Formula 1

All over.

Vettel champion, Webber never on the pace and Alonso not happy with Petrov for no reason.

One must wonder though just how good a engine it was?

Mark had no pace at all, Ferrari would pull away on the straights easily.

I agree Ulti, i really didn't want Vettel champion.

Now it's just a matter of it Webber stays or go's.

How sad was that on the podium, the Champagne didn't even spray.

The champus was flat.....

*sigh* Don't know what to say. Bad, bad race for Webber. Could have been different when Alonso and Petrov almost came together. How could Webber even consider going on for another season with Red Bull? He would so obviously be the number 2 driver. He says he was this season, and now with Vettel winning the championship it would be definate that he is number 2. Would love to see him go to Ferrari, if you believe the rumours, and with the knowledge of what development has taken place at RB....well. The rumours say they are throwing a ton of money at him, perhaps not for his driving, but moreso that develeopment knowledge.

Once again though, these are just rumours.

Maybe Alonso was annoyed with Petrov for closing the door on him earlier in the race, or maybe he thought there was some sort of "Renault" conspiracy, with the RBs running Renault engines

I predict Webber to Ferrari, or GT1 as I mentioned earlier

yeah seeing webber at another front running team would be interesting. I was impressed with petrov in that race, he held alonso for over half the race. Thats not an easy thing

I think Petrov drove brilliantly to keep Alonso behind him for 3 quarters of the race (also Massa could not pass the Torro Rosso of Alguersuari after he let Webber by). I think shows that the opportunities for passing this year where just so reduced.

Read an interview with Webber where he basically says Vettel drove well and deserves the championship, this says to me that he will be back at Red Bull next season.

Just under 4 months till the 2011 season starts!!

Yeah, I suppose he would be number 2 driver at any of the top 3 teams anyway. Only way he could be a number one driver again is at Mercedes, Williams or Renault I reckon (my own humble opinion). As long as he doesn't start bitching about being the number 2 driver, I mean he has got to accept it if he stays at RB. For Vettel to still win the championship after the number of mistakes he made is fairly impressive. Imagine if he puts together a good season As much as I dislike the guy, he can certainly drive.

Will be interesting though to see how next season changes affect the success of RB. McLaren had a fairly good KERS system didn't they? They certainly outpaced RB when they were using it.

I think the hardest thing for Mark was that he was leading the Championship but yet they kept throwing all the new parts at Vettel to make his car go faster.
All Mark was getting was hand me downs.

I think next year we will see just how team committed / no team orders RB is.

I would not doubt that if a similar situation of coming down to the last race with both drivers vying for the title RB would invoke orders. Especially with Mark was leaving at the end of the year.

Well everyone started to find good pace by the end of the season. Ferrari, McLaren, Renault all started to match the RB cars.
I agree BM McLaren had KERS working well so my money is on them to big the catch me of you can next year.

Just under 4 months till the 2011 season starts!!

Yep, see you in 4 months guys

haha, but yes 2011 should be very interesting with the rule changes

Did anyone see the times of the "young drivers" testing from Abu Dhabi?

Daniel Ricciardo (from Perth) was testing with Red Bull (and is tipped to go into the Torro Rosso next year), had the fastest lap a 1:38.102 (compared to Vettels pole time of 1:39.394). These young guys have been setting some really fast times over their 2 day test, even in the back of the field cars. Apparently it was expected that they may go quicker as the track continues to rubber in but still seems like they are pretty quick. Not having followed F1 as closely in previous years I am unaware if this kind of result is normal and when the drivers step up they are found wanting with all the added pressure of races and qualy. The two other young guys they are writing lots about are Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado.

Also starting today in Abu Dhabi the F1 teams are sampling the Pirlli tyres they get 2 days and 8 sets of tyres (4 sets to be used each day). I gather this is not an official testing but a get some feed back from all the teams about the tyres.

End of last week saw the Pirlli testing and take from it what you will Ferrari on top both days with (Massa on the first and Alonso on the second) Vettel drove the RB both days and was second. Was a bit surprised that they did not give Webber a drive on one of the days but meh.

Crash.net has been doing a count down of their top 10 drivers of the season. They are down to number 3 so just guessing the first 2:
1. Vettel
2. Hamilton
3. Alonso
4. Webber
5. Kubica
6. Button
7. Rosberg
8. Barrichello
9. Kovalainen
10. Hlkenberg

That was their final order.

We have a draft 2011 entry list published by the FIA

1. Sebastian Vettel -Red Bull Racing
2. Mark Webber -Red Bull Racing
3. Jenson Button - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
4. Lewis Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
5. Fernando Alonso - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
6. Felipe Massa - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
7. Michael Schumacher - Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team
8. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team
9. Robert Kubica - Renault F1 Team
10. TBA - Renault F1 Team
11. Rubens Barrichello - AT&T Williams
12. TBA - AT&T Williams
14. TBA - Force India F1 Team
15. TBA - Force India F1 Team
16. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber F1 Team
17. Sergio Perez - Sauber F1 Team
18. TBA - Scuderia Toro Rosso
19. TBA - Scuderia Toro Rosso
20. Jarno Trulli - Team Lotus
21. Heikki Kovalainen - Team Lotus
22. TBA - HRT F1 Team
23. TBA - HRT F1 Team
24. TBA - Marussia Virgin Racing
25. TBA - Marussia Virgin Racing

A couple of things to note, Sauber have dropped the BMW, with all going on about Lotus it is still Team Lotus, Virgin have a new major sponsor Marussia.

Just saw this article about Webber linky

He has got to banned riding a mountain bike till he finishes his F1 career.

Yikes! It is amazing that teams let their drivers partake in dangerous activities during the season. I know it would be hard to stop them, but I mean, there is a LOT of money in it. Imagine if he broke his leg again.

well some new rule have been decided on. team orders rule has been removed for 2011 and the new engine formula for 2013 is 4cy turbo.

team orders - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/12/11596.html
engine - http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2010/12/11597.html

Nice find Ulti, also notice in the article about the engines that in 2013 they will only be able to use 5 a season and then 4 there after.

It is amazing when they talk about 1.6L 4 cylinder having the same power output as the current 2.4 v8s.

more rule changes. these ones are to do with personal working hours

http://www.worldcarfans.com/110121430032/fia-reveals-more-new-rules-for-2011

Webber talks about snapping the break pedal in his European GP crash Linky