Exactly eight months after the sport of Formula 1 was widely proclaimed as dead following a processional race in Bahrain, this season has provided the most compelling sporting contest of the year.
Coming into the final race at the state of the art Yas Marina circuit, championship leader Fernando Alonso, starting in third, was in by far the strongest position. If he could keep ahead of Mark Webber, a fourth place finish would be enough for him to take the World Championship.
It was all going according to plan for the Spaniard through the first few corners, even though Jenson Button was able to pass him through the first corner. However, the slightest of touches from team-mate Nico Rosberg sent Michael Schumacher spinning at the turn 4-5 chicane, leaving him pointing the wrong way and at the mercy of the on-coming flow of cars. Antonio Liuzzi, who has been unlucky with incidents all year, found himself with nowhere to go but straight into the seven time world champion - his car riding up the Mercedes and coming dangerously close to the German's helmet.
The ensuing safety car period led to many of those in the midfield diving into the pits to get their mandatory tyre change out of the way - a move that would greatly affect the ensuing tactical decisions of the leading pack.
Mark Webber found himself unable to pass Alonso in the early running, and with his super-soft tyres graining, decided to jump into the pits early. Ferrari quickly reacted to this and decided to bring Alonso in a few laps later to cover off what they saw as the main threat to the Spaniard's chances.
The move turned out to be fatal to the chances of both drivers. They both ended up stuck behind one of the continually impressive Renaults, who became Vettel’s best friends during the race. Vitaly Petrov, fighting for a race seat in 2011, was able to fend off Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, while Robert Kubica, who has perhaps been the driver of the season, frustrated Lewis Hamilton for a long time before ducking into the pits.
Once it became clear that Alonso could do nothing about Petrov, the only thing that could beat Vettel was his car. Having suffered so many technical problems during the season, from a spark plug issue in Bahrain to a total engine failure in South Korea, it was definitely in the back of his mind as he eased off towards the end of the race. He was almost nursing it home for fear of another serious problem finally scuppering a title bid that had stuttered and faltered all year, to the extent that Vettel had yet to lead the championship in 2010. That is until the chequered flag fell in the floodlights of Abu Dhabi and he was crowned World Champion.
His rivals, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber, were philosophical about the outcome of the race, and the championship in general:
"We did what we could but in the end it wasn't enough," said Webber. "When you come so close and just miss out on the top it's a shame, but I tried my absolute hardest."
"This is sport - sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Next year we try again,” said the Spaniard, who immediately after the finish of the race had gestured at Petrov from his Ferreri, as if to indicate Petrov had done something wrong in racing the Championship contender.
Alonso had every reason to be frustrated about the outcome of the race given how the decision to bring him in played out.
Webber, once he cleared the Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguersuari, was putting in fast laps with the harder tyres, and given the slight graining on Alonso’s option tyres, they brought him in to cover off the faster Red Bull of Webber. Almost immediately it became clear this was a mistake as Petrov’s Renault, having already stopped under the safety car, became a moving road block to the Spaniard.
After the race Alonso refused to publicly disparage the team’s strategy in post-race interviews, although his body language said otherwise. And during the post-race presentations, he could be seen talking to Team Principal Stefano Domenicali and race engineer Andrea Stella, who were clearly explaining why they made the call that they did and how they ended up covering off the wrong Red Bull.
It is, of course, easy with the comfort of hindsight to say they made the wrong call. And had they not pulled Alonso in and later found him behind Webber, he would have finished in 5th and still lost the title. In the end, it was the competitiveness of the McLarens that lost this one for Alonso. Had they been the non-factors they were for most of the tail-end of this season, Fernando Alonso would be celebrating his third championship.
Team Principal, Christian Horner, who had refused all season to declare any favouritism existed within Red Bull, sat impassively on the pit wall as Vettel crossed the line, waiting for the confirmation that Alonso would not cross the line in the fourth place he needed. Only then did he and technical director, Adrian Newey, celebrate the completion of the mission they set out on in 2005 when Red Bull Racing came into being.
In the end, this thrilling season has seen the crowning of the youngest World Champion in Formula 1 history. Vettel had been part of the Red Bull young drivers' programme before breaking into Formula 1 with their sister team Toro Rosso, where he became the youngest race winner at the Italian Grand Prix in 2008 - a race that alerted the world to his seemingly limitless potential.
Vettel has often been accused of being overly aggressive in his driving style, and this season has been guilty of making careless errors such as those in Istanbul and Spa that resulted in non-finishes. But to say he is an unworthy winner would be doing him a great injustice.
While Webber has been fast in fits and starts this year, the 34-year old seemed to crack under the bright lights of Yas Marina this weekend, while Alonso has wrung the most out of his Ferrari, but been consistently behind the stunningly fast Red Bull.
2011 will see five world champions lining up on the grid in Bahrain, and with Mercedes feeling confident of being fully amongst the top three of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, it could be an even tighter and more fascinating season than 2010. But this season will live long in the memory as one of the most unpredictable and exciting championship races the sport has seen.
Toby Durant
