F1 Title Protaganists 2010

F1 is back! At last! It has been an agonising winter of anticipation about what could be the closest ever F1 championship in years. There are so many talking points. The return of the legend Michael Schumacher. Button jumping ship at Brawn and joining Hamilton at McLaren. Team Germany of Mercedes taking on Team Great Britain of McLaren. Alonso in the Ferrari and the challenge he and Massa face. To add to that, no refuelling in races and three new teams including Lotus! The real question on everyone’s lips though, is who is going to be the main challengers to the F1 crown and who is going to be celebrating after the last race in Abu Dhabi. The drivers below are who I think will be the serious contenders…


1. Fernando Alonso: Double world champion in 2005 and 2006, and most people’s favourite to claim honours for this season in the F1 paddock. Alonso has had a tough few years with the disappointing Renault and of course the dramas at McLaren with Lewis Hamilton and Ron Dennis. Alonso has had a few character building years and has become stronger both as a driver and person. He has always had amazing natural talent and has shown himself as very reliable and consistent in races and seemingly able to bring out the best performance of even a struggling car. A sign of a true world champion when times are hard, the enthusiasm and desire is still there to want to deliver.

This year he gets the chance to shine in his dream car, the prancing horse of Ferrari. At last a competitive race car and a realistic chance to be fighting for the championship again. A team with such great history over the years and really the icon of F1. This team and their fans expects the very best for any driver getting into the seat of their beloved Ferrari, any in house rivalry is second to none, Ferrari comes first. Alonso seemingly fits in at home with the passionate and fiery team and has been the perfect replacement for the Ice Man Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso is still only 28 years old and must believe he can collect many more titles in his career. The dominance he showed with Renault after Michael Schumacher’s reign shows his true abilities as a leader within a team. This season sees his most difficult challenge with three other world champions in the field and of course his own team mate Felipe Massa. The Brazilian has been established at Ferrari for four years and it may be hard for Alonso to establish himself at a team where Massa is truly loved.

If Alonso can make sure there are no repeats of the troubles he sustained back in 2007 with alleged unfair treatment within the team, it will be interesting to see if Alonso can be on the brink of a third world title and send his Spanish fans wild.


2.Felipe Massa: A massive season ahead for the runner up to the title in 2008. After his horrific injury he received to his eye after a spring from the Brawn car of Barrichello hit him at speed at qualifying in last years Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, he missed the rest of the season whilst his eye healed and he regained his sight and confidence. Massa returned to karting in Brazil to get some much needed practise and after testing in Spain in the lead up to the first race weekend, it appears his eye sight is causing him no issue. The Ferrari team were very emotional at the loss of their prodigal son after the serious accident. Massa now has the team built around him and there is a strong bond between him and his mechanics. Some may some he may receive the upper hand in the team and at least of the start of the season he should be have a slight advantage over Alonso. This is where Massa needs to grab his opportunity with both hands and try to get the early points on the board. Massa is one of only a few drivers who is settled within a championship winning team so is a major contender for the 2010 title. Could this be the year Felipe baby breaks his duck and secures his first drivers championship after so narrowly missing out in the heartbreak of Interlagos? This may be his best chance to do so and if he can beat his super fast team Alonso, he could be onto a winner.

3.Lewis Hamilton: After an excruciating start to 2009 in a very poor McLaren, new developments saw Hamilton and his team dominating the second half of the championship and maybe teasing us with what to expect for this upcoming season. Becoming world champion in only his second year in F1, life was seemingly easy for the youngster but what difference a few months makes when he had to be content with scrapping over the odd point and barely making it to Q3 in final qualifying. This was all part of the learning curve for Hamilton and he had to help rebuild himself and the team mentally. I believe this may have made him more of a mature driver for the future. To keep the morale and the motivation when everyone around you is predicting an easy second world title, it would have been incredibly easy to make silly mistakes and become petulant when it was apparent this wouldn’t not be the case. He showed reserve and reminded people of the awesome natural talent he has. This season he gets to live out one of his childhood dreams of fighting against seven time world champion, Michael Schumacher. He wants to be able to say he has beaten the very best and now he has the opportunity to race wheel to wheel against someone who could only watch on television. He also has the added incentive that his new team mate is not only British but took his drivers crown away from him. Any success story involves firstly beating your team mate and to be beating the current world champion, is a great place to start. Hamilton, like Massa already has the familiarity of the team around him and not being the new boy trying to fit in. Surely a slight edge to his chances at the start of the year whilst Button settles in. The intense rivalry he had with Alonso may rear its ugly head of course again this year and it I am sure will make for compelling viewing.

4.Jenson Button: World Champion 2009. Does that make him a clear favourite though? Button has shown balls by making the move that shocked many fans and team insiders. Do you play safe with the team that helped you achieve your ultimate dream after a very rocky road, or do you look for the new challenge and take a risk? Button made the choice to take a massive gamble and hooks up with his fellow compatriot Hamilton. After the well publicised problems between such two successful drivers back in 2007, it does take a brave man to link up with the young man from Stevenage. Will it take Button long to get up to speed in the McLaren? After what Button went through in the winter of 2008 of hearing he was facing no F1 drive and seeing his career possibly ending all too soon, he was given the wonderful lifeline and was rewarded with a true gem of a car that saw him win 6 of the first 7 races. It was a performance that surprised many paddock people and some were sceptical of his overall performance last season when the Brawn was no longer the car to beat. He reminded people of his sheer grit and determination with a drive in Brazil that showed spectacular over taking. He too like Hamilton, has matured as a driver and person and after the taste of champagne last season, I can imagine he wants to prove to the public that last year was no whim, he’s back to keep his hands on that driver’s trophy and take on the very best.

5.Sebastian Vettel – the young German with an amazing future predicted. We saw glimpses of the raw speed Vettel and the Red Bull had and he had a serious chance to take his first championship. The 22 year old fought to the bitter end and gave a great account of himself in a car that couldn’t not match the might Brawn at least for some of the season. At times he still makes small errors reminding those of his age and inexperience compared to those around him fighting for the honours. There is seemingly so much more to come from this five time race winner and a lot must depend on how competitive the Red Bull car is going to be this season. Vettel is tipped to be world champion for 2010 from none other than the main man, Bernie Ecclestone. High praise indeed. Does Bernie know something we all don’t? Vettel must be relishing the prospect of racing against Schumacher and will no doubt want to show him that he’s now the one everyone in Germany should be supporting and tipping for success. Vettel has comfortably out shadowed his more experienced team mate in Mark Webber and after being bitterly disappointed by missing out on his chance of becoming the 2009 championship winner, will this season see Vettel step it up another gear? He’s certainly capable; he is exciting to watch and more unpredictable than others around him. Will his car outshine all the others? Vettel and Redbull are perhaps more seen as underdogs compared to the big two of Ferrari and McLaren but maybe the German and the competitive package of Red Bull can surprise us all.

6.Michael Schumacher: Need I say more? One of undoubtedly the best ever F1 drivers and he’s back to take on the youngsters! The stir that was caused when Schumacher returned to the cockpit last season to replace the injured Massa and help out his team Ferrari was massive. The anticipation of seeing him race again was sent the media and fans into a frenzy and then for it not to happen due to a neck injury he was suffering from at the time, was unbelievably disappointing. Clearly Schumacher felt the same as we all did and took the shock decision to sign with Mercedes Benz join his old sparring partner, Ross Brawn, A dream partnership. At 41 years old it’s very brave to return after incredible success in F1. Finishing his career at the top of his game and becoming a family man, he achieved his ultimate goals and had a career that may never be matched. In a world that’s so dangerous, was it a sensible call by Schumacher to want to risk potential serious injury or even death? Can he still race at the same level at the likes of Hamilton, Alonso and Button? Does he still have the nerve and the self belief? Schumacher was always renowned for his arrogance and for his clever, some may say dodgy tricks, will he still have this or will we see a meek version of the wonderful driver that he was. It would be sad sight to see Schumacher trailing around at the back. Surely though for his own reputation, he would only sign a deal where he knew he had a serious chance of fighting for a championship. This is a man with pride and with a stunning record. Could we be about to witness one of sports most remarkable comebacks? Schumacher was Germany’s hero at the time of his superb dominance in F1 but in the recent years has been replaced with his young protégé Vettel. Will Schumi show us some of his old magic and show us what tricks he has up his sleeves? It’s going to be mouth watering to see the 7 time world champion reliving some battles against his old rivals Alonso and Massa and of course to see him take on the new boys.

It all start's this weekend in the desert of Bahrain...I can't wait to see what happens!

All opinions expressed by Leandra Graves.
12th March 2010.