McLaren drivers relinquish 2 titles in 1 day

Sunday 14th November 2010 saw the exhilarating conclusion of the Formula 1 2010 season, and a new F1 title winner.

Sebastian Vettel of RedBull Racing won the title for the first time and takes two personal titles from the two McLaren drivers. Lewis Hamilton was the youngest ever F1 World Driver's Champion when he won the title in 2008 and Jenson Button was the most recent WDC, having won in 2009.
This win means there will be 5 F1 Champions in the starting grid of the 2011 season.

Photo from: Getty Images

Title decider in Abu Dhabi

Last week's race in Brazil did not give us the 2010 World Driver's Championship winner but it did crown Red Bull as the World Constructor's Champions, as their gap to the second team is larger than 43 points.

Fernando Alonso still leads the Championship at the moment with 246 points, Webber is 8 points adrift and Vettel is a further 7 points away from Webber. The last driver still mathematically in contention of the title is Lewis Hamilton, who has 222 points, 24 off Alonso's total. Therefore he would need a 'miracle' to win the WDC.

Hamilton will be champion if…
He wins, Vettel is 3rd or worse, Webber is 6th or worse and Alonso doesn’t come in the top 10

Alonso will be Champion if…
He wins at Abu Dhabi.
He finishes 2nd on Sunday.
He finishes 3rd and Webber doesn’t win.
He comes 4th and Webber is 2nd or less.
He comes in 5th neither Vettel or Webber win.
He finishes 6th, Vettel is 2nd and Webber 3rd.
He’s 7th or 8th, Vettel is second or worse, Webber 4th or worse.
He’s 9th, Vettel is 3rd or worse, Webber 5th or worse.
He doesn’t finish, Hamilton is 2nd or worse, Vettel is 3rd or worse, Webber 5th or worse.

Webber will be champion if…
He wins and Alonso is 3rd or worse
He comes 2nd, Vettel 3rd or worse and Alonso 6th or worse
He comes 3rd, Vettel 2nd or worse, Alonso 7th or worse
He comes 4th, Vettel 2nd or worse, Alonso 9th or worse
He finishes 5th, Vettel’s 3rd or worse, Alonso is 10th or worse

Vettel will be champion if…
He wins and Alonso is 5th or worse
He comes 2nd, Webber is 5th or worse and Alonso is 9th or worse

Hamilton could also play a role in crowning one of the RedBulls the champion, if he prevents Alonso from finishing 3rd on Sunday.

Predictions from http://www.f1badger.com/2010/11/how-your-man-can-win-the-title/

2010 F1 Champion decided in Brazil?

This weekend's race in Brazil could determine the 2010 winner. How? According to BBC's Andrew Benson, Fernando Alonso is in a very strong position and could win the 2010 WDC title this weekend if:

• If he wins in Brazil, Webber must finish fourth or higher to keep the championship alive. Everyone else would be out of contention, regardless of where they finish.
• If Alonso is second, Webber must be higher than eighth to stay in it, Hamilton higher than fourth and Vettel must win.
• If Alonso is third, Webber must score points, Hamilton must be in the top four and Vettel in the top three.
• If Alonso finishes lower than third, the championship will stay open to the last race because Webber, at least, will still be able to win regardless of where he finishes.

Let's hope the teams in contention have their best strategists on the computers working out a way to keep Alonso from the front row of the grid.

Hamilton versus ...

A rookie in 2007 teamed up with Fernando Alonso, two-time WDC winner, Lewis Hamilton burst onto the scene and registered a VERY strong opening season with McLaren in his first year in the prestigious motorsport world of Formula 1.

Hamilton has had three different team-mates within his relatively short Formula 1 career and he has consistently out-performed all of them, starting with his ‘more-experienced’ team mate in his rookie year (they both scored 109 points but Hamilton had more 2nd place wins).

Some would say the changes in team-mate is due to team dynamics (or lack of), others would argue that Hamilton always outshines his team-mates in essentially the same car and perhaps causes the team to reconsider his team-mate’s relative performance and ultimately, contract.

Here we take a look at Hamilton’s performance against his team-mate from 2007 to date and ponder what will become of the debut year of his partnership with Button (the reigning WDC).

(Graph shows difference in each parameter. Hamilton on right side of axis; FA = Fernando Alonso, HK = Heikki Kovalainen, JB = Jenson Button)



2010 Season so far...
Hamilton is currently 21 points ahead of his current team-mate Jenson Button, but apart from the point difference, Hamilton and Button are on fairly equal footing in terms of other measures of success i.e. race wins, 2nd places, pole positions. So the most telling and most relevant criteria to pay attention to is the point-difference; they drive essentially the same car and it is well publicised that Button has a different driving style to Hamilton and occasionally opts for a different set-up from his team-mate to complement his driving style.

Therefore it is fair to say Button's driving style and set-ups haven't been as successful as Hamilton's and from this, one could surmise that Hamilton will out-perform his team-mate again this year.

Perhaps if harmonious team-dynamics were not so important, his most prefered team-mate (a driver who challenges him and gets the best out of him), is the man generally regarded as Hamilton's greatest rival, and is the current Championship leader, Fernando Alonso.

In a recent promotional event, when asked who he enjoyed racing the most, Hamilton admitted "Probably Fernando. Just because of our history – two time World Champion, I raced him when I was rookie, it was great racing him – he’s one the toughest I’ve competed against. I’ve not had the chance to have too many battles with him this year. I really wanted to have a dice with Michael, and with Jenson, I’ve been dying to have a proper battle with him, but it always works out that one weekend he’s up on me and the next I’m up on him – we’re rarely at the same position!" Courtesy of http://www.f1badger.com

Dusky end to dramatic maiden Korean Grand Prix

Apologies for the delayed blog post, but the Inaugural Korean Grand Prix was an exhilarating and fascinating race; it has taken a long time to digest and barely any time to put 'pen to paper'.

In summary, the five title contenders are still in the race mathematically although there are whispers around the paddock that one of them, (the current World Drivers Champion, Jenson Button) might be out of the running as he trails the new Championship leader by 42 points following the race in Korea.

Alonso inherited first place after the two front-running Red Bull cars failed to finish; one was due to driver-error or misfortune and the other was just bad luck and an overworked engine which blew up about 10 laps to the end of the race.

Hamilton, who started 4th, finished 2nd and was glad to have seen another end of a race given that he was almost taken out by Webber's Red Bull car as it slid off the track.

Massa finished 3rd and celebrated a Ferrari double podium on the same day as a Red Bull double DNF (did not finish).

The 100,000 Koreans who bought tickets for this momentous historical race (peppered with a delayed start, heavy rain, poor visibility, several safety car deployments, several crashes and penalties, 3-time change in championship leader within the race, day-to-dusk driving, phew!) will have many tales to recount to their families for many years to come.

Inaugural Korean GP and new records (II)

2nd Practice results: Webber 1min37.942s, Alonso +0.19s, Hamilton +0.337s, Kubica +0.776s, Button +0.787s, Massa +0.878s and Vettel +1.262s. Petrov, Rosberg and Kobayashi made the final 3 positions of the top 10 in 2nd practice.

Inaugural Korean GP and new records (I)

1st Practice results: Hamilton 1min40.887s, Kubica +0.081s, Rosberg +0.265s, Vettel +0.484s, Button +1.053s, Schumacher +1.135s, Webber +1.315s. Heidfeld, Hulkenberg and Barrichello finish up the top ten drivers in 1st practice.