2010 F1 season: Young Sebastian Vettel vs. four top drivers (Part 2)
A very intense rivalry has been seen between the Red Bull duo, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, right from the very early races. The animosity and bitterness was visible most evidently between the two at the Turkish Grand Prix and later at the British round
in Silverstone.
As the Red Bull duo reached the final laps of the Turkish race, the team was looking forward for a certain 1-2 finish, with Webber leading the rally of cars while Vettel followed him for second place. However, the twosome went into each other in chase for
the top place, resulting into a silly crash. After the poor collision, Vettel retired while Webber had to settle at second place serving the 1-2 finish to the lucky McLaren men, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Although the Red Bull management declared that
the air has been cleaned in the team and all the issues are resolved, yet once again lack of harmony and distrust was seen in the team at the Silverstone Circuit. During the British Grand Prix, the new front wing of Webber’s car was handed over to Vettel,
which Webber took very offensively. With these and many similar incidents, it seemed quite obvious that the teammates did not enjoy a very healthy relation.
However, with Vettel’s victory at the second-last race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, he stood as one of the strongest contenders of the title as the top five gladiators entered the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, season’s last and decisive round. At the
same time, Webber with his four race wins and 10 podium positions, stood as a very strong title claimer. The 34-year-old’s 8 years in the sport, makes him far more senior and experienced than Vettel. Moreover, this season witnessed the best racing spectacles
from the Australian driver who did not get a chance to lay his hands on a very competitive car all through his career.
However, the last round of the season blew away all the hopes of Webber, who was fighting such a close battle for the title for the very first time. Moreover, the driver also proclaimed just a few days before the final race that the team will be far happier
to see Vettel winning as he enjoyed the emotional backing of the team far more than Webber did.
Ultimately, as the two entered the last round of the season, Webber stood at second place in the charts with his 238 points, only being 8 points adrift the charts’ topper Fernando Alonso, while Vettel was further 7 points shy of his teammate.
Nevertheless, all bright stars were towards the young man’s side who started the race from pole position and led the rally of cars all through the evening until he saw the chequered flag. On the other hand, a poor team strategy of taking Webber to the pit
very early during the race stuck him behind Renaults’ Vitaly Petrov and Alonso. Despite of striving hard, the Australian was not able to finish anywhere above 8th place, losing the title to his teammate.
Jenson Button was another strong competitor of the season, although his hopes for the title dimmed away before the last round. After having a glorious 2009 season, winning the first title of his life under the Brawn GP umbrella, he had a mediocre 2010 season.
He showed a good form at the start of the season bagging two victories at the first half but the rest of the season mostly saw him finishing behind his teammate, Hamilton.
Button entered the Brazilian Grand Prix, the second last race of the season, with his 189 points and 6 podium finishes. This race was his last hope to continue his title battle, but the driver was only able to end at 5th place, ending his 2010
battle, even before the last race of the season.
Despite of the tough competition and an intense rivalry seen all through the season, Vettel made the biggest record of his career by bagging victory at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 23-year-old now holds the record of being the youngest driver to have earned points, to take a pole, to have bagged a race-win and now he stands tall as the youngest man in the history of the sport to have won a championship.
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