Formula One celebrates 70 years of racing in 2020. Although the cars have yet to clock any race distance, Formula One (F1) fans remain optimistic that we might see some racing get underway in the later half of the year. While we wait for the 2020 season to kickstart, here are my top 10 races of the 2010s. If you think F1 is just cars going round in circles, these races might make you think otherwise.
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10. 2010 Korean Grand Prix
Going into the weekend of the Korean Grand Prix, there were 5 drivers still in the fight for the World Championship with 3 races remaining. The circuit is located in Yeongnam, at the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula and it does not usually bring very interesting races. However, what made the race interesting is how the championship battle kept switching throughout the race. This was compounded by the fact that the race famously (or infamously), finished in darkness. The Korean GP was not meant to be a twilight race, but the later start time to cater to European fans and the rain-soaked track (you’ll notice a trend in this post) meant that drivers had to drive nearly in the dark. Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber scored no points. With Fernando Alonso winning and Lewis Hamilton in second, Alonso overtook Webber in the Championship standing. With a maximum of 50 points up grabs in the remaining two races, Vettel, 25 points off Alonso and fourth in the Championship would famously overcome that points gap to win his first world title in Abu Dhabi just 3 weeks later.
09. 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
It is a pity that the Malaysian Grand Prix is no longer on the F1 calendar. There are talks to revive it, and I do hope that it gets revived. Another race affected by rain, tyre choice is key. The start was itself interesting as the intensity of the spray from the Intermediate tyres became obvious to all that Full Wet tyres were needed. By lap 4, the pitlane became busy as many drivers came in one after another for the Blue-striped Full Wet tyres. Sergio Perez who gambled by coming in a lap before found himself in P3 as the safety car came out and the race was reg flagged due to undrivable conditions. When the race restarted, the rain was expected to fall again, but it never intensified. As drivers changed back to the Intermediate tyres, there were several near-misses in the pitlane again. But what sealed this race as one of my top 10 was the superb drive by Perez as he hunts Fernando Alonso for the lead. As Perez closed in, his team radio came on and reminded him that they “need this position”, immediately after which he went wide at Turn 14. This fuelled speculations that it was a coded message to ask Perez to back off as Sauber, the car that Perez was driving, was a engine customer team of the Ferrari team, with Alonso at the wheel. Alonso would take victory, with Perez in P2, the podium was completed by Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.
08. 2012 European Grand Prix (Valencia)
From one Fernando Alonso win to another Fernando Alonso win. From one 2012 race to another 2012 race. This race will always be remembered as the race where Alonso famously started P11 on the grid, drove his gloves off and win the race in front of his home supporters in Valencia. This was also 7-time World Champion Schumacher’s last podium in F1. Valencia is renown for the lack of overtaking opportunities, yet Alonso drove a masterclass to finish ahead of his title rivals, joined by Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher on the podium. Imagine a combined 10 titles stood on that podium that day.
07. 2010 Australian Grand Prix
When Jenson Button comes in to switch tyres, you do the same. Button was allowed to make the call on when to come in for dry tyres, and his decision was spot on. Starting in P4 on the grid and having a collision with Fernando Alonso into Turn 1, Button had to do every thing he could to keep up with the leaders of the race. A safety car on lap 1, which saw 4 drivers retire from the race, helped keep Button in the race. As the track dries, Button made the call to come in for dry tyres, which looked like a big gamble, going off twice in the outlap. However, things soon turned as the Intermediate tyres degraded quickly and Button was punching in the fastest time on his dry tyres. As those behind him were fighting for position, this allowed Button to drive clear of those hoping to snatch P1 from him. Webber and Hamilton crashed but managed to bring the car across the finish line to finish P6 and P9. But no one could steal the thunder from Jenson Button who completed his first win for McLaren in Melbourne 12 seconds clear of Robert Kubica in P2.
06. 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix
Name a driver with the widest smile on the grid. The 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix saw the smiling Australian, Daniel Ricciardo take only his second win in F1. The race started on the wet Intermediate tyres. A good qualifying saw Ricciardo line up P4, on the grid after Lewis Hamilton missed out on qualifying. However, by the end of the first lap, Ricciardo was down to P6. A heavy crash from Marcus Ericsson and later by Romain Grosjean brought out the safety car and kept it out. It look a bit of luck and a good call from the team to pit Ricciardo under the safety car to emerge P1 after the first round of tyre changes. When the race restarted, Jenson Button overtook Ricciardo into turn 1 and the race was neutralised under safety car again as Sergio Perez spun and crashed down the pit straight. With 4 laps to go, Ricciardo was fighting Hamilton in P2 and Fernando Alonso, just ahead in P1. He caught Hamilton by surprise by taking the inside line into turn 3 before doing the same to Alonso, just one lap later out of turn 2.
05. 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
We see the Daniel Ricciardo again, this time at the very first Azerbaijan Grand Prix (the year before, the race was organised under the name ‘European Grand Prix’). Nothing is more special than seeing your favourite driver (on the current grid) win in front of your own eyes. The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will always have a special place as it was the first race I visited outside of Singapore. Ricciardo put in a masterclass of a drive, overtaking 3 drivers into turn 1 at the safety car restart. This effectively puts him in P3. But a squabble between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton under the safety car saw Vettel take a 10 seconds stop-go penalty, and Hamilton having to pit for having a loose head rest, saw Ricciardo capitalise on the drama ahead to win. He was joined by Valterri Bottas on the second step, who had quite a race for himself after dropping down to last at the end of lap 1. The podium is completed by Lance Stroll in P3, his maiden and last podium to date. Can’t forget that podium shoey, which left Martin Brundle out of action for a few weeks.
04. 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
You never want to be facing the wrong direction on the racing track, with the entire field of cars coming straight at you. This was the situation Sebastian Vettel found himself in as he watched his championship hopes fade away. Coming into the last race of the season, the title fight was between Fernando Alonso and Vettel. Both vying to add a 3rd title to their name. Alonso was 13 points behind Vettel. The race started damp with Vettel and Alonso starting P4 and P7, respectively. After the first lap chaos, Vettel was in P22, while Alonso was comfortably in P5 and showing no intentions of slowing down. Alonso needed to be on the podium to have any chance of winning the championship. As rain starts to fall, strategy calls to change tyres, again, became crucial in delivering a good race. Good strategy calls from Jenson Button saw him winning the race with Alonso finishing P2. But that proved not quite enough for the 2-time world champion, as reigning champion Vettel crossed the line in P6, clinching his third title, just 3 points ahead of Alonso.
03. 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix
Another Brazilian Grand Prix to add to the list. This time, the championship has already been sealed in the favour of Lewis Hamilton. But the newly crowned World Champion might want to forget this race. He was thoroughly beaten on the track by Red Bull’s young star Max Verstappen. Verstappen had to overtake Hamilton twice on the track to claim the top spot, and in both times, he made it look simple yet elegant. There was chaos in the race triggered by Robert Kubica cutting Verstappen off at the pit exit and Valtteri Bottas retiring, bring out the safety car. At the end of the safety car period, Verstappen’s teammate Albon overtook both Ferraris to claim P3, with Hamilton and Verstappen just ahead. With just 6 laps remaining, the two Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel (P5) and Charles Leclerc (P4) tangled, forcing both cars out of the race. This brought out the safety car again. With two laps remaining, Hamilton sent Albon spinning out of the podium places, giving Pierre Gasly a chance to sweep by. The race ended with Verstappen in P1, Gasly in P2 and Hamilton in P3. A post race penalty sees Hamilton drop down to P5, promoting Carlos Sainz Jr. to P3. The 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix saw two new drivers added to the list of Formula 1 podium finishers. Want to spoil your eardrums? Go listen back to Gasly’s team radio after he crossed the finish line.
02. 2019 German Grand Prix
What can go wrong did go wrong. Mercedes were all dressed in the racing best for the 2019 Germain Grand Prix as they celebrated 125 years of history in front of their home crowd. But a wet race would put a damper on all celebrations as Mercedes recorded their worst race in 2019 with Valtteri Bottas crashing out and Lewis Hamilton crashing and only managing a P8 at the chequered flag. In any season, this would be championship defining. But in a season where Mercedes pulled a huge gap from their rivals in the early races, this race proved to be just a small dirt on an otherwise remarkable season from Mercedes. The rain-filled race saw many retirements and even had Nico Hulkenberg poised to take his first podium in F1 before crashing out. Other notable drivers like Sergio Perez (Racing Point), Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), Lando Norris (McLaren), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Pierre Gasly (Red Bull) all failed to see the chequered flag. Germany had some consolation as home driver Sebastian Vettel stood on the second step of the podium after starting from last. Max Verstappen joins him in P1 and Danill Kvyat claimed P3, a big celebration for the driver of Toro Rosso. When F1 does an extended highlights for the race, you can bet that it was a good race.
01. 2011 Canadian Grand Prix
If ever you want to know why Jenson Button is my favourite driver, you have got to watch the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. This was voted one of the best races in the 2010s by many fans in F1 and officially voted as the second best race in the last decade. But I had to bump it to the number 1 spot because… hey, Button was the race winner. If you have 4 hours to spare, watch this race. Yes, four hours. I remember the sun rising in Singapore by the time the podium celebrations were over. This exciting race saw Button visit the pit lane a total of 6 times as the weather conditions changed each lap, with the safety car making its way to the track six times. Button had himself to blame for dropping to the back after a collision with his teammate Lewis Hamilton and going a little too fast behind the safety car. But the torrential rain help him as the race was red flagged as teams waited for the rain to end. The race restarted after a 2 hour pause, but was neutralised again after Button came together with his future teammate Fernando Alonso. With a puncture, Button came in for a new set of tyres, now in last place. But few drivers are better than Button when it comes to deciding the tipping point between dry and wet tyres. He made the change to dry tyres and was soon slicing through the field. In the closing stages, Button passed Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher in the same lap to claim P2, all the while charging down on Sebastian Vettel who still held first position. It all came down to the last lap, with Vettel leading Button by just 0.9sec. Crucially, a mistake from Vettel saw him going wide at turn 6, Button seized the opportunity to drive past Vettel. He held the lead for the remainder of the lap to meet the chequered flag to seal the final victory of his F1 career. This also remains McLaren’s last victory to date.
I hope that 2020 continues to bring to us more exciting races as F1 celebrates 70 years of racing.
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