Sebastian Vettel is the 2010 Formula 1 world champion after winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
He was aided by rivals Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber pitting early and getting stuck in traffic and finishing in seventh and eighth.
The two McLaren drivers joined Vettel on the podiums.
Vettel made a clean start from pole position, while Lewis Hamilton tried and failed to squeeze through at the first corner.
Behind them Jenson Button also got away smartly to take third from Alonso.
But the race only lasted a few cars before the safety car came out following an alarming collision between Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi, which ended with the Force India perched on top of the Mercedes.
Schumacher spun while trying to pass team mate Nico Rosberg at the exit of turn six – the pair did not make contact – leaving Liuzzi with nowhere to go.
It took several laps to clear the wreckage away, during which time Rosberg, Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari, Christian Klien, Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi all pitted to discarad the super-soft tyres they had started on for mediums. This was to have a significant role in deciding the outcome of the race – and the championship.
Ferrari react to Webber
After the restart Vettel and Hamilton pulled away from Button, while Alonso dropped back with Webber and Massa behind him.
Webber was clearly struggling on the super-soft tyres and made an early pit stop on lap 12 to get on the mediums, falling behind several cars that didn’t have to make further pit stops.
At first Ferrari reacted by bringing Massa in. But even though Webber took two laps to pass Jaime Alguersuari, he was able to keep his position ahead of Massa.
The next time by Ferrari brought Alonso in. He came out ahead of Webber – but behind Petrov, who proved a tougher nut to crack than Ferrari expected.
The leading trio of Vettel, Hamilton and Button stayed out, trying to build enough of a gap over Kamui Kobayashi and Robert Kubica.
McLaren eventually gave up and brought Hamilton in, sending him out on track behind the Renault and Sauber. Unfortunately for Hamilton he was held up as Kubica chose this moment to muscle past Kobayashi around the outside.
Hamilton picked off Kobayashi but got stuck behind Kubica. That allowed Vettel to make his pit stop and stay in front of Kubica, building up a ten-second advantage over Hamilton.
Button stayed out until lap 39, before pitting and coming out behind Hamilton, who was still stuck behind Kubica.
Alonso stuck behind Petrov
He wasn’t the only driver struggling to pass a Renault – Alonso was still stuck behind Petrov. He made one attempt that ended with him going off at turn 11, though Webber wasn’t close enough to capitalise.
The time he lost behind Petrov meant that Kubica eventually had a large enough gap to make his pit stop and get out in front of Alonso. This he did on lap 46. Alonso was now in seventh, needing to pass Petrov, Rosberg and Kubica to keep Vettel from the title.
He was giving it his all – running off the track again at turn 17 when he made another attempt – but this was how the championship slipped out of Alonso’s grasp.
Vettel takes the title
Vettel, up front, was unaware that he’d been in a position to win the championship for much of the race – his team only told him about the points situation after he crossed the line.
After 55 laps of Yas Marina, Vettel crossed the line to win his fifth Grand Prix of 2010.
And a few seconds later, the team told him he had also won the 2010 world championship.
He was followed home by the two McLarens – Hamilton unable to reduce Vettel’s lead after Kubica pitted.
Kubica finished fifth behind Rosberg and one place ahead of his team mate. Alonso, seventh, saw a potential third world championship slip through his fingers by just four points. He shook his fist at Petrov on his way back to the pits.
Long-term championship leader Webber was eighth, falling to third in the world championship. Massa never managed to find a way past Alguersuari and ended the race in tenth behind the Toro Rosso.
Outside the points were Heidfeld, Barrichello, Sutil, Kobayashi, Buemi and Hulkenberg, followed by top new team driver Kovalainen, ahead of di Grassi, Senna and Klien.
Jarno Trulli was classified last but retired four laps from the flag when his rear wing fell off.
For the second weekend in a row, Red Bull celebrate a championship victory – first the constructors’ championship, and now the drivers’ title.
Remarkably, it’s not their driver who had the most point going into this weekend who won the title – it was Sebastian Vettel, Germany’s new world champion.
2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
roberttty
14th November 2010, 16:28
haha! Take that, team orders!
Gwenouille
14th November 2010, 16:39
Yes, that’s what I like about today’s result. Well done RB guys ! The cleanest win possible.
K
15th November 2010, 18:57
Mark Webber’s not bad for a “number two”.
Becken
14th November 2010, 17:15
Duno, hahahahah
MacademiaNut
14th November 2010, 17:23
It is one thing that the team that used team orders did not win the championship.
What is interesting is that RB won the race *because* they did not use team orders. Had they used team orders in Brazil, which several people wanted, it would have been disastrous.
d-d
14th November 2010, 20:31
true, but team orders do give advantage, the point is Ferrari didn’t play it with a class.
I think team orders will persist but in more civilised way.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
14th November 2010, 23:04
No. Team orders do not always give advantage, did you not read what MacademiaNut said? If they’d pulled the team orders card on Vettel in Brazil Alonso would be champion now. Team orders can be an advantage, but there’s no guarantee they will be. For all we know, with a win under his belt and the added boost in confidence Massa might’ve strung together a whole series of great results and come from behind to win the championship. Team orders are unsportsmanlike and a stupid gamble.
Adam Tate
15th November 2010, 1:30
Perfectly said US Peter. I could not agree with you more!
Sammy
15th November 2010, 1:31
Totally agree man. Who knows what kind of mental effect Hockenheim had on Massa’s head. This was the guy who not only 2 years ago lost the WDC by a point.
I was one of those pushing for RB to support Mark, but ive seen the light.
Team orders can have an advantage ONLY if the other driver is out of the running, as long as both are in it, no.
Joey-Poey
15th November 2010, 4:05
Thank you! Hear, hear.
K
15th November 2010, 19:09
If RB had used ‘on track’ team orders all season they would have won it earlier.
But they clearly favoured Vettel through the season anyway or are you just over looking that.
Robert
15th November 2010, 23:09
So many people thought RBR shoulda favoured Webber at Inter. HA!
A lesson learned for many.
manB
15th November 2010, 5:27
Vettel during race said ‘Radio not working properly’, may be thinking he will get team orders from Ferrari, ‘Sab, Alonso is faster than u’. lol.
emil
14th November 2010, 17:27
yeah yeah well deserved champion….this is sweetest victory off all time, and Ferrari don’t take driver championship and cry baby Alonso….this is pay back for what hi did to Mclaren and Hamilton three years ago….and gesture to Petrov just show how Alonso is bad bad loser
p.s.
team orders sucks
John H
14th November 2010, 17:41
Contrast Alonso with how Massa reacted after losing the title in 2008.
Felipe, you deserve a better and more loyal team than Ferrari.
Well done RBR. Stick that in your pipe Montezemolo.
rbc
14th November 2010, 17:51
yes massa get the f. out of ferrari cuze you suck
TommyB (@tommyb89)
14th November 2010, 18:13
Imagine if Webber had been let through in Brazil! RBR would have looked stupid!
Vettel needed to win the last few races, if his engine hadn’t gone in Korea he’d have won the last 4 races. Incredible finish to the most incredible season.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
14th November 2010, 23:05
Wish I could’ve seen old Monty’s face through the last laps of the race.
Adam Tate
15th November 2010, 1:32
Wow, hadn’t thought of that yet John H! Great point. We all know who has the true class at Ferrari now.
and rbr: You can tell people they suck when you learn how to use proper grammar and spelling. Massa is a good driver, and I’d have him on my team over a selfish cry baby like Alonso anyday.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
14th November 2010, 19:33
Ferrari robbed us of moment of the season for nothing. Hope they’re happy. Wait, of course they are. Ferrari are never wrong.
Omar Roncal
14th November 2010, 20:16
hahaha yeah always right. Without Kimi, with stupid team orders, then always pointing out to everyone else! I enjoyed the 2007 championship but as a Kimi fan, and now I really joy of Vettel’s CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!
US_Peter (@us_peter)
14th November 2010, 23:14
Yep. The Massa win on the anniversary of his crash would’ve been one of the emotional high points of the season.
Adam Tate
15th November 2010, 1:35
“Yep. The Massa win on the anniversary of his crash would’ve been one of the emotional high points of the season.”
US Peter
It absolutely would have been, possibly the highest, and for that alone Ferrari didn’t deserve the championship today.
Piffles
14th November 2010, 20:53
Yup.
Over so many races, so many decisions, pits stops, braking points, turn ins, something is bound to go wrong at some time or another.
Ferrai put all their eggs in one basket and game over. Red Bull had Webber screwed up today but they still had Vettel to bring it home.
Adam Tate
15th November 2010, 1:29
Amen Preacher!!
The Sri Lankan
15th November 2010, 8:36
Congrats to vettel. even though i wanted alonso to win the title im happy as long as some one that hasnt won the title other than mark webber has done it!
sumedh
14th November 2010, 16:30
Tense race.
And well played Red Bull. They fooled Ferrari into pitting early. Very shrewd.
Inexplicably naive of Stefano and the Ferrari strategists. Could they see only Webber in the race? They forgot not only about Vettel, but also about Petrov and Rosberg. They failed to follow their own advice of taking it race-by-race like they did for every race in the second half of the year. Too much ‘championship thinking’ today by them. Gutted :(
But well, Better Sebastian as a champion rather than Webber.
Fixy (@)
14th November 2010, 16:42
Per sumedh.
Disappointing for Alonso.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
14th November 2010, 17:34
what i don’t undestand is why they needed to cover Alonso from Webber so much. Webber had been struggling with his car since yesterday at qualy, and he had a much taller mountain ahead to climb than Vettel.
Alonso was in a champ winning position. He was 4th, with guys that didn’t have to pit again behind. It’s very weird.
Skett
14th November 2010, 18:20
It was because Webber had started to set fast sector times and they were worried that the tires wouldn’t be able to last that much longer for anybody (since Bridgestone had estimated they wouldn’t last longer than 20 laps). If they had stayed out as long as they could as it was they would have ended up in the same position as the mclarens, but since they were worried they wouldn’t last that long they decided they’d at least hold off webber.
What they did actually makes perfect sense under the assumption that the tyres wouldn’t last much longer. Unfortunately for them it was that assumption that was wrong!
Nick
15th November 2010, 0:24
too much bad driving by Alonso, thought he was such an amazing driver. LOL.
DanThorn
14th November 2010, 16:31
Gotta congratulate Vettel. I’ve been a bit critical of him throughout the season but he thoroughly deserves this title. He’s been quickest all season and despite being hugely unlucky with mechanical errors has managed to snatch it at the last race.
Do the team favour him? Probably, but that’s hardly Sebastian’s fault. Great job by him.
DanThorn
14th November 2010, 16:34
Also I’d like to add:
Four different champions in four years with four different teams. F1 is in a pretty good place and long may it continue.
sumedh
14th November 2010, 16:37
I think it is Five not Four:
Alonso-Renault, Kimi-Ferrari, Lewis-Mclaren, Jenson-Brawn/Honda, Seb – Red Bull
DanThorn
14th November 2010, 16:39
You’re right, how could I forget that!
/facepalm
Daffid
14th November 2010, 17:54
Next year there’ll be 5 world champs on the grid…. if only Jacques had got his entry through the FIA we could have had 6
matt90
14th November 2010, 18:27
This has happened once before I think, and twice there has been a run of 7 different champions.
Mick_electric
14th November 2010, 16:31
What a season! Thank you so much Keith for all the time and work you put in this blog!! Great stuff!
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
15th November 2010, 4:14
I’d also like to thank Keith and all the moderators from the live blogs. You have made the season a lot more enjoyable than I could have imagined. :)
David BR
14th November 2010, 16:34
Surely Alonso just had to keep behind Button and try passing in the pits – if necessary. Bizarre decision to pit given Massa and Webber were already facing problems in passing. Even worse for Alonso getting stuck behind Petrov fighting for his F1 career!
Vettel delivered, Webber didn’t. Red Bull vindicated. Ferrari merely come out of the season looking like sore losers and cheats. Roll on 2011! For now Vettel reigns supreme and beating him and RBR next year will take even more.
Becken
14th November 2010, 17:22
Touchet!
Jonathan
14th November 2010, 17:52
Best quote of the year? :)
Becken
14th November 2010, 18:19
Maybe Keith would put that as the Quote o the day.”
Anagh
14th November 2010, 18:34
Also, Petrov delivered, Alonso didn’t. It’s actually kind of sad for Alonso cause that’s the team he left for Ferrari. Blocked by the car of the team he left to win a championship!
Gwenouille
14th November 2010, 16:38
I was very pleased with that podium I must admit: the last 3 WCs. Tankfully neither Mark or Fernando were on the podium: they would have brought bad mood with them. These 3 were all smiles.
The McLarens end the season on a high note. Both drivers did a great job. Button’s pass on Fernando at the start probably was quite crucial.
Webber finally paid the errors he’s made lately (Singapore, Korea, a poor qulifying here)
I praise Alonso as a driver, but I am glad he didn’t win the crwon, due to this Hockenheim thing. And the gesture to Petrov at the end wasn’t so nice either. Petrov was fully entitled to save his seat too.
Nice for Vettel: Ok much (very much) is due to the RB’s superiority on saturdays, but this was the case last year too, and you still have to deliver. Well done.
But, wasn’t ity the first back-paddle race for Kamui ? Ending the race 2 places astern of his start position ? Tss tss…
Gwenouille
14th November 2010, 16:45
Did I say Singapore ? Well he was on the podium there… Monza rather…
MattW
14th November 2010, 21:31
What was the go with the “champagne” at the end? First it wouldn’t shake up, then Hamilton spat it out after they all took a swig at the same time… lmao
Palle
14th November 2010, 23:21
No Alcohol in it – Muslim country. We laughed a lot over Lewis’ dislike for it, hehe…
TommyC
15th November 2010, 3:00
“Thankfully neither Mark or Fernando were on the podium: they would have brought bad mood with them.”
Although, if alonso was on the podium he would have been somewhat happier…
Gill
15th November 2010, 4:30
Had Alonso been on podium, he wud have won the chamionship. I think u r carried away with Vettel winning and forgetting the facts
Ads21
14th November 2010, 16:40
Not bad for a no.1 driver :p
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
14th November 2010, 16:49
It was inevitable. Mark needs to find another team to have a realistic shot at the title, really. :(
Sanjay
14th November 2010, 16:56
sorry to say this… this is how far Mark would go from a career perspective.
matt90
14th November 2010, 18:13
He will never get into McLaren, Ferrari, and probably not Mercedes, so I don’t think there is a team that would take him capable of allowing to compete. Even if he did get into McLaren or Ferrari he would be defeated by his teamate. The only reason he came so close this year was his dominant car and a teamate who had more reliability problems and is not fully matured into a sensible driver. Vettel threw away a lot of points this year. When he starts making less mistakes he will not be troubled by Webber over a championship again.
Younger Hamilton
14th November 2010, 20:29
He wont get into Renault either considering what Petrov did to Alonso was just classy and brilliant i think he’s earned his drive for 2011.Mark’s only got Red Bull he has to stay there and said he will we all have to be realistic in what we say.
David BR
14th November 2010, 17:11
Ditto Sanjay. Mark webber just had to get into second by the end of the race, not even first. With Alonso stuck where he was even lower would have done. Vettel showed the car was good enough. So how would joining another team help? Kind of sad for Mark, but he should have focused on his driving the past few races rather than hinting that Red Bull should have backed him over Vettel earlier.
Sanjay
14th November 2010, 17:23
exactly David….Sebastian on the other hand capitalized on the potential of the car, the situation and any opportunity that was there (3 wins in the last four races)
Mads
14th November 2010, 17:11
No he just threw his Championship in the bin this Saturday that is what happened. If he had delivered a front row, or at least a 3rd he could have won the championship.
Blake Merriam
15th November 2010, 1:52
That get’s my vote for quote of the year. :)
Pi
14th November 2010, 16:40
the situation for ferrari was actually very complex. they had only one quick driver in the slowest car of the 3 contenders. redbulls had a really fast driver, with nothing to lose, vettel. when mark pitted, he was 1.5 sec behind alonso. Ferrari had two options knowing that the tyre where in a degrading phase : stay on track with the risk of tyre going off and so losing the position to webber, which meant end of the championship. or pit, stay ahead of webber and hope that the rest would go through troubles.
they went the safe route, and it proved that the unknown one was the best.
their only mistake was probably to have pitted alonso and massa a little too early; massa could have gone out in front of webber and alonso in front of petrov if they had stayed on track 3/4 laps more.
and Alonso didn’t show his fist, he showed his fingerS as to say “come on mate, that was not cool”, typical body language to show his disagreement from a spanish or italian person.
Dennoow
14th November 2010, 17:16
I think they responded too hasty. They saw Webber struggling behind Alguersuari and pulled both Massa and Alonso in. But I doubt wether it would have made a difference really. Webber was 0.8 second per lap faster on his fresh tyres and Alonso couldn’t keep up with the McClarens and RBR’s. But they focussed too much on Webber. They should have been focussing on Petrov and Rosberg knowing they already pitted, Alonso had to pull away from them like Hamilton did and there wouldn’t have been a problem. It was a tricky situation and the decision they made was definetly wrong.
John H
14th November 2010, 17:46
“not cool” that you didn’t pull over and let me through in a car race. Alonso shows he has no class… again.
Pi
14th November 2010, 18:01
it is nothing but the body language of a bad temper guy. nothing mean or arrogant. vettel did the same to webber earlier in the year, hamilton criticised on the radio the person who made him change tyres to early in which ever race. montoya insulted raikkonen on the radio.
it is a good thing that they are not all hypocrite and politically correct like some others.
John H
14th November 2010, 18:30
Yeah, good point Pi. I’m probably too harsh, but it was very disappointing to see. You can still have polite non-robots.
Regis
14th November 2010, 22:10
You know, after such a tough season its normal for a driver to be angry. Just let him vent a little, no harm there.
Did you guys see how Torro Rosso let Webber through?
Sammy
15th November 2010, 1:37
Had Hamilton done the same thing though this comment page would be bursting with criticism.
Maybe im a bit old school but its perfectly okay to handle a loss with class.
In the end, EVERYONE is there to compete, not only you Fernando.
He deserves every bit of ridicule he gets. Brilliant driver, but cant stand his overall personality and the aura that seems to surround him and his teams.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th November 2010, 8:47
Agree with Pi. Its just in the heat of the moment gesture. Like the very same made by Vettel in Turkey, Hamilton on the radio in Australia, etc. Obviously, Alonso haters are gonna use it to bash him forever. But losing a championship in this way would be frustrating for any driver.. some hide it.. some don’t.
Victor. (@victor)
14th November 2010, 16:42
I hoped Vettel wouldn’t get the championship, but after some reflection I think he deserves it.
Bahrain, Australia, Malaysia, Valencia, Japan, Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi were fantastic. Of course, Turkey, Spa and Hungary were not so good. Generally speaking, though, he was faster than Webber, and even though Alonso was extremely quick in the second half of the season, Vettel outdrove him when it mattered, i.e today.
Of course, Red Bull should have won it earlier, but despite this I feel he is worthier of it than Webber and Alonso, for whom I have lost all respect after his behaviour towards Petrov. Hamilton deserved it perhaps the most, considering that Hungary was not his fault and Singapore was just bad luck, but the McLaren just was not fast enough for most of the second part of the season.
I can’t wait for 2011. I hope Renault and Mercedes will be able to join the hunt for the championship.
sato113
14th November 2010, 16:53
well done vettel! looks like the fastest driver won in the end. why did ferrari pit alonso? surely they knew he’d come out with webber in traffic!
ah well, the season has ended and i’ve enjoyed every moment of it. ;)
MercedesBeanz
14th November 2010, 16:55
Or, “Vettel grabs title” in Red Bull Renault, as Hamilton, Alonso and Webber get held back by two Renaults in midfield.
Amazing coincidence of course, or maybe Bernie needs to get better script writers :(
TommyB (@tommyb89)
14th November 2010, 20:27
Conspiracy Fail.
f1alex
14th November 2010, 20:38
What do you expect them to do, just let the title contenders through? They’ve got to run their own race too you know! :)
F1silverarrows
14th November 2010, 17:05
YES!!!! I couldn’t believe it, I thought from Korea that it was all over for Vettel, fairy tale ending, fairy tale ending. The most deserving champion out of the lot with so many car problems of robbing wins for him. I don’t care what webber fans think, I dont care what Hamilton fans think and I don’t care what Alonso fans think, all I know is that Vettel is the world champion of 2010 and the youngest ever at that. Thank you to Kubica, Petrov and Rosberg for denying Alonso the points needed to get the 3rd title.
Even I was in tears when vettel became world champion, but they’re the tears of a winner not a loser…
GREATEST SEASON OF ALL TIME IN F1 AND IT WILL NEVER BE BEATEN.
David BR
14th November 2010, 17:18
As a Hamilton fan: Vettel deserved it! Lewis made some mistakes that proved critical and Vettel did have the worst share of reliability problems.
I just disagree with your last bit. I was looking at the first half of the grid and thinking it’s just shockingly good! Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Rosberg, Schumacher (thank god he escaped okay today), Kubica, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg, Sutil… If we could have qualifying sessions as close as this last one at Abu Dhabi all year next year, it would be stupendous. Here’s hoping!
Oliver
14th November 2010, 17:21
One can also add that Hamilton and Button did the impossible to be title contenders till almost the end of the season. Funny how Mclaren suddenly found speed at the very last race but had mediocre performance all season.
David BR
14th November 2010, 17:48
Yes, a bit like last season too, though that had long been a no hoper for McLaren. Button seems to wake up when the car is on song too and was really on Hamilton’s tail, albeit to help him this race. The way he sailed by Alonso at the start was brilliant, a slight veer to defend/warn and he was away. Just a pity the team was 2 or 3 races too late in sorting out the rear end finally.
Gusto
14th November 2010, 17:06
Oh Renault how can I praise thee, to keep Hamilton an Alonso behind them to allow Seb to scuttle off an win was just a delight to watch. And watching the replay thats on now shows that Shumacher was very very lucky in that crash, if He hadn`t moved forward a few feet just prior to it He would of been in trouble. Congrats to Seb, Red Bull, and a Bernie style Gold Medal to Keith an the Mods for a site thats World class.
Oliver
14th November 2010, 17:19
One can’t help but get the feeling that, Mclaren would rather Vettel won the championship than hand it to Alonso. Because bring Hamilton behind Kubica was nothing short of a strategic blunder, something the team has repeatedly done this year.
Having your drivers overtaking cars as a race strategy, on a track that is as tight as we had here, is nothing short of dumb.
Every other team I know try to get their lead drivers in open space.
I think Mclaren got their head stuck in their Fduct. :-)
John H
14th November 2010, 17:49
“Every other team I know try to get their lead drivers in open space.”
Apart from Ferrari that is.
Oliver
15th November 2010, 1:09
You’ve got 2 birds and you’ve got one stone, which do you aim at.
If they had got Massa ahead of Webber, I doubth they’d have brought Alonso in that early.
Hamilton123
14th November 2010, 17:25
Without a doubt the most deserving champion of the season! It is interesting how clever we all were before the race today on who would take the title – especially after qualifying….. This is racing and anything can happen – as we just saw today! What a fantastic season. Cannot wait for the 2011 season to start! Thanks for a fantastic site and for all the great inputs and articles from everybody during the year!
David BR
14th November 2010, 17:52
ahem, well actually I suggested yesterday maybe Red Bull should be concentrating on Vettel not Webber and that Button could be a championship-spoiler for Alonso! His position was vulnerable since moving upfield would be risky, but Button and Webber pushing him into 5th would see him lose. As it happened, Webber didn’t show up to pressurize Alonso, but Ferrari seemed to panic into mistimed stops for Alonso and Massa.
BasCB
14th November 2010, 19:27
That is not true, Webber did a great job to pressurize Ferrari enough to force them into that crucial strategic mistake.
Our only mistake has been, we have been concentrating on the RBR driver in front as well, thinking they would think about a way to get Mark to be there.
Turns out, that in the race RBR looked at their chances and did a clever move to keep the guy in front as far in front as was possible (they knew Seb should not be forced to battle any cars on track). Webber did his part as the no. 2 driver here.
David BR
14th November 2010, 20:46
How did Webber make any difference? Apart from pitting and provoking Ferrari to pit Massa and then Alonso maybe. That was a Red Bull team call presumably. But his own race performance? He was never once hassling Alonso into a mistake or threatening to go past him. Kind of strange given he was supposed to be fighting for the title. Seemed like he’d given up hope of winning the championship after qualification and wasn’t going to fight to get past Alonso and help Vettel.
Todfod (@todfod)
15th November 2010, 8:56
Yep. Hypothetically, if the order was Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Alonso and then Webber, I really wouldn’t be able to see Mark try and overtake Fernando to give Sebastian the title. Mark seems a whole lot more bitter than Sebastian.
Skett
14th November 2010, 18:30
Most deserving champion of the season? You do realise he’s the only champion of the season right?
Younger Hamilton
14th November 2010, 20:35
Nope he’s not the only one if there’s anyone else its Lewis and Mark.Lewis,drove the socks out of a car that has clearly been off the pace and has done outstanding overtakes and Mark is approaching to the end of his career and deserves something to end his career also he has done masterful drives like in Monaco and Spain in which he won back to back.
Skett (@skett)
15th November 2010, 10:00
The champion is the one who wins…
David-A (@david-a)
15th November 2010, 12:17
Webber would only deserve a championship if he wasn’t as awful as he was yesterday. Alonso musy have gine off 5 times yesterday, but Webber was still too slow to capitalise.
If someone deserves a title simply because of their age, then I declare that Luca Badoer and Pedro De La Rosa are more deserving of a title. My dad is even more deserving of one.
Rahim.RG
14th November 2010, 17:30
Man 2007 and 2010 Best Seasons for me….
The good thing over here is that i can see people who were critical about vettel are congratulating and happy for him…..Thats good….In ur face Ferrari…..and srsly i hate Alonso for what he did after the race….to petrov….that gesture showed a Whining and cribbing Alonso….Well Done Vettel u totally Deserved it….
To Alonso: “Vettel is faster than u!!!…Vettel is faster than u”
DaveW
14th November 2010, 18:08
It helped that he toned down his usual bravado, and mostly spared us more annoying Vettelfinger. At the end of the day, he was the best driver who was in the best car. So good for him.
Webber collapsed under the pressure. To be fair, he had a lot on his mind, with Berger and the rest dumping on him for two months, but he went out of this battle so meekly, it is truly sad for him.
BasCB
14th November 2010, 19:28
He did not collapse, he did what he could to support Vettel winning it today.
dave ross
14th November 2010, 17:34
In the end the best driver won. Sorry for the ‘not bad for a no2’ driver but it proves there good will always triumph over mediocre
Alexi (@)
14th November 2010, 17:37
To think Alonso would be champion if Red Bull let Webber through in Brazil.
Hamilton123
14th November 2010, 17:42
Superb decision from Red Bull NOT to favour Webber over Vettel – the result today speaks for itself….
BasCB
14th November 2010, 19:29
One of the best reasons to be against team orders. You just never know!
John H
14th November 2010, 17:37
Fernando’s reaction to Petrov at the end sums up why so many people including myself are pleased they haven’t won the championship. It really suits Ferrari’s arrogance and probably why he fits in so well with such a team.
Well done Red Bull. You’ve won both titles without team orders, and avoided tainting F1 with a false title. Nice one.
David BR
14th November 2010, 18:43
Manu, that’s daft. Try checking out the Brazilian sites and the celebration at Alonso and Ferrari losing! And believe me that takes some doing given Ferrari were on a high here with Massa until this year. Germany 2010 had a price – the reputation of Ferrari, Alonso and Massa. They just need to ask themselves if it was worth it. Personally I don’t think so. Alonso will have another chance at the title next year. And probably after and after. But like Singapore 2008, some of the stuff surrounding Alonso rightly sticks. As I’ve said before, he doesn’t need to press so hard, winning at any cost. He’s a supremely good driver. But he’s in Schumacher’s mould. I guess that’s just how the competitive psychology of some drivers works.
keracure (@keracure)
14th November 2010, 19:36
it was first time I really supported Petrov as to hold Alonso till the end. Despite i liked the Spaniard till beginning of this season,.. .
.. it would be great to have another NEW champion for the next year ,: Kubica or Rosberg maybe ??..
Sean
14th November 2010, 20:17
I can’t help reflecting back on the comment Alonso made in late 2006: “Formula 1 is no longer a sport”, when I see his win at all costs attitude on display today. It’s not only his profiting from team orders this year or from outright fraud in Singapore 08 (how he continues to be happily unrepentant over that one is beyond me). It’s also the fact that he tried to blackmail McLaren over the Stepney papers in 2007 and behaved in an all-round shabby manner (remember that he was one of very few people who were actually implicated as at least wanting to make use of that info, when the email evidence came out, but he tried instead to profit from the situation and became a protected informant for Max’s $100M witch hunt).
So, rewind to Monza 2006. Alonso’s Renault had been ruled illegal during the summer, on the tenuous and highly convenient basis that a fully inboard passive damper, inside the carbon tub, is a movable aerodynamic device. This despite it having been legal for quite a long time and, more than once, ruled as such. After a corresponding slump in form, he then gets a completely grotesque penalty in Monza for supposedly blocking the #2 Ferrari in qualifying, even though he was actually on an absolute blinder of an outlap and the evidence that he compromised Massa at all was beyond thin.
At this point, I have to say, I think Alonso’s conduct in F1 had been just fine and I think he was completely, 100% correct in his assessment of the unfairness of the situation. He knew full well what he was up against, of course, and went on to seal the title in style by virtue of being essentially flawless all season, throwing away no points that I could see, while his rival threw points away four times with driving errors.
Did he, simply, see the world for what it was that year and act accordingly ever since? It seems to me like a case of the abused becoming the abuser.
BBT
14th November 2010, 20:23
SPA? …………….
Nick
14th November 2010, 21:20
Good post Sean but what changed Alonso was being matched by Ham in 07. He never recovered fully IMO. I did think he did recover eventually a few weeks ago but no he hasn’t and that will carry on costing him as he has very little resilience and strenght of character left as illustrated by his numerous enforced errors over the past 3 years.
LewisAint
14th November 2010, 21:24
I think Alonso recovered well this year. Given he’s #2 in the standings and Lewis “the racer” is #4.
aa
14th November 2010, 21:26
5 points away of Alonso. (discounting 7 cheating points)
marmad
14th November 2010, 22:42
Alonso was 0 points away of Hamilton in 2007 (no discounting points). I remember Ron Dennis words in 2007 “Alonso is our enemy” (really hard if your own team is your enemy). I repeat, maybe you dont hate Alonso, but it seems like that.
Younger Hamilton
14th November 2010, 23:08
@LewisAint Since Lewis was ever called the racer i dont remember anyone mentioning this throughout the season.I think you’re trying to big up Alonso and treating Alonso like a rookie by making out like Lewis is the best driver on the grid and that Alonso beat him so thats an incredible achievement NO be realistic with your comments next time.Its good to favour and support your favourite driver but once again be Realistic
marmad
14th November 2010, 23:17
Alonso beating Hamilton this year is not an incredible achievement, its a fact.
Sammy
15th November 2010, 1:45
Lewis had the same amount of fastlaps in a lesser car than the Ferrari. In terms of speed, Alonso falls short in comparison. In equal machinery, well, look to ’07…when Lew was a ROOKIE, and Alonso, the supposed wily veteran who’d won 2 WDCs.
Nick
15th November 2010, 10:11
Alonso NOT beating a rookie in the same car in 07 IS an incredible achievement AND a fact.
DaveW
15th November 2010, 15:42
Given that Lewis had to actually race his teammate for most of the year, and had a slower car for most of the year, I think the jury is still out, is the most one can say.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
14th November 2010, 20:19
Bu tyou do like the arrogance of Red Bull that they assumed that they would win 3 races in a row?
Well they did in the end, but still. That IS arrogance.
aa
14th November 2010, 21:24
Alonso said 3 podiums, 2 victories and they’d win. Isn’t that arrogance, too?
catinthebag
14th November 2010, 17:39
just what RB wanted. They have been favouring Vettel with the setup all year, even taking a wing off Webber because Vettel broke one. so forget team orders or no, and forget talking about fairness. Of course Webber was used as the decoy – they never wanted him to win it (old, not as marketable in the long term, may not stay, etc.)
Anyhow, great strategy and Ferrari threw it all away by being so easily duped. They deserved to lose because they didn’t keep their heads on. (If team orders were anything, Massa should have slowed in 5th to extend the gap of midfield from Alonso in 4th!)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th November 2010, 17:42
Would have been more valuable to get Massa ahead of Webber, which they were trying to do.
catinthebag
14th November 2010, 23:59
yeah, and it looked like they might have done it too, though I forgot what the gap was between Massa and Webber when Massa went to the pits.
DaveW
15th November 2010, 15:28
Keith, keen to see any update of your rather controversial piece endorsing team orderns in the wake of the Ferrari-Hockenheim ruling. Having lightening strike your house does not mean you should move, but these results cast the whole issue in a brighter light, no?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
15th November 2010, 15:29
Yep, definitely a topic that will be returned to in the off-season.
BasCB
14th November 2010, 19:30
Their mistake in the pistop was about not getting Massa in front of Webber and the next strategic failure was pitting Alonso immediately after that as well.
Mads
14th November 2010, 19:38
I don’t think there is as much favoring as you suggest within Red Bull. The drivers are always very equal, and they are allowed to race.
I don’t think that Webber was used as a decoy, his tires were gone, and it didn’t seem to get better. Splitting the drivers up on two different strategies were just the best way to secure the WDC. Because Ferrari only had one driver in championship he couldn’t cover both of them and they chose the wrong driver. Anyway had Webber jumped Alonso on the strategy it would hardly help. He would need to gain enough positions to get 9 points more then Alonso. That was just never going to happen. Webber threw his chances in the bin on Saturday, so it was hardly Red Bull’s fault.
Pablo
14th November 2010, 17:42
I just can say that im so happy, justices is what we saw today…..for team orders and the boicot of Felipe´s car. I hope that my dear Ferrari understand how to race. Today Don Enzo can rest in peace. Forza Ferrari. alonso GO HOME!
rbc
14th November 2010, 17:50
your dear Ferrari? do you own one?
ILoveVettel
14th November 2010, 17:49
Really happy for Seb…
And one more thing, All season RB were complaining about Renault engine… Well, the Renault drivers more than made up for that deficiency today :P
DaveW
14th November 2010, 17:51
Unbelieveable how Ferrari basically fell apart systematically here. First Alonso lays down a carpet of rose petals for Button at turn 1. Then he pussy-foots his way backwards, saving his tires, or something. Then with the pit-deltas showing him set to fall behind Petrov, they bring him in. What, to cover Webber, while Vettel was running away with the race? Then the pleading, begging, over the radio for Fernando to pass Petrov from the pit wall almost brought a tear to my eye—the great Alonso kept bottled up by the lowly Petrov, as his title slipped away, like a man tied up in the basement while his house is robbed. It was too sad an ending for Alonso. Even for him. It is impossible to believe that in the end, the title was lost by Ferrari due to poor performance, of the car, the team, and the driver, after such a showing of perfection and strength for the past 2 months.
I’m most annoyed with McLaren. Finally they get the car to give Lewis to take on Vettel toe to toe and they stuff him behind Kobayashi and Kubica. It was close, yes. If Koba didnt go off in turn 2, Vettel is possibly in the clutches of Kubica and Hamilton both for at least a lap.
Hamilton123
14th November 2010, 18:03
Excellent comment… Very interesting to see how Ferrari managed to screw up everything today. It was all in the bag, but stil they couldnt help themself…
David BR
14th November 2010, 18:32
Yes but the way it turned out, Hamilton would have needed a mechanical problem from Vettel for him to win. And Alonso picked up points. At least Hamilton and Button spoiled the Ferrari party. I guess it shows that the test ban makes a huge difference: McLaren would have sorted their car out earlier and could well have taken the title.
One good thing: Hamilton losing his younger ever champion status. He can now concentrate on picking up some more titles and becoming a F1 great. His driving mid-season was fantastic, hauling the car into contention. Hopefully next year McLaren will be back!
silencer
14th November 2010, 17:54
What did alonso expect petrov to do? give him easy way to pass?
Alonso don’t deserve to be in F1 if he don’t know how to overtake another car and always hope for easy overtaking when he was driving that Ferrari… I repeat he’s driving Ferrari not HRT so he should just stop whining
Bravo Vettel..
keep on crying alonso..
Ads21 (@ads21)
14th November 2010, 18:26
It was a bit of a petulant gesture to Petrov, and I’m sure he regrets it. But it’s far too easy to sit and judge these sportsmen who have adrenaline pumping through their veins and faced the massive dissapointment of losing the WDC a the final race.
Once he calmed himself down he produced a very magnanomous interview with the press then was the first man to go down to RBR and congratulate the team. I was very proud to be an Alonso fan today.
Feynman
14th November 2010, 19:07
Yeah, but pressure amplifies and magnifies, it doesn’t actually distort.
It only ever exposes carefullty hidden essential truths, pre-existing character flaws, in all of us. Adrenaline didn’t make him behave petulantly, it merely provided opportunity for that inherent petulance to be displayed.
The contrast with his much put-upon team mate, in reaction to bitter championship disapointment is somewhat striking. Perhaps it could be argued that that very unreasonableness is the reason why one has 2 WDC and the other may never, that could well be true, but despite that, I still prefer to cling to an outmoded and archaic notion (fantasy?) of the gentleman racer, polite and dignified, rather than some of the spoiled, overgrown man-children we seem to have to endure.
It’s only a game, winning and losing come and go, and when it’s all over, you will have a very long time to look back on how you behaved.
Randy
14th November 2010, 20:54
Good post Feynman. True champions transcend sport and become examples of how we should conduct ourselves in life. Alonso falls far short of this measure.
marmad
14th November 2010, 21:34
great words…on paper. What about Michael Schumacher? And what about Alain Prost (do you remember Japan GP 1989?)? Arent them true champions? I repit, its a pity you cant be objective with Alonso. Just some words I’ve read about Alonso “His behaviour is the worst”, “he has no talent”, “he is not a true champion”, “he must be out of f1″…maybe you dont hate him, but it seems like that.
marmad
14th November 2010, 22:04
I’m sorry for my bad english (much better years ago). I want to congratulate RBR team. Great car, great driver. I’m Alonso’s supporter and I recognize Vettel’s talent. I like Formula one, thats all.
Pi
14th November 2010, 18:03
interesting declaration from webber : “Early in the race obviously we had to make a few calls to get out of that position we were in. It wasn’t too bad till then. Going for the harder tyre pretty early obviously hurt Fernando because he had to cover me off, so in a way it was a bit of a team effort I suppose, but obviously I didn’t get the result I wanted.”
is he saying that the tactic was to force alonso down the field to help vettel?
BBT
14th November 2010, 18:13
He might be but that would of been foolish, I think he’s just indicating how it turned out. Who on earth would of thought that Ferrari would try and cover Webber when what they had to cover was 4th place, no way could RBR expected that or planned for it. Biggest mistake of Ferrari up year and they made soon big ones at the beginning of the season… oh well. :-)
BasCB
14th November 2010, 19:33
That would have been the sensible thing to do at that stage. Webber being stuck behind Alonso in 4th place was not going to win them the championship for either driver.
AJ
14th November 2010, 18:13
WOW, so much hate for Alonso here, just unbelievable. I wonder how many of you on here sipping the hateraide were loving it when he beat schumi and his aura of invincibility back in 05 + 06.
Although I wanted Fernando to win, Seb was the best driver all season and had many race wins robbed from him due to reliability. The guy is a phenom.
As for the boo hoos over Alonso’s gesture to Petrov, yes it was silly and unneccessary but when someone is close to something they want really bad, You can forgive them for their outbursts.
People need to give Fernando credit, either Massa is utterly useless or Fernando was outperforming the car by miles. He was under alot of pressure towards the end of the season (see his expression after korea quali for example) yet delivered a sensational nstring of results to make the championship this year even more enticing.
People dont like Fernando’s attitude that’s all good because they don’t hand out any prizes for being the nice guy, they hand them out to the guy who wins.
BBT
14th November 2010, 18:15
I’ve read every post and think you are wrong people have preferences yes but it’s not hate.
AlexNK
14th November 2010, 18:41
No, people don’t like Alonso because he’s a poor sportsman, sore loser and cry baby. The main reason Massa is so far behind is he has clearly stopped trying after he was basically shelved in Hockenheim in favor of ‘Fernando and his enormous talent’. Well, we saw the extent of his talent today when he could not pass a slower car with a rookie driver that was not under team orders to move over for him.
marmad
14th November 2010, 19:41
Its a pity. I cant believe it. Why you cant recognise Fernando’s talent. Massa is 10 times worse driver than Fernando. Vettel is a crybaby, and he is petulant(do you forget his finger? Alonso is one of the top drivers. Today was Ferrari’s fault, Alonso couldnt do any more.
Robert
15th November 2010, 3:03
Vettel has always been the most upbeat of the leading drivers, even today happy to chat with Brundle right before the race.. a cool cat. I don’t know where you get ‘crybaby ‘ from at all.
I don’t get the finger thing at all either. If a driver gets pole or a win he can celebrate how he damn well pleases.
Keamo
14th November 2010, 18:22
Thank you so much Keith and team for all your hard work. Its been a great F1 season and you’ve kept us all on the pulse. . . Much appreciated.
David BR
14th November 2010, 18:35
Seconded. First port of call for F1! Great work Keith.
Becken
14th November 2010, 18:28
@adamcooperf1
“…And an FIA source tells me he (ALONSO) declined an invitation to congratulate Vettel in parc ferme…
jur jur
14th November 2010, 18:35
and another source tells me that he (ALO ) was lookin for a machine gun to kill SEB and HAM… ridiculous inventions of racist antispanish haters
kenneth
14th November 2010, 18:34
Petrov?!, your faster than Aonso, confirm that you understand this message…….ehehehehehehehehe, ive never been so happy at a loss than today, the Renaults paid back RB, for being good clients, dint see this coming…even though am for Mclaren , i wouldnt pull a fist at kubica, ehehehehehe….Red bull throwing a redherring at Ferrari……
Gusto
14th November 2010, 18:49
For the Ferrari fans feeling gutted….Google Brasil 2007…. Oh why oh why wern`t Williams disqualified…but like the World Cup, you gotta let it go.
Anagh
14th November 2010, 18:51
Just glad Vettel won. Put Webber one on one against Vettel, vettel would definitely win the race. Hence He deserved the title, a little bit more than webber did. And Vettel managed to prove himself. Sad Hamilton lost, was hoping till the last lap tat vettel’s engine blows out and alonso accidentally crashes into petrov n webber follows, but happy Vettel won instead of Alonso or webber. :-)
Sebas
14th November 2010, 19:04
Viva la Vettel!!
I loved the hands of Petrov and Alonso after the finish. Petrov did a great job today, the Ferarri was actually slower in top speed than the Renault! who would believe that?
Robbie
14th November 2010, 19:05
I wish the season could keep going. McLaren were back on form today and just as the season ended, the field looked even more even than ever with two of the dark horses (Renault and Mercedes) up there as well.
What a brilliant season.
Mr draw
14th November 2010, 19:28
“But the race only lasted a few cars before the safety car came out…” Cars = corners?
Rocky
14th November 2010, 19:30
Alonso Team radio … this is ridicules I am faster than him tell him to give way this is ridicules
Sorry Fernando you are on your own and oh by the way you are not world champion!
dancadera
14th November 2010, 19:52
Only my second year watching F1…chose Seb as my driver as he was pulling up on Jenson last year. Now he’s the champ, which is amazing as a new fan. Got tickets for Montreal next season, can’t wait to see that #1 on the Red Bull in person!!!
Hntx
14th November 2010, 20:08
What an awful track! Absolutely pitiful track! I don’t care how much that POS cost to build; if a superior car can’t pass an inferior car, that track stinks and nobody can argue that. Alo was catching petrov by 8 tenths, and 7 tenths the next lap, but couldn’t get around the renault due to the miserable track config. AUSTIN, TX TRACK DESIGNERS, I hope you witnessed what just happened – don’t let that happen in Texas!!!!!! If you do, nobody will come to watch! I’m dubbing that track “The F1 Yawner”
Miserable race, POS track! This race had the perfect ingredients of a perfect dual, too bad the track and back markers ruined what could have been a storybook ending. For the hair-splitters – I know petrov wasn’t a back marker but when another racer is 8 tenths faster, we all know how that situation should end. That race should be removed from the schedule unless true passing areas are configured. Terribly underwhelmed by that outcome. Bernie and Abu dahbi should be embarrassed.
Nick
14th November 2010, 20:11
Refreshing to see RB win both titles. I fear Ferrari are building such a negative and obsolete image for themselves. Dishonest, ostentatious, bad taste, vulgar, no sense of humour. All one has so look at is how they unsurprisingly attract Middle-East sponsors so easily.
Ferrari seem stuck into a pre-recession attitude.
They need to re-group and get a top non-latin driver who can be resilient and pragmatic enough to cope with the internal self-imposed pressure. Kubica springs to mind, and he must be cheap compared to the cry baby.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
14th November 2010, 20:18
At least this year the best car won. I really felt sorry for Newey last year.
Younger Hamilton
14th November 2010, 21:01
Wow!! before this season i thought and i was saying this as a battle between McLaren and Ferrari like in 2007 or 2008 but who expected a Red Bull to provide themselves with a dominant car that has been the dominance throughout this season,who thought Mercedes were going to struggle as well as Schumi,Who thought the new teams were going to last the whole Season,Who thought at the beginning of the Season that McLaren werent going to win the constructors(they were the favourites),Who thought Alonso would do an outstanding 2nd half of the season,Who thought Sebastian Vettel will become 2010 F1 Champion very few did and i didnt and it happened.What an Amazing,Titanic,Outstanding and Fantastic season i will never forget it and Keith like the others Thanks for all the support and help your website,your helpers and you for providing us with everything.Bring on 2011 Lewis FTW!!!
Piffles
14th November 2010, 21:02
On a positive side, I welcome the newer attitude towards racing in F1 nowadays. I remember somewhere in the early 2000s when Schumacher was well down at the last race. The mid fielders were expected to let him through so he could fight with the leaders. Everyone was scandalized that Hill actually fought for his position, thinking he was in a real race, so naive…
I’m glad to see it didn’t happen today with Alonso. He had to earn his positions, and couldn’t do it, silly mickey mouse car park track or not.
I’m sure Kobayashi would have made it through somewhere :-)
Anon
14th November 2010, 21:15
Poor Jenson Button, Vettel carrying on about Lewis at the interview. No one seemed to care or remembered that Jenson was the defending champion even the interviwer himself.
Rocky
14th November 2010, 21:38
Yes I felt the same they actually had three consecutive WDC on stage but seemingly never realized it.
LewisAint
14th November 2010, 21:22
To all the Alonso haters (Read: Hamilton fans) who feel relief that RB took the crown instead of Ferrari, look at the final WDC standings. Alonso came in second. Where did Lewis end up? BEHIND Alonso.
Rocky
14th November 2010, 21:40
If not LH better SV than FA
Younger Hamilton
14th November 2010, 22:54
For you Alonso Fanboy where did Alonso end up in the race oh yeah thats right 7th and Lewis and Jenson 2nd and 3rd respectively plus who complaining and throws his hand up and shouts out because he got held up by a driver that pitted earlier when a safety car period occured and the driver’s strategy worked out which means the driver throwing his hand up is costed the title,oh yeah MR ALONSO.So you can forget about the WDC standings and where Lewis is
Nick
15th November 2010, 9:59
At least his team did not cheat to put him where he is… LOL crybaby.
DK
14th November 2010, 21:32
Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel. He convinced me in the end that he deserves to be a champion.
Some ideas for polls:
Is Sebastian Vettel a worthy champion? yes/no
Should RBR have made use of team orders in Brasil to let Webber win the race in front of Vettel? yes/no :)
Before this race whom did you want to finish as champion? ALO/WEB/VEt/HAM
Rocky
14th November 2010, 21:44
Is Sebastian Vettel a worthy champion? yes
Should RBR have made use of team orders in Brasil to let Webber win the race in front of Vettel? no
Before this race whom did you want to finish as champion? HAM
But better SV than FA
They should make AN woeld champ!
statix
14th November 2010, 21:35
i hate vettel. he sucks but well… congratulations.
anyway i would be much more happy for ham or web.
Robert
15th November 2010, 3:06
an F1 WDC does not “suck”. Miserable comment.
Red Cow
14th November 2010, 21:38
Something fishy about this result
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th November 2010, 21:57
What, specifically?
Rocky
15th November 2010, 1:04
Did Webber get the same car as SV?
Why was he so far of the mark?
Robert
15th November 2010, 3:13
I despise the amateur psychology some deploy on forums so I’m trying to avoid it but Webber’s performances seemed to deteriorate towards the end of the season.
After quali yesterday he looked defeated already: like he didnt have the speed and he knew it.
I think that after 2 years he cannot avoid the inescapable fact that his team-mate has him beat, he’ll likely never be No1 at Red Bull.
DaveW
15th November 2010, 15:38
Was it not curious that he was quick enough to stay 1-2 seconds behind Alonso, bottled up behind the relatively execreble Renault, but never close enough even to capitalize on Alonso’s desperate floundering trying to make the pass? I began to wonder if he was just sitting there thinking, this is over for me, let me just bring it home. If it were me, and I was thinking of my last act as an RBR or an F1 driver, passing or taking out Alonso, if he even thought of closing the door on me, would have been the only two options.
Mikos
14th November 2010, 22:44
In the end Herman Tinky and the inability of F1 cars to follow each other around his doodlings had the biggest impact on the result. Being stuck in traffic is onbe thing, being unable to pass slower cars in another. That track is a shocker, it’s really hard to even tell where the cars are on it apart from at a couple of places.
It was a great season in terms of drama and close results and everyones favourite driver had a slice of the action. But I can’t help but feel the close results were manufactured in a way. For example, you’d have to rank both the Ferrari and Alonso as being in a different calibre to Petrov / Renault – and yet for 30 odd laps, with a title on the line Alonso couldn’t get past him and didn’t ever even really look like he could. This suggests to me that there’s still real problems with Tinkies designs (and having too many of them), races being held in dollars ahead of passion countries with good tracks and the cars themselves.
But well done to Vettel, he was the teams number 1 driver and bought home the number 1 result. Webber had every opportunity and made a meal of Korea. Roll on next year.
Rocky
15th November 2010, 1:08
I don’t think it is so much the tracks but the cars. Perhaps next year with movable rear wings no double defusser and no f-ducts will help.
Spa09
14th November 2010, 22:56
Perfect race!!
Karma! Singapore 08, ferrari docs 07, Germany 10, mass dampers 05-06, engine fix 2010, 09 just crying, etc.
Can´t Santander just buy the title for him. Im sure Vettel could seal the deal with 200M
nivola4
15th November 2010, 0:14
This was a fitting finale to another season of Formula No Passing. As often, the first car to the first corner is never to be challenged. You could turn the TV off at that point an turned it back on to watch the trophy ceremony. The only passing which took place, as usual, took place during pit stops. This is not passing. And this is not racing. It is parading. For a racing series that likes to tout itself as the most technologically advanced form of racing,too many years have passed since there has been real racing. Pathetic.
Nick
15th November 2010, 10:03
Very true. But I’m still watching, out of habit.
John H
15th November 2010, 12:31
“too many years have passed since there has been real racing. Pathetic.”
This has actually been quite a good season of passing – probbably more than ever in F1 although I don’t have the stats to back this up.
People look back to the 90s and think there was passing all the time – there really wasn’t. There were loads of bore races it’s just that in today’s culture of having everything all the time we want more more more all the time.
It was actually a great season, getting rid of fuel was a success compared to 2009. The new tracks are slightly to blame along with the tyres if anything. Think about Canada this year and you’ll see the cars are the least of the problems.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
15th November 2010, 1:48
What a race of tension, the last 10 laps I was thinking about Vettel what if he had a failure in his car, well deserve win & WC.Ferrari made the worst decision of their life by bringing Alonso on lap 16th they will pay for that in the future.But he was trying in the race not sure what he wanted to tell Petrov after the race? Nice to see both Mclaren on the podium as both the driver brought their girlfriend Mclaren need to do that more in 2011.Good race from Petrov as he was my driver of the day & this driver may secure his seat with the team in 2011.
Feel bad for Schumacher after lap 1,nice to see that he was enjoying the race after the crash from the pit wall.Hope he have a good car for 2011 under him.
Last we still have 116 days for the race in Bahrain what will you do between now & then.
wong chin kong
15th November 2010, 2:25
Alonso lost the championship because Ferrari did not use their brains, very much focused on whom Alonso have to beat or stay ahead instead of trying to aim for a win. Their strategy was only to keep ahead of certain rivals and that made Ferrari lost track of what was happening in front of Alonso. Massa was no where in the front pack to help Alonso. They should now employ a master strategist in the calibre of Jean Todt if they want to challenge Red Bull or Mclaren next year because races will be tight and championship decided most probably in the final run.
Raj
15th November 2010, 2:38
In the end it seems Ferrari has bad wkend overall. They struggled with graining on softs in FP2 and it was in their mind clearly when they made pitstops. More worryingly for them for first time since valencia they were slotted in to third fastest car. They always boast about their race pace & ability to look after tyres well in race. But it seems both deserted them in abu dhabi desert.
In all in all i feel Ferrari made right decision (based on factors) in pitting. If soft tyres didn’t hold off as top 3 did (during alonso pit stop even top3 were showing down in lap times indicating softs are graining) alonso whould have fallen behind webber also. And more over they greatly underestimated in how difficult it is to overtake in abu dhabi. As alonso pointed out Renault has low downforce (more speed on straights ) and so they are always fast on straights and moreover petrov was setting fastest times through them in Friday & Saturday. The only way to overtake is at end of straights. Even if he overtook petrov it would have taken mighty effort from alsono to get rid of rosberg. As Domenicali said they haven’t lost title at just abudhabi but throughout 19 races. And collectively they failed to finish job despite great effort. Welldone and All the best for next year.
-A-
15th November 2010, 2:52
Once again a close showdown in the finale, which I appreciate. I could also pretend my wish from yesterday was “heard” in that the outcome was decided without any of these teammate interplay / team orders kind of stuff.
I think from a point of view purely interested in tension and interesting championship stuff going on, one could be glad Red Bull and their drivers did not always perform as dominantly as they could have – otherwise, a decider at Singapore or Suzuka could well have been in order.
(Big media huzzah in Germany, obviously.)
Dev
15th November 2010, 3:37
i’m happy alonso did not win, and very happy that Vettel won it!! Bad luck for Webber but had a good year too!!
i’d really love it if Alonso never wins another championship at ferrari & would be fantastic if we here on the radio ‘alonso do you understand, massa is faster than you’ lol
way to race petrov!!
Kiwiboy
15th November 2010, 6:57
Dont feel its just me, but the commentary for next year certainly needs some serious tweaking! Martin is great but the clown beside him needs personally be given the royal boot!Listening to the pair of them, Martin would be giving his expert opinion when out of the blue whatshisname would shout about some random event happening on the circuit, not connected with bugger all! AND then got it wrong..rant over… FA supporter, congrats to Seb, Lewis you have gone up huge in my expectations…thanks Keith for the year!
HounslowBusGarage
15th November 2010, 11:00
Nothing to do with the argument or discussion so far on this thread, but that’s a fantastic pic at the head of the article.
The new World Champ having a champagne shower from the last two World Champs is a great image.
Mac
15th November 2010, 15:37
I was so pleased to see Alonso didn’t win the title. He is an arrogant driver. Just see the the way he was gesticulating at Petrov in the slow down lap. Both drivers were competiting. Why should Petrov move over for Alonso? What makes Alonso think he is right to suggest Petrov should rig the championship by moving out of the way for him? Its a sport. Its competition. If Alonso can’t take that he should look for another professional. Well done Vettel
PJA
15th November 2010, 18:04
I was really surprised that Alonso couldn’t get past Petrov, he obviously would have been trying his hardest but it didn’t seem that he made that many attempts from the coverage, I thought he would make some all or nothing moves as the race neared the end but we didn’t see any.
Although Hamilton couldn’t get past Kubica either he did seem to be more desperate to get past him.
Also Webber didn’t seem as close to Alonso as Alonso was to Petrov and so wasn’t able to take advantage when Alonso ran wide. I thought at the time this might have been because Webber knew it wouldn’t make any difference to his championship if he finished just in front of Alonso.