The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One
season. The technical and sporting regulations applicable for the
season were the subject of much debate. Before the start of the season,
2009 Drivers' Champion Jenson Button joined McLaren, while the 2009
Constructors' Champion, Brawn GP, was bought by Mercedes-Benz and renamed Mercedes GP. The 2010 season also saw the return of the most successful driver in Formula One history, with Michael Schumacher coming out of retirement after a three-year absence. The season's first race was held on March 14 in Bahrain.
Red Bull won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Sebastian Vettel
won the Drivers' Championship with a win at the final race of the
season. In doing so, Vettel became the youngest World Drivers' Champion
in the sport's sixty-year history.
This was the last year that the Bridgestone tires were the tire supplier in Formula One.
Pre-season
Dispute over regulations and breakaway series
Main article: FIA–FOTA dispute
The
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) had planned to
introduce a budget cap, in order to safeguard the sport during the
current economic downturn. The proposal had an optional budget cap of
€30 million ($45 million, £27 million), with greater technical and
design freedoms allowed to teams who nominated to use it. The teams
objected to what they believed would be a two-tier championship and five
of the teams within the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), Ferrari,
BMW Sauber, Renault, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso announced their
intentions to withdraw from the 2010 championship. BMW Sauber later
announced on their withdrawal from Formula One at the end of the 2009
season, due to economic problems.
Following
negotiations, the FOTA teams unanimously decided to withdraw at the end
of the 2009 season unless the budget cap rules were changed. Williams
and Force India both submitted their own entries and were temporarily
suspended from FOTA,while the remaining teams submitted conditional
entries for the 2010 season. The 2010 entry list was published by the
FIA on 12 June, which included all 2009 teams and three new teams,
Campos Meta, Virgin Racing and US F1 Team. Discussions between the FIA
and FOTA failed to find a resolution to the budget cap issues and the
eight FOTA teams announced intentions to form a breakaway series for
2010. However, following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on
24 June, FOTA agreed to remain in Formula One and FIA president Max
Mosley confirmed he would not stand for re-election in October.
During
a meeting on 8 July between the FIA and FOTA on future regulations, the
teams walked out of the meeting after being informed that they were not
entered for the 2010 season and could therefore have no input on
regulatory discussions. In response it was announced that plans for a
breakaway series were still being pursued.Negotiations on a new Concorde
Agreement directly with CVC, the commercial rights holders, led to the
eventual end of the dispute with its signing by the FIA on 1 August. The
new Concorde Agreement will secure the sports future until its
expiration in 2012.
Testing
The
new season test schedule started on 1 December 2009 with a three-day
'Young Driver Test' (for drivers with fewer than three Formula One race
starts to their name) at Spain's Circuito de Jerez. British Formula
Three Champion Daniel Ricciardo was fastest for Red Bull Racing. As with
2009, the teams were allowed a maximum of 15,000 km (9,300 mi) over the
course of fifteen days in February. Testing sessions were confirmed for
Valencia (1–3 February), Jerez (10–13 February and 17–20 February), and
Barcelona (25–28 February).All but Campos/Hispania and US F1 took part
in the pre-season tests.
Testing sessions at Jerez were constantly interrupted by heavy rain.
Pre-season
testing started at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia with seven
teams. Ferrari dominated the test session, with Felipe Massa setting the
fastest lap times on days one and two. In his first appearance for the
team, Fernando Alonso set the fastest overall time on the third day of
the test with 1:11.470
Virgin Racing had aerodynamic problems during the tests in Jerez and Barcelona.
The
second session took place at Circuito de Jerez, Spain with heavy
downpours throughout the test. This also marked the first public test
for new team Virgin Racing who only managed five laps after a shortage
of parts became a problem. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the
test during a dry Saturday session with 1:19.583.
The
third test at Jerez for another four-day test was also affected by
mixed weather conditions. Lotus Racing started its first public test
with the T127. The penultimate and last days saw sunny weather with
Jenson Button setting the fastest time (1:18.871).
The
last pre-season test took place at Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. The
test started in sunny weather with rain showers scattered through the
weekend. Virgin's testing misery carried on with Lucas di Grassi
crashing and more mechanical issues.Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap
of the week (1:20.472) with most teams doing low fuel runs on Sunday.
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