FORMULA 1 - 2010

[MIKA27]

Alonso: 2010 great regardless of title

Fernando Alonso says that even if he should lose the world championship at the final hurdle this weekend, he will still feel great satisfaction when looking back on his 2010 season.

The double champion leads the points heading into the Abu Dhabi decider, having come back from a seemingly impossible mid-season position, when he was 47 points adrift.

He said that given the turnaround Ferrari had achieved - and how much better this year had been than both his previous two seasons with Renault and Ferrari's miserable 2009 - he didn't necessarily need a title win to be happy with his campaign.

"Obviously you feel sad probably if you lose at the last moment, but in my case I will not have anything really to be disappointed about from 2010," said Alonso.

"For the last two years I was fighting to be in Q3 most of the time.

"Ferrari had a tough year in 2009 as well.

"So in this first year of our relationship, to put ourselves in the fight for the championship until the last race, against two Red Bulls who had by far dominated the season in terms of speed, overall it doesn't matter what happens on Sunday - I will have great memories of 2010."

He denied a suggestion that his ample experience of past title fights could give him a crucial edge amid the pressure of the four-way decider.

"It's true that for four of the last six years I've been fighting for the world championship at the last race, so this feeling is not new," Alonso admitted.

"But as I've said, I think I'd prefer a new front wing in this race - a little bit of extra performance - than all this experience I've got."

A first or second place finish for Alonso would make him champion regardless of where anyone else finishes, so he said his sole focus was on achieving that result and not worrying about the permutations of where the Red Bulls finished or if they employed team orders.

"There's nothing we can do other than try to finish second or first in the race," he said.

"I think I will not use even one second of my energy this weekend thinking about what is going to happen on Sunday at the moment.

"There is much more to do on Friday and Saturday, preparing in the right way.

"Our only target for the race is winning the race or finishing second - and I think we can achieve that this weekend."

The Spaniard is confident Ferrari will give him a car competitive enough to fight for the top two places, even though Red Bull has had the edge on pace for most of the year.

"I think we don't have the corner speed of Red Bull and maybe we don't have the straightline speed of McLaren," Alonso conceded.

"But that's been more or less the [story of the] season for us - we're not the best in the corners or on the straights, but generally we are competitive and we adapt to any circuit in a good way, so I'm feeling relatively confident about the performance of the car."

He added that he would be delighted if his team-mate Felipe Massa, who has had an up and down season, could join him up front in this critical race.

"If we are both on the podium that will be a huge help for me because we will take a lot of points, so a perfect weekend for Felipe or even him winning the race will be an absolute present," said Alonso.

[MIKA27]

Feature: The relentless development race

“I can’t remember a season with a greater rate of development,” says Technical Director James Allison as he reflects on 2010. “I don’t know whether the total number of upgrades we’ve made to the car is the highest we have achieved, but the accrued lap time gain through the season is certainly the biggest I can remember.”

Those words sum up just how big a step forward the Renault F1 Team has taken this year, to keep pace with the frantic rate of development throughout the grid. To put things in perspective, the fully evolved R30 that will race in Abu Dhabi this weekend will be some two seconds per lap quicker than the car that hit the track in Bahrain for the season opener.

So what upgrades do you need to gain two seconds of lap time? Well, the headline items for this year are undoubtedly the blown floor and the f-duct – devices that all the leading teams have brought to their cars at various stages. On top of that, the R30 has had ten front wing packages, five floors, two engine covers, six rear wing packages, seven front drum and duct packages, and three rear drum and duct packages. And that’s to name just a few of the upgrades.

“The goal has been to get as much performance on the car as possible and that has meant putting something new on for every race,” continues James. “What I’m most proud of is how the whole factory has pulled together, from the design office to the guys who make the parts, to deliver the performance to the car as quickly as possible.”

Ask James if one upgrade stands out and he immediately singles out the f-duct, a device that first appeared on the R30 at the Belgian Grand Prix: “Although we were one of the later teams to introduce an f-duct, we were quite proud that we were able to make it work from the first timed session and that it was the first f-duct to attempt to stall the wing mainplane rather than just the flap – a layout which creates a bigger stalling effect. At Spa, for example, the gain from the f-duct was worth more than half a second per lap.”

While the gains from the f-duct were impressive, creating it presented Enstone’s design team with a real challenge. “Packaging the f-duct was quite tricky considering the R30 was not designed with such a thing in mind,” confirms James. “As a result, the effort that went into the project to fit it retrospectively was considerable.”

Of course, when one breathless season comes to a close, the development battle doesn’t end there – the emphasis simply shifts to the new car. With several key regulation changes coming into force next season, James anticipates more of the same in 2011:

“The challenge facing all the teams over the winter will be adapting to quite a substantial set of regulation changes, including the removal of double-decker diffusers, the return of KERS, and the introduction of Pirelli tyres. We can therefore look forward to another relentless development battle next year and hopefully continue our progress towards the front of the grid.”

[MIKA27]

Massa: I'll fight for the title next year

Felipe Massa has delivered a stern warning to his critics not to already write him off for next season.

Massa has slotted into the role of number two driver for this year at Ferrari to team-mate Fernando Alonso.

It was a position that came to light in Germany in July when he was forced to cede victory to the Spaniard, resulting in Ferrari being fined $100,000 for implementing team orders.

Massa's fate, however, for this year was sealed, since when he has been a shadow of the driver that started the season relatively strongly.

It has already led to suggestions Massa will continue to play a supporting role to Alonso for 2011, a remark he has strongly refuted.

"I know what I'm able to do and I know I can again fight for the Championship and for victories, which I have done many times," said the Brazilian.

"The media just look at what is happening now. They never remember the past and they don't see anything about the future.

"They just look at what has happened race by race. So I don't care about that so much. I care about what I am and what I am able to do.

"I'm sure if I fix the big problem I have had this year I will be back in the fight, and that's what I'm looking for."

The big problem as referred to by Massa surrounds qualifying and his failure to sufficiently heat up his tyres, vital for the one-lap showdown on Saturdays.

The 29-year-old has been out-qualified 14-4 by Alonso this season, and in particular in 10 of the last 11 races, which is partly the reason why he now trails the double World Champion by 106 points.

But Massa is confident of a fightback, regardless of the fact the tyre supplier changes for next season as Bridgestone are replaced by Pirelli.

"There was a big, big change from last year's tyres to this year's tyres, and that was the worst thing for me," added Massa.

"I'm sure it will be another big change when we try the Pirellis, and I hope I can pull it back to the other side.

"For sure the tyres are a very important key to the car, especially when you have tyres which work in a different direction to what you expect.

"Most important this year was to have the right temperature on the first lap in qualifying, which is a big point in the fight.

"If you cannot do what you are able to in qualifying, you know you are not going to start first."

[MIKA27]

FP1: Vettel heads Hamilton in first practice

Sebastian Vettel ended first practice on top of the timesheets. The Red Bull driver led McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by six tenths.

Jenson Button ended practice in third. Both McLaren's spent much of the session testing new parts on their car, despite the damp track at the beginning of the session.

Mark Webber and Robert Kubica rounded off the top five quickest drivers.

The session saw no major mistakes or incidents other than a few trips onto the run-off in the early, damp stages of the session.

Abu Dhabi Free Practice 1 Results:

1. S. Vettel Red Bull 1:42.760

2. L. Hamilton McLaren 1:43.369

3. J. Button McLaren 1:43.785

4. M. Webber Red Bull 1:43.840

5. R. Kubica Renault 1:44.080

6. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:44.121

7. M Schumacher Mercedes 1:44.199

8. K. Kobayashi Sauber 1:44.604

9. N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:44.718

10. N. Heidfeld Sauber 1:44.737

11. F. Massa Ferrari 1:45.160

12. V. Petrov Renaut 1:45.445

13. R. Barrichello Williams 1:45.474

14. A. Sutil Force India 1:45.552

15. V. Liuzzi Force India 1:45.585

16. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:46.003

17. N. Hulkenberg Williams 1:46.644

18. S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:47.105

19. T. Glock Virgin 1:48.450

20. J. Trulli Lotus 1:48.472

21. L. di Grassi Virgin 1:49.375

22. B. Senna Hispania 1:49.590

23. C. Klien Hispania 1:50.274

24. F. Fauzy Lotus 1:51.705

[MIKA27]

FP2: Hamilton sets the Friday pace in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton set the pace on Friday in Abu Dhabi, a 1:40.888 was the quickest lap of the weekend so far to put him P1.

Sebastian Vettel wasn't far behind in second, just ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard complained of oversteer issues during the session.

Alonso's team-mate, Felipe Massa, finished sixth after stopping on track when he ran out of fuel.

The only other incident to report was a spin from Jaime Alguersuari an hour into the session at turn 19.

Abu Dhabi Free Practice 2 Results:

1. L. Hamilton McLaren 1:40.888

2. S. Vettel Red Bull 1:41.145

3. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:41.314

4. M. Webber Red Bull 1:41.315

5. R. Kubica Renault 1:41.576

6. F. Massa Ferrari 1:41.583

7. V. Petrov Renaut 1:42.096

8. J. Button McLaren 1:42.132

9. V. Liuzzi Force India 1:42.203

10. N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:42.222

11. M Schumacher Mercedes 1:42.246

12. N. Hulkenberg Williams 1:42.449

13. A. Sutil Force India 1:42.535

14. K. Kobayashi Sauber 1:42.768

15. R. Barrichello Williams 1:42.914

16. N. Heidfeld Sauber 1:42.950

17. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:43.128

18. S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:43.584

19. H. Kovalainen Lotus 1:45.180

20. T. Glock Virgin 1:45.259

21. J. Trulli Lotus 1:45.612

22. L. Di Grassi Virgin 1:46.053

23. C. Klien Hispania 1:47.210

24. B. Senna Hispania 1:47.434

[MIKA27]

Relaxed Webber content with day one

Mark Webber was pleased to enjoy a straightforward start to his quest to win the world championship this weekend after a solid pair of practice sessions in Abu Dhabi.

The Australian, who must outscore Fernando Alonso by at least eight points if he wins Sunday’s race to clinch his first title, was statistically slowest of the four championship contenders in second practice but could still be satisfied with his time given he trailed main rivals Sebastian Vettel and less than two tenths and one thousandth of a second respectively.

“It was pretty good; a normal programme,” he told reporters after the session.

“We had an engine change in between the two sessions, that was planned, and the usual suspects [are] at the front.

“Obviously [Friday pacesetter] Lewis [Hamilton] has done a pretty good lap, but it’s been a pretty good day [for Red Bull].”

He added: “Obviously where Fernando, Seb and I are we are on pretty similar times. After us four [title contenders] I didn’t really take much of a notice, but it looks like that.”

Webber – who confirmed that given the fact it was the last race of a long season and just a few days on from the Brazilian Grand Prix RBR had no new updates for this weekend – said he was feeling relaxed ahead of the most important race of his career and that he could only try as hard as he ever does.

“Good; I slept like a baby last night and ready to go tonight,” he said when asked if he was feeling any added pressure so far.

“You can only do what you can do. It feels like Bahrain in terms of the engineering office and in the car.

“It’s a normal weekend but obviously there’s a lot more at stake this weekend so that’s the only thing that’s changed. But you can’t try any harder.”

[MIKA27]

Button thinks downforce settings too low

Jenson Button is optimistic McLaren knows the reasons why he trailed pacesetting team-mate Lewis Hamilton by such a large margin in second practice in Abu Dhabi and can make the necessary set-up changes to put him in better shape for qualifying.

The outgoing world champion took third place to Hamilton’s second in the damp, but rapidly drying, first session but slumped to eighth in the late afternoon's running while the sister car swept to the fastest time – Button’s best lap over 1s slower than his fellow Briton’s.

Button was heard complaining over his team radio of front locking brakes during both sessions and admits it was a problem for him throughout the day.

However, he says his second practice struggles were more the result of a poor balance with his MP4-25 following a switch to a lower downforce configuration between the two sessions.

“This morning wasn’t too bad,” he told reporters.

“There’s quite a lot of grip for a circuit that isn’t used very much and considering the rain that we had at the start of the session.

“So the car wasn’t too bad but we know there are a few areas we need to improve – front locking [brakes] is a big issue, as it has been the last few races.

“We changed a few things this afternoon including running less downforce for a couple of reasons on my car.

“The car didn’t feel very good this afternoon: I struggled with the balance and every corner I do the car has a different balance.

“So there’s no consistency and that’s something we need to work on. I think we’re probably running too low downforce, but we’ll have to look on the data and see.”

And although the lower wing settings made him the fastest driver through the speed trap by several kilometres during the second session, Button is convinced that overall they had a negative effect on his car’s handling.

“Our straightline speed’s very good – I think it was about 319 [kph] so a little bit quicker than the rest!” he said.

“So it’s not the way forward I don’t think if you look at the long run, I am really struggling for consistency.

“Hopefully we know the reasons why the pace isn’t there and sort it around for tomorrow.

He added that he was hopeful the overnight set-up changes he has pinpointed will allow him to show the kind of speed demonstrated so far by his title-chasing team-mate on Saturday.

“The car in one state is obviously very quick – Lewis was very fast – so hopefully we can find that sweet spot on my car,” Button said.

[MIKA27]

Hamilton ecstatic with McLaren's pace

Lewis Hamilton believes McLaren will be in its best shape for several races in Abu Dhabi after going quickest in Friday practice.

In recent months McLaren has not been a real match for title rivals Ferrari and Red Bull - and that slight lack of pace has seen Jenson Button fall out of title contention and Hamilton fade away to fourth place, 24 points behind leader Fernando Alonso.

That means Lewis has to win this weekend to stand even the faintest chance of grabbing the championship, and while his title hopes are therefore largely out of his hands, he was very excited about his chances of winning the race at least.

"I think this weekend, out of all weekends, we really do have the car to challenge," Hamilton declared.

"The characteristics of the circuit mean we are competitive.

"I'm chilled, I'm happy. I want to win this weekend.

"It's going to be tough still but I'm happy because the car is feeling better than it has previously."

He explained that McLaren seemed to have finally got to grips with the new rear wing it has been trying to extract the potential from for several races.

"We've been hoping for some time to improve our rear wing," said Hamilton.

"It's not really been working since Suzuka.

"We know it's got better potential and finally it's working, so that's a huge plus for us."

While admitting that Red Bull was probably still the car to beat on pure pace, Hamilton thinks he can finally take the fight to the constructors' championship-winning team again.

"I think the Red Bulls are still going to pull out a good chunk of time in qualifying, but we are going to be at least fight for the front row rather than fighting for fourth," he said.

MIKA: Practice is not really an indication how the front runners are going IMO. Some teams use this time for setting up their cars, sure, but why risk going hard and blowing an engine or ruin the transmission?

Qualifying will seperate the men from the boys.

Great to see Lewis doing well and great news for McLaren fans I'd imagine.

[MIKA27]

James Allen's Friday form guide

Source: ITV-F1.com

This wasn’t quite the day any of us were expecting. First we had rain before the first practice session. Rain? In Abu Dhabi?

It was quite heavy and the forecast is possibly for more tomorrow. I didn’t believe it today, so I’ll wait and see tomorrow.

Then we had Lewis Hamilton fastest in second practice, largely due to his car and him performing very well on soft tyres, particularly in the slow speed off-camber corners in the final sector around the Yas Hotel area.

It’s not just the McLaren car: Hamilton is 0.9s faster than his team-mate Jenson Button through there, so quite a bit of it is down to him.

I spoke to Hamilton this evening and he feels that for the first time in a while he has a car fast enough to challenge for the win. That would really mix things up in the championship battle.

He had to see the stewards this evening after cutting the white line into the pit lane, but they let him off with a reprimand.

For Lewis to win the title he’d need Fernando Alonso’s engine to blow and the two Red Bulls to hit each other, pretty much.

But he can seriously affect the prospects of some of the others.

Who has the most to lose from Hamilton being quick? Probably Alonso, as the Red Bulls are always quick in qualifying.

Hamilton has been in front of Alonso during both the last two races and has made a mistake, letting him through. Will it happen again?

The track suits the McLaren well. It has good straight-line speed and good mechanical grip out of the slow corners.

The Ferrari’s good point is braking in particular, but Alonso was complaining today about oversteer and you could see it very clearly in the slow corners around the Yas Hotel. They are tricky, off-camber corners.

That said, Alonso was quite quick on the hard tyres so he looks like he’s in pretty good shape for the race.

It’s clear that qualifying is going to be critical.

Red Bull always seem to find a tenth or two in Q3 to get their noses in front – they have been 1-2 on the grid for the past three races.

So can Hamilton break that up, or at least get ahead of Alonso on the grid?

The tyre graining was pretty severe this morning after the rain, but as the track rubbered in it declined, especially on the hard tyre, so it’s not expected to be a problem for the race – unless it rains after qualifying tomorrow.

[Baldy]

Practice is not really an indication how the front runners are going IMO. Some teams use this time for setting up their cars, sure, but why risk going hard and blowing an engine or ruin the transmission?

Qualifying will seperate the men from the boys.

Great to see Lewis doing well and great news for McLaren fans I'd imagine.[/color]

Agree, nothing is won on Friday and Saturday.

[OZCUBAN]

The odds are with Mark ,lets just hope Vettel can do the honourable thing if there is no chance of him winning it himself ,it could be the making of the young pup ,and might go a long way to dispel his perceived arrogance

Like i said GO MARK

[OZCUBAN]

This is it, Webber's big chance. I know he can do it, and he bloody deserves to win the WDC. C'mon mate just one more!

Thanks again Mika for putting this thread together and maintaining it so efficiently. It has been great each week to be able to come to the F1

thread and know I'm getting all the relevant and up-to-date information. Kudos buddy, one day we'll get to have a cigar together, my shout!

Well said Brendan

A big cheers to Mika on what in reality is the most successful thread F.O.H has seen thus far

I love Cigars as much as the next guy but i don't want to talk about them 24/7...

Hope you find the will and the energy to continue on in 2011

cheers OZ(STEVE)

[MIKA27]

The odds are with Mark ,lets just hope Vettel can do the honourable thing if there is no chance of him winning it himself ,it could be the making of the young pup ,and might go a long way to dispel his perceived arrogance

Like i said GO MARK

Webber didnt do all that well in Qualifying guys, P5 on the grid... Hope the front few have a slight bingle to free up the space for Webber.

[MIKA27]

Vettel boosts title chances as he secures pole

Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position for the final race of the season, giving his title ambitions a massive boost.

Lewis Hamilton qualified second quickest but could face a grip-drop as he blocked Felipe Massa during Q2, the FIA will surely be looking into the incident.

The McLaren will split Vettel and championship leader Fernando Alonso who will start ahead of Jenson Button and Mark Webber. The Australian will start the race from fifth, a big blow to his title fight.

Massa, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov round off the top ten.

Robert Kubica will start 11th after his team-mate out-qualified the Pole.

The battle lower down the grid was between Toro Rosso team-mates Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi. The two switched places before the Spaniard managed to jump into 17th to avoid the drop-zone, whilst Buemi joined Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Lucas di Grassi, Bruno Senna and Christian Klien.

Abu Dhabi Qualifying Results: Q1: Q2: Q3

1. S. Vettel Red Bull 1:40.318 1:39.874 1:39.394

2. L. Hamilton McLaren 1:40.335 1:40.119 1:39.425

3. F. Alonso Ferrari 1:40.170 1:40.311 1:39.792

4. J. Button McLaren 1:40.877 1:40.014 1:39.823

5. M. Webber Red Bull 1:40.690 1:40.074 1:39.925

6. F. Massa Ferrari 1:40.942 1:40.323 1:40.202

7. R. Barrichello Williams 1:40.904 1:40.476 1:40.203

8. M. Schumacher Mercedes 1:41.222 1:40.452 1:40.516

9. N. Rosberg Mercedes 1:40.231 1:40.060 1:40.589

10. V. Petrov Renault 1:41.018 1:40.658 1:40.901

11. R. Kubica Renault 1:41.336 1:40.780

12. K. Kobayashi Sauber 1:41.045 1:40.783

13. A. Sutil Force India 1:41.473 1:40.914

14. N. Heidfeld Sauber 1:41.409 1:41.113

15. N. Hulkenberg Williams 1:41.015 1:41.418

16. V. Liuzzi Force India 1:41.681 1:41.642

17. J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:41.707 1:41.738

18. S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:41.824

19. J. Trulli Lotus 1:43.516

20. H. Kovalainen Lotus 1:43.712

21. T. Glock Virgin 1:44.095

22. L. di Grassi Virgin 1:44.510

23. B. Senna Hispania 1:45.085

24. C. Klien Hispania 1:45.296

[MIKA27]

Qantas renews Australian GP sponsorship

The Australian Grand Prix organisers have managed to secure a new title sponsorship deal, despite the current dispute between themselves and the governing motorsport body, CAMS.

The countries national airline, Qantas, has decided to renew its sponsorship deal which started this year, through 2011.

"We are proud to renew our naming rights sponsorship of the 2011 Formula 1 Qantas Australian Grand Prix," said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. "Qantas has been associated with the Australian Grand Prix for 25 years and we are especially looking forward to next year's event with Qantas as the premier partner.

"As a committed supporter of Australian sport, we are delighted to be continuing our active involvement in one of the highlights of the national major events calendar."

Qantas has previously been the title sponsor of the race between 1997 and 2001.

MIKA: John Travolta will be pleased!

[MIKA27]

Hamilton escapes penalty after Q2 incident

Lewis Hamilton has avoided a penalty for an incident which took place between himself and Felipe Massa during qualifying two for the Abu Dhabi GP.

The FIA called both drivers to the stewards room after Hamilton blocked Massa while both drivers were on out laps.

The McLaren driver had to take avoiding action as he and the Ferrari almost collided, instead Hamilton took out a bollard on the apex of the corner whilst Massa continued without being held up too much.

"At the end of the session, I was called to the stewards to discuss this incident and also the one with Hamilton again in Q2," Massa said about the incident.

"This sort of thing can happen as can be seen from the fact that no action was taken."

Hamilton will start second, whilst Massa will start behind Mark Webber in sixth.

MIKA: Would Hamilton have got away with it if it were any other race rather than the last?

[MIKA27]

Petrov pleased but Renault unhappy

Vitaly Petrov was pleased to have fulfilled his potential in Abu Dhabi qualifying and got into Q3 - ahead of team-mate Robert Kubica - but the Renault team ended the session unimpressed with 10th and 11th places.

Russian rookie Petrov is still fighting for a place on the 2011 grid, and has often hampered his race-day chances by qualifying poorly.

But he didn't stumble in Abu Dhabi and grabbed 10th on the grid.

"The car has felt pretty good all weekend for me," said Petrov.

"I have been running in the top ten most of the weekend, and it was nice to deliver this potential in qualifying."

Kubica was a tenth of a second slower in Q2 and therefore found himself 11th, failing to make it to the final part of qualifying for the first time all year.

The Pole said his car simply didn't have the handling balance he needed to make it through.

"I have been struggling with the car since yesterday and we simply didn't manage to get on top of the issues, especially for qualifying," he said.

"The rear of the car was sliding a lot this evening, so it was hard to get on the power early enough to set a good lap time.

"I tried everything, I was sideways in a lot of corners, but that's how it was today.

"It's disappointing to miss out on the top ten, but it's also the first time this year that I have had a free tyre choice for Sunday - and we will have to see if we can make this into an advantage for tomorrow."

Despite Petrov's satisfaction, team boss Eric Boullier felt there was little for Renault to be proud of this evening.

"We cannot be satisfied to line up tenth and 11th on the grid: we set our sights higher than this," he said.

"Robert tried everything he could in qualifying, but he struggled with low grip and an oversteer balance that prevented him from doing any better.

"As for Vitaly, it's good to see him in Q3 again, but he made a mistake on his final run and could have gone even quicker."

[MIKA27]

FW32 improved in 'every area' – Rubens

Rubens Barrichello described Williams’s achievement in qualifying seventh for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as “great” after the difficult Friday it experienced.

The Brazilian veteran had been unhappy with the balance of his FW32 around the 3.45-mile after the first day of practice but from Q1 in qualifying he appeared more competitive and made the pole shootout in ninth position.

From there things improved again as he outqualified both Mercedes drivers, and came within a thousandth of a second of doing the same to Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with a brilliant final lap to head up the fourth row.

Barrichello admits he hadn't hoped to qualify so high and praised the team for improving his car in “every aspect”.

“It was a great qualifying, especially considering where we were yesterday,” he enthused.

“On Friday we were struggling a little, but we have improved the car in every aspect and I am just delighted with the outcome today.

“Seventh is better than I expected and I hope we can maintain this tomorrow.

“Of course tomorrow is another day, but my engineers and I have good momentum together this weekend, so I am very positive.”

Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, however, was far less content with his grid position after he struggled to 15th – just seven days on from claiming a shock pole in Brazil.

The German rookie had initially been quite happy with his FW32’s handling in Q1, as he lapped just a tenth of a second slower than the sister car in ninth, but then says the car’s balance just went completely awry in the second stage on the super-soft tyre.

“To begin with, Rubens and I were quite evenly matched but I ended up in P15 while Rubens made it into the top 10,” Hulkenberg said.

“In Q1 everything was fine, with the prime tyre working well. We then selected the option for Q2 and everything changed.

“My car suddenly behaved very unexpectedly, I lost balance and grip and the car was just sliding around all over the place.

“It was very strange and we will be looking into it tonight. With a good start, we could gain some places and end up with a more positive result tomorrow.”

Engineering director Patrick Head paid tribute to Barrichello’s efforts, while commiserating with Hulkenberg, and now hopes the team has put itself in position to defend the one-point lead it holds over Force India in sixth place in the constructors’ championship in Sunday’s race.

“It was a great qualifying from Rubens,” Head said.

“Together with his engineer, he extracted the very best out of the car this afternoon and we’ll be looking for good performance in the race.

“Nico had shown the potential needed to make it into Q3, but something caused understeer in the slow corners in his final set of tyres. Both drivers can run a good race tomorrow and our intention is to maintain position in the constructors’ championship.”

[MIKA27]

Mercedes bemoans soft-tyre struggle

Mercedes GP was disappointed to end up eighth and ninth on the Abu Dhabi grid after a strong showing in practice and the first two qualifying stages.

Michael Schumacher was marginally the faster of the two drivers, outqualifying Nico Rosberg for the second consecutive race, but both struggled to get the best out of the super-soft ‘option’ tyres.

The younger German, who had been second quickest in Q1 and third in Q2, said: “The speed was there today – however unfortunately only on the hard tyre, so it's disappointing to be starting from ninth place on the grid.

“For our race strategy, I had to run the options in Q3 and I just struggled with them all the way through qualifying.”

Schumacher felt he hadn’t quite made the most of the pace that was available to him in the top-10 run-off.

“I didn't have the best last lap in Q3 today unfortunately as I didn't quite get the sectors together,” he said.

“That was a shame because I could have ended up one or even two positions higher.

“However this gives me room to improve for tomorrow and that will be my target for the race.”

Team principal Ross Brawn added: “We made very solid progress into Q3 today with the car looking pretty reasonable throughout qualifying.

“However we were much better on the prime tyre with both Nico and Michael struggling on the option in Q3.

“This gives us reason to be optimistic in the race tomorrow when we should be on the right strategy. Overall we're in a reasonable position.”

[BigGuns]

Forza Ferrari!!!

HUGE race coming in a couple hours! Not sure if I'll be able to hang on and catch it live after enjoying a Boli CG and a bunch of Oronoco...GO BIG RED!!!!!!!

[rckymtn22]

Woohoo... some one new won the championship!

Vettel win seals maiden F1 title

By David Ornstein

Sebastian Vettel drove a masterful race to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and lift his maiden Formula 1 world title.

The 23-year-old Red Bull driver was third in the standings but led from pole and saw other results go his way to become the youngest champion.

Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso came seventh, with Red Bull's other title hope Mark Webber eighth.

Lewis Hamilton, who had a slim title chance, finished second and his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button was third.

It was a dramatic end to an enthralling season and gave Red Bull, who sealed the constructors' championship with Vettel's victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix, their first drivers' title.

The final standings had Vettel top on 256 points, four clear of Alonso in second, 14 above third-place Webber and 16 in front of Hamilton in fourth.

"I'm a bit stressed to be honest, I don't know what I'm supposed to say," Vettel, who had not previously led this season's championship, told BBC Sport.

"It's been an incredible year, we've always kept believing in the team, and the car, and I have kept believing in myself.

"I'm speechless! The car was phenomenal. The start was crucial, and it was very tight with Lewis, but after that it settled down."

Alonso arrived at the Yas Marina Circuit on 246 points, eight ahead of Webber and in control of his own destiny.

The Spaniard needed to finish first or second to guarantee the title or a top-five placing if Vettel triumphed. But neither he nor Webber fully recovered from early tyre changes which left them way down the field.

"This is sport - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose," said Alonso, who was bidding for a third world title and his first with Ferrari. "Next year we try again.

"It was very good, for me especially after two years of some difficulties, coming back to winning races, fighting for the championship. I'm sure with this team it is very possible to fight for championships in the future, so I am happy."

Webber added: "Congratulations to Seb and to the team, two world championships, that's not a bad season. There's quite a few emotions when you just miss out. It's a shame.

"I tried my absolute best, I had great guys around me, in the end it wasn't quite enough. Yes . It didn't go my way in the end, but that's sport"

Vettel started from the front of the grid after a scintillating display in qualifying, with Hamilton second, Alonso third, Button fourth and Webber fifth.

A superb start from Button pushed Alonso down to fourth but he managed to keep Webber at bay before a nasty collision between Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi at Turn Six saw the safety car deployed for four laps.

Once the debris had been cleared Vettel set about using the open track to pull away, while Hamilton and Button worked hard to respond and Alonso focused on staying ahead of Webber.

The Australian was struggling for pace and shortly after scraping a barrier at Turn 19 on lap eight, he pitted to switch from the softer option tyres to the harder prime variant.

It was a huge gamble from Red Bull and it backfired as Webber emerged from the pits in 16th and got stuck behind the Torro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari.

Ferrari responded by calling Felipe Massa in, hoping he would emerge from the pits in front of Webber and further delay the Red Bull driver. But he did not and Webber was able to accelerate.

Clearly viewing Webber as their principle threat, Ferrari decided to bring Alonso in for hard tyres at the end of lap 15 and, despite almost ploughing into a wall before entering the pits, he managed to come out just ahead of Webber.

But all the while Vettel was surging clear at the front and building an advantage - 28 seconds at one point - which would enable him to change tyres and regain the lead once his closest challengers had done likewise.

The defining moment came when Red Bull called Vettel in on lap 24 and he managed to come out in second place - behind Button, who was yet to pit, and in front of Hamilton, who pitted on lap 23.

Down in 11th, Alonso was leading Webber but could not get past Renault's Vitaly Petrov. Although the pair benefitted from a couple of other drivers pitting, Petrov would prove unmoveable.

Vettel, meanwhile, was in the midst of a magnificent performance, setting fastest laps and gradually extending his advantage as the race drew to a close.

Renault's Robert Kubica had made his way up to second but Hamilton and Button were snapping at his heels and when the Pole came in at the end of lap 46, the Englishmen were able to resume their pursuit of Vettel.

All eyes were on whether Kubica could emerge from the pits ahead of Alonso. This was surely Alonso's last realistic hope - and when the Renault came out in front of the Ferrari, that hope all but died.

With Vettel desperate to look after his car and avoid any last-minute glitches, Hamilton was able to gain on the German.

But it was too little too late and a tearful Vettel took the chequered flag for his fifth win of the season and the fiercely-contested title, sparking ecstatic scenes in the Red Bull garage.

[rckymtn22]

Driver Race Time

1 S Vettel 1:39:36.837

2 L Hamilton 1:39:46.999

3 J Button 1:39:47.884

4 N Rosberg 1:40:07.584

5 R Kubica 1:40:15.863

6 V Petrov 1:40:20.357

7 F Alonso 1:40:20.634

8 M Webber 1:40:21.080

9 Alguersuari 1:40:27.038

10 F Massa 1:40:27.705

[sje]

Credit where its due for Vettel, and in hindsight Red Bulls decision not to back one driver turned out to be correct, i really felt for Webber but it is what it is, i think he has a chance to redeem next year but i suspect a number of teams will be better including Ferrari and McLaren.

Webber lost his chance on Saturday during qualifying, Vettel was miles ahead in the same car.

Spiro

PS, Mika and all the contributors in this thread well done, this was a real joy and the first forum i sought to catch up on the F1 news. Mika send me your address so i can send you a Cigar for your amazing efforts.

[MIKA27]

Credit where its due for Vettel, and in hindsight Red Bulls decision not to back one driver turned out to be correct, i really felt for Webber but it is what it is, i think he has a chance to redeem next year but i suspect a number of teams will be better including Ferrari and McLaren.

Webber lost his chance on Saturday during qualifying, Vettel was miles ahead in the same car.

Spiro

PS, Mika and all the contributors in this thread well done, this was a real joy and the first forum i sought to catch up on the F1 news. Mika send me your address so i can send you a Cigar for your amazing efforts.

I agree, I feel for Webber but in the end, he had his destiny in his own hands. IMO, of all the races Webber had to do well in was this very one and he lost it. It sounds harsh but someone had to win and I'm glad it was not Alonso.

Thankyou to all the F1 fans out there for reading and contributing for this season. 2010 is not yet over, I will continue to post news on drivers/teams commings and goings so keep an eye open.

Spiro, a very kind gesture and a very big thank you from me to you however I do this thread for no reward other than knowing FOH members and guests like yourselves enjoy reading up on the daily news of a fantastic sport!

[MIKA27]

Schumi: Vettel deserves it

Michael Schumacher, a man who knows a thing or two about winning World Championships, has heaped praise on Sebastian Vettel after his compatriot won his maiden title on Sunday.

Red Bull's Vettel claimed the 2010 Championship by four points after winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His main title rivals, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, finished P7 and P8 respectively.

Seven-time Champ Schumacher, who crashed out on the first lap at the Yas Marina Circuit, says he is "more than happy" for Vettel.

"I'm quite happy for him because we're good friends and it's been a tough year from him, some up and downs that he had to go through, so he deserves this Championship," he told BBC Sport.

"Well done to him and the team, a great job from all.

"My time was a different time to his and I just feel very happy for him, he deserves it - a great talent, a fantastic guy as a human so I'm more than happy for him."