European Grand Prix 2010: Driver's take on the streets of Valencia
After an action packed race in Turkey and Canada the Grand Prix returned to Europe over the weekend as the drivers get ready to take on the streets of Valencia in the 2010 European Grand Prix scheduled to get underway today, after the Friday and Saturday qualifiers.
Today’s race in Valencia is expected to be an enjoyable yet nail-biting experience for the F1 fans and the competing teams alike since all the drivers come into Europe with the stakes being high and only a few points keeping the top contenders for this year’s championship apart.
So what does the European GP 2010 have in store?
Well to start off, we have none other than McLaren and their ace driver Lewis Hamilton who seems to be on a role and will be looking for a hat-trick of wins as his biggest competitor is none other than team-mate Jenson Button, who happens to be only three points behind him and so far in the season we have already seen an intense battle between these two, especially at the Turkish GP about a month ago.
Thus whoever it may be Button or Hamilton, McLaren is definitely looking towards some celebrations today as the tracks of Valencia heat up.
However a potential party pooper’s for the men dressed in black are the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and even Mercedes who have been looking strong during the practice rounds and thus should not be ignored as they have behind their wheel none other than the great Michael Schumacher who has been improving all throughout the season in his last outing in Turkey seemed to be getting in sync with his car and the tracks, after his return to F1 from retirement.
So then talking about the top 4 teams in detail who could potentially be the title holders for today’s race? We have Red Bull as a top contender, who despite not looking the same since their crash at Turkey, have a great chance in Valencia, today since after the qualifiers yesterday, both Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have gotten the first two spots for starting this years European GP.
Sebastian Vettel managed to scored his fourth pole position for 2010 and made the pole by clocking 1:37.587, being closely followed by team-mate Mark Webber and thus putting the past behind and giving Red Bull /racing the all important front row for today’s race in Valencia.
In other standings, Canadian Grand Prix winner of two weeks ago, Lewis Hamilton will start third followed by Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa of Ferrari in 4th and 5th spot and thus the row of the first ten will look something like this today as the 2010 European GP jump starts at the beautiful tracks of Valencia.
Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing-Renault
Mark Webber for Red Bull Racing-Renault
Lewis Hamilton for McLaren
Fernando Alonso for Ferrari
Felipe Massa for Ferrari.
Robert Kubica for Renault
Jenson Button for McLaren.
Nico Hulkenberg for Williams-Cosworth
Rubens Barrichello for Willaims-Cosworth
Vitaly Petrov for Renault
So then as the engines warm up for the start of today all important GP the one question that would be on everyone’s mind is whether the starting advantage that Red Bull has and then with Jenson Button all the way down at number 7 in the starting line-up, will the Bulls be able to over- come the pressure of the McLarens and the Ferrari’s tailing them?
Red Bull today needs to come out as the winners in order to take them closer to the top of the tables. In the past two days of qualifying, Sabastian Vettel has definitely displayed his skills and has made a statement through his wheels that if someone will win the title for the energy filled Bulls that person would be him. Thus the determination he has inside himself sees him take his 4th pole position this season, today.
Today’s race is also very crucial for Ferrari, since if they want their championship dreams to continue then Alonso needs to win.
Ferrari also needs to make sure that Massa can manage a podium finish as well. Massa due to a string of bad luck now stands as the number two driver for Ferrari, something Massa can only undo if he wins the remaining three races this season.
Coming back to Fernando Alonso, who got a lucky break in Bahrain by winning at the expense of Red Bull, has so far not been able to take advantage of the speed his car has.
However if given a chance and as displayed by Alonso for brief moments in Canada that the Ferrari car is indeed fast, the right tactics today could even see the tracks of Valencia dressed in red as the other cars come to terms with what hit them.
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