Abu Dhabi Grand Prix November 14th 2010

The German was one of four drivers that mathematically had a shot at the title and drove an clean race and was never really challenged for the lead. The rather amazing point was that he only lead the points table for the first time upon the completion of the race. Red Bull has developed as a real contender, we’ll see next year if they fall back on the grid a la Brawn GP upon winning their title.

Hamilton and Button finished in second and third, respectively. It was also interesting to see a podium at the end of a race that was filled with world champions, past and present. Hamilton finished back about 10 seconds, but was never really a threat to Vettel who claimed pole. Button saw his season somewhat disintegrate late in the year, to win a repeat title will require consistent performance

Ferrari fans on the internet vented immediately after the race for both sacking Stefano Dominicelli and throwing Massa into the street. Fernando Alonso qualified well, but an early pit stop strategy saw him trapped mid pack and his championship lead disappear. His extended middle finger to the Renault of Petrov that he was unable to overtake in racing conditions suggests that he will not go down in the history books as one of the great drivers. He would finish seventh, five places back of where he needed to be to secure the title.

It was still a good show to see the title go down to the last race and not a blow out where the championships are decided with six races left on the calendar.

Rosberg finished in fourth place, yes, ahead of Schumacher who crashed out on the first lap when Liuzzi’s car speared his Mercedes. Fortunately neither driver was hurt, demonstrating the safety levels that have been achieved over the years.

Mark Webber also saw his title hopes disappear when he ended up in eight place, but his contributions to Red Bull’s constructors title likely will not go unnoticed. The Red Bull junior team did well with Alguersuari finishing in ninth place ahead of Massa.

The Yas circuit was a sell out, but even Mississippi State’s football stadium routinely passes the 55,000 tickets that were available. While the facility was nice to the point of being luxurious, a track with no elevation changes is still as exciting as a parking lot in Las Vegas. Racing has become too sanitized and less of a show. Maybe that’s why Bentley names its cars after race tracks that are long gone (Brooklands), rather than any of the tracks that have been used in F1 since Singapore.

Red Bull did an outstanding job this year and they are proof that the old guard of McLaren and Ferrari can not rest on their laurels to continue winning championships. It will be interesting if any one who looks at the new McLaren road car thinks that it would be easier (and no doubt cheaper) to just drink a caffeinated sugar drink at about 5 times the price of a Coke over spending 5 times the price of a Toyota for a new car. Ferrari will still be content selling tee shirts and hats.

2010 was an interesting season and a good show. The story book ending may have seemed a little too contrived and too perfect, if it happens again next year, conspiracy theorists may start smelling a rat.

Race Results

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	1h39m36.837s
2	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 10.1s
3	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 11.0s
4	ROSBERG	Mercedes GP	+ 30.7s
5	KUBICA	Renault	+ 39.0s
6	PETROV	Renault	+ 43.5s
7	ALONSO	Ferrari	+ 43.7s
8	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 44.2s
9	ALGUERSUARI	STR-Ferrari	+ 50.2s
10	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 50.8s
11	HEIDFELD	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	+ 51.5s
12	BARRICHELLO	Williams-Cosworth	+ 57.6s
13	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	+ 58.3s
14	KOBAYASHI	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	+ 59.5s
15	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	+ 63.1s
16	HULKENBERG	Williams-Cosworth	+ 64.7s
17	KOVALAINEN	Lotus-Cosworth	+ 1 lap
18	DI GRASSI	Virgin-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
19	SENNA	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
20	KLIEN	HRT-Cosworth	+ 2 laps
21	TRULLI	Lotus-Cosworth	+ 4 laps
22	GLOCK	Virgin-Cosworth	+ 12 laps, gearbox
23	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes GP	+ 55 laps, accident
24	LIUZZI	Force India-Mercedes	+ 55 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	1m41.274s

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	256 Points
2	ALONSO	Ferrari	252 Points
3	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	242 Points
4	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	204 Points
5	BUTTON	McLaren-Mercedes	214 Points
6	MASSA	Ferrari	144 Points
7	ROSBERG	Mercedes GP	142 Points
8	KUBICA	Renault	136 Points
9	SCHUMACHER	Mercedes GP	72 Points
10	BARRICHELLO	Williams-Cosworth	47 Points
11	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	47 Points
12	KOBAYASHI	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	32 Points
13	PETROV	Renault	27 Points
14	HULKENBERG	Williams-Cosworth	22 Points
15	LIUZZI	Force India-Mercedes	21 Points
16	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	8 Points
17	DE LA ROSA	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	6 Points
18	HEIDFELD	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	6 Points
19	ALGUERSUARI	STR-Ferrari	5 Points

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	RBR-RENAULT	498 Points
2	McLAREN-MERCEDES	454 Points
3	FERRARI	396 Points
4	MERCEDES GP	214 Points
5	RENAULT	163 Points
6	WILLIAMS-COSWORTH	69 Points
7	FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES	68 Points
8	BMW SAUBER-FERRARI	44 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	13 Points