A remarkable season that had all the fans
A remarkable season that had all the fans, engineers and drivers on the edge of their seats until the last race of the year in Abu Dhabi, where it was all decided, couldn’t have had another ending but one with a record. And Red Bull-Renault’s driver Sebastian Vettel took care of that by winning the title for the first time, becoming the youngest driver in history to do so.
Signing records is not new in the German’s short F1career as he is also the youngest driver to participate in a Grand Prix practice race -Turkey in 2006, 19 years and 53 days old- , he was also the youngest to score points in a race -2007 US Grand Prix-, and one year later in the 2008 Italian Grand Prix he was the youngest one to win a pole position and to win an F1 race. With 23 years old, 10 wins, 19 podiums, 15 pole positions and 1 championship already, many more great things are expected from the this talented driver.
Ferrari’s and McLaren-Mercedes’ options to win the Constructors’ Championship where dissipated in the penultimate race of the year, where Red Bull’s drivers Vettel and Mark Webber finished in first and second place respectively of the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix. By winning the circuit they reached the sum of 469 points, leaving McLaren (421) and Ferrari (389) without mathematical options to dispute it in the last race at Abu-Dhabi, where the Drivers’ championship was going to be decided.
Alonso reached the United Arab Emirates on the lead with 246 points, followed by Webber (238), Vettel (231) and Lewis Hamilton (222). The 4 of them had chances to win the title, some had more than others, of course, but at the end all that mattered was having a possibility -even if it was the slightest- and making the best out it.
Not only the standings favored Alonso, but the results of the qualifier race were quite optimistic, as he clinched the third place and saw his closest contender Webber finish in a deceiving 5th position. With this positioning Ferrari committed the huge error -which was going to end up costing them the title- of underestimating Vettel’s chances for the championship, as he won his 10th pole position of the season. They were more focused in not letting Webber pass Alonso and maintaining that third position -that Acrylic Sign Holders suppliers would earn him 15 points and the title- that they obviated the rest of the contenders.
This is how Alonso’s title aspirations where frustrated by a bad call from his team for the pit stop, from where he came out after Renault’s Vitaly Petrov -how blocked him for 40 laps- and saw his winning chances fade away as he finished in sixth place. Under those circumstances it was no longer necessary to speculate about team orders that could have benefit either Ferrari or Red Bull, since there was nothing that Massa could have done to help Alonso, and Vettel no longer needed the help of his teammate Webber to win the championship.
Memorable championship what will definitely be remembered as one of the most intense, unpredictable and competitive in history. And it also invites us to dream about how the 2011 season will be.
