Formula One: Red Bulls charge ahead at Silverstone
Red Bull continued to dominate the 2010 F1 season, as Sebastian Vettel once again topped the time sheet at the Silverstone Circuit, followed closely, by his team mate, Mark Webber, making it another Red Bull one-two.
There was a lot of talk ahead of the qualifying about the new exhaust system installed by Ferrari and McLaren. But what transpired on the tracks was different, Alonso though did make good use of the upgrades and finished 3rd.
Lewis Hamilton who was disappointing for the most part of qualifying in the end did manage to get 4th spot. His team mate Jenson Button did not even make it to the final qualifying session and finished a disappointing 14th.
Button after the race said that he was not convinced with the car, and he believes that there is something seriously wrong with the rear end of his McLaren.
Mercedes made a surprise move to send in Michael Schumacher late, and he could only muster 10th spot, while his team mate Nico Rosberg was impressive getting 5th place on the starting grid. Robert Kubica who recently signed a new deal with Renault that would keep him there till 2012 came 6th, Ferrari’s other driver Felipe Massa was 7th fastest.
Rubins Barichello had a better day out compared to the rest of his season and captured the 8th spot. De La Rosa from Sauber was 9th ahead of Michael Schumacher.
Lewis Hamilton who had high hopes from the home Grand Prix in the end must have been happy to end up with the 4th spot, considering the team had to abandon a significant upgrade just before qualifying. After they could not make it work properly on Friday’s practice sessions.
McLaren had introduced a blown diffuser that they were hoping would put them on par with Red Bulls. But as it turned out the upgrade was not tested properly and it hampered the car’s handling while also causing overheating to its rear end.
McLaren though are still persisting with a new front that was initially introduced to work with the diffuser.
The Red Bulls though once again were miles ahead of the rest. McLaren was expected to be their closest rival this weekend, but as it turned out it was Alonso who gave Vettel and Webber the biggest fight.
The two-time world champion was in scintillating form in qualifying and if it was not for an intrusion by Michael Schumacher on the tracks in the final minute of Q3 Alonso may have been able to post a much better time.
After qualifying, Vettel said that the team did not expect the track to suit their cars. But it turned out to be an amazing day for him and he felt very comfortable on the sharp corners and is confident that he can do even better on race day.
Red Bull team boss, Cristian Horner said that he is extremely pleased with the results, and added that his team had been working extra hard in the build up to this race. Horner said that it is not a surprise that his team have taken the season by storm. The team principal said that Red Bull had been planning several changes in the previous season and knew that it would take some time to take effect. We did target 2010 season and we are extremely pleased with what Webber and Vettel have achieved so far.
He added that he is not concerned about the upgrades that other teams are making to compete with the Red Bulls, as he believes that his team would always be one step ahead of the rest.
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