Germany and the Ferrari farce

The German GP was a good one apart from a single corner that has overshadowed the whole weekend. Qualifying showed that the Ferraris are back on form and that it’s a six car race each time out. Hopefully that also means that the championship will stay tight at the front as Red Bull seem insistent on throwing away all the advantages that they get. McLaren also need Ferrari to take these points away from Red Bull at a point in the season when their challenge has faded a little. With the top few in title so close and all in competitive cars it should be a great run in.
The race itself was won (more on that later) in the first corner, Vettel was too concerned with Alonso that Massa drove clean past them both and with that distraction Alonso took second place too. The Ferraris also had the form of [...]

Ferrari and Alonso getting on terms

Ferrari started the season with the best possible result, they beat everyone. Neither was it that unexpected, they had spent the best part of last year developing their ‘10 car at the expense of the ‘09 car, they had Felipe Massa back, and the former world champion Fernando Alonso joining to take them back to the front. Since then however it’s gone downhill and fast. We’re seven rounds in and they are only in touch because the other teams have squabbled over the wins.
So what has happened? Some of it is simple mistakes, they got in wrong in qualifying for the Malaysian GP and then add to that Alonso practice crash in Monaco and his latest error in Turkey that ensured a 6th row start and it’s always going to be hard to rack up serious points. Massa hasn’t been himself all season though whether that is Alonso showing [...]

On Webber in Spain and what could have been

The 2010 Spanish GP won’t go down in history as a classic and you could be forgiven for forgetting who won it as Webber just disappeared and was untouchable out front with a flawless drive from beginning to end. All the action went on behind him. It seemed that Michael Schumacher had finally got the better on Nico Rosberg, but then Rosberg had such a poor race it could have just been a bad weekend for him. Problems at pit stops caused issues for Button and Vettel and some dodgy driving put pay to some other’s races.
Sebastien Vettel again showed that Red Bull do have a weakness even if it isn’t speed, unfortunately for the others they don’t seem to have reliability either. Hamilton will also be ruing the lost points and they may cost him later on in the season as Button continues to pick up points. Button himself [...]

With three races down – is the new points system working if Felipe Massa is leading?

With three races completed, Bahrain, Australia and Malaysia there have been three winners so far, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastien Vettel but it’s Felipe Massa who leads the Championship. It may be by only 2 points but it seems strange that a points system that was designed to give winning races more emphasis is being led by a driver who hasn’t won yet.
The table itself is very close with 9pts covering the first 7 drivers:

1. Felipe Massa
Ferrari
39

2. Fernando Alonso
Ferrari
37

3. Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing
37

4. Jenson Button
McLaren
35

5. Nico Rosberg
Mercedes GP
35

6. Lewis Hamilton
McLaren
31

7. Robert Kubica
Renault
30

Though I doubt this will hold all season it does mean that you can hold onto the people who are winning even if you don’t manage it yourself. I’m sure that Felipe Massa will be wanting to win and justify that position at the top but with all the different people who seem to be in with [...]