How can McLaren win the 2010 Formula 1 Championship
Half of the Formula One 2010 season is already over. With nine more races to go, team McLaren heads the pack with 278 points, Red Bull Racing are 29 points adrift at 249 and Ferrari is at a distant third with 165 points. Mercedes GP made some ground on Ferrari at the British GP and they are 36 points behind the Scuderia.
In the last few races, Team McLaren has emerged as the biggest winner in the season after claiming 149 out of 172 points in the last four races. Red Bull Racing, despite the pace advantage, has not been able to get the best results. Ferrari on the other hand has shown a lot of competitiveness but they need some luck to aid their cause. So one can safely say that Mercedes GP has more or less done what they are capable of this season.
While we analyze what the top running teams need to do to win the championship, Mercedes GP has to be ruled out as potential championship winners. This year, the German team’s best results would be to win podium finishes as they would need more than that to claim the title. Ferrari on the other hand does not have a huge point advantage over Mercedes GP but they have a much better car and cannot be written off just yet. We will start our analysis with McLaren and later discuss the Red Bull Racing and Ferrari.
McLaren Mercedes
Championship Lead:
It is only heartbreaking to keep the championship lead for the best part of the season and then eventually see someone else take the prize. This is exactly what happened to Hamilton in 2007. They are already in the best possible position which means that they need to do less than their competitors. Consistent podiums and a couple of victories in between should be good enough.
Consistency:
A few years ago McLaren were known to have reliability problems and this even cost them the 2003 and 2005 Championships. Since 2007, they’ve shaken off that label with the fewest number of accidents and retirements. Only in this season, Team McLaren has only two finishes outside the points table - Hamilton due to an accident in Spain and Button due to an engine failure in Monaco. Both cars have gathered points in the rest of the races. They need to continue doing that and finish in back-to-back positions as high on the grid as possible.
Luck Factor:
It’s true that a couple of victories have simply been gifted to McLaren by the Red Bull Racing drivers. The world has seen the Red Bull drivers retiring from race winning positions and things could have been a lot different if those mistakes did not have happened. But this takes nothing away from McLaren because all it means is that McLarens finished those races when the Red Bull drivers couldn’t. A little more luck and the championship can jump into their bag.
Red Bull Rivalry:
The rivalry between the two Red Bull drivers and the heated relationship between Webber and the rest of the camp has worked wonders for McLaren so far. Currently, there are no signs of things settling down at Red Bull and McLaren should sneak in a few more good results for as long as it lasts.
Upgrades:
As evident from the last grand prix, all the top runners, with the exception of McLaren, have their upgrades up and running. If McLaren can score healthy points without those upgrades, they can do a lot better once they have the diffusers and wings working for them. McLaren already has these upgrades planned for the next race and who knows, they may be able to cancel out Red Bull’s pace advantage.
Race Pace:
McLaren’s race pace and straight line speed have brought dividends to the team. They may not be the best qualifiers in this season but they surely have made up for the lost positions in the previous races. At times, they have been simply uncatchable. While Red Bull Racing seems to develop braking problems by the end of the race, the McLarens usually get the better as the race progresses. Only one pole position and four victories in this season is a testament to their race pace.
Both Drivers Delivering:
It is the most important reason for Team McLaren to be at the top. McLaren only has two finishes without points out of their 20 runs which helped them achieve 11 podium finishes. Red Bull has 9 podiums and Ferrari sits with only 5 podiums and they have failed to score points on 5 occasions. Not only do both McLaren drivers finish in the points table, they finish high on the grid as well. Ferrari and Red Bull have both qualified up the order but usually fall way behind during the race.
All McLaren needs to do from here on is a little more pace which will come from the upgrades, continuation of their consistent performances and little bit of luck. In the next part we will discuss what the Red Bulls and Ferraris need to do to claim the title.
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