F1 World Championship 2010 Thread

[san.W10]

Hulkenberg to leave Williams

Nico Hulkenberg will not race for Williams in Formula 1 next season.

The 23-year-old German, who clinched his maiden pole position in Brazil a week ago - the team's first in five years, announced this morning that he will leave the team.

"I heavily regret that," Hulkenberg said in a statement. "I would have been happy to stay with Williams.

"I want to thank the team for a great time and I wish Williams all the best for the future."

Hulkenberg's manager, Willi Weber, says he is in discussions with other F1 teams and is sure that Hulkenberg will have a drive next season.

"I am negotiating with other teams," Weber said. "Nico will have his seat in F1 in 2011."

But Hulkenberg's options appear to be limited - with Vitaly Petrov set to renew his deal with Renault, Force India and Lotus could be his only possible destinations. The other option is to spend a year as a reserve driver with another team before stepping up to a race seat in 2012.

AUTOSPORT understands Williams was looking to sign Hulkenberg to a multi-year deal that would have placed him with the HRT team for the 2011 season, which the German declined.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88301

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Q & A: Petrov on battle with Alonso

Vitaly Petrov played a significant role in the outcome of the championship, for it was him that Fernando Alonso spent much of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stuck behind, unable to climb to the fourth position he needed to secure the title.

Alonso vented his frustrations at the Renault driver on the slowing-down lap, but Petrov explains his side of things - claiming he was just concentrating on his own race and scoring as many points as possible.

Q. You have had some tough races this season, but how much pressure were you feeling with Fernando Alonso behind you in Abu Dhabi?

Vitaly Petrov: I always try to not think about the pressure. I just try to do my job. I like driving. I like battles and things like this.

Q. But you must have been aware of the championship situation and that it was Alonso right behind you?

VP: Yeah, but you know - there is nothing to say from me. I do my own racing. I did my race; I did the maximum performance that I could take for his race. I cannot just let one car pass me because it is racing.

Even Sebastian Vettel in 2008, he was behind [Lewis] Hamilton [in Brazil] and then he passed Lewis, who almost lost the championship. But he was lucky because [Timo] Glock was so slow. He also was not thinking about who he was battling with.

So I did not do anything. I just tried to keep pushing. I just did my race. I know Ferrari is still quicker than us with the downforce, but this track is very difficult to overtake.

Q. Did you speak to Fernando after the race?

VP: No. I think he was angry. So I think there is no reason to talk to him right now.

Q. But he made a gesture towards you on the slowing down lap?

VP: Yes, but I would be in the same condition if it happened to me. If I was in his situation I would also be angry but he should be angry with himself or with his team because they did maybe the wrong strategy or something.

Q, Did you see his gesture on the slowing down lap?

VP: Yes, but he was angry of course. But what can I do? I did my race. If he got close enough to attack quite aggressively I would maybe not fight too much because I did not want to touch with him because he is fighting for the championship.

He was just once close enough for attacking. I closed normally my position and then I was driving normally around the circuit, and he did not have any opportunity to overtake me, as this circuit does not give you any chance.

Q. He said afterwards that you were a bit aggressive...

VP: No, it was normal. It was my normal strategy and my normal racing position. I won't let anybody pass easily. I want to do my race. I want to show I have not come for just driving around for fun. I come here to work, so I don't want to lose this opportunity. I was not aggressive. It was simple, easy and nothing special.

Q. Was it easy to keep him behind?

VP: Yes, it was really nothing special because I knew the Ferrari was quicker. I was waiting for him and thought he would try more times to overtake me. But it was not a problem of him - the problem was the strategy first and then a difficult circuit to overtake.

<snip>

Q. Sebastian Vettel gave a big thanks to you to keep Fernando Alonso behind. Did you rather a Red Bull won than a Ferrari?

VP: I just want to be champion myself. I don't think he needs to say thank you, because I did not do this for him, and I didn't want to disturb Fernando ? I just wanted to do my job.

But maybe I should have asked on my team radio, please ask Vettel how much he wants to pay me to help, and then we go to Ferrari and ask them the same too. Then whoever gives the most, we see! :rofl:

should've gone to Fertander :p

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88300

i still dont understand why Renault blocked the two title contenders.

we know overtaking in current gen F1 is next to impossible, so why didnt they just move aside & let title contenders go?

Renault was not gonna overtake MGP in points, so what did they just tried to prove?

was it a secret pact between Renault & RBR for tech. exchange...? :p

one renault was doing it to Hamtard & other to FOlonso, both the only possible threat to Vettard lolol

Ferrari really need a sister team now, which dances on their tune, like Toro Rosso which blocked Webber for 2-3 laps, destroying Webber's tiny chances.

enough with conspiracy theory :p, i think MGP could be a title contender next year, they've got the best KERS system (of McLaren's 2009).

dunno about Ferrari, but McLaren & MGP look favs for next year, after RBR that is.

[Richard Hammond]

i still dont understand why Renault blocked the two title contenders.

we know overtaking in current gen F1 is next to impossible, so why didnt they just move aside & let title contenders go?

Renault was not gonna overtake MGP in points, so what did they just tried to prove?

was it a secret pact between Renault & RBR for tech. exchange...? :p

one renault was doing it to Hamtard & other to FOlonso, both the only possible threat to Vettard lolol

Ferrari really need a sister team now, which dances on their tune, like Toro Rosso which blocked Webber for 2-3 laps, destroying Webber's tiny chances.

enough with conspiracy theory :p, i think MGP could be a title contender next year, they've got the best KERS system (of McLaren's 2009).

dunno about Ferrari, but McLaren & MGP look favs for next year, after RBR that is.

Why should they move out of the way, they werent being lapped they were racing for position irrespective of who was racing for the championship, F1 is all about strategy and Ferrari messed up responding to Webbers pitstop and it didnt work out for Alonso. It wouldnt be racing if everyone just moved out of the way, it made it all the more exciting that Alonso was blocked, he is two time world champion if he couldnt get past a rookie then tough titty.

No offense but what you just said made no sense whatsoever, why would Toro Rosso block Webber considering he is Red Bull?

You are seeing a conspiracy theory where there is none.

Its FAR too early to say who are the favs for next year, Brawn GP demolished the competition in 2009 yet this year they were a mid range team it could all change just because RBR ran well this year they didnt run KERS last year so they could be at a big disadvantage.

[iKenndac]

Why should they move out of the way, they werent being lapped they were racing for position irrespective of who was racing for the championship?

Agreed. Every point matters in F1, and drivers who aren't in contention for the championship shouldn't lets others pass just because they have more points. The idea that Petrov should've let Alonso through is ludicrous!

[san.W10]

Q. Lewis, you seemed to have really good pace today. You were very quick once Robert had pitted. You were on the pace of Sebastian.

LH: I think that all weekend we've generally been very quick, almost outqualified him in qualifying and in the race I think we were as fast or right behind him. Unfortunately, I think the Renault team helped the Red Bulls and kept me behind. :p It was impossible to overtake. I was on the limiter at the end of the straight, so I couldn't get close enough. It was sitting behind Kubica until he came in. As soon as he came in, I was able to bring down the pace and it was very easy to do that. I just lost too much time. But nevertheless, it was a fantastic race and a great job by Sebastian.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88294

Jaime Alguersuari of torro rosso kept Webber behind for two laps i think & then moved aside after FOlonso's pit stop.

& thats the torro rosso which Massa couldn't overtake, just like Webber.

[san.W10]

its going to be even more strong season next year, with 2 Mc's, 1 Merc, 1 Ferrari & 1RBR , maybe a Renault too if RBR help em out with some designs :p

[Subject Delta]

suspicion #1 :rofl:

was it really necessary of petrov to hold back WDC contenders, or did Renault help their customer team :p :p :p

He was fighting for position, and Renault aren't going to tell Petrov to let Alonso through just because he has a title at stake. Formula 1 is not a big buddies game, drivers just fight for position. The fact that Alonso was unable to overtake was a mixture of the lack of pace in his car, and bad team strategy.

I personally used to be a big fan of Alonso, but his antics this year have turned me against him, and I am glad that he didn't win. When you consider that Seb lost 3 race wins due to mechanical failures, I feel he was a worthy champion.

[simonlang]

i think slowlonso is just way too familiar with other drivers letting him through but luckily that only goes for the team he drives for.

someone calculated that technical problems this year cost vettel not less than 75 points!

thats a hughe ammount and would have made him champion 3 races ago already.

other than that, im expecting some nice surprises in 2011. i followed the first pirelli tests and it seems the tire is quite a bit different to what bridgestone has brought up so far.

rosberg said there is much less front-grip. if that true thats brilliant news for drivers like felipe massa who had to fight with bs tires this year and should be fully back on form next season given a strong car and - ofc - a fair chance and equality like he had in 2008.

[Richard Hammond]

Thats wierd cause Gary Paffet testing for Mclaren said they werent too different from Bridgestones.

[simonlang]

Thats wierd cause Gary Paffet testing for Mclaren said they werent too different from Bridgestones.

different cars behave differently i think. and i remember the mclaren car having one of the longes wheelbase makes it generally less tricky with different tire compounds (but also gives less advantages).

then i see the redbull and vettel already suffered 2 tire failures on one single day! so i bet on the rbr car the tires are also a lot different to the bridgestones.

the reason i think massa will be the big winner with the new tires is that he had big problems with this years bs tires (also in a smaller ammount last year already) and improved his quali time in abu dhabi by 0.3s only by switching to pirelli tires!!! now think the car is not even optimized for them yet, things will be very interesting in 2011.

hopefully pirelli keeps the front tires with less grip so we get more understeery cars in 2011, cars losing their line on their way into a corner making it easier for the other car at back to overtake :)

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

It is rather pointless to ponder how well which 2010 car works with the Pirelli tyres. We won't know more until they're tested with the 2011 cars.

That being said, a bigger difference between soft and hard tyres - like at Montreal this year - for all races would certainly be a welcome addition. It'd sure spice up most GPs.

[Subject Delta]

i still dont understand why Renault blocked the two title contenders.

we know overtaking in current gen F1 is next to impossible, so why didnt they just move aside & let title contenders go?

Renault was not gonna overtake MGP in points, so what did they just tried to prove?

In simple terms... why should they?

different cars behave differently i think. and i remember the mclaren car having one of the longes wheelbase makes it generally less tricky with different tire compounds (but also gives less advantages).

then i see the redbull and vettel already suffered 2 tire failures on one single day! so i bet on the rbr car the tires are also a lot different to the bridgestones.

the reason i think massa will be the big winner with the new tires is that he had big problems with this years bs tires (also in a smaller ammount last year already) and improved his quali time in abu dhabi by 0.3s only by switching to pirelli tires!!! now think the car is not even optimized for them yet, things will be very interesting in 2011.

hopefully pirelli keeps the front tires with less grip so we get more understeery cars in 2011, cars losing their line on their way into a corner making it easier for the other car at back to overtake :)

Not really, having understeery cars will just make it impossible for them to follow closely enough to overtake

[Subject Delta]

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

F1 bosses vote Alonso the best of 2010

Fernando Alonso has been voted as the best driver of 2010 in AUTOSPORT's exclusive Team Principals' Top Ten poll.

In a now end-of-season tradition, AUTOSPORT asked each of the current 12 team principals for their top ten driver rankings of the 2010 campaign.

Their individual results, which are kept secret, were then converted into the new points system (25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1) and the final scores added up to discover which driver the team bosses believed had done the best job throughout the campaign.

Although Alonso missed out on the world championship following a troubled Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Spaniard managed to beat title winner Sebastian Vettel in the team principals' eyes.

Alonso beat Vettel by nine points overall after the votes of all the team principals were added up - moving him up from fourth place overall where he was voted last season.

Although just missing out on the world title, Alonso has said that his 2010 campaign for Ferrari was the best of his career - as he delivered five victories in his maiden campaign for the Maranello outfit.

"I am very pleased to learn that the majority of team principals chose me as their best driver of the year, even if it goes without saying that I would have preferred to receive that accolade in the guise of world champion," said Alonso.

"It is yet another reason to claim this has been an amazing season, despite the disappointment at the final hurdle.

"The team and I fought all the way to the very end, without ever giving up, even when it all seemed like a lost cause: we staged a remarkable comeback. Next year, we will be looking to do better, but I will still remember 2010 as a wonderful year."

Team boss Stefano Domenicali added: "I am pleased and proud that Fernando has been rated by my fellow team principals as the best driver of this past year: he had a fantastic season.

"It is hardly a secret that he is a talented driver, but I must say, on behalf of everyone at Ferrari, that it was an honour for us to work with him from the human perspective. Fernando was a driving force and our aim next year will be to give him and Felipe a car which is competitive at the very highest level, right from the first race."

Vettel, who was the team principals' top driver of 2009 despite not winning the crown, edged out Lewis Hamilton for second place - with Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber taking fourth overall.

Nico Hulkenberg, who was dropped by Williams at the end of the campaign, impressed rival teams enough to be the only rookie to make it into the top ten.

The full results of AUTOSPORT's Team Principals' Top Ten drivers, which includes Ferrari's vote which came too late to be included in this week's AUTOSPORT magazine F1 season review, are:

 1. Alonso     229
 2. Vettel     220
 3. Hamilton   196
 4. Webber     146
 5. Kubica     129
 6. Button      86
 7. Rosberg     68
 8. Hulkenberg  17
  . Massa       17
10. Barrichello 11

Source: Autosport

[Kerm]

^That's quite interesting. You certainly can't deny what he managed to achieve, especially considering the lack of performance from the Ferrari towards the start of the season.

There are so many 'if only's' from this season. If only Hammy didn't have those few crashes and **** ups in the last third, if only Alonso could of actually passed Petrov, etc.

I do think Vettel deserved the championship though, definitely.

[simonlang]

^That's quite interesting. You certainly can't deny what he managed to achieve, especially considering the lack of performance from the Ferrari towards the start of the season.

There are so many 'if only's' from this season. If only Hammy didn't have those few crashes and **** ups in the last third, if only Alonso could of actually passed Petrov, etc.

I do think Vettel deserved the championship though, definitely.

i disagree with you a bit here. at the beginning of the season ferrari had the fastest car or euqal fast car with redbull and redbull had lots of reliability issues. but all alonso was showing was jumpstarts, spins, crashing his frontwing off into his teammate and crashing the car in monaco.

hell, he wasnt able to go massas pace who had a really bad year with lots of tire-warming-problems. but it needed till hockenheim when ferrari forced massa to slow down and let alonso pass.

i think alonso is bad for the ferrari team, all he has caused so far is a split in the team and lots of troubles and an unhappy teammate.

[Billus]

i disagree with you a bit here. at the beginning of the season ferrari had the fastest car or euqal fast car with redbull and redbull had lots of reliability issues. but all alonso was showing was jumpstarts, spins, crashing his frontwing off into his teammate and crashing the car in monaco.

hell, he wasnt able to go massas pace who had a really bad year with lots of tire-warming-problems. but it needed till hockenheim when ferrari forced massa to slow down and let alonso pass.

i think alonso is bad for the ferrari team, all he has caused so far is a split in the team and lots of troubles and an unhappy teammate.

You're talking crap out of your arse.

[what]

You're talking crap out of your arse.

Nothing he said was wrong...

[Subject Delta]

I wouldn't agree with any of that, the Ferrari was the third fastest car for the first half of the season, and the first half of Alonso's season was an errorfest.

[ahmz]

Nothing he said was wrong...

ignoring the fact that he just hates alonso like a little cry baby (it really doesn't come off well at all).. ferrari was the 3rd/2nd fastest car throughout the first half of the season (and sometimes slower) and the entire year, and alonso had a lot more points than massa going into hockenheim, even with the errors

[Subject Delta]

ignoring the fact that he just hates alonso like a little cry baby (it really doesn't come off well at all).. ferrari was the 3rd/2nd fastest car throughout the first half of the season (and sometimes slower) and the entire year, and alonso had a lot more points than massa going into hockenheim, even with the errors

I can't stand Alonso either. I used to be a big fan of his, but surprisingly enough he turned into a whinging jackass the moment he joined Ferrari, kind of inkeeping with the Ferrari spirit I guess.

[Vambo]

Mark Webber says in his new book that he had a fracture to his shoulder for the last four races of the season, and that he kept it from the team.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was driving with a broken shoulder for the final four races of the season, it has emerged. The period coincides with a dip in form in which Webber lost his championship lead and then the title, which went to his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The Australian has revealed the injury, sustained in a mountain bike accident, in his new book, which has just been published in Australia.

Webber is refusing to blame the injury for his failure to win the title.

Source

[enigma-penguin Veteran]

I find it hard to believe the team doctor didn't know, unless he was secretly injecting himself and that shows up in urine/blood tests.

[simonlang]

webbers worrds sounding like a lame excuse for me.

ferrari was the 3rd/2nd fastest car throughout the first half of the season (and sometimes slower) and the entire year, and alonso had a lot more points than massa going into hockenheim, even with the errors

ferrari was on par pace wise with redbull till silverstone when they dropped off badly. maybe it was an update not working or maybe it was pure coincidence, i dont know.

but they finished 1-2 in bahrain, massa was running strong 2nd in melbourne right after start and the reason alonso got more points till hockenheim was only that - besides the fact that massa suffered tire warming problems - the spaniard got damn lucky with all these safetycars which brought him back into the points. especially monaco looked very scripted to me.

and no matter what, the worst thing for the sport would have been alonso winning this years title. because: first of all he wasnt impressive at all (with vettel some can argue that he lost many points because of his car failing all the time, but on alonsos side it was only rookie-mistakes), then secondly cause he didnt have to pay for his mistakes - instead he got a safetycar all the time to bring him back into contention, and third of course because of hockenheim. that was just fugly! and it has proven one thing, what hamilton said right after the race: that ferrari is maybe doing a mistake and favoring their slower driver (meaning: alonso).

massa was going strong till he suffered a black series of 3 DNFS in a row. but as so often he did a strong comeback. guess which driver collected the most points between germany and hungary? but by then it was too late of course, ferrari decided to back up alonso and ended with empty hands. :p

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Ecclestone puts a spin on mugging

Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has proved the trauma of his recent mugging has not affected his sense of humour, or commercial nous, after making light of the incident in a new shock advert for watch brand Hublot.

Ecclestone suffered a head injury after being kicked and punched in the attack outside his London offices last month - with the assailants getting away with around ?200,000 worth of jewellery.

But rather than hide away about the extent of his injuries, Ecclestone has used the incident to front a new ad campaign for Hublot - which is an official watch partner of F1.

In adverts that are due to appear in the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune later this week, Ecclestone adorns the advert with a face shot of his injuries - under which is written: "See what people will do for a Hublot."

Ecclestone returned to work the day after the attack, brandishing a heavily bruised right eye.

Source: Autosport

If any of you finds the ad in high-res, please link it in this thread. Good to see Charles Bernard Ecclestone has a sense of humour.

[san.W10]

Horner disappointed at Webber secrecy

Red Bull Racing chief Christian Horner has expressed his disappointment at the failure of Mark Webber to inform the team about the shoulder injury he picked up before the Japanese Grand Prix.

News about Webber fracturing his shoulder emerged this week following publication of a new book - Mark Webber: Up Front - which the Australian has published in Australia.

In the book, Webber reveals that he crashed into a friend as they went out cycling on the Sunday prior to the Suzuka event. It was the first time Webber had been back on a mountain bike since he broke his leg in Tasmania at the end of 2008.

Webber kept the shoulder injury, which required pain-killing injections, secret from his team at the time - and did not even inform them once the campaign had finished.

That course of action has left Horner far from impressed - even though the team principal does not think the injury led to any drop in form from Webber.

"I didn't even know about the book, let alone the shoulder," Horner was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph. "It is obviously disappointing that Mark said nothing. It was an injury that did not appear to have any effect on his performance but all the same it would have been nice to know about it."

Horner also suggested that the cycling incident may point to the fact that Webber would be better off keeping clear of mountain biking while he is still racing.

"Our drivers have an obligation to make sure they are fit," he said. "It seems bikes don't agree with Mark so maybe it would be better if he stayed away from them."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/88608