VETTEL WINS OUTTA NOWHERE! The Story of the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

I remember watching this thinking 'Webber vs Alonso'. Like a lot of people, slept on Vettel in this race. So caught up in the Webber vs Alonso battle when Vettel won it was like 'where did that come from?!'
Probably because Vettel had not led the championship until he crossed the line. But anyway, here be the story of the beginning of the Vettel era.
Enjoy! And remember to like and subscribe for more!
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[@AidanMillward]

Ah cock it was Nurburgring Webber won at. It’s been one hell of a day

[@JohnSmithShields]

Kevin Wilson has a song about that.

[@AidanMillward]

@@JohnSmithShields so did Ice Cube

[@MrWeedWacky]

"Some bloke named Schumacher". LOL

[@sgt.thompson98]

I read that line in James May's voice

[@callumcjham4478]

SEBASTIAN VETTEL YOU ARE THE WORLD CHAMPION!!!!! That radio is imortal

[@corpsecoder_nw6746]

My favorite season, my 2 favorite drivers (Vettel and Button) won this season, the RB6 was a monster, Vettel drove insane qualifying laps, crazy races all round, no one knew who was going to win the title or the next race........we had it so good. The only thing is that by the last lap it was a bit more calm than 2012 Brazil (that's my favorite title decider).

[@michaelbrown297]

Is it odd the biggest thing I remember from this race is Liuzzi nearly decapitating Schumacher? That was a terrifying crash to see in real time.

[@StanceSantos]

Now that is what I call a title decider still one of the best finales in recent history “DU BIST WELTMEISTER”

[@MicrOvce]

Fun fact, Massa led the championship after Malaysia

[@travel1071]

3:21 you talk like a teacher in the last few weeks of the school year 😅😂

[@pedroneves4465]

My takeaway from this is this: Abu Dhabi sucks ass, and should've never held the championship finale, because it was impossible to pass. I mean, both Hamilton and Alonso were unable to overtake massively slower cars ahead of them. I'm putting this on the god-awful layout that this track had. Imagine if this fight took place at Interlagos, where it should've.

[@tacticalnuclearpingutv290]

If it were Interlagos and not the awful Abu Dhabi maybe we’d have been spared artificial tyres and the absolute joke of DRS. Complete F1 knee jerk reaction not realizing their track choice was the issue.

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

@@tacticalnuclearpingutv290 tbf the artificial tires was the result of the 2010 Canadian GP when the tires were not lasting long due to the surface and caused multiple pit stops that day and a enjoyable race The FIA wanted to replicate that race going forwards lol

[@tacticalnuclearpingutv290]

@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 Yeah that’s very true.

[@AlonsoRules]

Ah yes, the phantom tyre wear that Ferrari thought would happen

[@simonmayer8800]

I like the way that you recall stories like these, and include the perspective of the time; such as how strange it seemed back then for Ferrari to get a big strategy call wrong

[@SoLDMG]

“Just you wait sunshine…”

[@RexworksMedia]

It's looking good!

[@blakebarone1809]

“Du bit weltmeister.” There. How was my German? Those are about the only German I know, but have no clue how to spell. That and “Mein Got, mus da sein.”

[@SadMarinersFan]

@@blakebarone1809 so ein bockmist aber auch.

[@AidanMillward]

@@blakebarone1809 Aber ja natürlich Hans ist nass, er steht unter dem Wasserfall

[@Ben_Mayall]

@@AidanMillwardI didn’t know James May had access to your account!

[@reet-ko9lg]

The main difference between Vettel’s 4 in a row & Hamilton’s dominant 17-20 is that there genuinely could’ve been a handful of other champions if Vettel hadn’t performed and kept his nose clean in Brazil.

[@JSmith19858]

Because when sassy Brundle comes out, people start weeping salt tears about him insulting THEIR driver on the world feed as Sky's commentary doubles up as that

[@AidanMillward]

They need to fucking cope harder. Get it all the time doing this as well. I said leclerc isn’t performing to the level the hype suggests and someone goes “why do you hate leclerc?” It’s boring.

[@JSmith19858]

@@AidanMillward hype and team orders, although hobbling a clearly faster driver on a sunday is a Ferrari trait

[@corpsecoder_nw6746]

Fernando also spun in Spa and jumped the start in Shanghai. He had an engine failure in Malaysia, which offsets Vettel's engine failure in Korea. But he got lucky in Bahrain when Vettel had a spark plug issue which reduced his power and dropped him to 4th, a wheel nut coming off in Australia meaning a DNF for Vettel, contact with Hamilton in Silverstone....it didn't come easy for Vettel in terms of consistency because of these issues.

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

Don’t forget Alonso also stacking it in FP3 at Monaco ruining his weekend Lewis even that year was unlucky with a certain P2 lost due to wheel rim failure at Spain that year, the gearbox failure at Hungary then a controversial crash with Webber at Singapore (he was also the master of his own downfall with a questionable move on Massa at Monza which caused a DNF when he had a chance for sure to win that day) Meanwhile Webber was doing RB air race at Valencia and had a shocking race at Korea lol

[@griff2470]

In terms of reliability, it's really wild how disproportionately Vettel was affected. Vettel lost somewhere in the realm of 63 points between Bahrain (P1 -> P4), Australia (P1 -> DNF), and Korea (P1 -> DNF). The next biggest loser was Hamilton at only 30 points between Spain (P2 -> DNF, punctures always arguable as to fault but it was pretty clearly bad luck in this case) and Hungary (P4 -> DNF). Meanwhile Alonso only lost 4-8 points at Malaysia (P8 -> DNF but was nursing gearbox problems throughout) and Webber lost 0 from reliability. Also interestingly, had Vettel not had reliability problems costing him wins at the first 2 races, he would have lead the championship for the entire season instead of only leading at the end of the last race.

[@corpsecoder_nw6746]

@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 yea and Vettel would've bossed Korea and won the title comfortably if not for the engine failure, he could drive in the wet for all the haters

[@AlonsoRules]

What cost Alonso the title was not letting Kubica back past immediately after passing him off circuit at Silverstone. He did not let him by and there was a safety car. To add insult to injury, Kubica retired a few laps later.

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

@@AlonsoRules Very foolish from Alonso that day and those were the days the minimum penalty was a drive through which is much worse than what would have happened today, today that would have been a 5 seconds penalty and he would have driven onwards without a care in the world

[@NoiseBombS14]

As a kid, I loved Seb, he seemed to be the most relatable to me. Now as a young man, I love him even more No matter what he spends the rest of his life doing, I hope it brings him peace and happiness Danke Seb

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

0:28 the Scuderia Vodafone McFerrari Marlboro team that year was certainly a very strong team maybe the strongest team of all time! 2 drivers contributed 0 points to the WCC and they still walked the standings! lol

[@Gnrnrvids]

That "Hi I'm form the future..." bit was just genius.

[@stibblr]

This was 13 years ago??? damn i’ve been watching this sport for ages

[@ZeFleischwaffe]

I remember Vettel having lots of bad luck with breakdowns during that season. If it wasn’t for that the championship would have been an easier run for him

[@nathancoleman8792]

Chris dyer who was Schumachers old engineer was the man who made the call to pit Alonso. Ferrari sacked him after

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

Yup that call cost him his job

[@xNeo64]

i miss the v8 era and im not just saying that because vettel won 4 championships from 2006 to 2013 aside from like 2 seasons there was always a competitive battle for the championship

[@palm92]

2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 are all timer great seasons. 2013 stinks but the rest are good-incredible. For me, the best era racing wise outside of the 1980-1991 Golden Era (watching '78 now, it's also good.)

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

Good competitive era, even 2011 produced some good races only really towards the end of 2013 when Vettel went on his historical run did the era tail off but it was more due to everyone prepping for 2014 than trying to put effort into their 2013 cars and the Pirelli tire changes post Silverstone basically deciding the WDC

[@xNeo64]

2006 schumacher vs alonso 2007 ferrari vs mclaren round 1 2008 ferrari vs mclaren round 2 with guest appearances from renault sauber and toro rosso 2009 brawn gp 2010 4 drivers with a shot at the title in the final race 2011 vettel domination 2012 one of the most competitive years ever 2013 vettel domination

[@TheSt1092]

Vetttel made a a right meal of ohe 2010 and 2012 championships.

[@xNeo64]

he came in clutch in the final races when it mattered the most

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

2010 more than 2012, 2012 the Alternator had a propensity of failing lol

[@AidanMillward]

He did everything to not win 2012 and still did.

[@corpsecoder_nw6746]

@@AidanMillward the car wasn't as strong in the blown diffuser area as 2011. Plus the alternator and the incidents and his own mistakes.....Vettel's championships didn't come easy cause reliability and chaos were a whole lot more of a lottery just 10 years ago....

[@palm92]

@@corpsecoder_nw6746 The 2012 Ferrari was quite a dog, Alonso was the best that season IMO and had things gone the right way he should have taken it. Alas...

[@EddieVanAidan]

To say this race under-delivered by an infinite amount is an understatement. If this was nowadays, the Hype/Disappointment ratio online would've caused a natural disaster 😂 I'd still get rid of Yas Marina in a heartbeat.

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

Ah the race that cause DRS to actually become a thing. Petrov saved his career that day for a couple more years I’m surprised there wasn’t a big conspiracy of Renault helping their sister engine team RB (back when RB and Renault had a good relationship and RB had an impending Renault factory sponsorship deal coming in with Infiniti) The Renault all season did have good straight line speed that year I will say that

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

Also I do miss Bridgestone tires as well you could do a whole race on them and push on them most of the time!

[@palm92]

@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 They are probably one of the best racing tire manufacturers of all time, and one of the very few to ever beat Michelin in a straight fight.

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

@@palm92 Yup they were indeed, regarding Michelin the most impressive thing about their time in f1 was *all* of their wins was in a tire war era None of this statpadding that Pirelli are currently doing I wish Michelin or Bridgestone comes back (I wouldn’t say no to a tire war again)

[@palm92]

@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 Yes Michelin always had competition. The 1976-1985 era actually had Michelin, Goodyear, Pirelli, Avon, Dunlop (Sumitomo Dunlop Japan), and Bridgestone all competing at various points. In 1981 (which had a 3 way championship fight until the last round) and 1982, Michelin, Goodyear, Pirelli and Avon all competed against each other.

[@yudhabagaskara98]

Du bist weltmeister

[@Arsenic71]

"...he was lucky not to take Schumacher's head off..." Just imagine how lucky Schumacher was!

[@nigelobrien4335]

Ironically imho, I'd have Alonso taking a championship Vettel couldn't at Ferrari. Did Sebastian take 2 titles from Ferrari;)

[@mrdraw2087]

Wasn't Webber still suffering from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident? Based on Red Bull's pace advantage, he was expected to qualify on the front row and have a very good chance of winning the title (assuming Vettel would have to move over to deny Alonso the title), but when he only qualified in fifth, it was pretty much game over for him. The early safety car did, however, give him an unexpected opportunity. As the harder tires (I believe they were actually medium tires) didn't really degrade, he could essentially make a free pit-stop. For some reason, Red Bull didn't pit him. Alonso also could have pitted. In his case, it would have been more risky, as he was virtually leading the championship. His proximity to Webber made him vulnerable to a potential undercut, especially as the super-soft tires started to grain a few laps after the re-start. So, Ferrari brought him in too early to clear the midfield, expecting Alonso to clear Petrov and Rosberg easily. The Yas Marina Circuit at the time was quite new and the teams probably underestimated the difficulty of overtaking, especially on a car with a high top speed and with no tire advantage. Alonso was doomed from there, being stuck with no pit-stops and no hope of Petrov's tires going off. Alonso could have been saved, had Hamilton's undercut on Vettel worked. It seems McLaren were trying to use the traffic to their advantage, hoping Hamilton could quickly pass Kubica and Kobayashi after his stop. Just like Ferrari, McLaren were too optimistic about the track's overtaking potential, but the timing of the stop wasn't great anyway. Vettel pitted on the next lap and thanks to a very fast stop, he emerged from the pit-lane just ahead of Kobayashi, who actually tried to pass him, only to be passed by Kubica and Hamilton. Hamilton was then stuck behind Kubica, who had started on the harder tires and therefore couldn't pit at the beginning of the race. His race pace was quite good, and he was able to overcut the Petrov/Alonso train as he switched to the softer tires at the end of the race. He still delayed Hamilton, who set the fastest lap once he was in clear air again, but it was too late to threaten Vettel. A rare occasion in 2010 where everything went smoothly for Vettel, while the opposition messed up.

[@renzo7042]

Man this is my favorite season, but Webber being my favorite driver also makes it very painful... If he only finished on the podium in Korea.. 257 points (if he finished 3rd in Korea) :( Either way massive legend and my idol!

[@wabba67]

Ferrari definitely focused on the wrong Red Bull, or rather, they forgot that there were other cars in the race as well. And it's a shame that DRS has removed these kind of races. I'm not saying that I want races with just one or two on-track passes, but the old art of defensive driving is pretty much gone or changed massively.

[@matzemunz2827]

[@Mrmayhembsc]

DId love this season but was gutted for webber and I still think red bull made it so vettel would win the championship

[@EmilForsberg_GRYBO]

Technically Massa should also be a part of that chart at the end, he was in the lead of the championship for a very brief period, after Malaysia

[@danielalonso6223]

Great vid! Once thing though - Webber won at Nurburgring, not Hockenheim.

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

In impressive fashion too, despite having a drive through penalty. People told me it’s illegal to still be able to win a race after a drive through penalty though! (Sarcasm and reference to Silverstone 2021)

[@JohnSmithShields]

​@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1oooo controversial

[@brandonlehman7440]

greetings mister millward, big fan, cheers

[@LJW1912]

I think 2010 is to F1 what 1992 Atlanta is to NASCAR

[@Dam_Noir]

"Button was out of it ages ago." Thay being the previous race? 😅

[@HadleeSimons]

Between his win WHERE and his next win in Germany

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

That was one hell of a season, wasn't it? Just Turkey to do and you've got a collection of videos for that year. Now there's a thought... Other interesting season collections? ;)

[@JohnSmithShields]

1994

[@patrickkennedy2533]

Yeah , I like my Brundell salty also

[@filipposstavro1233]

Sad day. I am an Alonso fan since day 1. I wanted Webber to win it that day though. What happened in 2012 in Brazil 2 years later was way more sad though.

[@JohnSmithShields]

A fantastic amount of snark. Great review of the 2010 title.

[@palm92]

Is it known how much power an engine of this era loses vs. a fresh one? I've always been curious about power degradation.

[@mrkipling2201]

The first time I saw a final race showdown for the World Championship was in 1986 at the Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide. Mansell, Prost and Piquet were all still able to win the title. Senna might have even been in with a remote mathematical chance of winning it, if the other 3 all retired and he won the race. Realistically, it was 1of the 3 drivers I originally mentioned that were going to win it though. We all know what happened next......

[@yashparanjape5211]

Senna was out Mathematically at Portugal 1986

[@JohnSmithShields]

Just look at that!!!!!

[@charmanderichooseyou2726]

I had to rub my eyes and rewind the video to double check that you’re actually wearing a Toronto Blue Jays hat. Must be longing for that 93 season huh?

[@AidanMillward]

I am indeed wearing a Jays hat.

[@palm92]

We love winners. I'm still celebrating the Raps 2019 win, which will likely be the only major Toronto Sports team win in a championship in my lifetime, probably (I was born in 1992, but I don't remember the World Series wins.)

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

@@palm92 Shout out to Kawhi that year in 2019 lol, Kawhi is my favourite player in the NBA and I’m still celebrating that ring lol

[@tdubs9726tw]

you not going to make a video on the 2010 korean grand prix to add to the series 😉?

[@VicarOfMayhem]

Ferrari, bad strategy? Nah! LOL

[@stefencooke]

Also the year where Sauber where know as BMW sauber Ferrari became of the late pull out of BMW iirc so had to defend car companies names on there car

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Yes, the team as 'BMW-Sauber' in 2009 needed to retain the same name in 2010 otherwise it could be claimed they were a 'new entrant' and would therefore lose all the prize money due from 2009. Peter Sauber and BMW agreed eventually that he would buy the team back (for something like CHF 10, just basically the lowest possible amount) and could retain the 'BMW' part of the name as without the 2009 prize-money they did not have the budget to run the season.

[@yeg466]

How can I send you a Trappers hat?

[@F1Guy-Guy]

That was Alonsos or Hamiltons

[@mrbungle3310]

I haven't seen this in modern f1...crazy how the sport went shit in every aspect Sochi 21 was the closest to this unpredictability without any red flags or weather

[@Shroomdiffnuclear]

Get real son 😂😂😂😂😂

[@JD_Racer97]

Vettel to Merc when?

[@gerbazs]

Thanks

[@jmjrulz9482]

14:06 🙈

[@areasquirrel]

This was so tense, I was supporting Vettel anyway. Getting the pole made me believe it was possible. Something horrible could happen to Webber and Alonso that far down, perhaps. Not quite what I had in mind, but I was sort of right. Vettel wasn't too far behind, so there was always a chance. Only Hamilton was truly in mathematical rather than realistic contention, though of course McLaren were duty bound to run the race seriously just in case, Button doing a solid Number 2 plan. "Button's got the jump!" set the tone for the rest of the day. 55 laps of squeaky bum time. After the terror of Schumacher almost being decapitated, it was shakes and breathe, breathe, breathe. And of course doing the leg dance along with Mr. Horner. And then that chequered flag, and the tears on the radio, and in our house. Yee Haa! Karma finally came for Alonso for "Fernando is faster than you". Petrov GOAT. One of the best broadcasts of the 'second BBC era' (2009-2015), opening with a spoof X Factor intro complete with announcer Peter Dickson. "Last time on F1! We said goodbye to Button... Now four remain in the final! FERNANDO ALONSO! MARK WEBBER! SEBASTIAN VETTEL! LEWIS HAMILTON! IT'S TIME! TO START! YOUR ENGINES!" Hope ITV saw the funny side. BBC also did great with the closing credits, marking the debut of Alistair Griffin's Just Drive. It was perfect. # I wanna be the only one to make it to the line...# More tears from me. 'Wish that could be the theme song instead of The sodding Chain', I thought. Sky duly obliged in 2012. Start of the Vettel era. My golden era. * sigh * Back to my happy place.

[@sgt.thompson98]

Another fun fact about this season is that the driver who was in the lead of the championship NEVER won a Grand Prix as long as they were in the lead. Just goes to show how great 2010 was. In fact, aside from 2011 and the second half of 2013, every season in V8 era was exciting in some way or another.

[@AnimaDweller]

Vettel was never expected to win this one. It was almost magical hearing that "DU BIST WELTMEISTER".

[@MichaelBrandon-cp8jq]

That graph showing all the changes for the lead of the championship? Vettel never led the championship until the VERY END. The other four led at various points, but Vettel only led at the one point in time where the position mattered.

[@jsma9999]

'Webber and Alonso' where looking at each other and Vettel can though and won it, 7 winners over 1st 7 races was that year.

[@KumanoMTG]

I have never realised Vettel wasn't in the championship lead anywhere during the season and then just won the title :)

[@tosehoed123]

Its weird how i feel i was there and watched i happen, but i started watching replays in 2020. It screwed up my sense of time

[@palm92]

Thank you for this video, it has cured my depression after the Alpine "livery" reveal. I appreciate the Jays hat - I was born here and have lived here all my life. Bumblebee Renault livery was excellent.

[@josiahboatengmyrie]

2010 probably to this day is still my favourite season of all time

[@joakimjeppsson1443]

Never leading til the final round..

[@stewartbailey1653]

Alonso was so pissed off with Petrov at the end of the race. What was he supposed to do though, ignore his own position and just wave Alonso and Webber through, if he'd done that he'd of probably been fired by Renault. After all, Alonso should know just how the second driver at Renault were expected to behave, and just waving other drivers through, whether they are fighting for a championship or not, wouldn't have done Petrov any favours. It also wasn't his fault that Alonso and Webber screwed up their pitstops and put them so far down!!!!!

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

He was probably expecting Vitaliy to spin into a wall to bring out a conveniently-timed safety car.... The usual things he expected of Renault drivers.

[@owensnicholas]

I’ve been an F1 fan for 25 years. It’s unlikely that I could have even told you who won the championship in 2010.

[@JohnSmithShields]

Seb knows them all.

[@bobclarke5913]

Such a strange time, not knowing who would win the race until Sunday. What was Seb driving that day, Liz or Mandy?

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Randy Mandy at the end of the season, he broke Liz sometime around Monaco and needed a new chassis.

[@MaxPayne19146]

Excellent

[@mikestewart368]

Where's the "inappropriate behavior" video?

[@mikehipperson]

Christian probably hurt the feelings of the woman concerned for slating her for not doing her job!

[@brokentuskclan1795]

Oh yes the Korean GP. That was a thing.

[@palm92]

Remember the Crane doing a Wheelie?

[@TheMaundy69]

Webber was Nurburgring lol

[@AidanMillward]

Shiiiiiiit

[@TheMaundy69]

sorry@@AidanMillward

[@BobGeogeo]

I remember this race being a dull one to watch.

[@mrdraw2087]

Yep, nothing happened.

[@tacticalnuclearpingutv290]

2010 was an absolute banger of a season and 2012 not withstanding, the best season since. Saddens me that F1 began what I’d argue it’s slide into WWF1 as you put it in a previous video. BBC even had The Chain as the intro song, no wonder it was an epic battle. Ahhh memories.

[@philllawrence1580]

3.3k!

[@MuhammadImHardBruceLee]

I bought bought a new TV...for. this. race. I couldn't see any way that Alonso could lose, but I overlooked just how much Red Bull wanted Vettel to win. To this day, I believe Red Bull sacrificed Webber's championship in order to trick Ferrari, and win with Vettel... Painful.

[@robbienl8176]

Hamilton should have won that title in that car.

[@formula2tom225]

Seb is as fast as anyone who ever drove a car. beating fields stacked with world champions. he also deserves credit for being clutch under the ultimate pressure... he won 2 of the closest titles in history and had 2 easy wins...verstappen has had 1 tough 1 and 2 walkovers.. hoping he gets some competition this year....

[@AidanMillward]

In before he had one gift and two walkovers

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

It's easy to forget in the 'shock' of 2010 and the subsequent years, who drove best and eventually finished 2nd in 2009. Despite Button winning in the "domninant" Brawn, it wasn't Barrichello in 2nd place at the end of the year....

[@minibus9]

awesome video 2010 was a great season hopefully there will be another like it soon, unlikely but we can hope