Formula 1 Countdown

For the 61st Formula One season, driver champion Jenson Button joined McLaren, with Brawn GP acquired by Mercedes-Benz and becoming Mercedes GP. Michael Schumacher has come out of retirement after three years away, and retains his spot is one of the most successful drivers. March 14 saw the first race in Bahrain. Although there was to be a budget cap as a nod to the current economic difficulties, teams objected because they thought it would become a two-tier championship, so five teams originally withdrew (Renault, BMW Sauber, Ferrari, Red Bull Racing, and Toro Rosso, with BMW Sauber withdrawing at the end of the 2009 season because of economic factors.

Formula One Teams Association members decided to withdraw unless budget cap rules were relaxed; subsequently, the World Motor Sport Council met on 24 June, and at Formula One Teams Association remained in Formula One.

While future regulations were being negotiated during a meeting on 8th July between the Formula One Teams Association and the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), teams walked out because they had not been entered for the 2010 season and could not be part of regulatory discussions because of this. The response was to report that a breakaway series was being planned. This dispute ultimately ended with the construction of a new Concorde Agreement directly with the commercial rights holders, CVC. FAA signed this 11 August, and stands until it expires in 2012.

The test schedule began in December 2009, with the ‘Young Drivers’; those with fewer than three Formula One race starts under their belts, held first. Red Bull Racing Champion was Daniel Ricciardo, and the teams were allowed a 9300-mile or 15,000 km maximum over 15 days in February 2010.

Race highlights Bahrain hosted the start of the season, and for not a lot so led Fernando Alonso led Felipe Massa in what many consider to be a disappointing race. Both Michael Schumacher and defending champ Jenson Button perform disappointingly, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Lotus proved best and classified with both cars at the end of the race. The Australian Grand Prix was won by Button, and Renault’s Robert Kubica finished second. Red Bull had its first win in Malaysia, with Vettel and Webber finishing first and second respectively

With the Chinese Grand Prix, McLaren had its first and second finish since the Italian Grand Prix in 2007. Button scored his second victory of the season, and Renault’s new arrival Vitaly Petrov earned Russia’s first Formula One championship points. Virgin had ongoing problems with reliability. The Spanish Grand Prix again saw Red Bull in first place, with Mark Webber winning, and Alonso taking second

Monaco Grand Prix saw Button dropping out because of an overheated engine, with pole sitter Mark Webber leading the race until he was told to drop back somewhat. New team cars retired, all six of them, for various reasons. Schumacher took sixth place, but his overtaking manoeuvre, performed when Fernando Alonso went ‘wide’ was decided to be against article 40.13 of regulations; this cost him 20 seconds of race time, and he dropped from sixth to 12th place. Currently, BMW and Toyota have withdrawn, with four engine types powering everything, the fewest since 1980

This article was written on behalf of McLaren. For more information see formula one formula one championship