F1 Fanatic - The Formula 1 Blog » European Grand Prix

Best finish of 2010 (Williams race review)

Keith Collantine — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 23:19:32 +0000

Rubens Barrichello gave Williams their best result of the year so far.

But with Nico Hülkenberg running in the points before retiring with a broken exhaust, they could have taken more away from their European Grand Prix weekend.

	Rubens Barrichello	Nico Hülkenberg
Qualifying position	9	8
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)	1’38.428 (+0.000)	1’38.428
Race position	4
Average race lap	1’46.232 (-1.18)	1’47.412
Laps	57/57	49/57
Pit stops	1	1

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Rubens Barrichello

Both drivers set identical lap times to within 0.001s during qualifying. Barrichello had to start behind his team mate as Hülkenberg set the time first.

By the end of lap one Barrichello was ahead of his team mate and Mark Webber too. As the safety car demoted the Ferraris he was eventually promoted to fourth.

But he had to fend off attacks from Robert Kubica, particularly when he came across the aftermath of the Timo Glock-Bruno Senna collision.

Compare Rubens Barrichello’s form against his team mate in 2010

Nico Hülkenberg

Wasn’t able to use the team’s version of the F-duct as it wouldn’t fit around his seat, Hülkenberg being taller than his team mate. The team expect to have it working for him at Silverstone.

He qualified well but was frustrated to slip down the order while waiting behind his team mate in the pits. After the re-start he was passed by Fernando Alonso.

But he retired eight laps from home while running tenth with a cracked exhaust pipe, leaving him kicking the barrier with frustration.

Compare Nico Hülkenberg’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

No joy in 500th race (Lotus race review)

Keith Collantine — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 21:53:57 +0000

The team raced with special logos commemorating their 500th start but suffered one of their worst races of the year.

	Jarno Trulli	Heikki Kovalainen
Qualifying position	19	20
Qualifying time comparison (Q1)	1’40.658 (-0.224)	1’40.882
Race position	21
Average race lap	1’55.135 (+6.424)	1’48.711
Laps	53/57	8/57
Pit stops	2	0

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Jarno Trulli

Took ‘new team pole’ yet again but was 1.3 seconds off 17th-placed Kamui Kobayashi on the long circuit.

After the race he claimed he’d been hit front behind, causing contact with another car which broke his front wing. The video replays show Trulli cutting the first corner and running into Pedro de la Rosa.

It’s possible someone hit him further around the lapb unseen by the cameras, which provoked his gearbox problem. After a long stop in the pits he returned to the track but finished last.

Compare Jarno Trulli’s form against his team mate in 2010

Heikki Kovalainen

Ran 18th and was defending his position from Mark Webber when the Red Bull driver hit him. The impact tore Kovalainen’s rear wing off and sent him into the barrier, removing his front wing.

He was able to drive his T127 back to the pits where he retired:

First of all it’s good news that both of us are OK. Mark had a hardcore flight, and it could have ended up much worse, so it’s good we’re both fine.

It’s such a shame the race ended that early – I was going really well, pulling away from the guys behind by about half a second a lap, and with Mark we were racing for position so I was always going to defend.

I didn’t do anything wrong and he just ran into me. I think he missed his braking point and he ran into me at a very bad angle – his front tyre hit my right rear and he took off. I had to make a mandatory visit to the medical centre, and shook hands with Mark there, but I’m absolutely fine, and glad Mark is too.
Heikki Kovalainen

Compare Heikki Kovalainen’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

Kubica disappointed to miss out on podium (Renault race review)

Keith Collantine — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:21:25 +0000

Robert Kubica reacted quickly when the safety car was deployed to get into the pits immediately.

Unfortunately his team were waiting with the wrong tyres when he got there.

The delay cost him his chance of finishing on the podium.

	Robert Kubica	Vitaly Petrov
Qualifying position	6	10
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)	1’38.137 (-0.386)	1’38.523
Race position	5	14
Average race lap	1’46.258 (-0.371)	1’46.629
Laps	57/57	57/57
Pit stops	1	1

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

Open lap times interactive chart in new window

Robert Kubica

Looked on course for a good qualifying position after being second in final practice. Took sixth ahead of Jenson Button and moved up a place at the expense of Mark Webber at the start.

Kubica was the first driver to make it into the pits when the safety car came out. But the team were waiting with Petrov’s tyres, having been expecting to bring him in on that lap instead, and the delay switching them around cost Kubica places to Button and Rubens Barrichello. He wasn’t able to get them back afterwards:

We got lucky when the Safety Car came out: I was already braking for the last corner when the message came on the steering wheel, so I decided to head straight to the pits.

Unfortunately, though, we didn’t manage to take maximum advantage of the opportunity: I was the first car into the pits but the third car to leave. If everything had gone smoothly, we could have finished on the podium this afternoon, but unfortunately we didn’t manage to do so.
Robert Kubica

Compare Robert Kubica’s form against his team mate in 2010

Vitaly Petrov

Was closer to Kubica in qualifying then he’d been at any other race in 2010. But he made a poor start from tenth, getting too much wheel spin and falling to 15th.

Petrov, like his team mate, got a five second penalty for going to quickly when the safety car came out. That dropped him from 11th to 14th.

Compare Vitaly Petrov’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

Did Hamilton try to stop Alonso getting in front of the safety car? (Video)

Keith Collantine — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:19:35 +0000

Fernando Alonso’s race was ruined when he got stuck behind the safety car during yesterday’s European Grand Prix.

Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton finished second despite getting a penalty for overtaking the safety car.

Video footage suggests Hamilton may have done his bit to make sure Alonso got stuck behind the safety car.

In the video above it’s clear that Hamilton is behind the safety car when he crosses the second safety car line, then overtakes the safety car. That explains why he got a penalty under article 40.7 of the sporting regulations which says:

With the following exceptions, no car may overtake until it has passed the first safety car line for the first time when the safety car is returning to the pits. [...] Any car leaving the pits may be overtaken by another car on the track before it crosses the second safety car line.

However it looks as though Hamilton could have reached the second safety car line before the safety car, but slowed down before he got there. Why was that?

In the press conference after the race Hamilton was asked twice about the incident:

Q: Lewis, you had your drive through penalty. Talk us through what happened when you saw the safety car coming out and you were side-by-side on the track.
LH: I don’t remember too much about it to be honest. I was coming round turn one and literally as I got to the safety car line I saw that the safety car was pretty much alongside me. I thought I had passed it, so I continued and that was it.

Q: Can you comment a little bit on this penalty with the safety car? Did you see the car coming out of the pits? Did you hesitate to overtake it?
LH: No, when I came down the straight, I was accelerating, I didn’t see the safety car coming out and then as I came round turn one, we know that obviously the safety car was out but I was able to push until the safety car two line, I think, and at that point I saw the safety car alongside me and I thought I was passed, so when I noticed it, he was already behind and so I continued.

Looking at the video replay it doesn’t seem to me that he was ‘pushing until the safety car two line’.

Two interpretations seem likely. Perhaps Hamilton hesitated because he wasn’t sure whether he was allowed to pass the safety car as it was in the pit lane. But given his words in the press conference, it seems he was aware of the rule concerning the safety car line.

Alternatively, perhaps he was fully aware of his obligations under the rules and chose to slow down to hold up the Ferraris, hoping he could get ahead of the safety car but they could not. If that was his plan, it backfired, because he failed to get over the safety car line before the safety car did.

As it happened, the ensuing penalty was not as damaging for Hamilton’s race as it could have been – but he would have had no way of knowing at the time that would be the case.

Beyond the few facts we know we can only guess at what actually happened here. But I suspect Fernando Alonso believes Hamilton was trying to hold him up, and that would go a long way to explaining the fury in Ferrari’s reaction to yesterday’s race.

Do you think Hamilton was trying to get the Ferraris stuck behind the safety car? Cast your vote and leave a comment below.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

Valencia’s short pit lane helps Hamilton hold onto second (European GP analysis)

Keith Collantine — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:42:11 +0000

It wasn’t just slow stewards which inadvertently helped Lewis Hamilton hold onto second place after his drive-through penalty.

Valencia’s short pit lane was the difference between him finishing second instead of sixth.

See below for more data on the European Grand Prix including the race progress and lap time interactive charts.

Lap 1

Lap 1 position change (click to enlarge)

Mark Webber didn’t get off the line too poorly, but after Lewis Hamilton got alongside him he was punished to the tune of seven places by the end of the first lap.

First the Ferraris set upon Webber, then Jenson Button and Robert Kubica went either side of him as they rounded turn eight, both making it past.

By the end of the lap Webber had slumped from second to ninth.

Vitaly Petrov blamed his poor start on wheelspin as the lights changed, dropping him from tenth to 15th.

Pit stops

Pit stops (click to enlarge)

The normal routine of pit stops was just getting started when Webber’s crash brought the safety car out.

Most of those who could pit on lap nine did, several others pitted on lap ten, and the ones who lost out were the ones who had to follow the safety car around before coming in – Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.

Hamilton spared himself that delay by illegally overtaking the safety car – unwittingly or otherwise. But as things worked out, the penalty he got for doing that was less than the time he ultimately saved by not following the safety car around.

Race progress

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

View interactive chart full screen

Tick/untick drivers’ names to show their laps, click and drag to zoom

Hamilton came very close to not making it out in front of Kobayashi. Drivers have up to three laps to serve drive-through penalties and McLaren kept him out as late as they could to maximise his chance of getting ahead.

At the point Hamilton was informed of the penalty he was 2.2s behind Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s radio broadcasts revealed he was saving fuel to attack Vettel later on. But once they knew they were getting a penalty Hamilton speeded up, increasing his gap over Kobayashi from 11.2s to 13.2s.

This was crucial, as typical pit lane time loss at Valencia is 12.7s. It’s the shortest pit lane F1 has used so far this year. Had the same situation happened at Shanghai, where pit lane time loss is 21s, Hamilton would have come out in sixth place behind Robert Kubica.

It’s worth reflecting that, not only did the stewards take rather too long to give Hamilton a penalty, but the only penalty available to them is one that varies in its severity from race to race. Hardly an ideal situation.

Drivers’ lap times

You need to upgrade your Flash Player

View interactive chart full screen

Tick/untick drivers’ names to show their laps, click and drag to zoom

Jenson Button grabbed the fastest lap late in the race with a 1’38.766. That was just 0.083s slower than the lap record, set by Timo Glock last year.

Lap chart

Lap chart (click to enlarge)

Adrian Sutil pulled off one of the race’s few overtaking moves and it paid off three times over.

As well as taking a place from Sebastian Buemi he was able to pull ahead and inherit another place from Kamui Kobayashi when the Sauber driver pitted.

It also meant he was far enough of ahead of Fernando Alonso that, when Sutil got his post-race five second penalty, he stayed ahead of Alonso.

NB. charts do not reflect time penalties added after the race.

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

European Grand Prix fastest laps

Keith Collantine — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:51:54 +0000

Rank	Driver	Car	Fastest lap	Deficit to fastest lap
1	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’38.766
2	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’38.968	0.202
3	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’39.141	0.375
4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’39.156	0.390
5	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1’39.489	0.723
6	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’39.517	0.751
7	Robert Kubica	Renault	1’39.542	0.776
8	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1’39.803	1.037
9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’39.878	1.112
10	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’39.889	1.123
11	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’40.084	1.318
12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1’40.100	1.334
13	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’40.208	1.442
14	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	1’40.305	1.539
15	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’40.327	1.561
16	Pedro de la Rosa	Sauber-Ferrari	1’40.430	1.664
17	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	1’40.790	2.024
18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	1’41.770	3.004
19	Timo Glock	Virgin-Cosworth	1’42.319	3.553
20	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	1’42.414	3.648
21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	1’42.927	4.161
22	Karun Chandhok	HRT-Cosworth	1’43.820	5.054
23	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’44.064	5.298
24	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	1’46.130	7.364

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

European Grand Prix in pictures

Keith Collantine — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:45:16 +0000

Whatever you thought of the result, the European Grand Prix was certainly a more exciting affair than previous races at Valencia had been.

Look back on a dramatic and controversial race with this collections of pictures from the European Grand Prix.

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

Images (C) Ferrari spa, Bridgestone/Ercole Colombo, www.mclaren.com, Getty Images/Red Bull, Force India F1 Team

Vettel wins chaotic race in Valencia (European Grand Prix review)

Keith Collantine — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 14:45:02 +0000

Sebastian Vettel scored his second win of 2010 in the European Grand Prix.

Vettel was chased home by the two McLarens, Lewis Hamilton delayed by a drive-through penalty and Jenson Button spending much of the race behind Kamui Kobayashi.

The outcome of the race was decided by a safety car period following a violent crash for Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber.

Webber had fallen from second to ninth on the first lap as Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and a string of others passed him.

Webber made an early pit stop but a slow front-left wheel change meant he fell behind Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus. The pair collided on lap 14, Webber flipping through the air (see separate story).

The safety car came out behind Vettel, in front of Alonso – and more or less alongside Hamilton. This seemed to confuse the McLaren driver who, after appearing to hesitate, passed the safety car before the first corner. But replays shown he had been behind the safety car at the line.

Meanwhile the other cars had to queue up behind the safety car which, for some of them, ruined their races. Chief among them were Ferrari, who had to make Felipe Massa wait behind Alonso for his pit stop.

The field pitted together behind the safety car. Vettel and Hamilton held their positions but Kamui Kobayashi appeared in third place, having started on the medium tyres and not pitted. He was about to become a thorn in the side of Button – and the saviour of Hamilton’s race.

By the time Hamilton got his penalty Kobayashi and Button had dropped so far behind that McLaren were able to bring Hamilton in for his drive-though without losing his position to the Sauber driver.

Kobayashi left his pit stop to make his mandatory change to super-soft tyres until there were just three laps to go. He came out behind Alonso and Sebastien Buemi, who were disputing seventh.

With the benefit of fresh tyres Kobayashi disposed of both of them in the final two laps. He dived down the inside of Alonso at turn 17 on the penultimate tour, then got Buemi for seventh at the last corner of the last lap.

Ahead of him Vettel took the chequered flag to win and move up to third in the drivers’ championship. Hamilton, second for the third year in a row at Valencia, keeps the lead in the championship ahead of Button, who finished third.

Rubens Barrichello finished an excellent fourth for Williams – though a double points finish was in the offing until Nico Hülkenberg parked up with eight laps to go.

Robert Kubica brought his Renault home fifth and Adrian Sutil was sixth for Force India, thanks to an earlier pass on Buemi.

The final point went to Pedro de la Rosa, ahead of Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg.

Felipe Massa was 14th behind Vitantonio Liuzzi, ahead of Jaime Alguersuari and Michael Schumacher, the latter making three pit stops during the race.

First among the new teams was Lucas di Grassi, who swapped places with team mate Timo Glock early on in the race.

Glock later collided with Bruno Senna while Kobayashi and Button came up to lap them. Glock recovered to finish behind his team mate.

Last of the finishers were Karun Chandhok, Senna and Jarno Trulli.

But many of these positions could change as the stewards are investigating nine drivers for their speed behind the safety car.

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

European Grand Prix result

Keith Collantine — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:55:28 +0000

Pos	Num	Driver	Car	Laps	Gap	Difference	Grid
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	57			1
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	57	5.042	5.042	3
3	1	Jenson Button*	McLaren-Mercedes	57	12.658	7.616	7
4	9	Rubens Barrichello*	Williams-Cosworth	57	25.627	12.969	9
5	11	Robert Kubica*	Renault	57	27.122	1.495	6
6	14	Adrian Sutil*	Force India-Mercedes	57	30.168	3.046	13
7	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	57	30.965	0.797	18
8	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	57	32.809	1.844	4
9	16	Sebastien Buemi*	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	57	36.299	3.490	11
10	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	57	44.382	8.083	12
11	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	57	46.621	2.239	5
12	22	Pedro de la Rosa*	Sauber-Ferrari	57	47.414	0.793	16
13	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	57	48.239	0.825	17
14	12	Vitaly Petrov*	Renault	57	48.287	0.048	10
15	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	57	48.826	0.539	15
16	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi*	Force India-Mercedes	57	50.890	2.064	14
17	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin-Cosworth	56	1 lap	1 lap	21
18	20	Karun Chandhok	HRT-Cosworth	55	2 laps	1 lap	23
19	24	Timo Glock**	Virgin-Cosworth	55	2 laps	0.897	22
20	21	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	55	2 laps	29.135	24
21	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus-Cosworth	53	4 laps	2 laps	19
	10	Nico Hülkenberg*	Williams-Cosworth	49	8 laps	4 laps	8
	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus-Cosworth	8	49 laps	41 laps	20
	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	8	49 laps	1.289	2

*5-second penalty
**20 second penalty

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

Vettel up to third behind McLarens – full championship points

Keith Collantine — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:55:03 +0000

Drivers’ championship standings

Position	Driver	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	127
2	Jenson Button	121
3	Sebastian Vettel	115
4	Mark Webber	103
5	Fernando Alonso	98
6	Robert Kubica	83
7	Nico Rosberg	75
8	Felipe Massa	67
9	Michael Schumacher	34
10	Adrian Sutil	31
11	Rubens Barrichello	19
12	Vitantonio Liuzzi	12
13	Sebastien Buemi	7
14	Kamui Kobayashi	7
15	Vitaly Petrov	6
16	Jaime Alguersuari	3
17	Nico Hülkenberg	1
=18	Timo Glock	0
=18	Pedro de la Rosa	0
=18	Lucas di Grassi	0
=18	Karun Chandhok	0
=18	Jarno Trulli	0
=18	Heikki Kovalainen	0
=18	Bruno Senna	0

Constructors’ championship standings

Position	Team	Points
1	McLaren	248
2	Red Bull	218
3	Ferrari	165
4	Mercedes	109
5	Renault	89
6	Force India	43
7	Williams	20
8	Toro Rosso	10
9	Sauber	7
=10	HRT	0
=10	Lotus	0
=10	Virgin	0

Update following the penalties handed to ten drivers.

2010 European Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles