The final round of the 2010 Formula One World Championship got underway with McLaren’s Jenson Button overtaking championship leader Fernando Alonso into the first corner. Later on in the lap, Michael Schumacher spun his Mercedes Grand Prix car at the chicane following an overtaking move by his team mate Nico Rosberg. Vitantonio Liuzzi ended up driving his Force India F1 car over the top. At the first glance, I thought Schumacher would cause an accident by rolling forwards, but replays showed this may have stopped Liuzzi making contact with the German’s head.
After 10 laps, Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber made contact with the wall, but continued without damage – although he was struggling with the softer tyres which had gone through a four-lap qualifying run yesterday.
Following pitstops for Webber and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard ran wide whilst trying to overtake Vitaly Petrov, but Webber was not close enough to take advantage. Alonso and Webber were then stuck behind cars that had already pitted under the earlier Safety Car period, meaning that Red Bull Racing’s Sabastian Vettel would take the title if positions stayed the same.
Lewis Hamilton was unfortunate to end up behind Robert Kubica and Kamui Kobayashi following his pit stop, although Sebastian Vettel was lucky to come out inches ahead of the kamikaze Kobayasi.
On lap 32 Lewis Hamilton reported that he needed another pitstop due to the wear on the front left tyre, however, his team refused this request. We later found out that Hamilton damaged his tyres through locked braking.
Lap 40 saw leader Jenson Button pit and return to the race in fourth behind Vettel, Kubica and Hamilton. McLaren’s gamble didn’t pay off.
Renault F1’s Robert Kubica finally pitted on lap 45. A quick stop saw the Pole re-join the race ahead of his team mate, meaning Alonso would need to overtake Petrov, Kubica and Hulkenberg to win the 2010 Wordl Championship.
A spectacular rear wing failure for the Lotus Racing of Jarno Trulli on lap 54 saw Lotus Racing’s season end prematurely.
But it was Sebastian Vettel who would come home in first place to take home the championship – and in the process become the youngest World Champion in Formula One history. The German was in tears as he celebrated over the radio with his team.
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, gesticulated at Petrov for costing him the championship. The Russian did nothing wrong and was entitled to hold track position. It was for Alonso to overtake, which he failed to do.
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Formula One BlogNeal Brown's F1 Blog
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