Team Wise Analysis: European Grand Prix 2010
The race this Sunday, at the Valencia track in Spain had been exciting as well as dramatic with a lot of predicted plus unpredicted things happening on the track. But at the end of the day, it is the penalties, the novelties, the unexpected results, and the crashes that make a race so special.
The European Grand prix was also an amalgam of all this. Nine of the racers including Button, Barrichello, de la Rosa, Petrov, Kubica, Sutil, Buemi, Hulkenberg and Liuzzi were given time-penalties of five seconds each for various reasons after the race were stopped as the safety cars strolled out. Time Glock of Virgin was given a twenty second penalty for ignoring the blue flag.
Red Bull
The race victory went to the Red Bull driver, Sebastian Vettel’s lap for whom this is the second victory of the race. However, that does not make one very surprised as with the pace of the RB6, the overall results could have been much better for him. Now he stands at the third place of the Drivers’ standings of the season with a total of one hundred and fifteen points. Moreover, the afternoon was not been very bright for fellow Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who was leading the charts, only a few races back. His luck ran out in Spain and he had to resign from the race after a dramatic crash with Kovalainen from Team Lotus. Luck ran out for Webber as he got stuck into the opening lap traffic, dropping to ninth place from a powerful second spot. Later, the driver fell to the nineteenth place as he stopped to get his tyres changed on lap seven. Finally, on the ninth lap, Webber had a crash with Kovalainen of Lotus resulting in a 180 degree back flip, bumping into the tyre wall at turn seventeen. It was however lucky that none of the drivers were harmed after the crash.
McLaren
The McLaren driver was somehow able to cement his place at the top of the charts with a second place finish. However, teammate Jenson Button along with Sebastian Vettel showed that they could be threatening competitors for him. Button did not give a strong fight but was lucky due to safety car timings. It pushed him from the seventh to the fourth spot when Kobayashi stopped to switch tyres on lap 53. However, Button was able to set the fastest lap of the race.
Williams
Barrichello was probably the happiest man on the track as he ended at fourth place. However, teammate Hulkenberg had to wait as both drivers entered the pits when the safety car was out and about. Barrichello got served first after much deliberation and his teammate had to wait for some time. The worst thing happened with Hulkenberg when his right rear tyre caught fire in the 50th lap and he had to resign from the race.
Renault
Robert Kubica began smartly. He went to the pit as the first driver but came out as the third. For the entire race, Kubica was not able to fill in that gap. Moreover, Renault’s second driver Petrov could have finished at the twelfth position. But after a penalty of five seconds, his final position extended to the fourteenth.
Ferrari
The Ferrari seemed promising, as initially Alonso and Massa ran at third and fourth places. However, Alonso got serviced first, for which Massa had to pay later. However, due to the penalties served to a number of drivers, they had their positions raised to eighth and eleventh from the previous tenth and seventeenth respectively.
Mercedes
Mercedes did not return much happier, just like the previous few races of the season with the five-second penalties which were levied on several racers. It moved Nico Rosberg to the tenth place from his actual twelfth. However, no one was able to perform and the much criticized Michael Schumacher ended at the fifteenth place.
Both Mercedes as well as Ferrari had some harsh words for the FIA after the race as they did not return happy. The teams that had their positions raised due to these penalties loved the FIA’s rules and regulations. But that is how every race ends, some are happy while others are not.
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