GP Abu Dhabi- ones to watch

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GP Abu Dhabi: ones to watch

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GP Abu Dhabi: ones to watch

by Alex Hazle, 10 Nov 2010

With most of the talk now about the F1 frontrunners as we head to the Middle East for the season finale, we look at some other names who’ve made their own impact on this year’s proceedings in various ways.

Felipe Massa (BRA), Ferrari – 6th (143pts)
Michael Schumacher’s longtime Ferrari wingman, then two corners away from a world championship as the de facto number one in 2008 after defending world champion Kimi Räikkönen’s challenge fell away, then back to playing catch-up as Brawn dominated in 2009 before the arrival of Fernando Alonso in 2010… It’s hard not to feel sorry for Felipe Massa sometimes. He’s been the ‘two’ in both of Ferrari’s one-twos this season, in Bahrain fairly and in Germany controversially, when he was effectively told to move over for his team-mate by his apologetic engineer and buddy Rob Smedley. He’d have wanted to have an impact on the world championship, sure, but not like that. Incidentally, as the sixth-placed man in this year’s championship, he’s the highest-ranked driver not to have won this season: the top five above are the only drivers to have won a race – Alonso (five races), Mark Webber (four), Sebastian Vettel (four), Lewis Hamilton (three) and Jenson Button (two). “I would have liked to have been fighting it out at the front here, but it wasn’t possible,” said Massa in his Ferrari.com blog after another disappointing afternoon in his home race. “I will try and make up for it in Abu Dhabi at the final race. We still have a very important target to reach and we will do our utmost to succeed in that.”

'We still have a very important target to reach' – Felipe Massa

Robert Kubica (POL), Renault – 8th (126pts)
He and his Renault team threatened to upset the order in the early season when he finished second in Australia, but Kubica and the R30 have been largely overlooked since (despite surprisingly topping the timesheets in third practice at Interlagos). With Renault’s potential future state in flux as rumours circulate about Lotus Group involvement that could see the Pole freed of his Renault obligations, it begs the question: What does Kubica do next? Touted by many as the most naturally talented driver on the grid (though he’s not the only driver that seems to carry that tag by any means), his options are currently severely limited. What looks like his most natural destination, Ferrari, and a partnership with his friend Alonso in the heartland of his adopted Italy (where Kubica’s early successes in karting came), seems out of the question. A continued British and German lockout at McLaren and Mercedes respectively leave the Pole rather as it did in the BMW Sauber era – stuck in midfield. Patience is a virtue, and Kubica has needed to be especially virtuous in the last two years. If he is released, one feels that only a sensational switch to replace Massa at Ferrari will do. When asked in recent weeks by Spanish newspaper El Pais about such a switch, however, Kubica kept his tongue firmly in his cheek: “For me, it's no problem. In 2008, when Alonso left McLaren, it was said that he could come to BMW and I would have liked that. But it's just speculation… Anything can happen – maybe in five years when Alonso's contract ends we will be together at Renault.”

'For me, it's no problem… It's just speculation' – Robert Kubica

Michael Schumacher (GER), Mercedes – 9th (72pts)
If Schumi had been in the car his close friend and boss Ross Brawn was running last year, who knows what might have happened, but by any standard his comeback season and the first for Mercedes as a fully-fledged constructor in the modern era has been a huge disappointment. Brazil was only the fourth time in 18 races that the seven-time champion had outqualified his team-mate Nico Rosberg, but at least he eventually managed seventh and heads into a new GP (at least, new for him) with no real pressure. “We have had quite an encouraging weekend in São Paulo – even if it did not show too much to the outside – as our pace both in qualifying and the race has been satisfying,” Schumacher says on his official website michael-schumacher.de. “Abu Dhabi will be exciting for me in any case, as I will be driving this impressive circuit for the first time. Obviously the main focus of both the specatators and media will be on the championship fight, so we will be able to work calmly and concentrated. I am sure everybody in the team is as geared up to deliver a respectful last performance of the season as I am.” Here’s to next year, Michael…

'We will be able to work calmly and concentrated' – Michael Schumacher

Nico Hülkenberg (GER), Williams – 13th (22pts)
It would be hard to deny that the gap between Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and the Red Bulls in front of him at Interlagos was down to anything other than the RB6 being the better car, but having Nico Hülkenberg’s Williams in between them in the race’s earlier stages certainly did no harm to Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s strategy. A typically undemonstrative Patrick Head took the successful tactical gamble that saw Hülkenberg claim the Williams team’s first pole in 100 grands prix in his stride, perhaps knowing that Nico’s eventual eighth place was always the most likely outcome. As a GP2 star, Hülkenberg has also had a largely indifferent rookie season, at least until Brazil. Whether this weekend’s events will verify the rumours that suggest he’s close to a five-year deal and scotch those on the other flank that say his Williams days are numbered, perhaps we will discover in the Abu Dhabi aftermath. “I don’t know yet,” said Hülkenberg of the situation this week. “Ask Patrick [Head] or Frank [Williams]. I can’t tell you what they think right now.”

'Ask Patrick or Frank. I can’t tell you what they think right now' – Nico Hülkenberg

Jaime Alguersuari (SPA) – 19th (3pts)
In one sense, Alguersuari could be considered one of the unluckiest drivers of the year, as he’s finished one place out of points in 11th no fewer than five times this season, and in the last three races in a row. While his race-finishing position averages 12 (from races completed) to team-mate Sébastien Buemi’s average of 11.84, Buemi’s four points finishes have made the difference compared to Jaime’s two – not that the 20-year-old Spaniard is bemoaning his lot. “I think we can be quite satisfied with today’s performance as I never expected to finish as high as 11th in the dry conditions, as we lacked some top line speed,” Alguersuari said after the Brazilian GP. “With no retirements ahead of us, finishing three places higher than I started is the best we could have expected. Now I am looking forward to our last race of the season in Abu Dhabi…”