Formula One drivers’ world championship hotting up
We are almost at the halfway point of the 2010 Formula One world championship, and there have been five different winners so far in the nine races.
It is looking like a straight fight between Red Bull and McLaren for the title, although Ferrari are just about holding on to the leading pack.
There are three men who are prime candidates to be crowned world champion; Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, and although they are not far off, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber still have a shot at the title as well.
Hamilton has a six-point lead over his teammate and reigning world champion Button, and the two Britons head into the next race at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix as the leading duo, much to the delight of the home support.
Hamilton and Button have two race victories each. Button won two of the first four races, in Australia and China, while Hamilton had back to back wins in Turkey and Canada. Both drivers have been spurred on by one another, and this showed at Turkey, when they traded the lead in spectacular fashion.
For Red Bull, Vettel and Webber also have two wins each, Vettel winning the previous grand prix in Valencia and in Malaysia, while Webber in Spain and Monaco consecutively. Vettel should have won the first three races, but lack of reliability cost him.
Vettel’s win at the European Grand Prix last Sunday restored confidence in the camp after a disastrous Turkish and Canadian Grands Prix. All was going well for the Milton Keynes-based team until the two drivers collided in Turkey, throwing away the race win and a huge chunk of points. Webber was on course to make it three wins on the spin, but only salvaged third. Vettel is only 12 points adrift and is the likely Red Bull driver to challenge for the title. Webber is not completely out of it, but out of the two, Vettel is the stronger and faster driver.
The battle for the fastest car has been won by Red Bull, showing their supremacy by storming to eight out of nine pole positions.
Red Bull and McLaren have traded blows all season, leaving Alonso’s sole victory for Ferrari in Bahrain in round one a very distant memory. Ferrari have not had the pace all season, but returned to form in Canada with a podium finish for Alonso. The Spaniard’s third place was the least he deserved, after he missed out on the chance of winning the grand prix because of traffic while negotiating backmarkers. The last race in front of his home crowd in Valencia was also another chance for Alonso to win, but an unkindly timing of the safety car left him in eighth position, dropping down from third.
The double world champion is 29 points behind, and based on the form Ferrari have shown over the last two races, Alonso still has a chance of adding a third world crown to his name, but he needs to get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
At any one race the drivers’ standings can turn on its head. With the top three only separated by 12 points, it will take a brave person to call this year’s world champion right now.
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