No prizes for guessing the worst moment of 2010

2010 F1 season review

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Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Hockenheimring, 2010

There were many different nominations for the best moments of 2010 named here yesterday.

But when asked about the worst moment of the year one particular controversy came up time and time again.

Even some Ferrari fans agreed that Felipe Massa being ordered to let Fernando Alonso win at Hockenheim was the low-point of the season:

Ferrari’s team orders

Felipe Massa was on the cusp of a remarkable and unlikely win in Hockenheim. Exactly one year to the day since he was dreadfully injured in Hungary, it would have been a heart-warming story.

Sadly, Ferrari chose to order him to give up his win to help Fernando Alonso in the world championship.

Fortunately in the final reckoning F1 was spared Alonso winning the title by the tainted seven extra points he collected.

But that’s no comfort for Massa, who needlessly surrendered what should have been his victory. Hopefully that will serve as a lesson to any other driver who is called upon to do the same.

The strength of feeling over Ferrari’s team orders has been made clear in the comments every time it’s come up for discussion here. It was far and away the single most common choice for worst moment of the year in the forum:

The team orders debacle in Hockenheim, it was so soul-destroying watching Ferrari do that to Massa.
Magnificent Geoffrey

Team orders from Ferrari.
morningview66

Hockenheim. As a Ferrari fan, I understand it was necessary, but it was poorly executed.
sumedhvidwans

Team orders in Hockenheim. The worst part of it was the fact that it ruined the race. Massa was struggling with primes, and Alonso was much faster – had we not seen the team order, maybe we would see an awesome battle for the win between the team mates.
Enigma

Ferrari changing the cars in Germany. It was the first time I felt outraged watching Formula 1.
Ciaran Walsh

Ferrari issuing team orders in Germany.
Prisoner Monkeys

The Ferrari switcharound in Germany springs to mind obviously, but that’s more of a ‘bitter’ moment for me.
Electrolite

The low of Ferrari making Massa give up the wonderful win a year after being in hospital in Hungary (that would have been one of the best), even worse the WMSC being reluctant to hand out a serious punishment. Kudos to the stewards for actually handing out that fine though.
BasCB

Ferrari’s team orders were dealt with poorly and the team have deservedly got a lot of flak for it. I don’t like the way Massa has been cast into the background. OK, Alonso is definitely the team leader, but it doesn’t mean Massa has to be treated rubbish.
Dan Thorn

Ferrari team orders at Hockenheim. Everyone else has covered this already, but I feel it deserves a mention. Undoubtedly the low point of the year
Ned Flanders

Ferrari robbing Massa of a fairytale win on the anniversary of him having a near-fatal crash whilst driving for them. Disgusting.
Casanova

Undoubtedly the team orders debacle at Hockenheim.
SundarF1

Massa pulling over in Germany
Xenon2

Of course the dreaded slow motion radio of Rob Smedley: “Fernando-is-faster-than-you!” Then he adds the straw that breaks the camel’s back: “Sorry!”
LAK

Worst moment is pretty obviously Massa capitulating in Hockenheim, and with that the WMSC’s decision to let the penalty stand but not punish Ferrari further (“they’ve done nothing wrong but we’re going to keep their money”).
US_Peter

It has to be the team orders in Hockenheim. I understand why Ferrari did that but I still feel terribly sorry for Massa. Ferrari’s behaviour after the race was simply disgusting.
Girts

Worst moment? Ferrari ruining what would have been the moment of the year.
Icthyes

…and the rest

Although he was unhurt, Mark Webber’s massive crash in Valencia had people worried:

Webber’s smash in Valencia. What was sickening for me was not the way he somersaulted, but the speed he smacked into the barrier with the car just a toboggan by this stage.
Bullfrog

I’d have to say Webber’s flip really got me out my seat in fear for a split second, which was a horrible moment.
Electrolite

And the season finale lacked the unpredictable sparkle of many of the races that preceded it:

Abu Dhabi, so much hype, great qualifying, what happened to the race?
Juan Pablo Heidfeld

Pretty much every second of the Abu Dhabi GP. What a terrible track to end the season on. Strategy decided the title.
Todfod

The moment on about lap 1 when I realised just how bad Abu Dhabi is as a circuit.
James_mc

If this all feels a bit negative to you, make sure you saw The four best moments of a thrilling 2010 from yesterday.

What did you think was the worst moment of 2010? Have your say in the comments.

And don’t forget to make your nominations for the best F1 pass of 2010 and rate the drivers of 2010.

2010 F1 season review

Browse all 2010 F1 season review articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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116 comments on “No prizes for guessing the worst moment of 2010”

  1. I remember just feeling ashamed watching Hockenheim. I had friends over, and there’s always the debate of “it goes on too long” or “it’s a bit boring with no crashes”. Then suddenly you had Massa leading 1 year after his crash, readying to do battle with his favoured team mate, who happened to be a former two time World Champion. We were all salivating at the thought, only to have it taken away.

    Really embarrasing.

    1. I know what you mean Dan, I remember feeling completely disgusted. Earlier that day saw the disintegrating end of my last relationship, wanting to console myself with something I love, I switched on my recording of the race. I forgot all about my pain as I watched Massa, my favorite driver leading, on course to win, a year to the day exactly after nearly dying, and then Ferrari unceremoniously stripped it all away. I’ve never been more disgusted, nor felt so upset when watching a sport in my entire life. Not only did Ferrari hurt a loyal driver, it’s loyal fans, and the whole F1 community that day. It hurt me, as I like Massa was desperately needing a good result.

      1. :'(
        comment too short

  2. Ibviously hockenheim was the worst but second worst for me is hamiltons crash at catalunya. Ruined the championship in the end

  3. Hearing the radio traffic between Massa and Rob Smedley in Hockienhiem and the letting through of a double world champion who couldn’t even mount a decent attack on his team mate stands head and shoulders above everything else as the worst moment of the season.

    The other ‘worst moments’ were watching Webber slam into the barrier after having flown through the air in Valencia, and watching Liuzzi’s nose cone almost behead Schumacher at Abu Dhabi.

  4. Prisoner Monkeys
    1st December 2010, 11:55

    I very nearly turned my television off when Ferrari pulled that stunt in Hockenheim … but my flatmate was up at the time calling Saudi Arabia and I wasn’t going to get to sleep until he ended the call (although we had our own rooms, they were interconnected and a door doesn’t allow for much privacy) so I kept watching.

    However, there is one notable omission from the list of bad moments: the furore in Valencia. Not only the debacle that was the penalty for Hamilton, but also the way Ferrari tried to penalise everyone else simply because Hamilton’s penalty didn’t go their way. We all know that if Hamilton had ended up eighth or ninth after his penalty, Ferrari wouldn’t have tried to change the race result with the delta time ruling.

    1. Yeah that was a shocking display of sportsmanship by Fernando at Valencia, almost equalled by his reaction at Silverstone to getting a penalty for not letting Kubica back through after he passed him by jumping the chicane.

    2. At what point did Ferrari attempt to change the result? The stewards looked into the delta time infringements without any external encouragement.

      Ferrari complained afterwards about the fact that no meaningful penalty was given out, which was fair enough – every driver should have been given a drive-through penalty, rather than docked 5 seconds. It definitely felt like an attempt to stitch up Ferrari.

      1. Yes, because when you have completed nearly a full racing lap at racing speeds, slowing right down at the last corner and for the end of the lap to meet the delta time just as soon as the SC board comes out is both safe and practical to do…

      2. Prisoner Monkeys
        1st December 2010, 21:44

        At what point did Ferrari attempt to change the result? The stewards looked into the delta time infringements without any external encouragement.

        The stewards rely on the teams to report infractions. Given that there was a massive delay between the delta times being broken and the stewards investigating (unlike the Hamilton-safety car incident, which was investigated almost straight away), it’s fairly obvious that someone took their time about it. In fact, the stewards didn’t look into the delta time breaches until after Ferrari sent Alonso a message several laps after the safety car incident saying that they needed him to sit tight whilst they looked into what they could do about it. Given that Ferrari was the only team to gain anything from prosecuting nine drivers (and also pretty much the only team totally unaffected by it), it’s fairly obvious they had a hand in it. They saw that Hamilton’s penalty didn’t drop him down the order the way they were expecting it to, so they went looking for something to improve their results. All they really did was highlight the flaws in the delta time rule – when Webber flipped, Jenson Button was practically on top of the pit entry and was able to react fast enough to pit. There was no way he was not going to break the delta time shrt of coming to a complete stop on the circuit.

        1. I’m not sure I understand this one.

          If the other teams broke a rule, surely it’s fair that Ferrari would want to make a complaint about it. If their cars where within the rules, as Alonso drastically slowed his car, and the others weren’t, then I can’t see how Ferrari did anything wrong.

    3. I completely forgot about that. It wasn’t so much Hamilton or Alonso’s doing there that almost ruined that race, it was the shocking lack of speed of action by the stewards.

  5. Redbull in turkey
    and also petrov blocking Fernando in abudhabi

    1. Prisoner Monkeys
      1st December 2010, 12:03

      Petrov didn’t block Alonso. If he had have, the stewards would have given him a drive-through penalty. Alonso’s problem was that he couldn’t get close enough to pass the Russian. And even if he did, it’s unlikely he would have gotten by Rosberg, and later Kubica.

      The real issue here was that Alonso had been trapped behind Petrov before, in Istanbul. Nobody really remembers it because of the Red Bull shenanigans, but Alonso spent thirty laps trying to get by Petrov (it was particularly funny when Andrea Stella said Petrov would fold within two laps if he was put under enough pressure). In fact, the only reason why Alonso even got by him was because he tagged the Renault and gave Petrov a slow puncture.

      The point is that this is not the first time Alonso got caught behind Petrov. Yet for somebody of Alonso’s calibre as a driver, it was a greivous oversight to completely forget about it. From watching the race in Abu Dhabi, it was fairly obvious that Alonso was simply expecting Petrov to wither and die within a few laps – yet if he had remembered their previous encounter (which the likes of Schumacher and Hamilton and Hakkinen would have), he probably would have gotten by.

      Fernando Alonso had no-one to blame for his failure to get by Vitaly Petrov but himself.

      1. Exactly what I thought this afternoon while rewatching some of the race edits on f1.com. Surely if you’re Petrov, you’re bound to try even harder to keep a driver behind you after such a moment.

      2. PM! Spot On. This is one of the most glaring examples of why Alonso, despite his 26 race wins, is not on the same level as someone like Schumacher or Hakkinen.

        That and this whole team orders business that got this article started in the first place.

      3. The season long fights between Schumacher/Hakkinen has to make up one of the greatest rivalries in F1.

    2. yeah i also hate racing…..

      1. I know its disgraceful when ‘slower’ drivers hold up ‘faster’ cars behind them…. What do they think this is? A sport? Didn’t they learn the lesson of Hockenheim, that no one is to impeed th progress of Alonso?

    3. Blocking? Utter nonsense.

    4. This isnt Indycar, where depending your position on a road course is apparantly unsafe and illegal.

  6. Can we all let this go now? It made the last race brilliant didn’t it?

    Look at it from Ferrari’s point of view, if Massa didn’t let him through then Vettel would’ve caught up, Ferrari couldn’t risk that. I will always look at F1 as a team sport and this didn’t ruin the race for me. It showed how smart Ferrari are.

    1. “It showed how smart Ferrari are.”

      Jeez

    2. great summary, well apart from the fact that Vettel wasn’t catching Alonso and Alonso wasn’t being held up by Massa…

      1. Well they told Massa to tune his engine down and after that indeed Alonso was faster …

        1. not significantly, the only time alonso really made up on Massa was Massa had traffic to deal with, which Alonso tended to loose when he had to deal with the same traffic.

    3. Wow, a very bold joke there Riise.

      1. Yeah, I got a chuckle or two from his claims, too.

    4. Haters Gonna Hate

      Anyway how can Mclaren fans criticise Ferrari? Oh the irony.

      1. I think when you read comments from people who describe themselves as Ferrari fans criticising what happened, you realise there’s more to this than “haters gonna hate”.

        1. the fans who matter to Ferrari are Italians fans, I’m part Italian and they view it the same as Ferrari. If so called English Ferrari fans have their sensibilities offended why dont they go and support anglo-saxon mclaren which clearly is the more “righteous” and “honest” team in f1 and will fit in to their sense of british virtue.

          1. “the fans who matter to Ferrari are Italians fans,”

            I’m glad you said that and not me.

          2. YH, your comments are simply offensive to the many knowledgeable, non-Italian Ferrari fans (I am one of them) who post on this blog.

            Just because you support a team doesn’t mean you have to literally agree with absolutely everything they do. That’s not being a fan, that’s just being brainwashed.

          3. I’ll second that sentiment. Well said, David.

          4. YH,again I have to point out on this forum that England makes up only one country of the whole of Great Britain.

            GEOGRAPHY LESSON>
            1.SCOTLAND has Scottish F! fans
            2.Wales has Welsh F1 fans
            3.Ireland has Irish F1 fans.

            Comprehendre pas?

          5. and your point is? there is a clear division between english speakers who have nothing positive to say about ferrari compared to those of other nationalities. but then again prejudices towards italians is just not an f1 thing, it’s quite mainstream. Ferrari are too emotional, have a spaghetti culture, lazy, corrupt, cheats. Ferrari should stop giving interviews to english speaking press/fans, there is no difference between so called specialist media and tabloid headlines. i hope they boycott the british grand prix

          6. and your point is? there is a clear division between english speakers who have nothing positive to say about ferrari compared to those of other nationalities

            My point is that Ferrari fans from England are no-less Ferrari fans than people from Italy, and that there is a difference between being a fan and blindly agreeing with everything that happens.

            Every country with a successful F1 driver or team will have people who hate a particular driver/team. Like people from Spain hating Mclaren/Hamilton. But believe it or not, it is possible to be Spanish AND a Mclaren fan. So why the hell can’t I, an Englishman support Ferrari?

            Ferrari are too emotional, have a spaghetti culture, lazy, corrupt, cheats. Ferrari should stop giving interviews to english speaking press/fans… i hope they boycott the british grand prix

            Oh yeah, like refusing to race as if they were children will help shake off that image. Stop posting such extremist nonsense.

          7. “Oh yeah, like refusing to race as if they were children will help shake off that image.”

            That is exactly the point, you as an Englishman would not understand Ferrari would be standing up to malicious English speaking press and fans, you would rather see them condemned, that is why English fans cannot possibly understand what Ferrari are about and should stick to supporting teams like McLaren. True Ferrari fans grew up in and understand Italian culture.

          8. Nonsense. You can be a fan of whoever you choose and it doesn’t matter make a difference if you were born in Maranello or Manchester.

      2. There’s a lot of ‘irony’ in F1, but not nearly as much as when Ferrari had Italians designing and building its chassis. Good job they had less ‘irony’ engines. Less ‘irony’ gearboxes appeared in the late eighties courtesy of an Englishman. Oh the irony!

  7. That Webber crash in Valencia was a bad moment.

    Having watched my childhood hero die live in 1994 my heart still sinks at crashes like that. Although once I saw he was okay the fear went and I quite enjoyed viewing the replays. How bad is that?!

    Hockenheim was embarrassing.

    1. Not so bad, I mean his car did a backflip! How often will you ever see something like an F1 car do a backflip, that’s a real sight!

      Shame he didn’t stick the landing he could have won gold, oh oh, wrong sport.

  8. And now there saying legalizing will make what happened in Hockenheim better. It would’ve saved us the whole “Ferrari should be punished but we can’t” chapter, but the incident itself would still be disgusting to watch.

  9. The crazy thing about Webber’s crash, and everyone remembering it as horrible, is that it was just one of a spate that happened around that time – and, because of the big run-off areas it was actually the most minor.

    Several GP2 drivers ended up with nasty injuries, there was a narrow escape a few days later in Formula Palmer Audi (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvs4o0vbAMs) and of course the horrible accidents suffered by Mike Conway and Chris van der Drift.

    Not taking anything away from the danger of Webber’s crash, it could have been appalling. But, at the same time, we oughtn’t forget the guys who didn’t get to walk away with a wry grin to camera.

    1. Absolutely true Andy. This year has been full of scary accidents with cars flying all over the tracks and barriers.
      Also don’t forget Buemi’s cousin and other sports car crashes.

  10. Anatoly Nechaev
    1st December 2010, 12:21

    Worst moments for me are Alonso’s gesticulations throughout the season. From the top of my head – With Di Grassi in Monaco and Petrov in Abu Dhabi. But there was a lot more.

    This guy should grow up.
    This is racing, not “give me a way cos i have a faster car”.

    1. They are all competent and rivals and bound to show their frustrations.

      You tell me, how often u dont curse/ gesticulate angrily on someone who came between u and ur dream. Here Petrov was the guy and I agree he did his job brilliantly but Alonso is a human being and stop being harsh on him coz u dont like him.
      We are all bound to do the same thing which he did and dont try to be a saint.
      Atleast he isnt a programmed human being like Mclaren’s drivers who are so lovey dovey in public cant see eye to eye on the podium.

      1. First, the Mclaren drivers can’t see eye to eye on the podium because Hamilton is short.

        And secondly, He has a point that Alonso’s anger is probably not a good trait to have, and it’s not particularly sportsmanlike either.

      2. You tell me, how often u dont curse/ gesticulate angrily on someone who came between u and ur dream.

        That doesn’t excuse Alonso for shaking his fist at anyone who is on the road in front of him. It is not a good trait. It’s just immature for someone who is almost 30.

      3. Anatoly Nechaev
        3rd December 2010, 8:37

        I wasn’t talking only about Petrov’s situation (which i could understand, but not approve). He was consistently angry about all drivers in front of him.

        Most remarkable for me was Monaco situation. No matter how faster you are, don’t think that you can expect anyone to just move aside. It’s a racing, damn it. It was your fault that you crashed in quali. Now man up and fight.

  11. My personal top 4 worst moments:

    1) Ferrari Team Orders
    2) Bahrain opening the season
    3) Abu Dhabi as the finale of a championship race
    4) Rosberg’s wheel rolling down pit lane

    1. I think number 4 is pretty awful along with some of the other unsafe occurances (Vettel/Hamilton and other releases) in the pits. I think the fines need to be greater for these things to stop such things. Someone is going to get seriously hurt at some point.

      Bahrain and Abu Dhabi aren’t particularly exciting circuits but I think they aren’t as bad as Rosberg’s wheel flying loose.

      I would add the failure of the Korean circuit to meet the deadlines. They’ve simply set a precedent now for not respecting deadlines.

      I would contend the race fixing is just as bad with both Red Bull and Ferrari attempting to manipulate the results of their drivers with different engine settings. It worked in Germany but not in Turkey. That’s not racing and I think that’s weak.

      1. Hopefully the FIA has learned from their own mistakes with regards to Korea, and will set stricter deadlines and inspections earlier for upcoming new circuits.

    2. Oh wow have we all forgotten. Rosberg’s wheel flying down the pitlane was by far the “worst” it was so dangerous and so unusual, yet I haven’t seen anyone mention it as the worst moment of the year until now. Any I’m also glad you mentioned Bahrain, let everyone complain about Abu Dhabi, it was worlds better than the race at Bahrain was!

      1. Has anyone mentioned the HRT Mechanic who was hospitalised after being knocked down by Yamamoto in Monza?

        I’m sorry, but whatever your opinion of the Team Orders episode, someone being seriously injured is worse.

  12. I was on holiday. The TV didn’t work. I was upset to miss the race. I looked on my mobile for the live timing. I saw Massa 1st, Alonso 2nd. I was enthusiastic. Later I looked again hoping the race had finished with that order. Then I saw Alonso 1st, Massa 2nd. It was really sad for me despite I didn’t know Ferrari had used team orders. When I heard it at the News, I was shocked. I criticised that choice until the Singapore GP when I understood the reason of that choice, but I still don’t share it.
    Then Ferrari were capable of losing the title anyway.

  13. Easily the worst moment was listening to people whinge about team orders. With any luck alot of the “england” fans who drifted into he sport on the back of 2 WDC will drift away again.

    Of course it is better for us, the spectator, that Webber & Vettel fought so much they crashed into each other but without such a dominant car they would have lost the WDC easily.

    The sport is there for the participants, we are there as paying guests, thats all. The tail wags the dog too often in sport.

    1. Easily the worst moment was listening to people whinge about team orders. With any luck alot of the “england” fans who drifted into he sport on the back of 2 WDC will drift away again.

      If you think only English people complained about team orders the numbers aren’t on your side:

      Over three-quarters of readers said Ferrari deserved to be punished.

      Several weeks later three-quarters said the WMSC’s decision was too lenient.

      But only one-third of the site’s readership is British (some fraction of that will be be the ‘England fans’ you’re referring to).

      1. Yeah, I’m from Texas antonyob, and I don’t think anyone aside from Massa’s mother maybe, was more outraged than me about the whole team orders debacle.

    2. True, but the word “paying” says all you need to know. We (read: sponsors) pay the bills. Without us no F1.

      1. this is a british blog and those polls says over 60% are english speakers, why do you even bother reporting on ferrari and those italians if they revolt you so much.

        1. You think that native English speakers are automatically anti-Ferrari? I’m sorry but that’s just ludicrous.

          Ferrari are a great team, steeped in history, who’ve built some amazing cars (and not just their F1 racers).

          Fernando Alonso is an exceptional driver, certainly one of the best in the sport today, perhaps the best of them all.

          What I object to is the tactics they used in Hockenheim which were a disgrace and, frankly, should be beneath them.

          1. “You think that native English speakers are automatically anti-Ferrari”

            yes, it has always been evident. whatever Ferrari do they will always be wrong/cheaters/liars in the eyes of all english press and f1 fans who think that only anglo-saxons should be allowed to win.

          2. Jarred Walmsley
            1st December 2010, 19:50

            I’m sorry, I must have missed the last time any other team switched their drivers around on the anniversary of said first drivers near death. How dreadful of me to be upset by that,

            And for your information YH, I am actually very anti McLaren as they have abandoned their heritage. At least Ferrari have kept their historical roots.

          3. yes, it has always been evident. whatever Ferrari do they will always be wrong/cheaters/liars in the eyes of all english press and f1 fans who think that only anglo-saxons should be allowed to win.

            You could probably find a handful of the more hysterical tabloid newspapers that fit that description. But if that remark is really supposed to encompass the entire English-speaking media, including websites such as this, specialist media, newspapers and broadcast media of all kinds, then it’s clearly ridiculous hyperbole.

    3. Glad I am not alone in my view of this.

      +100 antonyob

      1. Not being from England or Italy, or where-ever I have an outside opinion on this, but I absolutely hate it when people let nationalisms or regionalisms get in the way of sport. Maybe some English do dislike Ferrari, but saying all of them do is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all day.

    4. If the participants left f1, others would take their place. If the fans left, there would be no f1.

      Also, I have been watching F1 since 97 ish and the incident in Hockenheim, along with all other team orders incidents before that, still annoyed me. In fact I think this was the worst case because of the way Ferrari treated the fans like uneducated, ignorant children.

      1. you started watching just as it started to lose its edge, if you can dig it up go and watch seasons 1991-1996, epic.

        1. 91 to 96? naaa, epic is more like 1982-1990.

  14. I remember watching the race and on the live chat saying how it had been the most relaxed and happy I’d felt since 2008 watching Massa lead and then Ted said that the Ferrari pitwall were a little tense and I just knew it would go to rubbish.

    I still get why Ferrari did it and I’ve always supported the team rather than just a driver (even if I have a massive soft spot for Massa). I hate it though; I don’t like orders to let someone through, it felt too early and I was sentimental about Massa that day. It was one of those heart vs head moments. It really seems pointless now but hindsight is rarely kind.

  15. Craig Woollard
    1st December 2010, 12:58

    Bahrain was the biggest low-point for me (excl. the obvious one), I hyped 2010 up so much before the start of the season, Schumacher, Mercedes, Lotus, Sauber all returning, Renault’s potential resurgence, McLaren and Ferrari returning to where they belong, Button to McLaren, Alonso to Ferrari, Rosberg to Mercedes, Force India potentially starting 2010 how they finished 2009, Barrichello to Williams, a Senna in Formula 1 once again, and the list goes on? What drama did we have in the race? The rookies couldn’t handle the heat, and Vettel had sparkplug issues, and that was it!? I was not impressed after that race, but I never gave up hope on Formula 1 and I knew Australia was going to be a lot better, and it was, Bahrain resulted in a lot of head-scratching for me…

  16. Lets look at what Ferrari did Hockenheim another way. Massa was heading for his best result in over a year.
    What if ferrari had of just let him have it for the sake of 7 points. Massa’s head & morale dropped after that
    and he was no longer there to take points away from Alonso’s rivals which could have been a lot more than the
    dreaded 7 points. It was Massa probably more than anyone cost Alonso the championship in Abu Dhabi by not covering
    Webber so Alonso wouldn’t have to. Not saying would have happened buts its a realistic probability.

    1. I hope Massa is able to get out of that state of mind, but I agree it would have ment an enormous boost to his confidence and spirit and he might have been able to drive like a devil to help get Ferrari both the WCC and the WDC for the team and a driver.

    2. I dont understand the logic behind the team paid someone to be no. 2, what kind of person is that accepting his racing role is to support no. 1? I’m interested to know the personality of no. 1!

  17. Now I look back on the season ‘team orders gate’ wasn’t that bad. I was at Hockenheim for the Grand Prix and it made a rather dull race into an unforgettable one.

    1. I dunno, if Massa won I would’ve celebrated that race. As others have said his victory would’ve been a very sentimental win, a year to the day after his skull fracture and his first win since 2008.

      1. Exactly, it might have been THE highlight of the season with Massa winning his first race again, exactly a year after the accident. That would have been an amazing feelgood story.

        1. Who knows this could off been the begining of a resurgent all conquering Massa ,but No , He left there deflated and broken.

  18. I can only agree with Keith’s estimation. And reason why this incident burns so much is because of Alonso’s persitent attitude. Give him his due; he is likely the most complete if not the absolute quickest racer today, but his megalomania grates.

    In an interview yesterday Alonso was crowing about how he took Massa to the woodshed this year. Greatest margin to a teammate ever, he said. No humility, or respect for a man who has bona fide speed who came back from a brain injury to be your footstool.

    Of course there will always be an tin-lining to Alonso’s self-congratulations: However much one says he deserved his #1 status at Renault and Ferrari, the one time when he didn’t get the official status, he was dealt with—by a rookie.

    1. It must be the teammate complex he still carries with him from 2007.

    2. Atleast we get to hear the exact toughts of a man. HE says what he thinks and he was right in thinking so.
      He was happy that he beat Massa by so much margin and he made it public.
      This site has so many bunch of hypocrites taking their fire out of their belly on Alonso.
      On one instance , bloggers say that drivers are all programmed and always say goddie things abt their team mates and teams.
      And if someone (in this case Alonso) speaks his mind, you criticize him.

      Yes Alonso isnt very humble but do u watch F1 to see his humility or his ruthless racing. I certalinly watch F1 to see the racing but I think u r more into interviews and blogs.
      Grow up .

  19. Bahrain was the worst weekend of racing i’ve ever seen.

  20. While I really do not like what Ferrari did, it actually gave me one of the funniest moments of the year. Rob Smedley talking to Massa on the way in to the pits at the end of the race and telling him he would explain what magnanamous meant later. Give that man a stand-up show.

  21. they were 2 separate points Keith. i was more talking of my experience at Silverstone this year than i was your website readership. i dont think Fanatic has many “england” fans at all. 99% are complete anoroaks like myself.

  22. Ferrari team orders
    Ferrari pretending there were no team orders
    FIA pretending Bahrain is a F1 race track
    Mark Webber airborne
    Schumacher’s near miss at Abu Dhabi
    Schumacher stuffing Barrichello towards a wall
    Alonso and Ferrari moaning at, after and well after Valencia
    Renault’s fresh engines at Abu Dhabi
    Mark Webber moaning about Red Bull’s lack of emotional support at Brazil
    everyone moaning too much about people moaning

  23. surely Webber airborne was literally the high point of the year.

    re team orders. why do ex drivers like Moss, commentators like Murray and the old guard think team orders are ok but the, lets call them generation Y’s, think its not ok…yet the paradox is we all consider racing to be more sporting back in t’old days?

    And dont quote me the rules, the rules were put in because “dressing gown” spectators whinged, not the other way round.

  24. yes remember, its ” conserve fuel please” NOT “let him thru” – THAT would be cheating!

  25. I remember team orders as being when drivers chose the bits for their cars from what was available in the parts bin at the track.

    Stirling Moss, for example, would get all the best bits by going out and testing them on track and his team mates would get what was left. They were the days when one engine/chassis/gearbox was better than another despite being of the same spec. Moss’s team mates were never expected to win, but they were expected to hand their car over should his break down. These were one car teams with ‘spare’ cars out on track.

    That was the birth of ‘team orders’.

    Today the cars are made to unbelievably much better tolerances and no one gets the ‘cast offs’ any more.

    No more team orders please.

  26. the The team orders debacle in Hockenheim was poor but surely the low point was when the FIA let them off…absolute disgrace

  27. I’m surprised Webber got a mention in the category of “worst moment of the year” for his crash. To be honest I genuinely didn’t feel concerned for his safety as I watched it happen. Roll-hoops and all. The only time I’ve had a proper internal yelp for someone’s safety is when Schumacher nearly got his head rammed off in Abu Dhabi. I didn’t enjoy seeing that live. Trulli’s pirouette over Chandok would have been the other moment but I only saw the replays.

  28. As far as crashes go – Schumacker and Liuzzi – that car seemed pretty darn close to Michael’s head!

  29. HounslowBusGarage
    1st December 2010, 20:37

    I’m not bothered about ‘team order’. I’m really not.
    As far as I’m concerned, F1 is a team sport and just like football, you have blokes designated to be at the front and blokes designated to be at the back. So if they get in the wrong position, the team manager is entitled to tell them to get back in the right order.
    No, the worst moment of the season for me was this stupid equivocation of the Powers That Be in declaring Ferrari guilty, but declining to enforce a sensible penalty and letting the points advantage stand. $100,000 equals 7 points, if I remember correctly. Stupid.

  30. If Ferrari had said to Massa “The crow flies at midnight, nudge nudge wink wink” that would of been one thing, but to say “Fernado is quicker than you” then for him too pull over was the most guiling thing ive seen in a long time. Then I had too shrug my shoulders as my non F1 friends ripped my past time ( notice I didn`t use sport ) too pieces.

    1. Well it’s not been a sport since Alonso said so a while ago. Someone remind me of the reason he said that. LOL

  31. They say that you get bad result when you rob someone, Alonso & Ferrari have got the result in Abu Dhabi.

    1. Cheats never prosper, and for both McLaren and Ferrari, that saying seems to be holding true.

      I can only see a RedBull/Mercedes battle next season being worthy of any interest for those that put integrity high on their list of reasons to watch F1.

      1. I would love to see Mclaren & Ferrari alone with Renault, Mercedes & Red Bull to fight but they got to play fair.You will earn more respect if you finishes second but play fair.

  32. I was at Mallory Park watching some classics Morgan & Jag races the day of the German grand prix. I had spent the afternoon making sure no-one would inadvertently tell me the result. Very dissapointed when I got home and watched it. I have downloaded every race in the last 4 years(I didn’t realise people capped F1 before that.) Except Germany 2010.

  33. Yes Keith and on it goes. Im sure if you took a poll in the English tabloids you’d get an even higher % saying it was “outrageous blah blah blah.” Doesnt make your argument right.

    Alonso is right, he shouldnt hide what he has done, Ferrari are right to do what they did. Ferrari is everything, the drivers are just a means to a goal. ( im not even close to being a ferrari fan )

    If you dont understand that then you are denying the sports history.

  34. Schumacher trying to kill Barichello in Canada.

    1. Schumacher trying to kill Barichello in Canada.

      LOL. What did he use? A barrage of maple leaves?

      1. I missed that too. Was it on the news?

    2. I was refering to the episode where he forces Barichello very close to the wall.

    3. It was in Hungary, sorry about that.

  35. The big difference here seems to be the small matter of $999,000,000.

    Of course, the real irony is that Pat Fry is now passing on lots of info back to Ferrari for no consequences at all.

    It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it that matters.LOL

    McLaren got it wrong with regards to information transference and were punished heavily. Ferrari got it wrong with regards to team orders and they weren’t.

  36. omg ! did alonso raise his fist at another driver!!! ???i’ll alert the village elders. jeez, its like a fish wives tea break on here sometimes.

    if people arent crying that the sport isnt a sport or that it doesnt match exactly their idea of whats fair and whats not; then they’re holding their petticoats and squealing at some drivers “dreadful” behaviour.

    Dennis Jenks would be turning in his grave

  37. My worst moment in the season has come well after the season ended.

    I was once an Alonso fan. I grew up in Spain and he was my favourite driver for a few years because of this and his excellent driving.

    I don’t know the man personally, of course, but the way he has behaved on and off the track this season has sickened me. I can’t stand him anymore. Sure, I am totally influenced by different forms of media – but that’s all I’ve got to go on.

    I think there were more moments but these are the four that really stand out in my mind:

    1) Crying “Ridiculous!” because his team mate wouldn’t move over for him.

    2) Not celebrating demurely after a win that was handed to him by his team mate.

    3) Waving his fists at Petrov.

    4) Not congratulating Vettel on his championship win, even several days later.

    And I’ll add a big one from a previous season:

    5) Not denouncing racism after some of the fans treated Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona.

    Realising what a spoilt little —- Alonso is, and how much I now despise him, is the low point of the season for me.

    1. It’s very interesting as to how the real Alonso and the ‘TV interview’ Alonso differ in character. LOL

      Maybe he has a clone that does the interviews?

      Still, the ‘Tifosi’ love him…for now.

      1. Why limit it to just Alonso? Is it because he played the role of villain in media this season?

        How different are all the drivers between real and TV? We talk up people for being standup chaps but these guys have all been coached on how to act in front of the cameras. You could build a persona in the media based on how you’re coached and what you want to display. How much involvement does the team have in their daily lives? This includes twitter/website/other interaction.

        Say I’m an F1 driver. I can be rather abrasive and blunt at times but I’m not on company time. Does the team get upset if I have my own twitter account and my posts reflect my personality?

        I’m racing and someone took me out by their own fault. PR wise I called it a racing incident in interviews but on twitter I called the guy something less tasteful. Would I get in trouble for it? Should I? Does it really matter?

        1. The unfortunate thing about Alonso is that sometimes he forgets that the cameras are still on him after he’s done his interviews.

          Anyway, the team principles have just voted Alonso their driver of the season. Which pretty much sums up what F1 is about these days.

          1. I actually thought he was the best driver of the season too. He was on a tear after Germany and Monaco was quite impressive. He got a lot out of what wasn’t the best car on the grid and stayed on fire in the second half.

            Lewis had his moments of brilliance but made a couple of massive blunders that knocked him out of contention.

            Though Vettel won the championship, he should have blown the field away given the number of poles he had.

            Webber had a fantastic season but I wonder how much of it was car vs him. I don’t mean to make it sound like an insult because he was fantastic at Silverstone. But I wonder how he would have done in a Ferrari or McLaren vs the king car of qualifying.

            Anyone else really isn’t worth talking about. Others had some fantastic drives of their own but honestly never stayed involved enough to stand out. I think Nico got a lot out of a lousy car and Kubica might have as well but it’s tough to tell with a rookie teammate.

      2. Who was it said that at Ferrari there is too much Schumacher and not enough Fernado? (meaning trophies,posters,paintings etc)

    2. And I’ll add a big one from a previous season:

      5) Not denouncing racism after some of the fans treated Lewis Hamilton in Barcelona.

      Wrong.

      http://www.barcelonareporter.com/index.php?/news/comments/spains_f1_alonso_condemns_racism_aimed_at_hamilton/

      1. I never knew.

        Many thanks for that.

        1. No problem :) comment too short

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