Formula-1 news

The first day of Abu Dhabi practice saw the four title contenders to the fore, as everybody worked on setting their cars up and getting the best out of Bridgestone’s medium and super-soft tyres for the last time. Hamilton was quickest in what he felt was a much improved McLaren, but Vettel insisted there is more to come from Red Bull. We take a team-by-team look at Friday at Yas Marina

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix just where he wants, on pole position. But there was a major disappointment for team mate Mark Webber who managed only fifth place and will be separated from Vettel by Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Hamilton already held second place, but trimmed his time down to demonstrate to Vettel that he may yet have a race on his hands on Sunday…

When McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 drivers’ title, his entry into the record books was made all the more special as he became the sport’s youngest-ever world champion. Just two seasons later and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel has outshone even Hamilton, clinching his maiden championship in Abu Dhabi at 23 years and four months-old – a full five months younger than Hamilton was back in ’08.

It’s a remarkable achievement, made even more remarkable because up until the Yas Marina race there were still four drivers in with a shout at the drivers’ crown. And not just any drivers – Hamilton, two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Vettel’s own team mate Mark Webber. To take a title at such a young age is an accomplishment, but to beat drivers of such calibre is a feat indeed.

Sebastian Vettel turned the tables on McLaren at Monza on Friday afternoon by setting the fastest time so far of 1m 22.839s, but the Red Bull driver was only 0.076s faster than Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and 0.222s ahead of Felipe Massa in the second F10. Soon after Massa had gone fastest with 1m 23.061s he was deposed by Alonso with 1m 22.915s, before Vettel displaced both.

Drivers: Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

Q: Gentlemen, first of all, what did you do during the break? Pedro, with the family I guess?
Pedro de la Rosa: Yes, it has been a very good break. I was always with the family. We went to Majorca, on holiday, where we normally go. Great time I must say, very good. I did a lot of cycling and realised how bad I am at that, but it was very good…

Team principals: John Booth (Virgin), Ross Brawn (Mercedes), Mike Gascoyne (Lotus) and Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren).

Q: A question to you all. This time of the year some people tend to wind down on the development of the current car, perhaps work more on the 2011 car. Some people less so as they are still in the championship. Can I just hear what your team’s concentration is on for the rest of the season?
Mike Gascoyne: For us it is very clear that we are fully focused on next year’s car…

Despite suffering from a bout of tonsillitis in the days leading up to the event, McLaren’s Jenson Button put in an impressive performance at Sunday’s London Triathlon. Button is understood to have finished fourth out of the 570 competitors in his group, with a time of 2.14:14.

The annual event includes a 1500-metre swim, a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run. It attracts 11,000 entrants making it the largest triathlon in the world.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton may have won last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, but the 2009 event was dominated by the accident which befell Ferrari’s Felipe Massa during qualifying. A year on, we look back at the events of the Budapest weekend, which would see Massa ruled out of the rest of the season, and evaluate the Brazilian’s extraordinary return to top-flight racing.

Ahead of qualifying Massa had looked fairly comfortable in his Ferrari, clocking the seventh-fastest time in Saturday’s final practice session, and as qualifying got underway he was equally swift. But during the closing moments of Q2, whilst running eighth, he suddenly speared off the track at Turn Four of the Hungaroring and ploughed straight into a tyre wall.

Leading the field by half a second is quite a statement, even if Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel does play down the importance of Friday’s practice times. He has marked the Hungaroring as his territory for the weekend and now it is up to the rest to take it from him. After several Grands Prix when things have somehow slipped through his fingers, has the young German’s time come again in Budapest?

Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg has grown in self confidence since his Silverstone podium couple of weeks back. It is obvious in the way he walks, the way he talks and the way he interacts with the media. Everything seems to say ‘I am well on the way to becoming a power in Formula One’. Having started the season in the shadow of team mate Michael Schumacher, Rosberg has quickly emerged as a force in his own right. He’s clearly enjoying it, even if that first win has so far eluded him. But that is surely just a matter of time