Cruising through the 2010 season with Ferrari (Part 3)
While recalling Ferrari's 2010 season, the first thing that will come to anyone’s mind ever will be its ‘team orders’. During the last laps of the German GP, both the team drivers were heading for a 1-2 finish for the team and
then the real team strategy was revealed vividly.
Massa received the infamous message of the year, on his car’s radio, 'Fernando is faster than you'. Following the message, the driver slowed down while, Alonso cruised across him, bagging the second race win of the season while
Massa silently settled for the second place. The team order instantly put the track on fire. Firstly, because no one had expected the most uncompetitive team of the season get a 1-2 finish, leaving Red Bull and McLaren behind. Until last week, any race strategy
that could alter the results was banned by FIA, and therefore, not only the Italian team received a penalty of U.S $100,000, but also the case was forwarded to World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) for further investigation.
Although the team did not get any further penalties, neither the drivers’ positions changed by WMSC nor any points were deducted, yet a lot of criticism and condemnation kept coming the team’s way all through the rest of the season.
However, the determined squad did not bother about anything and went on with the same strategy, asking Massa to steal as many points as he could for his teammate on the track, while at the same time Alonso gave one of his best
performances in the rest of the races.
After stepping in the battle for the title while being at fifth place only, the Spanish driver made his way to the top of the charts very quickly and very efficiently. The following Hungarian round, the last one before the summer
break, saw another strong finish by Alonso as he ended at 2nd place while his teammate finished at 4th.
From here onwards, at every race, Ferrari’s F10 kept on getting better and faster. It was not very late that the McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton who was still at second place in the charts behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber, declared
that Ferrari is the second fastest car on the track while Red Bull is the quickest one. The new blown diffuser, the improved front wing (that was suspected by all the teams to have illegal flexing) and finally the advanced F-duct brought the team to the forefront
of the charts.
The first race after the summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix, showed the first retirement of the two times world champion while Massa was able to finish the race at 4th place.
By now, the champion was completely back in his form; he had the right car and a strong support of his team, which meant that there was no stopping to him. In a matter of few races, he completely changed the drivers’ standings.
Two consecutive wins at the Italian GP and later at the Singapore GP, made him one of the strongest title contenders, while at the same time a series of poor races by Hamilton kept on dropping his chances of victory.
In the meanwhile, issues between Massa and his team kept mounting as time and again the Brazilian announced that he will not be playing the role of a No.2 driver for the team, while the team kept using him for the same purpose.
To be continued…
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