Formula One Roundup

So the 2010 FIA Formula One World Champion is... Sebastian Vettel.

He led the Championship early on in the year and never let go... actually he led once... when it mattered... after the last race!

On paper the story of the 2010 World Championship is a pretty dramatic one; the return of Michael Schumacher, Brawn GP re-born as a works Mercedes team with the aforementioned German as its lead driver, two British former World Champions now team mates at McLaren, new teams at the rear of the grid added to the car numbers and provided their own race within a race, and a new team upfront in Red Bull...

The year did not start well with a very boring first race raising doubts over the rules and the latest aero package. Thankfully the racing got better, much better in fact with some genuinely good "racing" in the middle of the year. However the "racing" did not last, unfortunately, as the races in the last part of the year were not great, showing how hard it is to overtake in F1 in the era of overly aero sensitive cars.

McLaren were not really good enough all year, despite winning races early on, and were always one step behind the rest of the pack and at times had to try too hard to compensate. Ferrari was always there ish, while Red Bull looked to be the team to beat if they could stop making silly mistakes.

While the other drivers did everything they could not to win races, Mark Webber found himself in the lead of the Championship which created wonderfully comedic outbursts from his team mate and a PR nightmare for the team. Ferrari got better in the middle of the year to put them in the game but nearly ordered their own downfall. McLaren fell behind and disappointed, while Red Bull had mechanical issues.

Unfortunately for Webber it was obvious that his team mate was the Red Bull to beat, when he kept the car on the track. In a game of "I don't want the title, you can have it" the top drivers made mistakes, broke down, spun, leaving Alonso on top of the standings with one race to go, but even he couldn't hold on to it. In the end Vettel was crowned World Champion, the youngest driver ever to win the F1 title.

On paper a good year, but it could have been so much better. F1 still has a problem with overtaking, or more accurately the lack of it. The last race could have been a very dramatic finale when Ferrari got points leader Alonso's pit stop strategy wrong leaving him back in the pack behind both Renaults and a Mercedes. Que storming drive through the field... err no... the resulting lacklustre performance showed that even a fast car and driver could not overtake. F1 also has a problem with its own regulations as the 2010 season was tainted by the Ferrari team orders scandal which left a bad taste in the mouths of many, the author included.

F1 also has a problem with restarts. For the second race in a row Vettel jumped a restart and got away with it. With the safety car accelerating away, and about 3 or 4 corners still to go before the first safety car line, Vettel brake tested the pack causing the second place driver to leave the track in avoidance. Vettel then floored it leaving the others behind. When Vettel got to the first safety car line, the commentators informed us that the drivers can now overtake. The problem was Vettel had been at racing speed for 3 corners and was so far ahead that he was the only car on the screen. This has to change for 2011!!  

So what will 2011 bring??

Who will get the hang of the new aero rules package and new tyres first... who will exploit the inevitable gaping hole in the new aero rules package first... will Schumacher show the world he deserves to be a current F1 driver as opposed to a former driver... how long will it be before the other teams stop arguing over the gaping hole in the new aero regulations and revamp their own cars to match... will the FIA grow a pair and uphold their own regulations... how many times over the course of the off season will the lower teams claim that they will win races in 2011... will Bernie finally get his medal system??

For now, congratulations to Red Bull Racing the 2010 Constructors Champions, and to Sebastian Vettel, 2010 Formula One World Champion!!