Analysis: F1 2010 title protagonists
Eight drivers from four teams are predicted to be embroiled in the championship fight in 2010
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By Darren Estwick. |  |
Monday, 08, Mar 2010 12:41
By Adam Leveridge.
Formula one 2010 promises to be one of the most closely-fought and thrilling seasons in history and, having been built up this way throughout the winter, it has a lot to live up to.
This hype has been sparked up and gradually intensified by a number of exciting developments over the last four months, a time which, with the strict limitations on pre-season testing, restricting teams to a maximum of 15 days of running, should have been deadly silent.
First the arrival of new blood to the sport - Virgin Racing, Lotus and HRT F1 (formerly known as Campos Meta) - injected a great deal of interest, the demise of USF1 and Campos' financial turmoil creating fury within some of the established teams, who slammed the FIA's decision to grant these struggling teams a place on the grid.
Then the race-fixing scandal was protracted by the slanging match between Flavio Briatore and Max Mosley, with the disgraced ex-Renault team principal accusing the former FIA president of having a personal vendetta against him when dealing out his lifetime ban.
While the sport also suffered two significant loses when BMW and Toyota withdrew, with the economic downturn threatening to claim Renault too, it was bolstered by Michael Schumacher's sensational comeback in 2010; a move that would rekindle his infamous and highly successful relationship with Ross Brawn, this time with Mercedes-Benz.
Then there was pre-season testing.
At the opening winter test in Valencia, McLaren sent shivers down the spines of all their fans when they broke out the luminous green-paint and airflow sensors, echoing their disastrous 2009 season.
However these concerns proved to be unfounded, as both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button managed to pull out quick and consistent lap times, particularly when their Bahrain upgrades were installed on the MP4-25 at the final test of the year in Barcelona.
McLaren appear to be in among the quickest in the field heading to Bahrain, however, if they don't have the pace from the outset, their remarkable ability to develop their cars in-season - something that was demonstrated last year when they transformed the MP4-24 into a race-winner, and in 2008 when they made that big push towards the championship title with MP4-23 - will stand them in good stead.
McLaren's arch-nemesis Ferrari have been quietly confident during testing, pleased with the performance shown by the F10 and their fresh driver line-up.
Like the team from Woking, Ferrari's pride took a huge knock last year, when the battle for the championship crown in '08 put them behind with the development of their 2009 car, under the heavily revised aerodynamic regulations that were imposed on the sport.
But, having shown so well during all four pre-season tests, Ferrari have re-emerged as a favourite, with both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa hungry to return to their winning ways - Alonso after a two-year dry spell with Renault and Massa following his enforced absence after his high-speed accident in Hungary.
One question that still hangs over Massa is whether the crash, which so nearly claimed his life, has blunted his edge behind the wheel.
If we find the Brazilian still has that fighting spirit, which helped him to improve and eventually surpass Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari in 2008, he has a very realistic chance of outperforming Alonso - a man who doesn't react too well to that sort of thing.
Mercedes GP is a team with a great deal of expectation on their shoulders, having won both the drivers' and constructors' championships in 2009 with Button, secured manufacturer backing and signed the most successful grand prix driver in F1 history.
The MGP W01 hasn't set the world alight during testing and both Schumacher and his young compatriot Nico Rosberg both appeared to be around three or four tenths off the pace of McLaren and Ferrari, with the team pinning their hopes on their Bahrain upgrade.
Red Bull on the other hand have consistency in all areas and, having ended last year with the strongest package overall, they should be able to take advantage of that momentum early on in the season.
The Adrian Newey designed RB5 that took Sebastien Vettel to the runners-up spot in 2009, has been used as inspiration by a number of the other teams, with the likes of Ferrari and Virgin Racing adopting a high nose concept on their baseline 2010 contenders.
The difference for Newey is that he has been able to incorporate the controversial double-decker diffuser into his 2010 design from the outset.
The team's downfall, however, as it was last season, is likely to be the reliability of the Renault engine.
The numerous engine failures they suffered in 2009 prevented the team from mounting a serious challenge to Button in the Brawn and, the loss of an engine during pre-season testing isn't a positive omen for their 2010 charge either.
However, the Renault engine's relatively low fuel consumption should play into Red Bull's hands now refueling has been banned; a rule that has posed a number of challenges for the teams and their fuel suppliers.