The world’s best-selling F1 magazine F1 RACING MIDDLE EAST DECEMBER 201 10
INSIDE Middle East Exclusive We speak to Seb Vettel in Abu Dhabi after his dramatic win
SPECIAL ISSUE THE WORLD’S BEST-SELLING GRAND D PRIX MAGAZINE
Vettel’s champion, Alonso’s gutted…
F1 SEASON REVIEW 2010 The ultimate guide to one heck of a year PLUS Red Bull in Dubai How does 297kmh down Sheikh Zayed Rd sound?
Ferrari World opens Yas Island’s latest attraction
F1 Fan Zone SEASON REVIEW 2010
Thousands watch the GP by the Abu Dhabi beachside No 178 December 2010
A MediaquestCorp Publication
Registered with Dubai Media City
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CONTENTS / december 2010
FIRST SECTOR: the REGULARS
06 08 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 62 82
from the editor: who could have guessed that? abu dhabi gp: Parade pics of the best action pitpass: News, opinion and analysis Abu dhabi Gp: The chequered flag ball abu dhabi gp: ferrari world opens on yas abu dhabi gp: family fun at the f1 fanzone abu dhabi gp: the black tie ball abu dhabi gp: after-race antics at amber lounge abu dhabi gp: Red bull f1 clocks 297kmh in dubai abu dhabi gp: vettel rates schuey for 2011 subscribe to F1 racing and never miss a race inside the mind of jaime Alguersuari
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SECOND SECTOR: the features
042
This Adrian Newey
036
The day Vettel
056
Niki Lauda on the
creation was rather fast this year…
COVER STORIES
28
middle east exclusive interview:
Sir Jackie Stewart
35
became champion
So what does the triple world champ think of season 2010?
middle east exclusive interview: world champ Sebastian Vettel
28
Five days after victory at Yas, Seb comes back to Abu Dhabi
middle east exclusive interview: saeed al muntafiq
30
One man’s opinion who has seen circuit racing grow in the UAE
F1 season review 2010
35
A detailed look back at the greatest season in some time
the day sebastian vettel became formula 1 world champion
36
36
44
56
4
Vettel A very special day in the life of F1’s youngest ever champion
This young German will always remember November 14, 2010…
42
what made the red bull rb6 so good in 2010
Pat Symonds explains the genius of Adrian Newey’s creation
44
Incredible images of the season from F1’s top photographers
56
The triple world champion on Michael’s first year back in F1
pictures of the year
lauda on the schuey comeback
2010 in pictures Some amazing shots of a truly amazing season
THIRD SECTOR: FINISHING STRAIGHT
66 70 74 78 80
race debrief: Pat symonds’ view on korea race debrief: Pat symonds’ view on Brazil race debrief: Pat symonds’ view on abu dhabi the burning issue: is vettel a worthy champ? alan henry on our new world champion
return of a legend
Schumacher The ups and downs of the most hyped comeback in years
F1 Racing December 2010
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STOP AND GO / Damien Reid / 12.2010
Abu Dhabi put on quite a show at Yas, shame about the race How lucky were we? For those who attended the 2010 Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix or went to the F1 Fanzone, we were part of history. Editorial Group Managing Editor – Sports and Automotive Damien Reid Senior Sub Editor Elizabeth McGlynn Sub Editor Salil Kumar Studio Creative Director Aziz Kamel Art Director Janett Kheil Designer Samer Hamadeh Advertising Senior Business Development Manager Vanessa Purcell v.purcell@mediaquestcorp.com Tel: +971 50 974 1748 Senior Business Developer Mohamad Osman m.osman@mediaquestcorp.com Tel: +971 50 351 0120 Distribution, Circulation and Subscriptions Distribution and Subscription Director J.P. Nair jp@mediaquestcorp.com Marketing Manager Joumana Haddad joumana@mediaquestcorp.com MEDIAQUEST CORPORATION CO-CEO Alexandre Hawari CO-CEO Julien Hawari CFO Abdul Rahman Siddiqui Managing Director Ayman Haydar General Manager Simon O’Herlihy
It’s been well written about: the four drivers who were in contention for the drivers’ championship at Yas, how it’s never happened before and what an exciting race it was going to be. To be fair it wasn’t the most thrilling of races, with little overtaking and it being processional, but the outcome had us all on the edge of our seats. What was exciting for us was that it happened in our backyard and with the extra pressure that comes with hosting such a nail-biter, the UAE and the Middle East did Formula One motor racing proud. On Sunday, November 14, the most important sporting event in the world, which was reported on every TV programme, on every radio station and splashed across the back page of every newspaper across the globe, centred on the Middle East. With the stunning backdrop of the Yas Marina Hotel and the mega yachts perched outside, as day turned to night and pockets of rooftop parties at hotels and on yachts began to take hold, I couldn’t think of a better place to stage the historic four-way showdown. We had a duty to put on a race that was the envy of every circuit promoter and the guys from ADMM and the tireless volunteers at Yas didn’t let us down. Congratulations to all concerned, it was easily the best looking race of 2010.
Pictures of the year They lug their heavy equipment all round the world to bring you the cream of Formula 1 photography. See the best of this lot’s work from 2010 on page 56…
Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai Published by MediaquestCorp FZ Dubai Media City Al Thuraya Tower 2, 24th Floor, UAE Tel: +971-4-391-0760 Fax: +971 4 390 8737 Printed at Emirates Printing Press, Dubai No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form except by permission. The publisher makes every effort to ensure contents are correct but cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Unsolicited material is submitted to Autocar entirely at the owner’s risk; the publisher accepts no responsibility for loss or damage. With regret, competitions and promotional offers, unless otherwise stated, are not available to readers outside the Middle East. Reproduction in whole or part of any photograph, text or illustration without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. Due care is taken to ensure that the content of Autocar Middle East is fully accurate, but the publisher and printer cannot accept liability for errors and omissions. © Mediaquest Corp FZ 2010. ISSN 1990-8288
Member of BPA Worldwide
UK Editor Hans Seeberg Managing Editor Stewart Williams News Editor Jonathan Reynolds
Glenn dunbar Often seen snapping in the Williams garage. Got someone very short to take this photo
LORENZO BELLANCA Takes great pictures and also brings in nice cake at Christmas (yes Loz, this is a subtle hint to bring in more cake)
STEVEN TEE The man with an ‘in’ to the McLaren garage, Steven has rewritten the book on dedication to Formula 1: he hasn’t missed a race since the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in 1984
MARK THOMPSON The man on the inside at Red Bull, and the pitlane’s only Northampton Town fan CHARLES COATES Started as a fan taking pics at Snetterton. So tall that the people in this shot are actual size
Features Editor James Roberts Publishing Director Peter Higham Publisher Rob Aherne
6
Special thanks to Alexandra Schieren, Matt Bishop, Steve Cooper, Silvia Hoffer Frangipane, Clare Robertson, Wolfgang Schattling, Nicola Armstrong, Sabine Kehm, Katie Tweedle, Britta Roeske, Luca Colajanni, Roberta Vallorosi, Stefania Bocchi, Claire Williams, Bradley Lord, Clarisse Hoffmann, Will Hings, Lucy Genon, Eric Silberman, Fabiana Valenti, Tom Webb, Hanspeter Brack, Heike Hientzsch, Alba Saiz, Tracy Novak, Chris Hughes, Mark Thompson, Vladimir Rys, Julia Huss Special thanks and au revoir to Liam Clogger – good luck in the future, fella, it’s been emotional; Andy Stobart, Rachel Ingham and everyone at Bridgestone – keep in touch and all that
F1 Racing December 2010
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✹
Parade
Sun sets on Alonso’s dream He’d battled reliability issues and personal errors to emerge as the championship favourite before Abu Dhabi, but Fernando’s title hopes were dashed by a bad pitstop call and Vitaly Petrov. Who said Formula One was predictable? Where Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi When 5.27pm, Saturday, November 13 Photographer Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 600mm lens 1/1600th at F24
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Steowr ise. sO pA N i nni a o lny.sA i sn a lO ys p i sn.i oNno wN o w opinion
Is Adrian Newey the most valuable man in Formula 1? His cars have taken a remarkable 15 wins and 20 pole positions over the past two seasons, and yet he costs Red Bull around half of what Ferrari pays Fernando Alonso
main photo: vladimir rys/bongarts/getty images. insets: andrew ferraro/lat; steven tee/lat; lat archive; sutton images
Adrian Newey has built something of a reputation as the magic bullet of F1. World titles with three different teams suggest that if you want to win, Newey’s your man. His CV speaks for itself: the two titles he just sealed with Red Bull mean his cars have now won 14 world championships in the past 19 years – a staggering feat by anyone’s standards. “You never forget your first world title,” says Adrian, “but what we’ve achieved at Red Bull is special. I’ve been here almost from the start and we’ve achieved what we set out to do.” After hugely successful spells at Williams and McLaren, Newey arrived at RBR in January 2006, five years after Bobby Rahal’s ill-fated attempt at employing him when the team was still Jaguar Racing. Results weren’t immediately forthcoming because he had to bolster the design office in Milton Keynes to more than 200 people but, by 2009 he had everything in place and the team that had won just one fortuitous race before his arrival (the 1999 European GP as Stewart Grand Prix) won six races and finished second in the constructors’ championship. This year, with the sublime RB6, Red Bull finally hit the jackpot. A salary of $13.5m per year makes Newey the highest paid person at Red Bull, but that’s a snip compared to the estimated $27m Ferrari pays Fernando Alonso per year. Yet even the best drivers are only as good as their cars, as these men will tell you…
10
F1 Racing December 2010
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14
Ferrari world opens
24
Exclusive: Seb Vettel Less than a week after winning his first World Championship at just 23 years. F1 Racing Middle East gets an exclusive interview with the boy in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi’s newest attraction, Ferrari World on Yas Island has opened its doors and we don’t miss the chance to jump on board and see what this F1 theme park is all about.
Patrick Head (Williams director of engineering) “Adrian joined us in 1990 when we needed a big step up in design. The FW14 took cues from his 1990 Leyton House and would have won the 1991 title had it not been for poor initial reliability. Once we’d overcome that, the FW14 was the class of the year – but Senna had accumulated too great a lead by then. Adrian stayed as chief designer until 1996. It was a successful period for us, for which he was largely responsible.”
Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren team principal) “He’s got a combination of real talent, understanding and breadth. He pushes everything to the limit, to the extent that the driver barely fits and the car nearly bursts into flames and he’s got the commitment to drive that through. It’s easy to back away and take a safer approach. He’s very marketable because there isn’t a team in F1 that would turn him away if he came and asked for a job. Therein lies his value.”
Christian Horner (Red Bull team principal) “Adrian is an important member of this team. His track record speaks for itself and beyond his technical ability he’s a very nice man. People enjoy working with him; he inspires young engineers and never shuts his mind to constructive ideas. A modern-day technical director doesn’t fit the Adrian Newey mould; he still uses a drawing board, a set of French curves and a calculator that he’s had since university. He’s a unique individual.”
Mark Webber (Red Bull driver) “Every team is only as strong as its weakest link; if any of the departments aren’t firing, you’re not going to win any championships. The Red Bull factory has been humming over the past 18 months. It’s been incredible and, in my opinion, without Adrian none of this would have happened. He is a key, key individual and he’s very good at interpreting new regulations.”
Mr Newey’s magnificent machines They’ve clocked up quite a few points over the past 22 years… Team
Wins
Other podiums
Poles
Championships
0
2
0
0
Williams (1991-1996)
59
67
77
9
McLaren (1998-2005)
41
75
35
3
Red Bull (2007-2010)
15
23
20
2
115
167
132
14
March/Leyton House (1988-1990)
sir Jackie Stewart (founder and team principal of Stewart Grand Prix) “Adrian’s just brilliant. If I still ran a team, I’d try to employ him. Absolutely. He’s had a lot of success and he seems as motivated today as he was 20 years ago. There’s a BRDC award for the best engineer; he won it last year and it wouldn’t surprise me if he won it again this year.”
Total
F1 Racing December 2010
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Chequered Flag Ball kicks off GP fun
News
Abu Dhabi’s social calendar waved off with Eddie and his band, DC and Brundle
Brundle and Coulthard (left), Eddie Jordan with Hugh Grant (right), Kelly Brook, Boris Becker and Beverley Knight (below)
Abu Dhabi’s Chequered Flag Ball has quickly cemented itself on the social calendar as one of the must-do events in the lead up to the F1 grand prix. The curtain raiser to the social side of the weekend was again attended by former racers, turned commentators, David Coulthard and Martin Brundle. However, this year it was co-hosted by their BBC colleague and former F1 team owner, Eddie Jordan. Aside from running a successful Formula One team which has nurtured the likes of Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Eddie Irvine, Giancarlo Fisichella and Damon Hill, Jordan is also a bit of a talent when it comes to music. So much so, that he brought his band Eddie and Robbers over and, from his place behind the drum kit, belted out a few numbers into the early hours of 12
the morning. Earlier the night’s lead performer, Beverley Knight, entertained guests. The main focus of the night was to raise funds for CLIC Sargent, the UK’s leading children’s cancer charity, of which Jordan is patron. Auction items included a trip to the Finnish round of the World Rally Championship, VIP tickets to the Brit Awards and a luxury trip for four people to the Monaco Grand Prix.
The seven-hour black-tie party also included celebrity guests such as Hugh Grant, Kelly Brook, Boris Becker, Jean Alesi and Red Bull flying ace Hannes Arch – and it was these guys who provided some of the fun courtesy of a Red Bull F1 pitstop challenge. The wheel-changing race on the F1 car inside the ballroom pitted a Coulthard/Brundle team against a Becker/Alesi team, with the former taking a narrow victory. DAMIEN REID
F1 Racing December 2010
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Ferrari World family fun News
Could this be the ultimate family day out? Damien Reid visits Ferrari World where petrolheads, F1 geeks, families and thrill ride junkies all co-exist under one gigantic roof
Just three years after the first soil was turned to mark the start of construction of Ferrari World on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, the doors were opened to the public last month to what has been claimed to be the world’s biggest indoor theme park. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is the first attraction of its kind in the Middle East and the first Formula One-inspired theme park in the world with rides and information kiosks all based around the legendary Maranello brand’s history at the top flight of motorsport, as well as its exotic production cars. “We are so excited to finally share the thrill and excitement of Ferrari World Abu Dhabi with our guests,” park manager, Andy Keeling said. “From more than 20 years in the theme park industry, I feel there is nothing more rewarding than watching people’s reactions as they experience the rides for the first time and this opening was a truly momentous day for all of our guests,” he added. Bragging rights within the park belongs to the Formula Rossa roller coaster, which is claimed to be the world’s fastest 14
as it takes passengers on a 240kmh thrill ride along a length of track that runs both indoors and outdoors. With cars designed to look like the 2010-spec F1 Ferraris of Alonso and Massa, engineers steered away from the usual 360-degree loops and corkscrews seen on most roller coasters as the aim was to mimic the lateral and longitudinal g-forces experienced in an F1 car. As a result, acceleration from zero to 240kmh is identical to an F1 car and guests experience the same levels of stress placed on the body as F1 pilots. Other features include a full 1:1 scale replica pit and paddock complex as seen in Europe, with full-size race transporters and motorhomes not seen at “flyaway” races such as Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Race simulators identical to the units used by Massa and Alonso to learn new tracks and hone their skills are also available. For the less adventurous there are restaurants based on the small Italian cafés dotted around the Maranello factory, as well as museums, cinemas, historic car rides and an educational water flume ride that takes you through
the innards of a gigantic V12 engine modelled on the Ferrari 599’s powerplant. “Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is a completely unique concept, we just had to be here,” said Ahmed Sallam, one of the first visitors to the park.
“There is so much to see and do. We love the variety for the whole family. It is a great experience for all of us.” The soft opening on November 4 marked the official start to pre-race celebrations for this year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and continued through to November 30 when the park was officially revealed with a grand opening ceremony just as F1 Racing Middle East went to press. “Ferrari World Abu Dhabi offers a truly amazing experience for every member of the family and I look forward to welcoming our visitors in the weeks and months to come,” Keeling added. Ferrari World Abu Dhabi is one of the signature features of Yas and the third major development after the Yas Marina Grand Prix circuit and the Yas Links Golf Club to open on the 2,500 hectare island dedicated to leisure, entertainment and lifestyle.
F1 Racing December 2010
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www.tcsracing.in www.tcs.com/ferrari
Technological leadership Model of cultural integration Proactive zeal Excellent involvement in design Discerning selection of IT technologies
Virtues that won us the Ferrari Innovation Award.* Not to mention, a lot of hearts along the way. Tata Consultancy Services. Official Supplier. Scuderia Ferrari.
*Ferrari Innovation Award 2008
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F1 Fanzone rocks the Abu Dhabi corniche
News
Season ends with two-week beach party
After the success of last year’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix combined with a four-way title showdown, it was no surprise to find out Yas Marina was a sell-out this year. With that in mind, the family friendly F1 Fanzone on the Abu Dhabi Corniche was destined to be even bigger. During its inaugural run in 2009 it attracted more than 200,000 people throughout its two weeks. With the Brazilian Grand Prix again providing the perfect warm up, each practice session, qualifying and the race was televised live along the beachfront with expert commentary from F1 Racing Middle East’s Damien Reid, and Alix Capper-Murdoch. Once the race was over, a Brazilian-style Mardi Gras turned the iconic beach strip into a mini carnaval. Beats On The Beach provided live music each night on a separate stage headlined by locally-produced, world16
renowned acts such as Beats Antenna and Fatiniza with Ollie Ephgrave, while pedal cars and face painting kept the kids happy. “This year was an even bigger success than last year,” F1 Fanzone’s co-founder, Carlo Boutagy, said. “Knowing that the race was a sell-out, we knew we would pull a massive crowd and seeing the number of people over the weeks we were operating – but especially when the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was on – was fantastic,” he said. With its major sponsor Mubadala increasing its pavilion size to include a full Ferrari F1-style experience, complete with multiple F1 race simulators, remote control racing, a miniature wind tunnel plus an exercise area replicating what F1 drivers experience each race was a hit with people of all ages. Maintaining the adage that the F1 Fanzone remains free of charge, a bumper crowd of more
than 20,000 people packed the Corniche to watch the climactic Abu Dhabi GP, which was televised live on giant screens under a setting sun by the water, this time with commentator Anthony Prophet calling it alongside Damien Reid. “The crowd was amazing and seemed to lap up every second of the Abu Dhabi GP,” Prophet said. “It was a thrill to call it and it was great to see so many families and children soak up the F1 atmosphere,” he said. F1 Fanzone is designed as a family friendly, free entry, entertainment venue away from the circuit and will follow the grand prix circus to several rounds of 2011 world championship. With race day crowds waiting more than an hour for the gates to open, forming a queue of well over 100 people, it has cemented itself as one of the cornerstones of the Abu Dhabi GP week. Overall, crowd numbers exceeded an average of 15,000 people per day during the two-week period.
F1 Racing December 2010
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The Abu Dhabi GP Ball
News
Celebrities take over the stage at the star-studded Abu Dhabi charity ball
It ended up being an on-stage free-for-all for party-goers at the Abu Dhabi GP Ball. The end-of-season ball is always crowned as the formal highlight of a grand prix’s social season and the Abu Dhabi Ball held at the Yas Hotel lived up to all expectations. Staged on the lawns of the signature hotel under a glittering canopy of thousands of blue and
18
purple LED lights, it was a fitting way to send off the most exciting season of racing many had seen in recent memory. International stars, artists and VIPs took to the red carpet for one of the most glamorous celebrity events of the weekend. A host of stars attended the ball, including Russian supermodel Natalia Vodianova, racing legend and triple world
Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart, the founder of Jordan Grand Prix and BBC commentator Eddie Jordan, movie stars Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner, Vladimir Koscoff and Paula Patton. “We’ve seen yet another fantastic line-up of stars showing their support at the ball and it was great to be able to work alongside Natalia to support such a worthy cause,” the managing director of Flash Entertainment, which co-produced the event alongside Global Event Management, John Likrish, said. The charity for the evening was the Naked Heart Foundation, which aims to construct 500 playgrounds for underprivileged children. So far it has 54. It’s the idea of Vodianova after she was spurred to take action following the Beslan school siege in 2004. The simple idea was based around the notion that if the
young survivors of this siege could be distracted in play for at least five minutes each day, it would help them heal, and providing them with safe outdoor play facilities would be a form of therapy. A charity auction on the night, which was led by the charity’s founder and president, Vodianova, raised $239,000. Also in attendance were the Sugababes, Sander Kleinenberg, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, Holly and Sam Branson, as well as Bollywood stars Sophie Choudry and Sonal Chauhan. Guests were treated to top entertainment including starstudded live performances by disco and soul stars Sister Sledge, Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Sarah McLachlan, and Sophie Ellis-Bexter. DAMIEN REID
F1 Racing December 2010
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Official Partner of BMW Sauber F1 Team
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When drivers become DJs
News
Rarely is there a celebration like an F1 end-of-season party, so in the line of duty Damien Reid had to check it out Felipe Massa
Rubens Barrichello
Long gone are the days when F1 drivers used to meet at the local hotel after a grand prix and party into the early hours, unless of course it’s the final race of the season. Whether it’s in Adelaide, Suzuka, Interlagos or Abu Dhabi, the podium celebrations for the final race of the year are usually a pre-cursor to the partying ready to take place later that night usually at an ultra-exclusive club known only to a select few. In the case of Abu Dhabi, this place was the Amber Lounge at the Hilton Hotel’s Hiltonia Beach Club, and although there are Amber Lounge F1 parties in exotic places such as Monaco and Singapore, Abu Dhabi’s seasonclosing and championshipdeciding status ensured that this was the best yet, according to the woman behind the über-cool club. “This final race weekend has been fantastic with so many friends from the grand prix paddock at the party, along with lots of new friends coming to the Amber Lounge to celebrate,” the club’s founder, Sonia Irvine, said. While Red Bull had every right to celebrate its double win with the manufacturers’ and drivers’ 20
Kamui Kobayashi
Hugh Grant
Adrian Sutil
title at a private function, it meant that newly crowned world champ Sebastian Vettel and his Aussie team mate Mark Webber were elsewhere. However, the list of drivers enjoying some serious down time after a hectic season was impressive.
Bruno Senna
Jenson Button
Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Rubens Barrichello and Vitaly Petrov partied alongside celebrity guests including Hollywood actor Hugh Grant and Bollywood superstar Abhishek Kapoor. Most of the F1 drivers took it in turns to spin the decks, leaving several in the crowd to think that a few of them could make a more decent living behind the sampler than the steering wheel. “I think this has been the best Amber Lounge yet, which is pretty impressive following the success of our first Abu Dhabi party last year,” Irvine said. Other drivers reportedly busting a few moves included Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Bruno Senna and Giancarlo Fisichella “We couldn’t have achieved it without the assistance of the Hilton Abu Dhabi. I’m looking forward to next year already,” Sonia said.
Jaime Alguasuari
F1 Racing December 2010
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show
Dubai wakes to a 297kmh F1 blast Residents of Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road, the main highrise-studded artery that runs through the desert city, were woken on their weekend morning to the 19,000rpm shrill of a Red Bull Formula One car taking over the public highway. In the latest of a long list of PR stunts by the energy drink manufacturer, test driver Neel Yani strapped himself into the RB6 at 7.30am near the Defence Roundabout and proceeded to blast down Sheikh Zayed Road to the Trade Centre Roundabout, hitting a top speed of 297kmh as he passed the iconic Emirates Towers complex. “It was so cool being able to see Dubai’s famous skyline from the car, it was a unique experience”, said the A1 GP champ. “I could see the Burj Khalifa and Emirates Towers and feel really lucky that I was the one who was able to complete the run here. I have to give a huge
thanks to Red Bull for giving me such an overwhelming opportunity.” The car is identical to the version raced by Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, which dominated the 2010 championship giving Red Bull its first constructors’ and drivers’ championships. The demonstration was organised in co-operation with Du as part of its promotion to announce the UAE telco’s sponsorship of Red Bull for the Abu Dhabi race weekend. “All our demonstration runs are individual and although we have done it in different cities around the world, Dubai’s event turned out to be one of a kind,” Red Bull’s support team manager, Tony Burrows, said. “We had to cool the engine with dry ice since the ambient temp was above 30 degrees yet, despite this, the RB6 was still
pumping out more than 750 bhp down Sheikh Zayed Road,” he added. “As a company committed to providing the people of the UAE with the best in entertainment, we were pleased to partner with Red Bull,” the chief commercial officer for Du, Farid Faraidooni, said. DAMIEN REID
news
Ferrari stand by their man Despite a win-free season, a shocking 108-point gap to his team-mate and rumours that he’s being replaced, Felipe Massa can still count on the full support of his team can race and be competitive in. Felipe has
has said that it is the team’s job to get
the full support of everyone at Ferrari.”
Felipe Massa back up to speed next season.
Ferrari, you expect to win races and fight for
The Brazilian signed a two-year contract
at the Scuderia without a race win. After two
the title, and I haven’t. But I will work hard
extension earlier this year, but a dismal
podium finishes in the first three races he
to ensure I come back stronger in 2011.”
second half of the season led to speculation
led the championship and, despite struggling
that either Mark Webber or Robert Kubica
over the next seven rounds, was only 31
could be drafted in to replace him in
points down on team-
2011, something that Ferrari have always
mate Alonso after
strenuously denied.
handing him victory at
“We are happy with Felipe’s performances,”
22
Massa must reflect on his first full season
“It’s been a disappointing year for me,” Massa told F1 Racing. “When you drive for
Hockenheim. But over
said Domenicali. “He hasn’t had the pace of
the final eight races
Fernando at some events, and it’s our job
that gap grew to a
over the winter to provide him with a car he
mammoth 108 points.
If he’s to stop the speculation over his future, he will have to do just that.
photos: lat archive; steve etherington; jakob ebrey
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali
F1 Racing December 2010
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/ World champ returns to Abu Dhabi
news
Vettel tips Schumacher as 2011 rival Newly crowned world champion Sebastian Vettel has tipped Mercedes GP driver and fellow countryman Michael Schumacher as a potential championship rival next season. Asked about his prospects for defending his title in 2011, the German stated that five teams, including his own Red Bull outfit, would be in the hunt for glory next year. “It will be tight at the top again but I hope it will be between ourselves, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and even Renault. It will be interesting to see how strong they will be, but between those it will be very tight,” he said during a fleeting return visit to Abu Dhabi for tyre-testing with new supplier Pirelli. “Mercedes GP and Michael Schumacher had a rough year after the beginning looked a bit promising, but they lost ground and the speed of development in F1 is so high that sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you want it to. “Sometimes you can put new parts on the car that don’t work as well as they do on other cars, but I think it will be a tight battle again next year. And with Ross Brawn, they will improve. In qualifying there’s not as much of a gap between the drivers compared to 10 years ago.” Vettel openly states that Schumacher remains his idol despite the fact he
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World champ Sebastian Vettel was in disbelief as he pulled up after winning in Abu Dhabi
outpaced him all season and is still in awe of the seven-time world champ’s achievements and work ethic. “What Michael achieved is incredible. To get one title was tough in a very long season and to compare anyone to his success is very difficult. I don’t know how long I have left in F1. At this stage it looks pretty good, but Schumacher’s record is far out of reach and we’ll go step by step each year,” he added. Vettel first met Schumacher when he was racing karts at his idol’s home-town track in Kerpen. Vettel was just eight years old and Schumacher was already an F1 world champion.
“It was the last race of our championship in 1995 and he handed over trophies to all of us. Not just the first few drivers but everyone. More than 100 kids competing and he handed over trophies to every one of us. He was my role model and I didn’t know what to say or how to act, but it was amazing. “I’ve always looked up to Michael, not so much for the number of races he has won but the way he did it. In particular when he moved to Ferrari, it was his ability to build something strong enough to dominate for a couple of years in F1 and his ability to motivate the whole team, that was special. DAMIEN REID
F1 Racing December 2010
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F1 lacks star drivers - sir jackie Damien Reid sits with the triple world champion to reflect on an incredible season of racing
The best of British. Sir Jackie and Ken Tyrell. JYS was reunited with his champwinning 006 chassis in Bahrain earlier this year
As exciting as the 2010 season was, Formula One is missing a vital ingredient that has been a signature of the world championship virtually since its inception – and that’s a standout driver. That’s the opinion of triple world driving champion Sir Jackie Stewart, who spoke exclusively to F1 Racing Middle East in Abu Dhabi during the lead-up to the grand prix weekend. “I still believe at the moment there is no ultimate leader (driver) on the Formula One grid,” he said moments before a reception at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi to recognise the impact of that country’s contribution to motor sport. “If you think back over the decades, there has always been one driver that every other driver looked up to. There was Juan-Manual Fangio, Jim Clark, perhaps myself, then Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. 26
“When I was racing, I’d come into the pits and my first question always was, ‘What was Jim Clark’s times like?’ “I can’t imagine any of the current drivers doing that this year.” This year’s championship has been the closest yet with five drivers in contention for the title with two races remaining and four drivers vying for the crown at the season-closing race in Abu Dhabi. “Don’t get me wrong, right now there’s a real galaxy of talent, but so far not one of them has taken the dominant position,” Sir Jackie said. “I think Fernando Alonso is the best candidate, but he hasn’t yet earned it – above all from the rest of the drivers. He is much respected by all, but he’s not the ultimate driver out there right now.” Speaking before the outcome of the final race, which crowned Sebastian Vettel as the 2010 world champion, Sir Jackie said his preference
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for the title was Mark Webber, although he predicted the crown would go to Vettel. “I think the best world champion out of the four in contention is Mark Webber, because he presents himself very well, he speaks well, he’s good looking and he’s 34, which means he has a mature head on his shoulders. “Sebastian is categorically going to win another world championship. He is so good, and to be only 23 and that good is mightily impressive. But he is young. “I personally think Webber would be a better ambassador for F1 and motor sport and if you look at the age difference, he’s 34 verses 23. I remember when I was 23 and I also remember when I was 34 – and I was very different man.” Looking back over the course of the year, Sir Jackie says that outside the championship hunt, the season could best be summed by two words: team orders. “I felt the penalty for Ferrari in Hockenheim (where Felipe Massa was told over the radio in a not-so-subtle code to allow Alonso past) did not match the crime,” he said. “I think all the points should have been taken from Ferrari as the fine of $100,000, in my opinion, was not big enough to be
Hero drivers I still believe there are no standout drivers
A critical point in 2010, Massa about to let Alonso through in Germany. JYS thought they got off lightly (above) and (left) Massa clearly felt uncomfortable in the post-race press conference in Hockenheim
F1 ambassador Mark Webber speaks well and is mature
Hockenheim Ferrari’s $100,000 fine wasn’t big enough
negative when you consider the team’s season budget. “In the past, teams have had budgets of up to half a billion US dollars per year, down to no less than around $200 million per year for the lower teams, so they got let off lightly. “I’m not a supporter of team orders and I think it should be open. However, if a team decides it needs one of its drivers to collect maximum points because the constructors’ title
or drivers’ world championship is on the line, it should be free to do so. “That’s been happening since the days of Carraciola and Nuvolari and in the early days of Maserati, Ferrari and Lotus. “The law has to be changed because I’m sure there would not be one team in existence that wouldn’t like one of its drivers to sacrifice points if the other could secure the championship against another team,” he said.
Sir Jackie chatting with his preferred choice for the 2010 title, Australia’s Mark Webber
My first question What was Jim Clark’s time?
F1 Racing December 2010
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In this Middle East exclusive, Damien Reid catches up with the newly crowned World Champion during some down time a few days after his historic Abu Dhabi GP win
Victory tastes sweet. Vettel on the podium at
“ I’ll be happy if I don’t see a car for a while ” Life in the fast lane only gets busier when you become the youngest ever Formula One World Champion and a bleary-eyed Sebastian Vettel is quickly coming to terms with that fact. Just five days after the 2010 Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, many of the drivers were back behind the wheel at Yas for the first test of the new Pirelli tyres teams will use next year. During the few days off in between, most elected to soak up the glorious UAE sun and relax after a demanding calendar of racing. Seb, however, had been on a flight back to Austria to be guest of honour at the rowdy party thrown by Red Bull at its headquarters before a fleeting visit to the UK for more promotional activity, then back to Abu Dhabi again. Four days after taking the chequered flag and hours after stepping off the plane, he was at an in-store appearance for clothing sponsor Puma in Abu Dhabi, before taking to the track the next day to begin assessing the new tyres.
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Yas Marina Circuit
“I want to sleep. It’s been a long season with lots of ups and downs, plenty of highlights plus some bits we didn’t like too much, but that’s part of the game,” he said. The bits he didn’t like no doubt referred to the rivalry that dominated headlines as he sparred on and off the track with team mate Mark Webber, who led the championship for a good portion of the year only to see his chances evaporate in Korea. However, any talk of his occassionally icy relationship with Webber was
off limits on this occasion. “It’s been a busy season from March to November and next year we have 20 races, so there will be even more travelling. It’s quite tiring and it’s important we find time to relax. I’ll be happy if I don’t see a car or a race track for a while,” he said. At 23 years, Vettel claimed two crowns from McLaren in Abu Dhabi when he took the coveted number 1 decal from Jenson Button’s car and also the title of youngest ever F1 world champ from Lewis Hamilton. “Obviously it’s nice to have achieved the title so early in my career, and while we can enjoy it now, we soon need to prepare to defend it. “This is the second year we’ve had a very competitive car and we were strong no matter which type of track we raced on. The team worked hard to consistently push for updates to make it even faster and that’s something we are very proud of,” he added. Many pundits have claimed the 2010 season to be the most exciting in recent memory, and certainly the closest with five drivers in contention with two races remaining and four still in with a chance come Abu Dhabi. By his own admission, Vettel’s year has been a roller coaster, and it wasn’t until the one-third mark of the last race of the season that the young German finally led the drivers’ championship for the first time this year.
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“One of the most important things this season was to always keep believing, especially when things were not looking good or when we had to retire after the car broke down and others claimed big points. “Obviously we had a very important race in Korea when we were leading but had to retire with engine failure with just 10 laps remaining. We knew what it meant to not score points, but still we saw that there were two races to go and the championship was still possible. “With those two races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi we were 25 points behind the leader, but after Brazil we were looking much better and it was important to keep nudging away.” As for the 5.55km Tilke-designed track on Yas Island, Vettel is full of praise, being the only person to have won an F1 race there after he took
Vettel made time in his test schedule for a Puma in-store visit (top right and below)
victory at the inaugural Abu Dhabi GP last year as well. “I think the secret to getting a good lap around the Yas Marina is rhythm. It’s so different to other tracks and it just seems to suit me well. It’s quite a difficult track with some very tricky corners, so it’s a real challenge, but for whatever reason I do well there and the car has worked well both times too. “If you compare Yas Marina to other tracks, its much more modern – basically it is the perfect place. The Abu Dhabi GP was obviously a very special race, especially when I was told over the radio that we won the championship. Until then I didn’t know. “You don’t know what to feel, how to act, there’s just pure emotions coming out. I was crying. Even on the podium when the national anthem was playing, you will never forget these emotions in your life. “Originally I’d planned to have some time off to check out the UAE and relax, but after that Sunday it’s been very busy travelling back and forth,” he said.
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'More F1 races for the Middle East'
…That’s the call from one man who has been at the heart of circuit racing in the Middle East since its inception. Damien Reid caught up with Saeed Al Muntafiq The Middle East has the capacity and ability to host more Formula One grands prix beyond Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. That’s the opinion of one Dubai-based Emirati who has been involved in motor racing across the Gulf and Europe for many years. Although Saeed Al Muntafiq is not suggesting Dubai as a possible venue for a third grand prix, given that 50 minutes down the highway lies the glittering Yas Marina Circuit, home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, other areas around the GCC could be seen as viable options. “There could never be enough races here if they wanted another F1 grand prix in the Middle 30
East,” said Al Muntafiq, who counts the likes of Alain Prost, Ross Brawn and several FIA dignitaries as friends and colleagues. “Take Asia, for instance. They held a grand prix in Japan and, two weeks later, only two hours flying time away they had the Korean GP. Two weeks before Japan was the Singapore race, then we are going to have India next year too. “I think the more the better. I hear Qatar is looking to expand its circuit so that it complies with F1 standards and if they do that, then I wish them every success,” he said. “The only thing I’d like is the creation of some kind of Gulf or Arab association where races can
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be run across all the tracks so the circuits can get together and develop a programme. There’s talk of Egypt and Lebanon building tracks as well,” he added. As it stands now, the Middle East is home to national and internationally graded circuits in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Riyadh, Jeddah and Bahrain. Adding Egypt and Lebanon to the equation would give the region more than enough circuits to hold Gulf-wide regional championships for cars and motorbikes. Add Ghibli Raceway in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt and the case is there for top-class regional karting championships as well. “It’s good to finally have two races in the Gulf. As someone born and raised in the United Arab Emirates and who has seen old Dubai and is now living in new Dubai, if you asked me 20 years ago about F1 here I would never have thought it could be possible.” However, the avid karting enthusiast, who played a significant role in the development of the sport in the UAE through his own participation at world championship level in addition to being a three-time UAE national champion and chairman of the Emirates Karting Centre in Jebel Ali, said despite the magnificent F1-standard facilities, for the sport to grow it must focus on the grassroots level first. “During my tenure at Jebel Ali, we convinced the authorities to extend the track, which was 450m long, to the 800m required to achieve FIA approval. “Some have said we will get an Arab driver in F1 in 10 years, but I’d suggest that’s too ambitious because the passion to be an F1 driver needs to start at home and a decade is not enough. I would say 25 years. “I have a two-year-old at home, and because of my passion, every F1 race he sits with me and watches it. The parents have to be involved and it flows through to the children. “When I was racing Jan Magnussen at the world championships in Hong Kong, he made me realise how committed you have to be because he started karting at the age of three and for that to happen, his father had to be involved and take an interest. “I don’t think we have that kind of dedication here yet, and that’s why it’s going to take 25
years before we see a GCC Arab in Formula One or 40 to 50 years before we see an Arab F1 world champion.” “What we need to know is how many people bought tickets to go to Abu Dhabi to watch the race and how many went to see Prince.” However, Al Muntafiq added that few things were as emotional as seeing the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix beamed around the world to millions of TV viewers. “The first time I saw Yas on TV, as a UAE national I got goose bumps. My jaw dropped, it looked unbelievable and I’m extremely proud as a UAE national to have that kind of expertise here. I don't think there are enough words for me to describe the greatness of that achievement. It is such an icon.” Circuit racing overall is still a new sport and a novelty for much of the Arab population. However its rapid growth is due to a number of key locally-born players such as Al Muntafiq who have embraced the sport and are now watching the Middle East step on to the world stage. “Most of the focus has gone into building the infrastructure, like the world-class tracks and the hotels around the circuits. Yet there also needs to be interest in building an industry around F1 in the region such as research and development away from just the racing.” So finally, who was his tip to win the world championship? This question was posed when five drivers were still in contention for the title.
Al Muntafiq was a key player establishing grassroots motorsport in Dubai
For the record, I stated that Red Bull’s Mark Webber was my tip for the title. But Al Muntafiq said: “I’ll stick my neck out and say Alonso. Pound for pound he is the best out there – just look at how he ran in Singapore.” At this stage neither of us had given Sebastian Vettel much of a chance, as he was 14 points behind Webber going in to Korea and Alonso was on a title charge. It proves you should never underestimate a kid who grew up karting.
Four-time world champion Alain Prost (right)
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monthly UPDATE
Vettel ends the year as world number one Newly-crowned F1 champion confirms Castrol Rankings top spot for 2010
Sebastian Vettel will end 2010 on top of the Castrol Rankings after becoming F1 world champion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The German won the race to snatch the title from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, and guarantee ending the year as world number one. His Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber was eighth in Abu Dhabi and saw his Castrol Rankings score drop after failing to match his podium finish of 2009. However, that eighth spot virtually secured him second place in the Castrol Rankings ahead of World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.
CURRENT STANDINGS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber Sébastien Loeb Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Will Power Jenson Button Jimmie Johnson Dario Franchitti Kevin Harvick
F1 F1 WRC F1 F1 IndyCar, V8 Supercar F1 Sprint Cup, Grand Am IndyCar, V8 Supercar, Grand Am Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Trucks
24,200 22,079 21,754 20,467 19,217 17,858 17,066 16,461 15,554 15,529
DATA CORRECT AS OF 15 NOVEMBER 2010
Expert performances NASCAR Carl Edwards
Carl Edwards (right) won NASCAR’s Kobalt Tools 500 race in Phoenix, ending a 70-race streak without a win. That victory lifted him three spots to 14th place in the Castrol Rankings. F1 Kamui Kobayashi
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was briefly among the frontrunners in Abu Dhabi, but finished 14th. He dropped 10 places to 62nd in the Castrol Rankings. GP2 Oliver Turvey
Oliver Turvey (right) took his maiden GP2 pole position in Abu Dhabi and finished second in the feature race. The Briton moved up 10 places to 59th – the biggest climber in the top 100. WRC Kimi Raikkonen Kimi Räikkönen ended his first rally season with eighth on Rally GB, but he also lost his score from last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and dropped 20 places to 178th.
Performer of the Month Sebastian Vettel was the Castrol EDGE Performer of the Month for October, but who will be November’s top-ranked driver? Visit the website to find out.
www.castroldriverrankings.com
The Castrol Rankings analyse 2,000+ drivers in 500+ races and rallies across five continents. Go online today to find out more
www.castroldriverrankings.com
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S E A s o n R e v i e
f1
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Season review2010 photos: Mclaren; ferrari; renault; force india
Where do you begin reviewing a season like the one we’ve just watched? This year has been properly enthralling, edge-of-the-seat stuff with just a little bit of controversy thrown in as well. Join us over the next 28 pages to celebrate a season of intense rivalries and that murky old question of team orders; of one big comeback and an even bigger four-way shoot-out in Abu Dhabi. You have to admit, it might just be the best year we’ve ever had…
F1 Racing December 2010
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V is for victory It was supposed to be between Alonso and Webber. In the end, Sebastian Vettel’s 10 pole positions and five race wins of 2010 said everything about a young driver who fully deserved his Champagne moment. This is the story of his day
words james roberts pictures Vladimir rys/Getty images
and mark thompson/getty images
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Overexposed… …by just 0.031 seconds. That’s all it takes on Saturday for Sebastian Vettel to score pole position and start ahead of Lewis Hamilton on the grid. The first job of the weekend is complete – now all he needs to do is to stay out of trouble and hope that his title rivals trip up.
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A quiet reverie Sitting at the back of the Red Bull garage while his mechanics prepare his RB6, Sebastian waits patiently. His focus is on those aspects he can control. He’s not worrying about Webber and Alonso. He’s focused on winning that race.
May the best man win There’s been animosity between Webber and Vettel all year and now it’s come down to this. One race. One chance to claim the world championship crown. And only one of them can win. “Good luck, mate.”
The centre of the universe As five o’clock approaches, the world is tuning in to watch the showdown in the desert. The front row is where everyone wants to be: sheikhs, kings and queens, rock stars and racers…
Prancing Horse to P7 – checkmate Vettel and his race engineer Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin face Webber and his engineer Ciaron Pilbeam, who separately analyse and plot their tactical moves for the title showdown. One wrong move could spell disaster.
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F1 Racing December 2010
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“Thank you. Unbelievable, I love you... “ After 55 laps of hard charging into the desert dusk, the realisation of his dream is cemented as Vettel crosses the finish line to become the youngest ever world champion. Everyone in the team, from mechanics to marketing, celebrates in unison.
Tyred out After nine months of racing and not giving up, Vettel steps out of his car and savours the moment. Shortly afterwards, the McLaren drivers and Mark Webber congratulate him in parc fermĂŠ. Not Alonso. Not this time.
F1 Racing December 2010
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One for the mantelpiece He’s been from the pits to the grid; from the race to parc fermé; from the podium to the media centre – then to the garage to celebrate. Vettel is finally back at the hospitality unit, clutching the trophy that won him the crown.
Surrounded by champions At an emotional post-race press conference, Vettel talks to the world and ranks his achievement alongside those of the sport’s other great champions – including the two either side of him.
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Even the old man is happy Christian Horner runs the team, but in Abu Dhabi Red Bull’s owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, was in town. Six years ago, the team was born. Now they are champions of the world.
Today you are a man, my son Away from the hubbub of the media and the rest of the team, father and son get a few moments alone together. A brief chance to comprehend what they have achieved. Norbert Vettel has got to be one proud dad.
I read the news today, oh boy! On a private jet out of Abu Dhabi, the victorious team head to Red Bull’s spiritual home in Salzburg where the party continues. While Vettel, Horner and Newey celebrate, poor old Webber rues what might have been…
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how f1 works
All hail the blown diffuser:
What made the Red Bull RB6 so good in 2010 Red Bull might not always have made the best use of it, but Adrian Newey’s most recent creation was a masterpiece of Formula 1 design. Pat Symonds explains why
Without a doubt, the RB6 was the class of 2010. Preseason testing followed a familiar pattern with many indications that the car was quick, but no one was sure just how quick. Then, the final day of testing saw the public debut of what was to become one of the main talking points of the year – the blown diffuser. The team’s attempts to shield the back end of the car whenever it was open to public view just served to add impetus to the belief that the rear underfloor was the magic bullet. As so often happens, the remarkable performance of the RB6 brought questions from competitors as to its legality and from mid-season there were questions over the flexibility of the car’s front wing and floor. Increasing demands for an inspection by the FIA did little to diminish the relative performance of the car, however, as it continued to dominate on all but the most power-hungry circuits on the Formula 1 calendar.
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Two F-ducts become one
A triumph of design and packaging
Unusual engine mapping for the blown diffuser
At Monaco, a new rear wing was used with
The mechanical designers have had to work
Being the first to use the current crop of
central inlets in the mainplane and flap to
hard to package the necessary mechanical
blown diffusers, the RB6 had an advantage
increase downforce. The Red Bull F-duct
components within the confines dictated
for a while. Their double diffuser was less
debuted in Turkey, yet wasn’t raced until
by the aerodynamicists, but this does not
radical than others, but by Valencia theirs
Valencia. The two versions were combined
appear to have compromised them. The
had multi-vane inlets and arch-shaped
in Singapore, with a further tweak in that
attention to detail is a step forward from
outlets. Red Bull were probably the first to
the F-duct now acted on the mainplane,
last year and none of the architectural
exploit unusual engine mapping to aid the
à la Renault, rather than just on the flap.
fundamentals have been ignored.
downforce produced by the blown diffuser.
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zz S E A s o n
It wasn’t just good in fast corners… The design of the RB6 shows the
Missing the first test cost them
perfect harmony of form and function.
25 per cent of the total pre-season
Adrian Newey probably went further
mileage, and this had an impact
than any other designer in the quest for
on reliability. The early retirements
aerodynamic perfection, and the result
were more a question of misfortune
was the tightest of packaging.
than true design errors but without
Even so, other aspects were not ignored. The car showed incredible
these problems the constructors’ championship would have been easier.
performance in fast corners, but don’t
Apart from this, the team conducted themselves well both during the race
position was around the slow turns of
and in terms of preparation, although
Hungary, where they were 1.2 seconds
the inevitable cross-garage rivalry
quicker than their closest rivals.
could have been better handled.
Slow evolution of the front wing
While the RB6 was known for its aero, it also
The front wing has evolved steadily
had great suspension, combining good
through the season, although not with as
low-speed grip with a smooth ride. The front
many iterations as their rivals’. The first
push rod was positioned to give a good ratio
big change came in China when turning
to allow the dampers to work, while also giving
vanes were added under the nose. Further
rising rate – vital with the vastly altering fuel
developments were tried in Canada,
loads. Development centred on the brakes,
Silverstone and Singapore, with countless
a small problem area at the start of the year.
changes to the endplates in between.
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photo: steven tee/lat
forget that their most dominant pole
The suspension was rather clever, too
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pictures of the year F1 Racing’s photographers select their very best shots from a dazzling season and describe, in their own words, what makes each picture so special
there’s more where this came from… “This shot of Webber was taken in Spain after his first win of the season. I ran to a wall at the pitlane entry where I knew I’d be able to get the mirrored glass background. It was a long way away but I composed the photo and then gambled that Webber would step forward to spray the champagne. He moved into the perfect position and I was able to capture his celebration.“ Photographer Glenn Dunbar/LAT Where Catalunya, Spain When 2.49pm, Sunday, May 9 Details Canon EOS-1Ds Mk IV, 600mm lens, 1/500th at F5
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Lost in shadow “This is Lewis in the garage before the Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying. Over the course of the season, I’m always looking for Lewis to position himself in front of the Vodafone logo because it provides such a great backdrop. He’s got a very recognisable profile, so when he’s shot in silhouette you get a very simple but effective image.” Photographer Steven Tee/LAT Where Sepang, Malaysia When 3.51pm, Saturday, April 3 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 300mm lens, 1/250th at F8
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Sundance “After several days of rain during testing in Jerez, which meant very few pictures, we finally got a morning of beautiful light. It was then a case of playing catch-up and trying to find something a little bit different. I found this spot where the light was shining through the bulrushes and shot Jaime Alguersuari’s car at a slow shutter speed to put movement into the highlights.” Photographer Mark Thompson/Getty Images Where Jerez, Spain When 11.26am, Friday, February 19 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 135mm lens, 1/60th at F14
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opening up a gap “This photograph was taken just after Sebastian Vettel arrived on the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix. He was surrounded by photographers, mechanics and tyres and the only gap that he could squeeze through was luckily right in front of me, making it possible to capture him against the flaring lights of the main grandstand.” Photographer Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT Where Marina Bay, Singapore When 7.36pm, Sunday, September 26 Details Canon EOS-1Ds Mk II, 16-35mm lens, 1/100th at F3.2
holy smoke! “I had one of my luckiest ever weekends in Singapore. I was right there when Lewis Hamilton crashed out, then later on Heikki Kovalainen’s flaming Lotus came to a halt right in front of me as I was preparing to shoot the finish. It was the kind of luck photographers dream of and made me the envy of many of my colleagues!” Photographer Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT Where Marina Bay, Singapore When 9.59pm, Sunday, September 26 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk III, 70-200mm lens, 1/800th at F2.8
title hopes suspended “This was taken after Fernando Alonso had crashed in the final practice session at Monaco, ruling himself out of qualifying. I had been shooting at Casino Square when I heard the crash just around the corner at Massenet, so I ran to the scene. This picture has all the components that tell the story, from Fernando’s ‘I know I’ve blown it’ body language to his wrecked car hovering in the background.” Photographer Charles Coates/LAT Where Monte Carlo, Monaco When 11.23am, Saturday, May 15 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk III, 16-35mm lens, 1/125th at F5.6
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zz S E A s o n R e v i e w
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praying for sunshine “This is Lewis Hamilton waiting patiently in his car during the wet qualifying session in Japan that was eventually abandoned. We were initially told there would be a 30-minute delay, so Lewis took off his helmet and sat with his eyes shut, deep in thought. He looks so unselfconscious because he really is in his own world – he’d had a terrible weekend so I just took two frames and then left him to his thoughts. It’s quite a Senna-esque image.” Photographer Steven Tee/LAT Where Suzuka, Japan When 2.36pm, Saturday, October 9 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 20mm lens, 1/60th at F8
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wet-weather option “After each session during a race weekend, the mechanics will wash and clean each tyre and rim to remove all the dirt and brake dust. Shooting into the light always produces highlights on any subject, and with the black tyre and dark background I was able to capture each droplet of falling water in the bright sunlight.” Photographer Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT Where Shanghai, China When 8.55am, Sunday, April 16 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk III, 600mm lens, 1/3200th at F4
A sparkling performance “I was walking out of the tunnel at Monaco, following the direction of the cars, when I noticed the Lotus cars were sparking quite heavily. I decided to try to capture it there and then with a slow shutter speed. You can see marks on the track surface where the cars hit the ground, so that gives you an indication of where they might be sparking. As a photographer you’ve got to keep your eyes open for those kind of details.” Photographer Glenn Dunbar/LAT Where Monte Carlo, Monaco When 3.29pm, Thursday, May 13 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 600mm lens, 1/8th at F22
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tunnel vision “This is Rubens in the tunnel during practice in Monaco. I tend to shoot in this location every year because it’s so iconic. It’s very dark in there, much darker than the TV cameras show, but thankfully modernday cameras, like the Canon 1D MK IV, are superb in low-light conditions. I used a slow shutter speed to show the pace of the car – if you don’t, the car can appear static and boring. I love how the artificial lighting gives the image a velvety finish.” Photographer Glenn Dunbar/LAT Where Monte Carlo, Monaco When 2.40pm, Thursday, May 13 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 200mm lens, 1/30th at F9
glorious technicolour “This is just one of many one-off helmet designs that Sebastian Vettel has used this season and, for me, it’s by far the best. This was shot while he sat in his car in the garage in Singapore and is lit using just the overhead gantry lighting. It’s got a fantastic, retro, psychedelic feel to it… it makes me think of The Beatles.” Photographer Mark Thompson/Getty Images Where Marina Bay, Singapore When 5.57pm, Friday, September 24 Details Canon EOS-DS Mk III, 24mm lens, 1/125th at F1.4
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a taste of things to come “This is a shot from Bahrain, taken after Fernando Alonso’s debut win with Ferrari. I took it from the roof of the podium building, looking down onto parc fermé. The good thing about Bahrain is that the race starts slightly later on, so by the end of it you get a nice warmth and long shadows from the early evening light. Alonso is very demonstrative and the combination of his body shape and the warm light provides a simple, powerful image.” Photographer Steven Tee/LAT Where Sakhir, Bahrain When 4.47pm, Sunday, March 14 Details Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, 70-200mm lens, 1/500th at F3.2
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return king
zz
S E A s o n R e v i e
w
of the
insets: lat archive
So the Schumacher comeback hasn’t gone quite as people
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expected. It’s a situation that Niki Lauda understands all too well. In his own words, he opens up about the intensity of returning to F1 – and gives his honest assessment of Michael’s 2010 return Words Niki lauda portrait sam barker
I suppose you could say that I know better than most the depth of the challenge faced by Michael Schumacher as he made his return to Formula 1 with Mercedes. He’d had three full years away from competition and I can tell you that picking up the threads is not easy, believe me. I raced in F1 from 1971 through to the middle of 1979, winning two world championships in 1975 and ’77 before I ran out of motivation. I had to get away from driving racing cars. At the time I was focusing a lot of my energy on developing my airline, Lauda Air and there just wasn’t room in my life for both that and motor racing. I was away from the sport for two-and-a-half years before Ron Dennis at McLaren made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and I came back for another stint that took me to a third world championship in 1984. So I know what Michael was basically feeling when he appeared at the press conference after winning the 2006 Italian GP and announced his retirement from the sport. I suppose you could say he handled things in a rather more structured and pre-planned way than my rather spontaneous departure in the middle of a practice session at Montreal. But we were basically both facing the same dilemma in our lives. We’d been committed to F1 for 24 hours a day for many years. Our motivation was flagging.
It was clearly not an easy decision for either of us. When I pulled into the pits in Canada, I simply told Bernie Ecclestone that I wanted to stop as I was sick of driving around in circles. I could no longer see the F1 Racing December 2010
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zz S E A s o n R e v i e w
point of it. Bernie, typically to the point, just said, “Okay, but if you really want to go, go now.” I took him at his word and within a couple of hours I was on a flight from Montreal to California to discuss the purchase of a DC-10 plane for my airline. I had even left my helmet on the pit counter and it was used by Ricardo Zunino, my replacement, much to the confusion of some of my former competitors who later thought they were overtaking Niki Lauda with surprising ease! I think that to some extent Michael has had a much more challenging time making his comeback than I experienced with mine in 1982. On the other hand, while we faced a task that was different in some ways it was very similar in others. But the media interest in F1 had not grown to the level it has today, so in a way I slipped back into racing below the radar. There were also other political problems bugging F1 in 1982 that were far more important than whether one guy wanted to race or not. There were no restrictions on testing, so once I had made up my mind to come back, I had plenty of miles in which to get myself prepared. Michael hasn’t had that luxury and he’s also had a huge number of young drivers on the grid all wanting to prove they could beat him. But it wasn’t easy for me either with the likes of Piquet, Prost, Rosberg and Arnoux all wanting to show the old boy how he should drive.
“Michael hasn’t had the luxury of unlimited testing and he’s had a number of young drivers wanting to prove they can beat him” I think that for both Michael and myself, the biggest challenge was taking the decision to come back. When Michael stopped at the end of 2006, I’m pretty certain he had no more intention of driving again than I had when I walked away from Bernie’s Brabham team in Canada. You must remember, though, that I had a slightly different approach to my time away from F1. Michael remained closely involved with the Ferrari team, in particular helping by advising Felipe Massa but, as I said, I got bored stiff with driving round in circles. I couldn’t see the point of it anymore. For the two years I was away from the sport I never thought about it. I reckoned it was a chapter in my life that was over.
But I misjudged the strength of its attraction. Around the time I attended the 1981 Austrian Grand Prix, I was beginning to think ‘I wonder...’ Then the telephone rang shortly afterwards. It was Ron Dennis inviting me to test a McLaren at Donington Park. It was an offer that came at precisely the right time. The rest, as they say, is history. My then wife, Marlene, who I’d brought to London on the pretext that she was going on a shopping trip, summed up her feelings when she said: “you stupid b*****d” the moment I told her where I’d been and what I’d been doing. Once I’d made the decision to come back, the rest was easy. Okay, I had a few brief doubts when I did the Donington Park test for the first time, but it was my own fault in a way. I’d put myself in a new car, on a track I’d never seen, on radial tyres I’d never tried before. A situation very like the one in which Michael found himself, to be honest. But the worry soon passed. By the end of the day I reckoned I could do it, just as I’m absolutely sure Michael felt he could do it after that first test with the old Ferrari at Mugello following Massa’s accident in Hungary. Michael is a highly competitive guy. You could see how much he still wanted to participate after he was so quick off the mark testing that Ferrari, when it looked as though he might stand in for Massa until he was well enough to race again. As I recall, Michael didn’t need much persuading even though he couldn’t do it in the end due to
Lauda believes Mercedes have the ability to get it right
insets: Lat Archive; sutton images
next season and the pressure is on the team as a whole
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Average qualifying positions before and after F1 comebacks
1st
Schumacher vs Lauda 2nd
3rd
4th
4th
5th
6th
7th
7th The hype surrounding Schumacher’s comeback was huge. Fans were thrilled by his return – but he’s failed to deliver on their expectations 8th
9th
10th
10th
Before
a neck injury sustained in a motorcycle testing accident. But the fact that he was even testing a motorbike seemed to me to signal just how much he was missing competitive activity. Even so, for Michael, 2010 was always going to be a training year. He has had problems adapting to the characteristics of the tyres and has been battling a chassis that has been quite difficult to drive. He is also paired with Nico Rosberg, who is a very quick driver. And I mean seriously quick, so from that viewpoint Michael has a strong yardstick against which to measure his progress – in the current car, at least. Put all these factors together and you have a situation where we won’t see Michael’s genuine
potential become evident until 2011. The switch to Pirelli tyres will at least mean that he is starting the new year on an equal basis to all his rivals. Obviously it will be intriguing to see if, in a situation like this, he is able to generate a significant personal advantage. Having said that, I must say I have been surprised at just how long it has taken for Michael to get as far as he’s managed to get. I expected originally that it would take no more than four or five races, but it’s been longer than that. Although he had some improving drives right towards the end of the season, he really couldn’t pull it around. I have to say that I did not expect that. After his slow start in Bahrain,
10th
After
Before
After
I was confidently expecting that he would be well on the way to getting up to speed by the time of the third race in Malaysia. But for some reason it just didn’t happen.
Of course, some things about Michael continue to raise eyebrows. I was not particularly impressed with the way he swerved at Rubens Barrichello going down to the first corner in Hungary. To endanger another competitor in such a way is totally unnecessary. I never understood why he behaved like that in the past and I cannot understand why he should still be doing things like that now he’s 41. But managing F1 Racing December 2010
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Average race results before and after F1 comebacks
S E A s o n
1st
Schumacher vs Lauda 2nd
R e v i e
3rd
3rd
3rd
4th
4th
w 5th
6th
7th
8th
9th 9th
9th He’s often scored points this season and even at 41 he’s still at peak fitness. So will 2011 be the year Michael proves his critics wrong? 10th
insets: lorenzo bellanca/lat; charles coates/lat; lat archive
the pressure has been the least of his problems. Once you’ve taken the decision to do it, the pressure to perform is something that comes from yourself, not from outside sources. Michael had always kept himself super-fit, so that aspect was never going to be a problem. In my case, I just settled back into the same sort of training regime that I’d been introduced to after my 1976 accident when I was badly burnt at the Nürburgring. Getting fit is quite simple: all you have to do is to run for 10 minutes today, 30 minutes tomorrow and then an hour the next
“Michael and Nico make a very strong pairing, but next year they have to deliver” 60
day. Run, run, run, train, train, train – and you’re fit. There’s nothing easier in the world once you have taken the decision to do it. That worked well for me, and I’m sure it hasn’t been an issue for Michael. He was always super-fit. There is no doubt in my mind, no doubt at all, that Mercedes has the ability to get it right next season. You only have to look back and see what the Brawn GP team managed to achieve in 2009 to appreciate the strength that they have there.
Before
After
Before
After
Michael is under great pressure to perform, of course, but then so is the whole team. I think that Michael and Nico make a very strong pairing. But next year they are going to have to deliver and I think Michael will be able to rise to the occasion. But will Michael be able to win an eighth Formula 1 world championship? It’s just so difficult to say. There have been few occasions during the time I’ve been involved in Formula 1 when there has been such high-quality strength in depth across a grand prix starting grid. Winning races has certainly never been easy, but now it’s even more difficult than ever. But if anybody can do it, it’s probably Michael Schumacher. Niki Lauda was talking to Alan Henry
F1 Racing December 2010
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Hands up if you’re world champion His rivals slip up and Sebastian Vettel is the winner that no one saw coming
Page 64-65 Finishing Straight (FF).indd 64
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Finishing straight
Reports Previews
Analysis
Opinion
Stats
korean gp
066 Symonds’ Yeongam debrief
MAIN: lorenzo bellanca/lat; Insets: andrew ferraro/lat; charles coates/lat; lorenzo bellanca/lat
Cries of ‘strewth’ all round as it unravels for Mark Webber
068 The GP you didn’t see on TV
Featuring army personnel, some road sweepers and a snake 069 Korean GP statistics
And the winner of the fastest pitstop is… Nico Hülkenberg brazilian gp
070 Symonds’ interlagos debrief
The Hülk grabs pole for Williams – then leaves them a week later 072 The GP you didn’t see on TV
There’s a novel way around the mosquito problem at McLaren 073 brazilian GP statistics
McLaren takes fastest lap and pitstop, but only scores P4 and P5 abu dhabi gp
074 Symonds’ yas marina debrief
A serious strategy howler and the youngest F1 champion ever 076 The GP you didn’t see on TV
Come on Jenson, there’s no need to do that to Vettel’s car… 077 abu dhabi GP statistics
Seb gets the fastest pitstop – sometimes it’s just your day opinion
078 The burning issue
Was Sebastian Vettel a worthy F1 world champion in 2010? 080 ALAN HENRY COLUMN
Vettel has come good on his promise earlier than expected F1 Racing December 2010
Page 64-65 Finishing Straight (FF).indd 65
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Finishing straight
race debrief by Pat Symonds The Korean Grand Prix 24.10.2010 / Yeongam
Race starts under Safety Car …Both Red Bulls out… Alonso in the lead…
First time lucky for Fernando The premature exit of the two Red Bulls at the brand new Yeongam circuit in Korea gifted both the race win and the championship lead to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso 66
A
new venue is a challenge relished by teams and drivers alike. While many had feared that the circuit at Yeongam would not be ready in time, the transformation that occurred in the final few weeks was impressive. Yes, it looked like a building site and yes, the supporting infrastructure was all but nonexistent, but ultimately they had a track to race on – and a damn good one at that. When preparing for a new venue, simulation is not only the tool of choice but it is often the only tool available. If the track has hosted a race before, the teams will speak to those who have raced there to try to get data from them. Video will also be studied to see what kerbs may be used and to look for nuances that are not apparent on a surveyor’s map. At a new circuit such as Yeongam, all that could be used were the supplied maps. From these, a racing line is determined and numerous setups are tried incrementally on a computer until the best compromises are found. For those teams fortunate enough to have a simulator, the drivers will then try the virtual car to confirm the setup and attempt to learn the circuit. Time was when the biggest decision to be made was what level of downforce to run, particularly at a circuit such as Yeongam, which has a very long straight. The advent of the F-duct has removed that compromise – you want downforce, hold your hand here; you want speed, just move your hand here. The biggest question mark at a new track is how the tyres will perform. Teams can tell from their simulations what sort of energy the tyres will have to cope with and can even model the temperature at which they will run. But they always have to make assumptions about the quality of the surface. In simulation they can only replicate varying levels of grip and see if it has a fundamental effect on setup. Friday, therefore, has a special significance as the teams move for the first time from the virtual world to the real one, and in Korea that real world was very changeable. In second practice, when teams have a first look at their qualifying pace, the best time was a full three seconds off the eventual pole time, twice the difference seen at most tracks. What was obvious was that the tyres were graining badly. The front right was worst affected but the rears too, showed signs of graining. It appeared that tyre wear could dictate a two-stop race.
F1 Racing December 2010
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The story of the race
> – not once, but twice
More than an hour-and-a-half after the official start time of the inaugural Korean GP, things were looking rosy for Red Bull. Their drivers sat one and two on the road behind the Safety Car and, for a time, it looked as though the wet conditions would gift them a hefty haul of points. No wonder Mark Webber was so quick to answer: “I don’t see a big difference in the conditions,” when asked by his race engineer for an update on the drying track. The 34 laps following that message proved to be a distillation of Red Bull’s season to date as the team once again contrived to throw away maximum points through a combination of driver error and unreliability. It brought an end to Red Bull’s streak of 22 races with at least one car in the points – the seventh longest run in Formula 1 history. “I’m more confident now than I was before this race that I’m going to win the world championship,” said Alonso after finishing a lowly 14th at Silverstone in July. By reaching the top of the standings with two races to go, the Spaniard moved a step closer to fulfilling his bold prediction. Jonathan Reynolds
T7
T6
T11 T12
T5
T10 T3
T13 T17
T14
T4
T18
T15 T16
T1 T2
>
Webber crashes out on lap 19, taking Rosberg with him and losing the top spot in the drivers’ standings
>
Petrov starts from P20 due to a penalty imposed in Suzuka, climbs to P7 – then crashes out on lap 40
An engine failure takes race leader Vettel out of the running on lap 46
Qualifying produced no shocks and the usual protagonists made up the front of the grid. After a couple of poor qualifying performances, Massa was taking no chances and compromised his final grid position by using a set of soft tyres in Q2 in order to move him into the top 10. It earned him sixth place on the grid and a chance to steal points in support of Alonso’s title bid. Rain had long been forecast for Sunday morning, but it persisted into the afternoon and the track was thoroughly soaked as the cars made their way to the grid. With the track surface being so fresh, this was a particular problem and several cars found the grip
Alonso leads home the rest of the troops, with Hamilton in second and Massa P3
“After just three laps, the race was suspended” abnormally low as they skated off track during their reconnaissance laps. The start was delayed for 10 minutes, but a Safety Car start was still deemed necessary. Judging by the spray once the cars were under way, this was the correct decision but, even so, after just three laps, the race was suspended for safety reasons. F1 Racing December 2010
Page 66-69 Korea Report (GG).indd 67
main: steve etherington. Insets: andrew ferraro/lat; steve etherington/lat; charles coates/lat; glenn dunbar/lat
A write-off for Red Bull
T8 T9
behind the Safety Car
>
View from the paddock
yeongam
The race starts
>
That did not present a problem at Yeongam. At many circuits where overtaking is difficult, track position is all that matters. Often, what is theoretically the fastest race will not always give the best result if traffic undoes the good work achieved through sheer performance. At a track like this, however, with good overtaking places, the teams can concentrate on running the fastest strategy, even if that involves two stops, safe in the knowledge that they can overtake backmarkers when they need to. Graining is troublesome in that a tyre change may not give the better performance as the new tyre will also grain. Sometimes it can be better to accept the wear that is associated with the graining and hope that the tyre will perform well once it has worn in. The trouble with this theory in Korea was that the track temperatures were low and a worn tyre is difficult on a cold track as it struggles to retain heat. Friday night was therefore an even more cerebral affair than usual, as engineers weighed up their options. Fortunately, with the cars running a full fuel load this year, such choices can be made on the fly. I suspect that most teams were relying on making their decisions in real time on the Sunday.
67
11/30/10 4:20 PM
Finishing straight Awaiting the restart, Mercedes decided to go for a full wet setup with spring changes and other tweaks being made. When the race eventually got under way again, the Safety Car was needed for a further 14 laps to maintain control. It was interesting to see Schumacher using this time to explore the limits of the car and circuit. When, eventually, the real racing got under way, conditions were still difficult and the first victim was none other than championship leader Webber, who was unfortunate to lose control in an area bounded by concrete walls. This put paid not only to his day but also to that of the unlucky Rosberg, who was collected by the spinning Red Bull. The Safety Car was duly dispatched for another short period. Button, who was having a terrible time with his ill-handling McLaren, was the first to stop for intermediates. If there has not been a chance to run wet tyres at a track and establish the lap time at which a change is optimal, a simple rule of thumb is used. The change from full wet tyres to intermediates is made when the lap time is between 112 and 116 per cent of the dry time and the change from intermediate to dry when it is between 104 and 108 per cent of the dry time. Bearing in mind that on Friday the cars on high fuel were lapping at around 1min 43secs, that
Sebastian Vettel loses his lead on lap 46 when a massive engine failure puts him out of the race for good
suggests intermediates would be required when lap times dropped to around 1min 56secs or, allowing for the fuel burnt by this stage of the race, around the 1min 53secs at which they were circulating. Button lost out with his decision as the Safety Car was deployed yet again just after his stop allowing the others to pit with minimum penalty. Their timing was good and lap times dropped once the cars were racing again. Hamilton had briefly made it into second place due to Alonso’s slow pitstop, but threw it
away at the restart by going wide at Turn 1. Up front, Vettel looked untroubled until the start of lap 46 when an ominous puff of smoke signalled the start of a huge engine failure, gifting the lead of both the race and the championship to Alonso, a victory made sweeter by having his team-mate on the podium again and his most feared rivals finishing pointless. So, nearly three hours after it started and 10 minutes after sunset, the race finished. Red Bull weren’t the only ones in the dark on this day.
The GP you didn’t see on tv Taking you behind the scenes at Yeongam as the weekend unfolded
So who’ll get the biggest shock? The snake or the chap trying to touch its bottom?
A thorough check of the grandstand takes place: “We confirm that six of these seats are very comfy indeed”
Renault mechanics attempt to clear water from the
…and when that doesn’t work, out comes the heavy
Jarno does a speedy first lap of Yeongam
pitlane using what looks like an adapted Dyson…
machinery. Next up: hair dryers and fluffy towels
before he realises he’s forgotten the car
68
F1 Racing December 2010
Page 66-69 Korea Report (GG).indd 68
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Korean Grand Prix stats The lowdown on everything you need to know from the weekend at Yeongam… the race
the grid
4. HAMILTON mclaren 1m36.062secs q3
6. massa ferrari 1m36.571secs q3
8. kubica renault 1m36.824secs q3
10. barrichello williams 1m36.998secs q3
12. kobayashi BMw sauber 1m37.643secs q2
14. sutil force india 1m37.783secs q2
16. buemi toro rosso 1m38.594secs q2
18. trulli lotus 1m40.521secs q1
20. petrov* renault 1m37.799secs q2
22. di grassi virgin 1m42.325secs q1
24. senna hispania 1m43.283secs q1
fastest lap 3. alonso ferrari 1m35.766secs q3
5. rosberg mercedes 1m36.535secs q3
7. button mclaren 1m36.731secs q3
9. schumacher mercedes 1m36.950secs q3
11. hülkenberg williams 1m37.620secs q2
13. heidfeld BMw sauber 1m37.715secs q2
15. alguersuari toro rosso 1m37.853secs q2
Fernando Alonso, lap 42, 1min 50.257secs
the results (55 laps) 1st
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
2h48m20.810s
2nd
Lewis Hamilton McLaren
+14.999s
3rd
Felipe Massa Ferrari
+30.868s
4th
Michael Schumacher Mercedes
+39.688s
5th
Robert Kubica Renault
+47.734s
6th
Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India
+53.571s
7th
Rubens Barrichello Williams
+69.257s
fastest pitstop Nico Hülkenberg, 23.123secs (entry to exit)
8th
Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber
+77.889s
9th
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
+80.107s
Nico Hülkenberg Williams
+80.851s
Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso
+84.146s
1st
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
231pts
12th
Jenson Button McLaren
+89.939s
2nd
Mark Webber Red Bull
220pts
13th
Heikki Kovalainen Lotus
+1 lap
3rd
Lewis Hamilton McLaren
210pts
14th
Bruno Senna Hispania
+2 laps
4th
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
206pts
15th
Sakon Yamamoto Hispania
+2 laps
5th
Jenson Button McLaren
189pts
Retirements
6th
Felipe Massa Ferrari
143pts
Adrian Sutil Force India 46 laps – accident
7th
Robert Kubica Renault
124pts
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 45 laps – engine
8th
Nico Rosberg Mercedes
122pts
Vitaly Petrov Renault 39 laps – accident
9th
Michael Schumacher Mercedes
66pts
Timo Glock Virgin 31 laps – accident damage
10th
Rubens Barrichello Williams
47pts
Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso 30 laps – accident
11th
Adrian Sutil Force India
47pts
Lucas di Grassi Virgin 25 laps – spin
12th
Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber
31pts
Jarno Trulli Lotus 25 laps – hydraulics
13th
Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India
21pts
Mark Webber Red Bull 18 laps – accident
14th
Vitaly Petrov Renault
19pts
Nico Rosberg Mercedes 18 laps – accident
15th
Nico Hülkenberg Williams
18pts
16th
Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso
8pts
17th
Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber
6pts
18th
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
6pts
19th
Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso
3pts
20th
Heikki Kovalainen Lotus
0pts
21st
Jarno Trulli Lotus
0pts
22nd
Karun Chandhok Hispania
0pts
Slowest: Nico
23rd
Bruno Senna Hispania
0pts
Rosberg, 259.71kmh
24th
Lucas di Grassi Virgin
0pts
25th
Timo Glock Virgin
0pts
26th
Sakon Yamamoto Hispania
0pts
27th
Christian Klien Hispania
0pts
through speed trap 17. liuzzi force india 1m38.955secs q1
19. Glock virgin 1m40.748secs q1
Fastest: Vitantonio Liuzzi, 320.01kmh
tyre compounds used 21. kovalainen lotus 1m41.768secs q1
23. yamamoto hispania 1m42.444secs q1
*Five-place grid penalty for causing a collison at the Japanese Grand Prix
drivers’ standings
10th 11th
constructors’ standings
Soft
climate
Hard
Intermediate Wet
track temp
19°C 18°C
1 Red Bull
426pts 9 Toro Rosso
2 McLaren
399pts 10 Lotus
3 Ferrari
374pts 11 Hispania
0pts
4 Mercedes
188pts 12 Virgin
0pts
5 Renault
143pts
6 Force India
68pts
7 Williams
65pts
8 BMW Sauber 43pts
11pts 0pts
for comprehensive f1 statistics visit
www.forix.com
F1 Racing December 2010
Page 66-69 Korea Report (GG).indd 69
photos: glenn dunbar/lat; andrew ferraro/lat; steve etherington/lat; lorenzo bellanca/lat
2. webber RED BULL 1m35.659secs q3
1. vettel RED BULL 1m35.585secs q3
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11/30/10 4:20 PM
Finishing straight
race debrief by Pat Symonds The Brazilian Grand Prix 07.11.2010 / Interlagos
Historic pole for The Hülk… Red Bull win constructors’ title… Title hunt goes down to the wire
One down… one to go Red Bull take yet another one-two to win the 2010 constructors’ championship, but with one race left, can they make it the double with Webber and Vettel now second and third behind Alonso?
T
he Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos has seen many championship deciders in recent years. For a long time it was the final race on the calender but even last year, when it took the penultimate slot, Jenson Button drove the race of his life to clinch the drivers’ title. This year, both the form book and the mathematics said that the constructors’ championship should be settled here but that the drivers’ title was unlikely to be determined. And that is exactly how the weekend unfolded. With rain forecast for Saturday, the teams needed as much data as possible during the Friday sessions. However, the slippery surface meant that the first 45 minutes of practice were relatively quiet. Fernando Alonso parked his car at the end of the first session due to concerns about his engine, an anxiety that led to an engine change for the afternoon session. 70
Red Bull threw down the gauntlet in the afternoon when Vettel dropped below the 1min 12secs mark, eclipsing last year’s time by nearly half a second. This was to stand as the fastest lap of the weekend as the rain set in for Saturday, just like last year. Perhaps the most significant thing about final practice was that Hülkenberg was the first to switch from full wet tyres to intermediate, showing the courage he was to repeat when it mattered in the afternoon. With the rain easing off, qualifying was a matter of being on the track at the right time and on suitable tyres. First qualifying saw the usual suspects eliminated, but joining them for the first time this year was Adrian Sutil after a battle with his team-mate, a sad reflection on the team that was holding sixth place in the championship at the time. Meanwhile, at the front, Alonso set the pace on the streaming track.
Second qualifying saw Webber take the initiative on a track that was barely any drier, although the rain had by now stopped. The losers under these conditions were Rosberg and Button, neither of whom managed the step into the final qualifying session. The first runs in final qualifying were still made on intermediates, but with times dropping to the low 1.17sec mark they met the criteria of 108 per cent of the dry time that pre-empts a
“Hülkenberg has impressed since winning the F3 Euroseries in ‘08”
F1 Racing December 2010
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>
The story of the race
SÃo paulo
Williams takes its
80mph 3rd
171mph 6th 45mph 2nd 47mph 2nd 143mph 5th 192mph 7th
first pole in 100 races, with Red Bull lining up in P2 and P3
169mph 6th
146mph 5th 64mph 2nd 156mph 5th 182mph 6th 135mph 5th
199mph 7th 66mph 3rd 103mph 3rd
201mph 7th 96mph 3rd
160mph 5th
>
Hamilton locks up his front wheel, which lets Alonso overtake him
> Vitantonio Liuzzi’s crash on lap 49 drops Force India to seventh in the constructors’ standings…
>
>
switch to dry tyres. Sure enough for their final run all drivers changed to slicks. The hero of the day was Hülkenberg, who got the tyres working better than anyone by means of an aggressive outlap. This put sufficient heat into them so that they worked well in the tricky conditions. In these circumstances, the last to cross the line will generally gain a huge benefit but such was Hülkenberg’s performance advantage he was able to claim pole by more than a second from Vettel without needing his last lap to count. It was a popular outcome for a young man who has impressed since racing in the F3 Euro Series. He won that title in 2008 and has not looked back since. He certainly deserves to find a drive next year. The re-emergence of Williams and Cosworth was also something that was celebrated by many, even if it came about through circumstances that were unlikely to be repeated the following day. Behind Hülkenberg, the two Red Bulls lined up with Vettel taking the advantage by a tenth and Hamilton keeping his slim title hopes alive by sneaking in front of Alonso. But driver of the day award was shared between Hülkenberg and Daniel Toni, Jenson Button’s police chauffeur, who skilfully avoided an attempted armed robbery while driving Button back to the hotel. As expected, Sunday was a more typical day with the air temperature in the mid 20s and the track temperature hovering around 50°C in the bright sunshine. As the lights were extinguished, Hülkenberg made a reasonable start but seemed
…and brings out the
Vettel takes the win
Safety Car, leading to
to sit 15 points behind
heavy traffic and a
championship leader
scramble for new tyres
Fernando Alonso
A star is born Sebastian Vettel arrived at F1’s top table in Monza 2008, guiding his Toro Rosso to the top of the timesheets in a treacherously wet qualifying session. Two years later it was the turn of his countryman, Nico Hülkenberg, to emerge as champion in waiting by beating Vettel’s Red Bull to pole at Interlagos by more than a second in similar conditions. It was a drive that Mark Webber admitted made the rest of the field look “pretty average”, a stunning sequence of laps that may go down as the most important of the young German’s career. When he arrived in Brazil his future was rumoured to be under threat, with Williams seeking to replace him with pay driver Pastor Maldonado.
A little more than a week later, having scored the team’s first pole in more than five years, Hülkenberg’s future looked uncertain again as it was announced he would be leaving Williams. Fickle business, this F1 lark. Jonathan Reynolds
to lose out in the short drag to the first corner. Vettel grabbed the initiative to lead the first lap with Webber looking for a way past the Williams to ensure his team-mate did not make too much of a break. Hülkenberg’s car oversteered just enough into Turn 4 to delay him getting on the power and this allowed Red Bull to assume their customary one-two position. Hülkenberg defended well and it took until lap 7 for Alonso to take up the chase, by which time the Spaniard was a full 11 seconds behind Vettel. Hamilton, meanwhile, was struggling to make progress as he complained bitterly of a lack of grip.
The first pitstop occurred at the end of lap 11 when Button, who was languishing in 10th place at the time, stopped to take on the harder tyres. It looked disastrous as he emerged in 18th place, but turned out once again to be a shrewd move as he worked his way up to shadow his teammate, who had been five places in front of him prior to the stops. Alonso held on to his softer tyres until lap 25, and pitstops for Vettel and Webber on the next two laps saw the five championship contenders completing their scheduled pitstops and by lap 30, occupying the first five places in the race. F1 Racing December 2010
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main photo: glenn dunbar/lat. insets: andrew ferraro/lat; charles coates/lat; steve etherington/lat
View from the paddock
71
11/30/10 4:25 PM
Finishing straight Alonso asked his engineer, on lap 28, about the pace of the Red Bulls and whether they could be caught. Vettel and Webber answered by trading fastest laps for a while as they pulled away from the field. On a circuit such as Interlagos, with a race lap time of 1.15secs or less, traffic is always going to be a problem and by lap 38 the leaders were picking their way through the backmarkers, who were all engrossed in their own private battles. The potential danger came to nothing, although the lead gap changed as a function of the difficulty of passing. By lap 50 a few, including Hamilton and Button, were suffering from tyre wear and poor grip. A fortuitous Safety Car, brought about by Liuzzi crashing heavily at Turn 2, allowed many in the chasing pack to pit for fresh tyres. Hamilton took another set of the harder tyres while Button chose the softer ones. Ultimately, it made little difference to position, although Kamui Kobayashi was then able to break out of the pack following his single stop to take the final championship point, even pushing Kubica in the last few laps. Up front, Webber’s challenge faded slightly towards the end as his engine temperature climbed – although even this never really put him under threat.
Hamilton lines up to overtake Hülkenberg, with Fernando Alonso set to overtake both of them by lap 7
Red Bull’s clean sweep won them the 2010 constructors’ championship. If you consider Benetton and Renault to be essentially the same team of people, it’s remarkable that before 2009 only four groups had won the championship in the preceding 29 years. It is extremely refreshing to see another new name on the cup after Brawn added theirs last year. All credit to the teams at Milton Keynes and Viry-Châtillon for engineering such domination this year.
In spite of the euphoria surrounding the events in Brazil, as Sunday night faded into early Monday morning all thoughts had to be focused on the enormous logistical feat needed to get all the cars the staggering 11,930kms to Abu Dhabi and the trials of getting the crews to adapt to the six-hour time difference in the space of just two days. Come that weekend, there will be some tired, as well as tense, people at the championship final.
The GP you didn’t see on tv Taking you behind the scenes at Interlagos as the weekend unfolded
It’s like the day after a wedding when everyone’s got stinking hangovers and confetti stuck to their shoes
Jenson discusses the moment he spotted a really cute dog… then lots of men with guns down their trousers
McLaren do like to be extra-careful with their
Popstar in pitlane alert: Pharrell Williams swings
Tyres are sprayed ‘left’ or ‘right’ to avoid
cars, especially during the mosquito season
by to say hello to F1’s Mr Music, Heikki Kovalainen
confusion. It’s never caught on with socks
72
F1 Racing December 2010
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Brazilian Grand Prix stats The lowdown on everything you need to know from the weekend at Interlagos… the grid
4. hamilton mclaren 1m15.747secs q3
6. barrichello williams 1m16.203secs q3
8. schumacher mercedes 1m16.925secs q3
10. petrov renault 1m17.656secs q3
12. kobayashi bmw sauber 1m19.385secs q2
14. alguersuari toro rosso 1m19.581secs q2
16. liuzzi force india 1m20.357secs q2
18. trulli lotus 1m22.250secs q1
20. kovalainen lotus 1m22.378secs q1
22. sutil* force india 1m20.830secs q1
24. SENna** hispania 1m23.796secs q1
1. hülkenberg williams 1m14.470secs q3
3. webber red bull 1m15.637secs q3
5. alonso ferrari 1m15.989secs q3
7. kubica renault 1m16.552secs q3
9. massa ferrari 1m17.101secs q3
11. button mclaren 1m19.288secs q2
13. rosberg mercedes 1m19.486secs q2
15. heidfeld bmw sauber 1m19.899secs q2
17. glock virgin 1m22.130secs q1
19. buemi* toro rosso 1m19.847secs q2
fastest lap Lewis Hamilton, lap 66, 1min 13.851secs
the results (71 laps) 1st
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
2nd
Mark Webber Red Bull
3rd
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
+6.807s
4th
Lewis Hamilton McLaren
+14.634s
5th
Jenson Button McLaren
+15.593s
6th
Nico Rosberg Mercedes
+35.320s
7th
Michael Schumacher Mercedes
+43.456s
+4.243s
8th
Nico Hülkenberg Williams
+1 lap
9th
Robert Kubica Renault
+1 lap
Jenson Button, 21.054secs (entry to exit)
drivers’ standings
10th
Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber
+1 lap
Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso
+1 lap
1st
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
246pts
12th
Adrian Sutil Force India
+1 lap
2nd
Mark Webber Red Bull
238pts
13th
Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso
+1 lap
3rd
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
231pts
14th
Rubens Barrichello Williams
+1 lap
4th
Lewis Hamilton McLaren
222pts
15th
Felipe Massa Ferrari
+1 lap
5th
Jenson Button McLaren
199pts
16th
Vitaly Petrov Renault
+1 lap
6th
Felipe Massa Ferrari
143pts
17th
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
+1 lap
7th
Nico Rosberg Mercedes
130pts
18th
Heikki Kovalainen Lotus
+2 laps
8th
Robert Kubica Renault
126pts
19th
Jarno Trulli Lotus
+2 laps
9th
Michael Schumacher Mercedes
72pts
20th
Timo Glock Virgin
+2 laps
10th
Rubens Barrichello Williams
47pts
21st
Bruno Senna Hispania
+2 laps
11th
Adrian Sutil Force India
47pts
22nd
Christian Klien Hispania
+6 laps
12th
Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber
32pts
NC
Lucas di Grassi Virgin
+9 laps
13th
Nico Hülkenberg Williams
22pts
14th
Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India
21pts
15th
Vitaly Petrov Renault
19pts
16th
Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso
8pts
17th
Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber
6pts
18th
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
6pts
19th
Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso
3pts
20th
Heikki Kovalainen Lotus
0pts
21st
Jarno Trulli Lotus
0pts
22nd
Karun Chandhok Hispania
0pts
23rd
Bruno Senna Hispania
0pts
Slowest: Timo
24th
Lucas di Grassi Virgin
0pts
Glock, 303.58kmh
25th
Timo Glock Virgin
0pts
26th
Sakon Yamamoto Hispania
0pts
27th
Christian Klien Hispania
0pts
Retirements Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India
49 laps – accident
through speed trap
Fastest: Kamui
tyre compounds used
constructors’ standings
23. klien‡ hispania 1m23.083secs q1
* Five-place grid penalty for causing a collison in previous race ** Five-place grid penalty for replacement gearbox ‡ Started from pitlane
fastest pitstop
11th
Kobayashi, 321.93kmh 21. di grassi virgin 1m22.810secs q1
1h33m11.803s
super soft Medium
climate
Intermediate Wet
track temp
24°C 50°C
1 Red Bull
469pts 9 Toro Rosso
2 McLaren
321pts 10 Lotus
3 Ferrari
389pts 11 Hispania
0pts
4 Mercedes
202pts 12 Virgin
0pts
5 Renault
145pts
6 Williams
69pts
7 Force India
68pts
8 BMW Sauber 44pts
11pts 0pts
for comprehensive f1 statistics visit
www.forix.com
F1 Racing December 2010
Page 70-73 Brazil Report (HH).indd 73
photos: lorenzo bellanca/lat; charles coates/lat; glenn dunbar/lat; andrew ferraro/lat; steven tee/lat; steve etherington/lat
2. vettel red bull 1m15.519secs q3
the race
73
11/30/10 4:25 PM
Finishing straight
race debrief by Pat Symonds The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 14.11.2010 / Yas Marina
Vettel crowned champion …Strategy costs Alonso the title …Schumacher in nasty crash
The number one driver After a season spent failing to convert poles into wins and feuding with his team-mate, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel took the lead when it mattered to become F1’s youngest ever world champion
T
he mental pressure associated with the build-up to a championship decider is hard to imagine. It is the same for drivers and team members alike. Every waking hour and there are many of them as sleep is difficult to find, is focused on potential outcomes. All possibilities are examined and analysed. Each preparation is questioned and no matter how hard you try to be philosophical, all previous decisions and actions that went against the flow are churned over in your mind. So it was for the four protagonists in this, the most exciting season for many years. Ultimately, the permutations and combinations become purely academic as, barring retirements, each one of them could really only win by driving flat-out. As so often happens, this was a championship that was there to be lost as much as it was there to be won. 74
Even the desert had surprises in store as rain on Friday morning left the track damp at the start of practice. This limited running time left much to be done in second practice. Surprisingly though, there were not many long runs on the soft tyre in this session but those who did their homework, such as Robert Kubica, could see that rear graining was leading to high tyre degradation. The main contenders seemed to be concentrating more on finding their absolute speed, an indication of the importance of grid position on a circuit that saw only six overtaking manoeuvres last year. Qualifying proved, once again, that the Vettel/Red Bull combination is awesome. This time, even Webber couldn’t get close to the man who claimed his 10th pole of the season. The surprise of the session was McLaren who, at this late stage in the year, arrived with their major
rear-wing update finally working as they had hoped, so helping them to second and fourth on the grid. With Hamilton demoting Alonso to third, it may not have been where Alonso hoped to start but he was at least ahead of Webber, who most regarded as his main title challenger. The difficulty of managing the tyres could be seen in qualifying. In Q2, both Red Bulls tried a sequence of running a slow lap followed by a fast one and then slow and fast again. In Q3
“Vettel kept the gap to Lewis at 10 seconds before crossing the line”
F1 Racing December 2010
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>
The story of the race
yas marina
Vettel and Hamilton
186mph 7th
43mph 2nd
163mph 6th
do battle into Turn 1,
196mph 7th
with Vettel holding
50mph 2nd 78mph 3rd
on to his lead
159mph 5th 163mph 6th 180mph 6th 79mph 3rd 70mph 3rd 186mph 6th 64mph 3rd 64mph 3rd 194mph 7th
80mph 3rd
>
Schuey spins on lap 1 and Liuzzi goes over the top of him. Out comes the Safety Car
> Webber pits on lap 11 and, disastrously, Alonso copies him two laps later
> Alonso’s title dream
Vettel finishes 10
is shattered when he
seconds clear of the
emerges behind Petrov
rest to become F1’s
and can’t escape
youngest champion
View from the paddock Winners and losers As the iridescent lights of the Yas Marina hotel twinkle from mauve to turquoise, there is the unmistakable sound of another popping cork of bubbly. Cheers and the clinking of glasses can be heard at the Red Bull hospitality unit, while just yards along the jetty there are desolate faces. Ferrari team personnel are ash-white in complexion, displaying utter shock at how the race unfolded just an hour before. Fernando Alonso speaks to the press, his shoulders sagging. Defeat is hard to take but he puts on a brave face and talks about 2011. While the joy continues at Red Bull, take a moment to sympathise with Mark Webber. Amid all the fuss, the chaos and the jubilation, the Aussie sits quietly in his private room, away from it all, with his partner Ann and his parents. Defeat for a whole team is one thing. Defeat when it’s just you is so much harder to take. James Roberts
when Schumacher and Liuzzi were involved in a nasty-looking accident on the first lap. Six cars darted for the pits, among them Petrov, Rosberg and Alguersuari, all of whom were to profit from this early change to the harder tyres. The anticipated graining suggested early stops and on lap 11 Webber reported that he was losing his rear tyres. He headed for the pits on lap 12, no doubt regretting that he had not taken the chance to repeat the inspired strategy used in Singapore where a pitstop under an early Safety Car enabled him to leapfrog several of the cars in front of him.
Ferrari covered Webber’s move by pitting Massa on the next lap. This was unquestionably a tactical decision as he was getting faster all the time on his original tyres. Nevertheless, the fact that three of his next four sector times on the new tyres looked even quicker surely prompted the team to call Alonso in for fear of losing advantage to Webber. It was to prove a fatal mistake. Alonso left the pits to rejoin the race just ahead of Webber as planned but, more significantly, behind Petrov and Rosberg who had already made the only pitstop they were planning. Worse still, he seemed powerless to F1 Racing December 2010
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>
both Mercedes mimicked this procedure while Red Bull changed to a single three-lap run on the softer tyres. McLaren and Ferrari meanwhile took a conventional approach with two single timed-lap runs. A balance had to be found between getting temperature into the tyres as the sun went down and the track cooled, while avoiding the graining that destroyed the ability to get on the power early. A surprising absentee from Q3, for the first time this year, was Robert Kubica. He hadn’t really seemed at ease throughout the weekend, generally being outperformed by his relatively inexperienced team-mate Vitaly Petrov. At least his 11th place starting position allowed him to begin on hard tyres. While that’s normally a risky thing to do, it seemed reasonable based on the experiences of Friday and the fact that an open circuit like this has a low likelihood of the Safety Car coming out. The tension increased over Sunday morning, although Vettel appeared remarkably relaxed when interviewed on the grid. As the lights went out everyone got away well. Hamilton dived for the inside of Vettel at Turn 1 but discretion proved to be the better part of valour and Vettel headed the first lap by 1.6 seconds. Alonso attempted a lunge at Button on the run to the first corner but the power of the McLaren-Mercedes prevailed, allowing Button to maintain third place. While a Safety Car may seem unlikely on this type of circuit, it is not impossible as was seen
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11/30/10 4:26 PM
Finishing straight make any impression on the young Russian partly due to his car being slightly slower on the straight – but mostly due to mature, defensive driving by Petrov. McLaren kept Lewis Hamilton out until lap 23 since the soft tyres seemed to have gone through their graining phase, cleaned up and had started providing grip again. Red Bull had no choice but to cover this move with Vettel, stopping on the next lap to maintain the status quo. Jenson Button then inherited the lead, his smooth driving style allowing him to stay out until lap 39, a stint distance that no one had anticipated before the race. He dropped to fourth on the road but with Kubica still to stop, he had ensured his place on the podium after another measured drive. On lap 46, Kubica finally made his stop from second place and the tactical elements of the race were all played out. Emerging in fifth, his performance was the final nail in the coffin of Alonso’s championship hopes. Still unable to make any impression on Petrov, he finished frustrated and ill-tempered in seventh place, marginally ahead of Webber. Up front, Vettel managed his gap to Hamilton, maintaining it at around 10 seconds before crossing the line – apparently oblivious to
Liuzzi goes straight over the top of Schumacher on the opening lap – luckily both drivers escaped unhurt
the problems of his main rivals and therefore unaware that he’d just become the youngest ever F1 world champion. On receiving the news from his engineer, Rocky, his emotions overcame him, something that was a joy to hear in a sport that is all too often clinical and corporate. So as the chequered flag fell on this, the most exciting season in many years, did the right man emerge the victor? Undoubtedly the popular vote in many quarters was with Webber, but it has
to be said that Vettel and the car he christened ‘Randy Mandy’ were the fastest combination of the year. It is amazing that at no point prior to the final race did he lead the championship, but ultimately he led it at the one and only time of the year when it mattered. The world champion has a duty to be an ambassador for the sport and I believe that Sebastian Vettel will make an excellent ambassador. Congratulations to both him and all the team.
The GP you didn’t see on tv Taking you behind the scenes at Yas Marina as the weekend unfolded
We don’t really want to know what Jenson Button is doing to Sebastian Vettel’s car
They didn’t make front of the grid, but Alonso and Massa were on the ball with the Ferrari World queue
The Yas Marina circuit does double duty as a relay
Virgin’s poor performance is finally explained:
track. That’s a bit of an unwieldy baton though…
they’ve had a cat stuck in their airbox since Bahrain measures Richard Branson for his new skirt
76
“Now about that bet…” Tony Fernandes
F1 Racing December 2010
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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stats The lowdown on everything you need to know from the weekend at Yas Marina… the grid
4. button mclaren 1m39.823secs q3
6. massa ferrari 1m40.202secs q3
8. schumacher mercedes 1m40.516secs q3
10. petrov renault 1m40.901secs q3
12. kobayashi bmw sauber 1m40.783secs q2
14. heidfeld bmw sauber 1m41.113secs q2
16. liuzzi force india 1m41.642secs q2
18. buemi toro rosso 1m41.824secs q1
20. kovalainen lotus 1m43.712secs q1
22. di grassi virgin 1m44.510secs q1
24. klien hispania 1m45.296secs q1
1. VETTEL red bull 1m39.394secs q3
3. alonso ferrari 1m39.792secs q3
5. webbe r ed bull 1m39.925secs q3
7. barrichello williams 1m40.203secs q3
9. rosberg mercedes 1m40.589secs q3
11. kubica renault 1m40.780secs q2
13. sutil force india 1m40.914secs q2
15. hülkenberg WILLIAMS 1m41.418secs q2
17. alguersuari toro rosso 1m41.738secs q2
19. trulli lotus 1m43.516secs q1
fastest lap Lewis Hamilton, lap 47, 1min 41.274secs
the results (55 laps) 1st
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
2nd
Lewis Hamilton McLaren
3rd
Jenson Button McLaren
+11.047s
4th
Nico Rosberg Mercedes
+30.747s
5th
Robert Kubica Renault
+39.026s
6th
Vitaly Petrov Renault
+43.520s
7th
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
+43.797s
fastest pitstop Sebastian Vettel, 20.061secs (entry to exit)
+10.162s
8th
Mark Webber Red Bull
+44.243s
9th
Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso
+50.201s
drivers’ standings
10th
Felipe Massa Ferrari
+50.868s
11th
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
+51.551s
1st
Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
256pts
12th
Rubens Barrichello Williams
+57.686s
2nd
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
252pts
13th
Adrian Sutil Force India
+58.325s
3rd
Mark Webber Red Bull
242pts
14th
Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber
+59.558s
4th
Lewis Hamilton McLaren
240pts
15th
Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso
+63.178s
5th
Jenson Button McLaren
214pts
16th
Nico Hülkenberg Williams
+64.763
6th
Felipe Massa Ferrari
144pts
17th
Heikki Kovalainen Lotus
+1 lap
7th
Nico Rosberg Mercedes
142pts
18th
Lucas di Grassi Virgin
+2 laps
8th
Robert Kubica Renault
136pts
19th
Bruno Senna Hispania
+2 laps
9th
Michael Schumacher Mercedes
72pts
21st
Christian Klien Hispania
+2 laps
10th
Rubens Barrichello Williams
47pts
22nd
Jarno Trulli Lotus
+4 laps/DNF/rear wing
11th
Adrian Sutil Force India
47pts
Retirements
12th
Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber
32pts
Timo Glock Virgin 43 laps – gearbox
13th
Vitaly Petrov Renault
27pts
Michael Schumacher Mercedes 0 laps – accident
14th
Nico Hülkenberg Williams
22pts
Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 0 laps – accident
15th
Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India
21pts
16th
Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso
8pts
17th
Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber
6pts
18th
Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
6pts
19th
Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso
5pts
20th
Heikki Kovalainen Lotus
0pts
21st
Jarno Trulli Lotus
0pts
22nd Karun Chandhok Hispania
0pts
through speed trap
Fastest: Kamui Kobayashi, 321.93kmh
21. glock virgin 1m44.095secs q1
1h39m36.837s
23rd
Bruno Senna Hispania
0pts
Slowest: Lucas di
24th
Lucas di Grassi Virgin
0pts
Grassi, 314.57kmh
25th
Timo Glock Virgin
0pts
26th
Sakon Yamamoto Hispania
0pts
27th
Christian Klien Hispania
0pts
tyre compounds used
constructors’ standings
23. senna hispania 1m45.085secs q1 super soft Medium
climate
Intermediate Wet
track temp
30°C 33°C
1 Red Bull
498pts 9 Toro Rosso
2 McLaren
454pts 10 Lotus
3 Ferrari
396pts 11 Hispania
0pts
4 Mercedes
214pts 12 Virgin
0pts
5 Renault
163pts
6 Williams
69pts
7 Force India
68pts
8 BMW Sauber 44pts
13pts 0pts
for comprehensive f1 statistics visit
www.forix.com
F1 Racing December 2010
Page 74-77 Abu Dhabi report (JJ).indd 77
photos: andrew ferraro/lat; steven tee/lat; lorenzo bellanca/lat; glenn dunbar/lat; charles coates/lat
2. hamilton mclaren 1m39.425secs q3
the race
77
11/30/10 4:26 PM
Finishing straight
The
burning issue
photos: glenn dunbar/lat; Andrew ferraro/lat; charles coates/lat; lat archive
Did Sebastian Vettel deserve to win the 2010 world championship? Mark Webber: I’ve got to take my hat off to Seb because he did a good job in Abu Dhabi and he’s done a good job all year. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve pushed each other and it’s always rewarding to get out of bed to do that. Sir Jackie Stewart: I take my hat off to Sebastian in every sense. Under extreme pressure he led from the start in Abu Dhabi, crossing the line 10 seconds clear of the field. Red Bull Racing also made its best pitstop of the year and if you put all that together, the right man won the world championship. Alex Wurz: It was a completely fair outcome. He drove with nerves of steel and was also the fastest guy on average throughout the year. Christian Danner: It’s a much nicer feeling to have Sebastian as world
champion than another gentleman, who’s won seven world titles. Seb’s a much more natural person and it’s a great thing to happen for F1 and motorsport in general. JYS: If Fernando had won the title, I think the media and the real aficionados would have been critical of the championship, due to what happened at Hockenheim. AW: Ferrari will need to question why it lost the championship in Abu Dhabi because it was there for the taking and they made a mess of the strategy. If Renault and Mercedes could see the opportunity presented by the Safety Car at the start, why not Ferrari? Moments like that are what won Schumacher seven world championships. CD: Mark also screwed up his strategy, like Ferrari, and that
brings us back to Sebastian. When it mattered, he was always there and that’s what makes a champion. MW: It’s amazing to think that the only time Sebastian led the championship was after the last race, but that’s the only time it matters. Well done to him. JYS: I hadn’t driven a racing car of any kind when I was Sebastian’s age, so he’s already more mature than a 23-year-old ought to be. But he’s very natural in and out of the car and I think he will carry it well. I hope Red Bull work him hard because Formula 1 needs as much
publicity during the off-season as it does during the season. AW: Sebastian had a very character-building time after that incident with Mark in Turkey. He understood the power of the world’s media then and he had some difficulty getting his form back. But when he did, he was very strong. CD: He will be a great ambassador for F1. In Germany we now have a completely different audience watching F1 compared to the Schumacher years. It’s a much more intelligent and sophisticated audience and that’s thanks to Seb.
The jury
Mark Webber Vettel’s team-mate
Malaysia was the first of his five wins, but Vettel was fast all season long
78
“The only time he led was after the last race, but that’s the only time it matters. Well done to him”
Sir Jackie Stewart Triple world champion
“If Fernando had won, the media and aficionados would have been critical of the championship”
Alex Wurz F1 commentator
Christian Danner Former F1 driver
“It was a completely fair outcome. He drove with nerves of steel and was the fastest guy”
“When it mattered, he was always there. That’s what makes a champion... he’ll be a great F1 ambassador”
F1 Racing December 2010
Page 78 Burn Issue (KK).indd 78
11/30/10 4:29 PM
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11/25/10 4:05:39 PM
Finishing straight
Alan
henry
Forty years and counting on the frontline of Formula 1
Sebastian Vettel is an F1 superstar in the making
“Vettel could have done no more to stamp his authority on proceedings”
80
It’s pure coincidence, but worth recording that Fiat announced the day after the final round of the world championship that it was paying $229million to buy back the five per cent of Ferrari it sold to Mubadala in 2005. Unless my maths is as bad as I’ve been told it is, that puts a value on the Prancing Horse of $4.5bn. If that’s so, it puts a new interpretation on their poor showing in Abu Dhabi. Alonso wasn’t hypnotised by Petrov’s rear wing – he was in shock over his employer’s truly staggering value.
Williams and the hÜlk part company For the new Cosworth boys – none of whom managed a point in 19 races – Williams has been a yardstick this season, signalling how far the new teams must travel before they can be regarded as credible competitors. So it’s sad to record that Nico Hülkenberg is leaving the Grove-based squad. If it’s true that Williams wanted to ‘place’ him at HRT next season as part of a deal that sees HRT taking Williams gearboxes, I can see why Hülkenberg walked away. Performance of Williams’ drivers in the past 10 years Wins
Poles
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
01
20
02
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
20
10
20
photos: andrew ferraro/lat; paul gilham/getty images
When it came to the crunch, the best driver out there won the 2010 Formula 1 world championship. Okay, Sebastian Vettel may not yet have fully grown into his skin as the dazzlingly consistent superstar he has the makings of, but that is no criticism of the sport’s youngest ever world champion, merely a reflection of just how good the Red Bull driver will be when that maturing process is complete. I mean, 10 pole positions and five A shaken Schuey congratulates his countryman Vettel wins is nothing to sniff at. Heavens, his achievement even won praise from Michael Schumacher, even if it was slightly stilted in style. To be fair to the seven-time world champion, if he seemed downbeat after the race in Abu Dhabi it was probably due to the realisation that he’d come within inches of sustaining serious head injuries in that spectacular collision with Tonio Liuzzi’s Force India. I don’t want to be accused of scaremongering, but that was a closer call for the drivers involved than Mark Webber’s 290kmh backflip at Valencia. That’s twice this season that F1’s safety infrastructure has been put to the test – but thankfully passed with flying colours. Schumacher may be a lot of things, but he’s no mug and is fully aware of Vettel’s ability and what he might achieve in the future. Yet it’s interesting to note that Sir Jackie Stewart could see parallels between the way in which his F1 career unfolded in the late 1960s and the way in which young Sebastian’s has developed over the past couple of seasons. In 1968, Stewart had successfully found his way into the Matra MS10, which was one of the best cars on the grid. But even so, Jackie admits he was almost relieved when the vastly more experienced Graham Hill snatched the title. By the time Jackie clinched the first of his three titles in 1969 he was more relaxed, composed and on top of his game: in short, better equipped to handle the off-track pressure that comes with such responsibility. Of course, in those days, things were different when it came to managing a driver away from his car. That was down to the ingenuity and business savvy of the individual concerned. In that respect, life is easier for Vettel as he has the entire Red Bull infrastructure to keep him on the rails. How Vettel’s character develops is uncertain. He has a maturity beyond his years and is yet to display the aggressively cold edge that characterised Michael at the height of his F1 ascendancy. There may be those out there who still believe Fernando Alonso is the best driver and that Mark Webber would have made the best world champion. Yet, for all that, it’s hard to see what more Vettel could have done to stamp his authority on proceedings. It’s possible that the baton may have passed on in Abu Dhabi and a new F1 era is upon us.
Ferrari is worth how much?
F1 Racing December 2010
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81_QATAR MOTORSHOW@O1.indd 1
81_QATAR MOTORSHOW F1 RACING DEC10@O1
11/30/10 6:30:23 AM
And finally...
inside the mind of...
jaime alguersuari
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The pen-and-paper-based Q&A that you can win
F1 Racing December 2010
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Ferrari Formula 1 driver, Fernando Alonso, wearing Ferrari Lifestyle SS 2010 collection
The passion of the Ferrari world
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