Race Report 2010 – F1 Grand Prix of Europe 2010
Sebastian Vettel took the victory at the 2010 European Grand Prix in Valencia and scored his second win of 2010. The Formula 1 podium was completed by the 2 McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Despite of not winning the Formula 1 Valencia, Hamilton is still leading the driver’s Formula 1 Championship with Button in second place.
Mark Webber, Vettel’s teammate, did not have a good race as he fell further behind at the beginning of the GP Valencia. He fell from second place to ninth and ultimately found his race ended by an accident with Heikki Kovalainen on Lap 14. Neither driver was injured. Following the crash, a Safety Car came out behind Vettel and alongside Hamilton. This ruined the races of some drivers as they had to race behind the Safety Car; it had decided the race of the Ferrari driver Felipe Massa as he had to wait behind teammate Fernando Alonso for his pit stop. Ultimately, Alonso finished eighth and Massa eleventh as a disappointment for Ferrari.
Though Button ultimately had a podium finish, he spent much of his race behind Kamui Kobayashi. This gave Hamilton the chance to take second place, despite of the being slowed down due to a penalty during the race for passing the Safety Car.
Mercedes did not have a good weekend as their 2 drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher had a bad qualification with disappointing results. Rosberg finished tenth and Schumacher fifteenth. Williams on the other hand, saw its driver Rubens Barrichello finish in fourth place after having started ninth on the grid. This gave Williams the best finish of the year during the Formula 1 Valencia.
Kobayashi had a good race as he raced almost the entire time in third place, but as his tires were wearing down he made a pit stop with only 3 laps to go. After he changed to soft tires, he managed to finish the race in seventh place in front of Alonso and Sebastien Buemi. Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil had passed him and finished fifth and sixth. Kobayashi scored Sauber’s best result since coming back into the sport.
Hamilton is leading the driver’s Formula 1 Championship with 127 points. Teammate Button is right behind him with 121 points. Vettel has moved from fifth to third place with 115 points and Mark Webber dropped to fourth with 103 points. Alonso is fifth with 96 points.
McLaren is leading the constructor’s F1 Championship with Red Bull in second place and Ferrari in third. Mercedes has fourth place with Renault in fifth. 83 points of the total of 89 points of Renault were scored by Kubica.
