The 2010 Formula One season came to a dramatic end, with Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and along with it, the world championship…
Red Bull Racing could not have asked for a better end to the 2010 Formula One season. After they had already clinched the constructor’s title in the previous race itself at Brazil, Sebastian Vettel put the icing on the cake, with a win at Abu Dhabi, and helped by other driver placings, went on to win the driver’s world championship.
No one would have guessed this kind of ending, not even Vettel. The most likely person to win the title seemed to be Ferrari’s Alonso, with Mark Webber close behind. Alonso started on P4, and had to simply keep that position till the end of the race to win the title. But a disaster in pit stop strategy by Ferrari meant that he came back out behind the Renaults, in 11th place. From then on, he drove like a driver possessed, but could only end up in 7th place, which was not enough to get the title, since Vettel won the race. Vettel owes quite a bit to the Renaults for his title, since they did not let the experienced Alonso overtake them, which was the main factor in deciding the championship.
At 23, Sebastian Vettel became the youngest Formula One world champion, and is only the 2nd German after Michael Schumacher to win the coveted championship. He had the most pole positions (10) as compared to any other driver, and was the one to beat in nearly all the races. Alonso came back strongly in the 2nd half of the season, but Vettel won the last 2 races of the season, to seal the championship.
The race standings were as follows: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) 25 pts, Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) 18 pts, Jenson Button (McLaren Mercedes) 15 pts, Nico Rosberg (Mercedes GP) 12 pts, Robert Kubica (Renault) 10 pts, Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 8 pts, Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 6 pts, Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) 4 pts, Jamie Alguersuari (STR-Ferrari) 2 pts, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1 pt.
2010 Final Driver Standings
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 256 |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 252 |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 242 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 240 |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 214 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 144 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes Benz GP Ltd | 142 |
| 8 | Robert Kubica | Renault | 136 |
| 9 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes Benz GP Ltd | 72 |
| 10 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 47 |
| 11 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 47 |
| 12 | Kamui Kobayashi | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 32 |
| 13 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 27 |
| 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Williams-Cosworth | 22 |
| 15 | Vitantonio Luizzi | Force India-Mercedes | 21 |
| 16 | Sabastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 8 |
| 17 | Pedro de la Rosa | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 6 |
| 18 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 6 |
| 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 5 |
2010 Final Constructor Standings
| Position | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull-Renault | 498 |
| 2 | McLaren-Mercedes | 454 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 396 |
| 4 | Mercedes Benz GP Ltd | 214 |
| 5 | Renault | 163 |
| 6 | Williams-Cosworth | 69 |
| 7 | Force India-Mercedes | 68 |
| 8 | BMW Sauber-Ferrari | 44 |
| 9 | STR-Ferrari | 13 |
| 10 | Lotus-Cosworth | 0 |
| 11 | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |
| 12 | Virgin-Cosworth | 0 |
It was one of the most exciting seasons in Formula One history, with the champion being decided right in the last race which was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Teams can now enjoy the much deserved break, while Red Bull Racing have earned the right to party for a few days. The 2011 Formula One season will commence in a few months time, and till then, there is no doubt that the time will be used well to develop strategies and the cars. Heartiest congratulations to Vettel and the Red Bull team for the 2010 season.
