2010 Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix
Inexplicably the Red Bull team threw away an apparent certain 1 - 2 victory at the Turkish Grand Prix, in spite of the
advantage of slow motion reviews, it is not quite clear what exactly happened.
Speculating based on partial comments heard from Sebastien Vettel, his own physical gestures after he got out of
the car, and knowing a little about Mark Webber, who is a driver that makes passing him a near impossibility.
There were rumors before this race that things between the two drivers were not as 'happy' as they seemed, Vettel
claiming that not the best effort was being put in his car given the lack of reliability his car has suffered.
The accident guarantees things will not be good between them, this in spite of the team principals positive attitude
As they reached the end o the last straight on lap 39, Vettel made an attempt to pass Webber on the inside, as they
were going into the corner, Webber moved over to block him, they touched each other and Vetel's rear tire shreded
damaging his suspension; Webber losing his front wing. Both Mclaren drivers fly by and now is Hamilton and Button
for a McLaren 1 - 2
A few laps from the end, in the exact same place of Webber and Vettel's incident Button makes a move on Hamilton
and succeeds, this time around the driving is more gentle, as they go side by sde in a couple of corners, but then
Hamilton regains the lead in turn one. Both drivers are advised to 'save fuel and save the tires' They finished the
race for a McLaren 1 - 2 Hamilton taking victory. Mark Webber was able to stop in the boxes to get a new nose and
finish third.
Schumacher finishes fourth followed by teammate Roseberg, who then is followed by Robert Kubica in a quiet race
with the Renault. Ferrari's pace has become worse as the championship has progressed, Felipe Massa takes seventh,
followed by Alonso who took 8th spot from Russian Rookie Petrov; unfortunately as Alonso passed him, his right
front tire was damaged and lost the point-position as he was forced to stop to replace his tire. Adrian Sutil takes 9th
ahead of Kobayashi who scores his first WC point.
In spite of the accident and obvious frustration, Mark Webber now leads the World Championship, followed by Jenson
Button, Hamilton, Alonso, and Vettel as close contenders.
Clearly the most frustrated driver of all has to be Sebastien Vettel, it has been a combination of lack of reliability and
luck that Vettel finds himself in 5th place with a 15 point deficit from where Mark Weber, the leader sits. One cannot
blame Vettel from trying to pass Webber... it is not clear exactly what happened. From this point forward, it is war
between Vettel and Weber. Christian Horner *Red Bull team manager will have his hands full and it will be an un-
foreseen test he is not looking forward to. This will benefit the competitive nature of Formula One; after 7 races, there
are 5 different winners and the first 5 places separated by 15 points (where a win gives 25 points and a 10 point difference
from second).
The entire character of this championship is about to change with the next race in Montreal, the will to win will
be based on a take no prisoners attitude, particularly for the Red Bull drivers. For now the best team seems to be
Red Bull but this is about to change. An internal struggle may be developing that will only benefit their competitors,
and no team like McLaren stands to benefit the most, as we witness in today's race. They have shown to be closest
to Red Bull. Likewise, Mercedes has been improving slowly, as well as Renault, Ferrari on the other hand has deteriorated
almost immediately after Alonso's opening race victory.
12 more races to go, and there are about 5 close contenders, however, if Mercedes and Renaukt are able to continue
their progress, very easily Schumacher, Rossberg, Kubica and possibly rookie Petrov could be added to the 5 already
closely in pursuit of the title.
In fairness, here are the two driver's versions in their own words as to what happened, (including team principals):
Mark Webber (3rd)
“Sebastian had a bit of a top speed advantage, he went down the inside and we were side by side. I was surprised when
he came right suddenly, as I was holding my racing line. It happened very, very fast and it’s a shame for the team.
Not an ideal day. The McLarens were solid and it was a good race between all four of us up at the front until then, neither
of us wanted to make contact with each other. It’s obviously not ideal, but it happened. There was a long way to still go
in the race, but that was an interesting few meters on the track between both of us. In the end it wasn’t the result that
either of us wanted. We’ve got great character in our team and two fast drivers at the front - we’re not dicing for 15th
and 16th -we’re going for victories so there’s clearly a lot at stake. I’ll have a chat with Sebastian about it, we might
have a difference of opinion but we’ll be adults about it and press on.”
Sebastian Vettel (DNF)
“If you watch it on the TV, you can see what happened. I’m not in the happiest of moods. I was on the inside going into
the corner. I was there, I was ahead and focusing on the braking point and then we touched. Mark’s car hit my
rear right wheel and I went off – there’s not much more to say. We were all on the same pace during the race, I
think I was a bit quicker than Mark for two or three laps, I was catching him and thought I could get him on the
back straight. I was very close and passed him on the left, that’s the story. This is something that happens, no
one needs it, but there’s not much you can do now.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal
“It’s disappointing for the team to have got into that position today. The one thing I always ask the drivers
is that, yes, they can race each other, but give each other room, and that’s exactly what didn’t happen. They were
too far over on the left, Sebastian got a run on the inside of Mark, but then came across too early. They didn’t give
each other room; it’s as simple as that. It was a massively close race between us and the McLarens up until that
point. We managed to get ourselves ahead with a better pit-stop and a better strategy for Sebastian and were
first and second. Sebastian was a bit happier on the prime tyre than Mark and was looking quicker at that point
in the race. He got a run on Mark up the inside and we saw what happened. It’s massively disappointing and the
situation shouldn’t have occurred. To give McLaren 28 points on a plate is very frustrating for everyone in the
team - especially after so much hard work. We’ve lost a lot of points today with what’s happened. We need to learn
from it, so we don’t find ourselves in this position again.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault, principal engineer track support
“Today’s result is a big shame. We had a very good result in our hands, but unfortunately we didn’t cement it.
But, if we want to keep the positive, we have to underline that both cars were trouble free mechanically today
- the engines performed very well and we gave a very good defense on the long straight against the McLarens.
We are still in a good position in both Championships, so let’s put this behind us and recover for the next
race in Canada.”
Sebastian Vettel's words says it all, however, the team principals seem to have a positive attitude about the
entire event... let's see if they can 'do as they say'
The Canadian Grand Prix is next at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit in the streets of the Montreal
Pos Driver Team Laps Gap
1 Hamilton McLaren 58 1h 28:47.620
2 Button McLaren 58 + 0:02.645
3 Webber Red Bull 58 + 0:24.285
4 Schumacher Mercedes 58 + 0:31.110
5 Rosberg Mercedes 58 + 0:32.266
6 Kubica Renault 58 + 0:32.824
7 Massa Ferrari 58 + 0:36.635
8 Alonso Ferrari 58 + 0:46.544
9 Sutil Force India 58 + 0:49.029
10 Kobayashi Sauber 58 + 1:05.650
11 de la Rosa Sauber 58 + 1:05.944
12 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 58 + 1:07.800
13 Liuzzi Force India 57 + 1 Lap
14 Barrichello Williams 57 + 1 Lap
15 Petrov Renault 57 + 1 Lap
16 Buemi Toro Rosso 57 + 1 Lap
17 Hulkenberg Williams 57 + 1 Lap
18 Glock Virgin 55 + 3 Laps
19 di Grassi Virgin 55 + 3 Laps
20 Chandhok HRT 52 + 6 Laps
Ret Senna HRT 46 Retired
Ret Vettel Red Bull 39 Accident
Ret Kovalainen Lotus 33 Hydraulics
Ret Trulli Lotus 32 Hydraulics
Fastest Lap: Petrov (Renault) 1:29.165 (Lap 57)
2010 Formula 1 World Championship Standings
*after 7 races, 12 to go*
Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 93
2 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 88
3 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren Mercedes 84
4 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 79
5 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 78
6 Robert Kubica Polish Renault 67
7 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 67
8 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes GP 66
9 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes GP 34
10 Adrian Sutil German Force India-Mercedes 22
11 Vitantonio Liuzzi Italian Force India-Mercedes 10
12 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Williams-Cosworth 7
13 Vitaly Petrov Russian Renault 6
14 Jaime Alguersuari Spanish STR-Ferrari 3
15 Sebastien Buemi Swissn STR-Ferrari 1
16 Kamui Kobayashi Japanese BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1
17 Nico Hulkenberg German Williams-Cosworth 1
18 Pedro de la Rosa Spanish BMW Sauber-Ferrari 0
19 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Lotus-Cosworth 0
20 Karun Chandhok Indian HRT-Cosworth 0
21 Lucas di Grassi Brazilian Virgin-Cosworth 0
22 Jarno Trulli Italian Lotus-Cosworth 0
23 Bruno Senna Brazilian HRT-Cosworth 0
24 Timo Glock German Virgin-Cosworth 0
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