the Brawn GP cause with two wins of his own, was also a leading contender as Button's winning ways faded through the season.

Nonetheless, even though Jenson Button has gone winless since early July, he kept logging points with his Brawn Mercedes-Benz to secure the championship with one race left on the schedule.