Alonso was giving Webber a tough time, as he was close enough to make his DRS work. On lap 20, Alonso made his pass but was not able to close-up behind Vettel and the gap between them kept growing. During their second pit stop, Webber was able to jump Alonso owing to the neat work by the Red Bull mechanics. However, he lost the place back during the third pit stop as Webber pitted first and found his medium tyres not as fast. Webber then fell away quite dramatically, as his car developed a gearbox problem, and the team instructed him to short-shift the car. He was so far ahead of Hamilton, however, that his podium place was never in doubt.

Nico Rosberg finished a lonely seventh for Mercedes, ahead of a mighty scrap between Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari, who ran a great two-stop strategy, and on-form three-stopper Adrian Sutil, who was only 0.4s behind him in his Force India as they finished eighth and ninth, a lap down. Nick Heidfeld was the final point scorer in 10th, and Sergio Perez ran a one-stopper to finish 11th. Thus, the Spanish fans had something to cheer about, as Alonso and Alguersuari notched-up respectable finishes. Vettel’s sixth win out of eight means his championship lead is now more than three wins’ worth of points. And the third place for Webber meant he is now tied for second with Jenson Button. Next race is the British Grand Prix in Silverstone.

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2010 Formula 1 Telefonica Grand Prix Of Europe

The qualfying on Saturday was staged on a dry circuit, but the race started in damp conditions with a bit of drizzling still going on. All 24 cars were on the full wet rubber, and the race started behind the safety car. The cars circulated for four laps before the pack was released. As is customary now, Vettel was on pole. The two Ferraris had lined up behind him, headed by Fernando Alonso, and Mark Webber was in P4 though he qualified without his KERS. At the race start, Vettel came under attack from Alonso but he hung-on to the lead and then started opening-up a gap. Further back Mark Webber was attacked more aggressively by Lewis Hamilton, who tipped the Red Bull into a spin at the first corner. The next few corners saw the most controversial moments in the race. Hamilton fell behind Michael Schumacher while avoiding Webber’s spinning car but was soon on his tail, trying to pass the Mercedes around the outside of the Casino hairpin. Schumacher edged him wide and Button seized the opportunity to move ahead of his team mate. Hamilton’s eventful race came to a sudden end on lap seven. He tried to capitalise on a mistake by Button at the chicane, but drew alongside his team mate into a narrowing gap between Button and the pit wall. Hamilton dealt the wall a solid whack, damaging his left-rear wheel. McLaren told Hamilton to park his damaged car, and while Button headed for the pits the safety car returned to the track. As usual, Hamilton’s critics were out in full-force claiming he needs to calm down or he’ll kill someone, but yours truly believes it was more of Button’s mistake in this case. Knowing Jenson Button and how fair he normally is, perhaps the visilbility was very poor and lets just put it down as a racing incident. Even the stewards had done the same.

After a few laps behind the safety car, Hamilton’s McLaren was moved out of the way and the racing resumed. At the restart Alonso began to slip back from Vettel, as he had during the first three laps of green flag running, with Felipe Massa lapping close behind his team mate. However, DRS was disabled at this stage as conditions were still wet. Few drivers took to intermediate tyres at this stage – Button, Alonso, Sutil. But, the rain returned with a vengeance and they all had to switch back to full wets. Meanwhile, Jenson was slapped with a drive-through penalty for going too quickly behind the safety car. He served it right-away, but began picking cars to get back the positions he had lost, with ease. With the heavy downpour, the race had to be suspended, and cars were left on the starting grid for a good two hours before racing could resume. Finally the clouds lifted and the race resumed – again behind the safety car. Cars were made to follow the safety car for 8 laps, and conditions had improved drastically during the time. Also, Lewis Hamilton was missing from the pack and so we had nobody demanding that the race be started, like he had done in Korea last year. Once racing restarted, some drivers started switching to the intermediate tyres and Jenson Button was one of the first drivers to do so. The Ferrari drivers pitted at the same time and Alonso had to queue behind his team mate. While Button tried to pass Alonso at turn three, the pair banged wheels sending Alonso spinning onto a kerb where his car became stuck. Button limped into the pits with a front-left puncture and we had the safety car out for the fourth time. The remaining drivers also switched to intermediate tyres and Vettel led once more as the race restarted. Michael Schumacher made a few moves stick and he passed Webber, Kobayashi and Massa. By now, drivers were swithching to dry rybber, and again Button did id much earlier than the others. His pace was whole seconds faster than Vettel’s, as he made his way up the order once again, having fallen to 22nd and last.

Button passed Webber for 3rd, as the Aussie made a mistake. The very next lap, he passed Schumacher and closed-up on Vettel. By this time, DRS was enabled, and Button used this to close further-up. It looked like Button would pounce in the DRS zone in the last lap, but the mistake from Vettel happened before that letting Button through to win this fantastic race. Vettel looked despondent after losing the lead he had held for almost the whole race. But he retains a healthy 60-point margin over Button, who is now second in the title race. Next race is the European Grand Prix in Valencia, and the FIA are set to ban engine mapping which help cars during their qualifying run on Saturday. There will be stricter parc fermé rules in place, and this might make the Red Bulls less competitive on Saturdays. We’ll wait and see.

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Formula 1 Grand Prix Du Canada 2010

Hamilton was briefly under threat of not starting the race as the team discovered a problem with his engine before he left the pits to go to the grid. He made it out just on time, with only a few seconds to spare. Button got off to a good start, and shot-off into the lead. Hamilton also jumped the Red Bull and got behind his team-mate, while Vettel was left defending from Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes. During the first pit stop, Button committed a big blunder which would in the end cost him a good number of points, as he parked in the Red Bull pit box first, before their mechanics waved him out. While Mercedes and McLaren committed to a three-stop strategy, Ferrari and Vettel would only make one more stop. The final round of pit stops set up an exciting showdown to the chequered flag with Vettel and Massa nursing their hard tyres and Hamilton closing in. Having worked his way up into P2, Hamilton and Vettel battled for two laps before he made a move stick.

This was by far, the best race of the season so far. Hamilton’s win moves him up to second in the championship. Vettel’s winning streak may be over, but he still enjoys a 21-point lead in the drivers’ standings – almost a race win in front. We have a little breather, before the next round in Turkey. The new rules, and the new tyres has spiced-up the racing, and we have McLaren competing with Red Bull. Mercedes have also upped their performance, and looked like the third fastest team, unsurping Renault. But, there is still work for Ferrari, who have had none of their drivers finishing in the podium yet. Last year in Turkey, Red Bulls were too far ahead through it’s spectacular turn 8, but this time tyres could also play a part through there. It’s gonna be great fun!

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2010 Chinese Grand Prix

The leading drivers stuck with the soft tyres for the first round of pit stops but Hamilton switched to hards for his third stint. There was speculation that Hamilton was trying to run the race distance on it, and might be able to take the fight to Vettel as a result. However, his pace dropped off during the stint and McLaren brought him in for his third stop on lap 37 – with 19 still to go. Once he was out after switching tyres, Alonso caught him and the old sparring partners were involved in a dog fight after quite a while. Alonso’s DRS was not functioning – Hamilton’s tyres were a mess – and the two were racing aggressively. He was all over the McLaren for a good two laps, and Hamilton weaved left and right trying to defend his place. Eventually, Alonso pushed just over the limit, and clipped the McLaren’s right rear tyre as he got the tow. The impact smashed Alonso’s front wing and sent him into the pits for a fourth stop. Hamilton’s car appeared undamaged but he was still struggling with his tyres, and needed a fourth stop.

Heidfeld breezed past Hamilton, using DRS on lap 51. Button tried to give chase of Vettel, who had to switch off his KERS midway through the race. Webber had also made a fourth stop and with fresher tyres was able to pass Massa for fourth place. The recovering Alonso took seventh. In eighth place was the only driver to make two stops – Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber. His team mate Sergio Perez retired after hitting debris, which fell off another car. Michael Schumacher and Paul di Resta rounded off the points-scorers, the latter beating his team mate home by ten seconds. It has been a very strong start to di Resta’s career, after out-qualifying his team-mate at Australia.

After the race, there was penalties handed-out to both Alonso – for causing an avoidable accident – and Hamilton – for changing his line more than once. Both received 20 second time penalties which resulted in Hamilton dropping to 8th, and promoting Kamui to 7th place. Alonso’s finishing position of 6th was unaffected by the time-penalty. However, one feels that the penalties imposed were too strict, and Alonso was more at fault in this case. There was little sign of the widely-anticipated rain, aside from a brief shower around the first pit stops. The race was action-packed without it, but in the end the world champion prevailed once again. At Sepang’s long straights, the racing looked very artificial with all the DRS-based passes. Alonso and Hamilton showed for a few laps that the racing could be exciting enough without all these modern gizmos. Next race is the Chinese Grand Prix in the coming week. One gets the feeling that by the time the fly-away races are over, both Red Bull and Vettel might be too far out in front for anyone to compete. Maybe China would prove us wrong.

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2010 Malaysian Grand Prix

The result led us to wonder whether, had Robert Kubica been present in Australia and racing the Renault, he would  have been challenging for the race win. Petrov seems to have improved a lot compared to last season, but one still feels that Kubica would have been able to find a few extra tenths, and made the car punch above its weight. Red Bull kept quiet about the fact that neither of their cars were using KERS. They were worried they might be vulnerable at the start, but both drivers made quick getaways from the left-hand side of the grid and Mark Webber almost passed Hamilton for second. Button was right on Massa’s tail, and pressurized him for a few laps. Once the DRS was enabled, he was all over the back of the Ferrari but couldn’t find a way through. And , when he finally made his pass, he had cut a corner, and got slapped with a drive-through penalty. Alonso had fallen to tenth at the start but made his way back up the order, passing Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Rosberg. He latched onto the tail of the Button-Massa battle and moved ahead of his team mate. With the tyres wearing out quickly, all the drivers were soon into the pits.

Perez impressed the most with his ability to look after his tyres, as he was the only driver to finish the race on a single stop. He had started the race on the harder compound tyre, and brought the car home after a single stop in a race where all the big names were struggling with coming to terms with the Pirelli tyres. The Mercedes pair couldn’t finish the race, due to reliability issues, and the Williams pair also had a similar result. The Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta finished just outside the points, ahead of Jaime Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, Jarno Trulli and Jerome d’Ambrosio. Hamilton’s efforts to catch Vettel were further delayed by damage to his undertray. Vettel ended the race with a comfortable 20-second lead which is an ominous sign for Red Bull’s rivals for the rest of the season. However, lets hope that other teams would catch-up soon, and give us an exciting season. The Malaysian Grand Prix is next on the calendar, and a few teams and drivers need to improve on their performance pretty soon.

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2010 Australian Grand Prix

UPDATE : Both the Saubers have been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix due to a technical infringement. Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi therefore lose their seventh and eighth place finishes in the race. Their upper rear wing element was found not to conform to the regulations. The team will be appealing the decision of the stewards.

KERS
Kinetic Energy Recovery System or KERS is something which is not new to Formula 1. Few cars were KERS-enabled during the 2009 season, but the system had its disadvantages as well. The year saw non-KERS cars dominating the field, until very late into the season when McLaren and Ferrari won a few races. KERS was ditched for the 2010 season, but being a technology for the future, it makes its way back into formula 1 this year. Perhaps the teams which had run KERS in 2009 would be having more data and details, and might possibly be better placed to take advantage this season. The rules state that there could be a maximum power boost of 80.5bhp for 6.67s per lap, available whenever the driver needs it. Also, drivers could use both the KERS and DRS at the same time if they chose to do so.

DRS
The layman could call it ‘the moveable rear wing’. The DRS is something that is introduced to help overtaking, and  thereby ‘spice up the show’. This allows any car within a second of the car in front to boost their speed and attack (with the lead car unable to defend), by opening a portion of the rear wing and thereby reducing the drag. The system deactivates automatically when they brake. This can be used by the drivers whenever they like during practice and qualifying, but during the race he’ll need the be within 1 second of the car in front to use the DRS. The F-ducts used by the teams last season have been banned, and so we would no longer be having the shark-fin design on the cars. Also, last season drivers had the benfit of a moveable front wing and could use this to help the car’s balance and set-up. This season, the front wing cannot be moved.

Tyres
Bridgestone was the lone tyre supplier in the sport since the time Michellin had pulled the plug on it’s Formula 1 campaign. Last season, the Japanese tyre manufacturer had announced that they are making an exit from the sport at the end of the 2010 season, thereby forcing the organisers to look for other options. Pirelli was chosen to be the replacement, and they were instructed to build aggressive tyres which would wear out quicker. Last season had soft tyres which were too sturdy, and there was not much of a performance difference between the two tyre compounds.

In qualifying, the “107% rule” – the scourge of the backmarkers – makes a return. This seems to be done in an attempt to raise the performance levels of the new teams, who are now into their second season. Also, each driver must use the same gearbox for five consecutive races – up from four last year. There are a good number of F1 fans who fear that the new rules would make racing too artificial, but we feel that we just need to wait to find out. Even with the DRS, passing still might not be too easy. Here’s hoping that we have a safe and action-packed season coming-up. It’s racing time again!!!

Australian Grand Prix 2011>>

The next season sees some tweaks in the rules and regulations, and also the arrival of a new tyre manufacturer – Pirelli. Also, the FIA has decided to ban the McLaren pioneered innovation F-duct for the next season. The whole ided was to improve safety, and also to brig the grid closer to each other, thereby giving viewers more exciting racing. Let’s hope the coming season brings that.

Driver’s Championship

Constructor’s Championship

This totally dashes his chances in this year’s championship, and also of his team. However, the biggest concern at this  point of time is whether he’ll be able to make a full recovery. There are some sources which warn us that Kubica might never be able to race in F1, and that it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to regain full mobility for his hand. Lotus Renault have two reserve drivers in Bruno Senna and Roman Grosjean, with both men in line to step up in Kubica’s absence. As news of the mishap spread, fellow drivers have been keen to offer their support. Fernando Alonso even visited him at the hospital.

Kubica’s hopes for a successful 2011 season were high after he posted the quickest time of the opening pre-season test in Valencia earlier this week. Widely regarded to be one amongst the top 3 drivers in the grid at the moment, we at three2tango fear whether the talented Pole’s career would be a case of ‘what could have been’. We hope not, and wish him a speedy and full recovery. The grid would sure be incomplete without him.

UPDATE : We have some very positive news. Robert Kubica was woken up from the induced comma in the morning, and he was able to move the fingers on his injured hand. The first thing he enquired as he was awaken was that how his co-driver was doing(His co-driver only has minor injuries). Robert talked to his relatives for a while, and then he was put back into comma to help his recovery process and ensure that he is under no stress. If anybody can pull through such situations, then it is Kubica. He has had near fatal crashes in the past, including the one in Canada in 2007. He came back there the next year to win the Canadian Grand Prix.

Soon after the start, the race only lasted a few corners 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. This was a defining moment in the race, as Webber pitted soon after the safety car went-in. He was struggling on his super-softs, and wanted to get rid of them at the earliest. Ferrari reacted by first bringing Massa in, and later Alonso as well. Alonso was able to go in and come out of the pits ahead of Webber, but he fell behind Petrov who proved a tougher nut to crack than Ferrari expected. Alonso stayed stuck behind Petrov for – the rest of the whole race!!! 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, 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.

A rollercoaster championship battle thus comes to an end, and so does the 2010 Formula 1 season. (And the three2tango crew winds up covering its 2nd Formula 1 season). Germany has a new World Champion in Sebastian Vettel – or baby Schumey as he is popularly known – and he rewrites the record books as the youngest World Champion ever. He never lead the championship battle, and few believe he should have wrapped-up this championship with a good number of races to spare, as he was the fastest thing right from day one. And, Alonso had a phenomenal second half of the championship, but his mediocre first half came back to hurt his chances. Moreover, the Germany farce and his inability to pass Petrov has led many to judge that he does not deserve to be this year’s champion. The Renault’s F-duct working efficiently, and the distincitve nature of the Yas Marina circuit worked to his advantage, but it is widely believed that this could be a career-saving drive by Petrov. So, until the next season rolls-in, we’ll leave you with the memories of the season gone-by. It was wonderful racing, and a little less intervention by politics for a change, giving us all a season to remember and savour. Until we return for the 2011 season, everybody – drive safe!

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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2009

Next up to try a pass was Lewis Hamilton, who’d run wide on lap two allowing Alonso past. He wasn’t able to get by  Hülkenberg and only moved ahead when the Williams pitted on lap 13. Jenson Button was the first of the front runners to pit after being passed by Michael Schumacher early on. This worked out brilliantly for him, eventually promoting him to fifth place having started 11th. Button made quick progress past Vitaly Petrov, who he passed around the outside, and in short order McLaren had to bring his team mate into the pits to make sure he didn’t drop behind Button at his pit stop. On lap 50 Vitantonio Liuzzi crashed at the Senna S, bringing out the safety car. Sensing an opportunity, McLaren took the gamble to bring their cars in for an extra pit stop under the cover of the safety, while keeping their fourth and fifth places. They tried to take advantage of fresher rubber when the field would go racing again, but unfortunatey the front runners had several lapped cars between them. After the race restarted there was little sign of any change of position between the top five. But, kudos to the team for trying something different.

Also, Rosberg was 6th, Schumacher 7th, Hülkenberg 8th, Kubica 9th and Kobayashi 10th. Red Bull did not make an  enforced change of position between their drivers – even though it would have brought Webber within one point of Alonso in the championship instead of seven. Clearly, the team is sticking to their word that it does not favour any one of it’s drivers. However, one wonders whether they would have done the same had roles been reversed. Webber had already gone public that the team is ‘emotionally behind’ Vettel. Victory for Vettel means he’s 15 points behind Alonso heading into the final race. The 1-2 result also meant that Red Bull Racing won the the 2010 constructors’ championship. The driver’s championship would be decided in the final round at Abu Dhabi in a week’s time – the culmination to the closest championship battle in the history of the sport.

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2009 Brazilian Grand Prix