Teams like Ferrari McLaren Williams and Lotus are bigger draws than the drivers who drive them
Even though there is only one winner at the end of every Formula 1 race, there’s little doubt that it ultimately is a team sport. The success of a driver depends on dozens (if not hundreds) of people. This includes his pit crew, mechanics, engineers and the people at the team shop who build and refine the car he drives. Having a strong team is essential to a driver’s success, and many otherwise talented drivers have failed in Formula 1 because they didn’t have a strong team behind them.
The legacy of Formula 1 is built on legendary teams as much as drivers. Teams like Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Lotus have made an indelible mark on the sport and become in many cases more famous and bigger draws than the drivers who compete for them. The success of the team is more important to top Formula 1 teams than any individual, which can lead to some interesting politics and strategy from time to time. The results of several races in the past have been changed late when a team has ordered a leading driver to surrender their position to their teammate in second who is in the midst of a world title chase.
The Formula 1 picture in 2010 is one of the most competitive in recent memory and has produced some exciting racing through the early part of the campaign. It’s also become abundantly clear that two teams stand out from the pack in terms of dominance in the sport right now. Red Bull and McLaren are the clear top teams in the sport and it appears that every other team in Formula 1 is chasing them to catch up.
One team playing catch up is Ferrari. Many people thought that they were the team to beat coming into the season as they debuted several technological innovations that looked to push the engineering envelope. However, things have been in a downhill spiral for the team. While Fernando Alonso briefly led the driver’s championship standings after winning the season opening race at Bahrain, he has slumped in recent weeks. His recent spat with Lewis Hamilton after the European Grand Prix hinted at the frustration within the team as he’s fallen back to fifth in points after securing just one podium finish in the last four races.
While Ferrari struggles, Red Bull and McLaren continue to roll on. There’s almost no question that no team has faster cars than Red Bull. From the first race when Sebastian Vettel captured the pole, it was clear that the Red Bull team had latched on to something special in the off-season. They’ve won the pole position in four of the nine races so far this season heading into Silverstone, with Vettel and his teammate Mark Webber scoring two poles each.
However, McLaren has matched that feat, with their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button each scoring two pole positions. They’ve also matched Red Bull in race wins, with each team scoring four victories through the midway point of the season. (Alonso’s victory in the season opening race was the only victory for a driver of a non-Red Bull or McLaren car.)
But at the end of the day, it’s McLaren’s consistency that puts them ahead of Red Bull through the first half of the 2010 season. They lead the manufacturer’s championship with Hamilton and Button in first and second in the driver’s championship race. Meanwhile, Red Bull has struggled with mechanical problems and on-track incidents. Webber has been involved in two incidents in recent weeks, colliding with Vettel and knocking both drivers out of contention for a race win in Turkey and then having a violent shunt in Valencia last week. Red Bull can still beat McLaren by the end of the season but they will need to avoid the mechanical and driving problems that have tripped them up recently.
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