Archives for November 2010

The final grand prix of the season in Abu Dhabi summed up why the 2010 season will go down in Formula 1 history as a classic year.

There were super-fast Red Bulls, world champion drivers in the thick of the action, strategic errors, raw emotion and a final twist in an epic tale as Sebastian Vettel won his first world title.

Before the race was run, the sun-soaked paddock was buzzing with talk of "the greatest season ever" and debate about the highlight of the season swelled.

In fact, as the dust settles on Abu Dhabi, the teams' attentions are already turning to 2011 - all the teams and most of the race drivers get their first run on next year's new Pirelli tyres at the Yas Marina track at the weekend.

With just 118 days to go until the cars and drivers return to the desert in Bahrain to rejoin battle, expectations are already building that 2011 could be another classic year, matching events this season.

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Red Bull clinched their first Formula 1 constructors' title at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday and experts have been marvelling at just how an energy drinks company came to topple the racing powerhouses of Ferrari and McLaren six short seasons after buying the ailing Jaguar team.

Driver turned BBC pundit David Coulthard, who raced for Red Bull from their debut season in 2005 until 2008, believes the success of any F1 team is built first on the strength of its technical department.

"Bringing in designer Adrian Newey was the first piece of the jigsaw puzzle of putting together a successful team," Coulthard explained.

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For the last five years, the world champion has been crowned at Brazil's rollercoaster Interlagos circuit - and in 2009 it was Jenson Button's turn.

Last year in Sao Paulo, Button serenaded his team and the world television audience by spontaneously belting out 'We Are The Champions' over his Brawn team radio as he followed Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso into the history books.

"You can't plan to sing that badly, can you?" Button recalled in an exclusive BBC Sport interview. "In my defence, it is quite difficult singing with a crash helmet on."

Button's outburst of raw emotion may well have turned into cringing regret one year on but the 30-year-old has also been reflecting on a life-changing 12 months.

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