Sebastian Vettel became the youngest world champion in Formula One history with a fantastic drive in the season finale at Abu Dhabi.
The 23-year-old German led comfortably from the front, saving a few laps before Jenson Button made his late pitstop. But it was what happened behind Sebastian that changed the course of the world championship.
Pre-race favourite Fernando Alonso only needed to come home in the top four to secure the title, even if Vettel won, but his day – and title hopes – were ruined when the Spaniard spent most of the race looking at the back of Vitaly Petrov’s Renault in the lower reaches of the top ten, thanks to an early shuffling of the race order.
Instead, Nico Rosberg and the Renaults of Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov capitalised on running an alternative tyre strategies offered by an early-race safety car period to finish fourth, fifth and sixth, and relegate Alonso and Mark Webber down the order.
The vital chain of events was triggered by Webber’s early pitstop to discard the super-soft option tyre, on which the Australian was slipping backwards from Alonso.
Webber resumed on lap 13 in P16, behind Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso. Felipe Massa had been running closely behind Webber, so Ferrari responded by pitting him to see if he could get out ahead of the Red Bull.
When he emerged behind, and Webber lapped 0.8 seconds faster than Alonso next time round, Ferrari made the decision to bring the Spaniard in to ensure he stayed in front of his championship rival.
He did, but that strategy failed to take into account Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov, who had pitted under the safety car period. That meant that although Alonso had Webber covered off, the Ferrari driver was nowhere near the fourth place he needed to deny Vettel the drivers’ title.
Not only that, but while Alonso was stacked behind Petrov – with Rosberg another two seconds up the road – Kubica stayed out on a long first stint and jumped up the order. His Renault had started on the harder prime tyre after failing to make it through to Q3, but that allowed a late pitstop.
That mistake from the Ferrari team cost Alonso the championship and it was frustrating for the Spaniard as he was stuck behind the Renault. It’s quite ironic that the team in which Fernando won the championship twice has preventing him on taking the title for the third time…
Anyway, Kubica found himself in the thick of the battle for the lead when Vettel and Hamilton rejoined after their pitstops. With Alonso so far down the race order, Hamilton became the biggest threat to Vettel’s championship. But the McLaren driver couldn’t find a way around the Renault, and by the time Kubica pitted on lap 45, Vettel was ten seconds ahead and in control.
But in that time, Kubica had extended the gap back to Alonso’s pack to 24 seconds – plenty for his own pitstop. He resumed ahead of team-mate Petrov, with Alonso seventh.
Button, who was running just five seconds ahead of Alonso in the early stages, remained in third – easily clear of the Rosberg group by the time Jenson resumed from his pitstop on lap 39.
The first-lap safety car period that later proved so pivotal to the championship was, coincidentally, partly caused by Rosberg – the driver to benefit most from it.
His Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher was delayed on the inside of the track by the defending Rubens Barrichello. Rosberg tried to drive around his team-mate into the chicane but they were squeezed together and Schumacher spun on the exit.
Just as he was trying to restart, Vitantonio Liuzzi arrived on the scene, in the middle of a pack with nowhere to go. His Force India hit and climbed up the front of the Mercedes and blocked the track. It was this that prompted Rosberg and Petrov to make their early pitstops.
So a fantastic win for Sebastian Vettel. Despite the bad luck and crashes this season, the achievements set by Vettel has been remarkable. Ten pole positions and five victories. The young German deserves the championship thanks to a great car, the Renault-powered RB6, and the team, Red Bull Racing. Double world champions!
Race results from Abu Dhabi, 55 laps:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h39m36.837s
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +10.1s
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes +11.0s
4. Rosberg Mercedes +30.7s
5. Kubica Renault +39.0s
6. Petrov Renault +43.5s
7. Alonso Ferrari +43.7s
8. Webber Red Bull-Renault +44.2s
9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +50.2s
10. Massa Ferrari +50.8s
11. Heidfeld Sauber-Ferrari +51.5s
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +57.6s
13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +58.3s
14. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +59.5s
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1m03.1s
16. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +1m04.7s
17. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth +2 laps
19. Senna HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
20. Klien HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth +4 laps
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1m41.274s
Not classified/retirements:
Glock Virgin-Cosworth 44 laps
Schumacher Mercedes 1 lap
Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 19:
Drivers:
1. Vettel 256
2. Alonso 252
3. Webber 242
4. Hamilton 240
5. Button 214
6. Massa 144
7. Rosberg 142
8. Kubica 136
9. Schumacher 72
10. Barrichello 47
11. Sutil 47
12. Kobayashi 32
13. Petrov 27
14. Hulkenberg 22
15. Liuzzi 21
16. Buemi 8
17. De la Rosa 6
18. Heidfeld 6
19. Alguersuari 5
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 498
2. McLaren-Mercedes 454
3. Ferrari 396
4. Mercedes 214
5. Renault 163
6. Williams-Cosworth 69
7. Force India-Mercedes 68
8. Sauber-Ferrari 44
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has praised Sebastian Vettel in winning the world championship. Autosport.com has the story.
Christian Horner has hailed Sebastian Vettel’s world championship success a fantastic end to an “unbelievable” season for the Red Bull team.
Vettel clinched the title with victory in today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix because rivals Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber could only finish seventh and eighth.
Horner paid tribute to the work of Vettel, Webber and the rest of the team, which had already secured the constructors’ title in Brazil last weekend.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s been a very emotional week for this team. I’m just so proud of the team. It’s just an amazing feeling to be double world champions, it’s the icing on the cake with the drivers’ [title]. This team is the best team in the world.
“Sebastian, it’s the first time he’s led the world championship and he’s done it at the last race of the year. Unbelievable. A great job, he drove a perfect race when the pressure was on.
“He has had ups and downs, he’s had bad luck, he’s had some mechanical problems, some engine failures but he never lost his focus and belief – and now he is a champion. A great season.
“He’s quite a remarkable character, he was the coolest of all of us. His rise to this point has been huge. He’s a product of the Red Bull Junior Team and today he’s delivered the biggest trophy in motorsport.”
Horner says Red Bull’s decision to let both of its drivers compete for the title was vindicated by Vettel’s victory.
“We continued to back both drivers equally and it was the right thing to do,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the best guy has won. There’s nothing to take away from Mark. He can also be very, very proud of what he’s achieved this year. He has driven well too, the fact that both drivers took it to the last race was just fantastic.”
Red Bull’s technical director Adrian Newey added: “I can honestly this is one of the most special ones. Last weekend with the constructors’ was fantastic. For Seb to do it… he deserved it and it’s great to do from the front.”
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has paid tribute to new Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, after the Red Bull driver became the second German driver in the history of the sport to take the title.
Six year’s after Schumacher won the last of his titles for Ferrari, Vettel became the youngest title holder with a brilliant win in Abu Dhabi.
“I’m quite happy for him because we are friends and it has been a tough year for him,” Schumacher told the BBC. “He’s had up and downs he has had to go through, probably more on the mechanical side than on the driving side so he really deserves this championship.
“Well done to him, well done to the team, a great job from them all.
“My time was different time from his time, I just feel very happy for him. I think he deserves all the credit. He is a great driver, he is a fantastic guy, so I am more than happy for him.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite missing out on the race win at Abu Dhabi, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has promised that he will come back stronger next season. Autosport.com has the story.
Lewis Hamilton congratulated Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull on a well-deserved world championship success in Abu Dhabi, but promised that McLaren would come back stronger in 2011.
McLaren had gradually drifted off Red Bull and Ferrari’s pace in the closing stages of the season, and Hamilton needed to win with his three title rivals hitting trouble today to snatch the title.
The 2008 champion came home second, and paid tribute to race and title-winner Vettel.
“It has not been the most spectacular season for us, but huge congratulations to Red Bull and Seb,” said Hamilton. “He did a fantastic job this season.”
McLaren improved its pace in Abu Dhabi, and Hamilton was pleased that he and team-mate Jenson Button had at least finished their year with podiums.
“For us it was a great end of season result,” said Hamilton. “This year, me and Jenson pushed hard. Next year will be a better year.”
Hamilton fought with Vettel for victory in the early part of the race before losing ground when he emerged behind Robert Kubica – who was running a very long first stint – following his pitstop. Though that ended his chance of challenging for victory, Hamilton was unwilling to criticise the timing of his stop.
“I am sure the team did everything for the right reason,” he said. “We needed to try and jump Seb, it was unfortunate we came up behind a Renault.”
Fernando Alonso defended Ferrari’s decision to pit early in Abu Dhabi, despite the decision possibly contributing to him failing to his defeat in the world championship by new champion Sebastian Vettel.
Alonso chose to change to the prime tyres on lap 13 when in a title-winning fourth position, in response to Mark Webber’s pitstop two laps previously. But both cars emerged behind Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov, who pitted during an early safety car. Alonso and Webber’s failure to pass those two ultimately cost them the title.
“After the race it is always very easy to see the best strategy,” Alonso told the BBC. “As I said now you need to cover from someone and if we didn’t stop I think Webber probably would have overtaken us, if we stopped we cover from Webber but let Petrov and Rosberg in front so it was a very difficult call I think.
“It was obviously a tough difficult race,” he added. ” I lost a position at the start and then when the first safety car came out Petrov and Rosberg came in so… We saw some problems with the soft tyres, Webber pitted and then we tried to cover from him.
“When you cover someone probably you give something away to the others. So it was then a choice between covering Vettel or [racing] Petrov and Rosberg, so we covered Webber and then it was difficult to overtake Petrov. The Renault is very quick on the top speed so it was a frustrating race behind him. But this is a sport, this is motor racing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Congratulations to Red Bull and Sebastian but next year we will try again.”
Alonso, who eventually finished seventh, three places shy of his target, was seen on television pictures to apparently gesticulate his frustration at Petrov on the slowing-down lap, having been couped up behind the Renault for much of the race.
Asked whether he blamed Petrov for the result, Alonso replied: “I tried to pass him once and he protected like it was the last lap, in the last race in the championship, fighting both for the championship, so he was very aggressive.
“But he drove very well, he made no mistakes. I think next year we will try again.”
Alonso described his season overall as good and paid tribute to Ferrari: “It was very good. For me especially after two years of some difficulties fighting for a place in Q3, coming back to winning races and fighting for the championship in the last race… I overtook big names in race wins, Niki Lauda, Juan Fangio.
“This is for me something amazing and I’m sure that with this team it is very possible to fight for championships in the future. So I am very happy.”
Source: Autosport.com
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Werbber has promised to fight back next season. Autosport.com has the details.
Mark Webber says he will definitely be back fighting for the world championship with Red Bull again in 2011 after his near-miss this season, and congratulated his team-mate Sebastian Vettel on snatching the 2010 title in Abu Dhabi.
Webber had led the standings for much of the year, but a costly crash in Korea and a lowly eighth-place finish today after his strategy left him stuck in traffic saw him fall to third in the standings.
Asked by the BBC if he would definitely be back to try again with the team in 2011, Webber replied: “Yes”.
He added: “I fully congratulate Seb on the world championship.
“There were a lot of positives this year. This weekend didn’t turn out and it’s a shame.
“There’s good time to reflect in the next few weeks and look at the highs and the lows, but that’s the way sport is sometimes.
“There are quite a few emotions of course when you come so close to the top and you just miss out. I tried my absolute hardest. I have great guys around me and we did what we could, but at the end it wasn’t enough and that’s where it’s at.
“Two championships for the team is not a bad year for us.”
Webber had no complaints about the decision to make an early pitstop for hard tyres, even though it left him stuck behind drivers who had pitted under the early safety car period.
He said it had been worth the gamble as he had only been running fifth at that point, and pointed out that by luring Fernando Alonso into following the same unsuccessful strategy, he ended up helping Vettel beat the Ferrari driver to the title.
“Early in the race obviously we had to make a few calls to get out of that position we were in. It wasn’t too bad till then,” said Webber.
“Going for the harder tyre pretty early obviously hurt Fernando because he had to cover me off, so in a way it was a bit of a team effort I suppose, but obviously I didn’t get the result I wanted.”
Race winner Sebastian Vettel was completely unaware that he won the championship until right at the end. Autosport.com provides the story.
Sebastian Vettel said he did not know he had won the world championship until he crossed the line at the end of the race in Abu Dhabi.
Formula 1’s youngest-ever world champion was in a position to clinch the title from early on in the race, when Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber slipped down the order. But he says his Red Bull team kept him in the dark about the scenario until the very end to make sure he concentrated on winning the race.
“To be honest I did not know anything,” Vettel said. “I wondered. In the last 10 laps, my engineer Rocky [Guillaume Rocquelin] was giving me advice to help me get the car home. I wondered why he was so nervous.
“I thought we must be in a good position, then he said ‘it’s looking good’, I didn’t know what he meant. I just focused on myself, and they came on the radio and screamed that we have won the world championship.
“I am a bit speechless to be honest, I don’t know what you’re supposed to say in this moment. It is unbelievable. I went to bed and kept thinking about the race, about what might happen. I had some good imaginations and a good feeling.”
Vettel reflected on his up and down season, during which he won five times but also lost several good results through accidents and reliability problems. But he says he never lost the belief that he could win the championship.
“We have seen incredible fights and a tight season,” he said. “I don’t know how many times we have had a different leader. Some people got written off very early and then came back, like Fernando, they came back hard. Lewis [Hamilton] came back and was leading all of us.
“I could write a book about the races where we could have finished in a higher position. There were retirements, all of us had ups and downs. It has been an intense and tough season, sometimes ignoring what people are saying and trying to get your own thing done. This was my approach going into the race and now it’s looking good because it all worked.
“It was an incredibly tough season for all us, physically and especially mentally. I kept believing in myself and today was a special day. So I only led the championship once, when it mattered.
“For some reason it does not feel like it is happening. It’s strange, but it will sink in when I finally go to sleep – but I think we will have daylight before that happens.”
Vitaly Petrov says he would not have risked a crash with Fernando Alonso, had the Ferrari driver tried a move on the Russian in an attempt to keep his title hopes alive.
Alonso’s race was ruined when he emerged from his pitstop behind Petrov’s Renault and he could not find a way past for the remainder of the race.
But Petrov says he was aware of the championship situation and, although he was fighting his own battle, he would have tried to avoid contact between them.
“I just did my job,” he said. “If he had tried a move, then I didn’t want to crash with him, but it didn’t come to that. I came here to fight, and race every other driver, and I think I showed today that I can fight.
“We pitted under the safety car, which was the right decision, and after that I just tried to push while looking after the tyres because I knew that the plan was to go to the finish.
“I had a long battle with Fernando, but the car had good top speed today so I was able to control the situation. I am proud of my team and the good job we did.”
Source: Autosport.com
Force India driver Tonio Liuzzi has commented that he was unable to avoid the spinning Michael Schumacher on the opening lap. Autosport.com has the story.
Tonio Liuzzi said he had no opportunity to avoid his dramatic crash while Michael Schumacher on lap one of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Schumacher had spun while battling with his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, and was trying to rejoin when Liuzzi’s Force India ploughed into him head-on.
Both drivers were unhurt, despite the Force India ending up perched on the Mercedes.
“For me today was a bit of a disappointing end to what’s been a fantastic year for the team,” said Liuzzi.
“I had a good start, gaining a couple of positions and had got into a good place for the first stint, but then I came round the third corner and saw a cloud of smoke in front.
“I couldn’t move anywhere as there were cars all around me and then when the smoke cleared I saw Michael the wrong way round and stopped on track.
“I couldn’t do anything but thankfully we were both okay after the accident.”
With Liuzzi’s team-mate Adrian Sutil only finishing 13th, Force India had to settle for seventh in the constructors’ championship, behind season-long rival Williams.
But Liuzzi still felt Force India had plenty to be proud of.
“I am sorry that we could not score any points today to get back to sixth in the championship but even so the team has worked so hard today and for the whole of the season,” he said.
Fernando Alonso says his 2010 campaign will stand out in his memory, despite being beaten to the world championship by Sebastian Vettel in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
Alonso only needed to finish fourth to seal the crown, with Vettel winning the race, but he fell behind Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Vitaly Petrov – who were all on different strategies, and finished seventh.
But Alonso is proud of Ferrari’s efforts this season and is pleased just to be winning races and fighting for the championship in his first year with the team.
“It was a good year, the first year of my relationship with Ferrari,” he said. “For the last few years I’ve been fighting to be in Q3 and now I’ve finally been fighting for the world championship once more.
“I’ve taken five victories this year which puts me ahead of Niki Lauda and [Juan Manuel] Fangio, which is very special as I never thought I’d achieve so much on this list.
“I will remember this year for a long time and despite the final result. I’m very proud of this, the job the team has done and our approach to the last part of the year.
“We had engine problems in the first part so we were very limited with engines from race four onwards and we managed to fight for the championship to the last lap of the last race. Overall I think that we did our best.”
Alonso believes he and Ferrari wil come back much stronger next season, now that they have a year’s experience working together.
“Definitely much stronger,” he said. “This year I tested seven days before Bahrain and I arrived not knowing entirely what all the buttons on the steering wheel did, not knowing the names of the mechanics and the engineers.
“It was only around the time of the fifth or sixth race that I felt more comfortable. Now I feel very comfortable here and we’ll start next year feeling a lot more confident. There’s no doubt we’ll be right up there next year.”
Source: Autosport.com
McLaren’s Jenson Buttom has vowed to improve his qualifying form for next season. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button says his main aim for the winter will be to ensure he is more competitive in qualifying in 2011.
The outgoing world champion rounded off his first season at McLaren with third place in Abu Dhabi today, having ended a run of disappointing qualifying results by taking fourth on the grid.
With Lewis Hamilton also on the podium in second, the result confirmed McLaren’s second place in the constructors’ championship.
“That was the main aim really for us, and also to be on the podium was nice at the end of the season,” said Button.
“I’ve had some difficult Saturdays which have hurt me in the races, but my race performances have been very good, so I’m happy with that, but the feeling of the car on Saturdays is something that I’m going to work on over the winter.
“It’s a great way to end the year and I’m happy with my first year at McLaren.”
The race marked the last time that Button would carry the #1 on his car for now, but he said Sebastian Vettel was a very worthy successor as world champion.
“Sebastian’s had some great races this year,” said Button. “We’ve all had up and down races this year, but for the last few races Sebastian has done a great job, and he deserves to be world champion of course.”
Button revealed that Vettel had already asked him for advice on how to handle the experience of clinching the title.
“He was asking me how it should feel right now, and I told him he shouldn’t be thinking about that,” said Button.
“He should get these photoshoots and interviews out of the way, then get back and enjoy it with the people that matter most.
“When he wakes up in the morning and someone calls him and says ‘hey world champion, how are you feeling?’, that’s when it kicks in.”
After defending his Ferrari team on the pitstop strategy, Fernando Alonso has now admitted that the team’s decision to pit early was a mistake. Autosport.com provides the story.
Fernando Alonso has admitted that Ferrari’s decision to pit him on lap 14 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in response to Mark Webber’s stop two laps earlier, was a mistake.
Alonso was running fourth and needed to finish there to secure the world championship if Sebastian Vettel won the race. Ferrari called him in to ensure he stayed ahead of Webber, but failed to plan for Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov, who had stopped under safety car conditions on lap one.
The Spaniard rejoined ahead of Webber but behind Rosberg and Petrov, and eventually finished seventh after Robert Kubica also jumped him on an alternative strategy.
“It’s a sad feeling, but there is nothing we can do now,” Alonso said. “The race didn’t go as we wanted.
“First Petrov made the decision to stop, which was a little bit unexpected, and then Webber stopped very early as well – so we found ourselves needing to protect from either Webber or Petrov.
“We decided to cover Webber. That was maybe not the right thing, but it’s always very easy to see the strategy after the race. There is nothing we can change. Someone did a better job than us and they have more points at the end of the championship, so congratulations to them.”
Alonso added that he wasn’t in a position to over-rule the team’s decision to pit him because he didn’t have the information or the time to make the call from the cockpit.
“I didn’t have time to think,” he said. “I saw that Webber stopped and Felipe stopped as well – and Webber was gaining time so for us it was a choice that we had to make.
“We either decide to pit and stay in front of Webber, or not stop and he gets in front of us.
“We can see at the end of the race that maybe if we stayed out like [Jenson] Button, it was enough. You never know if the soft tyres are going to degrade a lot more, then we could have overtaken more cars.”
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has said his team will not single out individuals to blame for the strategy mistake that cost Fernando Alonso the world championship in Abu Dhabi.
Alonso only needed to finish in fourth place at the Yas Marina circuit on Sunday to secure the crown – but a strategy error in making an early switch to prime tyres to cover title rival Mark Webber left him stuck behind Renault’s Vitaly Petrov for the rest of the race.
That left Alonso down in seventh at the chequered flag and meant he missed out on the title to race winner Sebastian Vettel by four points.
Afterwards Domenicali owned up to the error that Ferrari had made, but said there was little point highlighting the decision-making process of who had made the wrong call.
“It was a mistake,” explained Domenicali. “Afterwards it is pretty clear it was a mistake, but at this moment I want to keep a clear vision – it is not good to say who took the decision or why it was taken. It was a team decision, and in the good and the bad moments the team has to stay together.
“The reason why we felt that [they needed to stop], was that there was tyre degradation that we had on the Friday and then we were basically thinking that to overtake the backmarkers, the ones in the middle, would have been much easier. That is the fact and the mistake of the strategy of today.”
Despite the deep disappointment of missing out on the title, Domenicali said it was important that his team kept its spirit because it had still been able to take the world title fight to the final round of the season against the faster Red Bull Racing team.
“At that moment it is important to keep your heads up because we need to remember where we were in the season, and no-one would have bet any money for us to be here to fight for something,” he said.
“At the end of the day I said to the guys, sport is very painful at certain moments, we know. I was with Sebastian Vettel in Korea when he was leading because we don’t have to forget all these things.”
Domenicali also said criticism that his outfit had lost the title in Abu Dhabi was unjustified because the season was decided over 19 races, not just one.
“It is easy in this moment to focus that we lost the championship here, but it is not true,” he said. “It is simply not true. If you put all the elements, one by one, together – you see at the end of the day that we achieved to fight for something here – but we did not lose the championship here, because they [Red Bull Racing] were stronger.
“That is a fact, and something we need to keep in mind, and that is what I wanted to say to the people. And it would be wrong to remember this race in the year of Ferrari 2010, because I think at the end of the day we need to think that without the best car, which is a fact, that we were able to arrive here [still in contention] so we need to be proud of it. And that is my view.”
Source: Autosport.com
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has admitted that his crash with Vitantonio Liuzz was frightening. Autosport.com has the details.
Michael Schumacher admitted after retiring from the first lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that his collision with Vitantonio Liuzzi had given him a fright.
The seven-time champion spun in front of the pack at the chicane and was collected while stationary by the Force India driver, whose car rode up the front of the Mercedes and narrowly missed Schumacher’s head.
“It was even scarier from inside [the cockpit],” Schumacher told the BBC. “Obviously with me turned around I am like a ramp for the guys to just drive up on me. Luckily the safety is very high and nothing happened.”
Schumacher, who has endured a difficult return to Formula 1 in 2010, added that the incident had been his fault: “I was on the outside obviously and trying to defend my position.
“For a moment I thought there was some contact involved , but I guess it was my fault.
“As for me, I am totally fine and was not hit by anything in the incident,” he added. “I had to go to the medical centre just for a precautionary check. I went off the line, spun and because of the dirt there, the back of the car just came around.
“It’s a shame obviously as I would have liked to finish the season with a more positive ending but I am already looking forward to fighting again next year. I would like to say thank you to everybody in our team for all of their hard work.”
Christian Horner praised the manner in which Red Bull team-mates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber conducted their rivalry this season.
Vettel clinched the championship by winning in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, while Webber – who started the weekend with a better chance of the title – could only finish eighth and ended up third in the standings.
Despite his two drivers clashing on track during the year, Horner says they made it a “tremendous year” and stood by his decision not to impose any team orders.
“Those guys have been awesome competitors this year,” he said. “It has been done in a sporting manner on the track and it has been a tremendous year for Formula 1.
“To have done it the right way, to have won it on the circuit as well. I am just delighted with the way that Sebastian drove today. The fact that we did it without team orders, the fact that at the end of the day the best guy won it – that’s the way it should be.”
He believes Vettel would have moved aside for Webber, had he been able to help Webber’s effort if he was out of the running himself.
“I have no doubt about it,” Horner said. “Seb is a team player and there was no way in the world we would ever tell him ‘you must move out the way’. That would have been down to him.
“I think it was clear in his mind if he had been in that position, I have got no doubt in my mind that he would have done that to ensure we would have got the best team result.”
Horner added that Webber will definitely be back with Red Bull next year, and praised the Australian’s effort this season.
“Mark is a big part of our team, he is a tremendous driver and he will have another chance next year,” he said. “He’s pushed Sebastian all the way this year and there has been very little to choose between them at times. It’s see-sawed in form between the two of them.
“Sebastian has led the championship once this year, which is today – the most important time. He can be very, very proud of what he has achieved this year.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite heading to the final round leading the drivers’ championship, Fernando Alonso and Ferrari were unable to win the title. That pitstop strategy cost them the championship but Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has supported the team despite the set back. Autosport.com has the details.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says that Fernando Alonso’s failure to win the drivers’ world championship should not cancel out the team’s achievements over the course of the season.
As Alonso and Ferrari came to terms with the disappointment of losing the world championship to Sebastian Vettel, having come into the season finale with an eight-point advantage over Mark Webber, Montezemolo rallied behind his team and principal Stefano Domenicali.
“We believed in it right to the end and today’s result should not cancel out what we have done this season,” he said in a statement after the race. “In all but two of the last 14 years, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has reached the final race of the season either in the fight for the title or having already won it.
“Fernando has had an extraordinary season, demonstrating his strength and determination, always being close to the team and making an exceptional contribution.
“Domenicali has done a great job, keeping the team united at all times, even in the toughest moments. It will take us a little while to get over this disappointment but we have to keep our heads up and be proud of what we have done.”
Montezemolo admitted that losing the world championship had come as a bitter blow, after Alonso’s early pitstop in a tense Abu Dhabi finale saw him trapped behind Vitaly Petrov’s Renault and unable to progress to the necessary target position of fourth that he needed for the title.
“Our morale is low after the conclusion to this season, but that’s sport,” said Montezemolo. “We had everything in place to win the title with Fernando but today, things did not go our way.
“All the same, I want to publicly thank the team for being capable of getting to the final round still in the fight for the Drivers’ title, staging a fight back which back in July, almost everyone considered an impossible task.
He added: “Finally, I want to thank our fans, who have always believed in us: when one sees so many Ferrari flags and so many people coming to visit our park here in Abu Dhabi, I am happy that Ferrari is still operating at a high level, especially for them.”
Felipe Massa says Ferrari needs to put the disappointment of losing the world championship out of its mind and focus on putting itself in the best position for 2011.
Fernando Alonso led the world championship going into Abu Dhabi, but lost out to Sebastian Vettel when the German won the race and he finished just seventh.
But Massa says the team cannot afford to dwell on this year, and that work for next year begins with the Pirelli tyre test at the Yas Marina circuit later this week.
“We need to think about next year now, we need to concentrate,” Massa said. “For sure we are going to hear and read many things, but I think that is not the most important thing.
“Most important is to concentrate to be strong in 2011, and we are going to have a test here with the Pirelli tyres so I hope we can learn straight away. That is the right direction – to concentrate next year and try to do even a stronger championship than we did this year.”
The Brazilian admitted that Ferrari’s strategy – in pitting both cars early in the race in response to Mark Webber’s stop – “ruined” the team’s race.
“We had a safety car, but we thought it was a bit too early to stop,” Massa said. “We saw Webber stopping pretty soon, then we took the decision to stop to try to pass him, but it was not enough and I came [out] behind him.
“We came [out] behind the guys who had stopped before so that was very difficult and very tough because it was almost impossible to overtake. Then this ruined everything until the end because we were not able to pass.”
Massa also conceded that 2010 was a poor campaign for him.
“It was not a great season for sure,” he said. “I had a lot of issues, especially to prepare the tyres for the qualifying. That was the main issue I had all season. It is something that it was really a problem this year.
“I never had this problem to prepare this tyre for the first lap because the tyre was always much softer than it is now. Many times in the races the pace was okay, but in qualifying it was always more difficult.”
Source: Autosport.com
By coming home seventh in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso lost the chance to win the drivers’ championship for the third time. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has revealed the pain after losing the title to Autosport.com.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has spoken of the pain he felt at watching Fernando Alonso lose the world championship in Abu Dhabi.
Alonso needed to finish fourth in Abu Dhabi to secure the crown. But having led the championship at the beginning of the weekend, a bad strategy call early in the race left him stranded behind Vitaly Petrov in seventh, leaving Sebastian Vettel went on to win the race and the title.
But in the aftermath of its title defeat, Domenicali insists that Ferrari must now regroup and come back stronger in 2011.
“First of all I want to congratulate Vettel with his title because I think it is important in this sport to recognise…” said Domenicali. “What I feel inside is for sure a lot of pain because when you arrive there and see you can do it, you feel very painful.
“And for sure it was the worst race of the year for us, so that is why it hits you very strong in your head. But after this moment the only thing you can do is try to disconnect, breathe a lot and recover the batteries to push the people to do a better job next year because we have all the elements to do it.
“We know that we can count on a group of people who have grown and need to grow again, and this is something I would like to say to Fernando – because he did a fantastic season. He always pushed the people to work, he never gave up and I feel sorry also for him, this is true.”
Domenicali added that he believed that having only one driver in contention for the world championship, had actually put his team at a disadvantage to combat Red Bull in the final round, as opposed to the other way around.
“If you remember I said that – trying to be smart and covering two cars is much harder than trying to cover one,” he explained. “This is for sure a point of when you are there, and when you win the title of constructors’ it means you have to cover closer to win the double. But that is true.”
He also batted away continued questioning about the legacy of the team orders controversy from Hockenheim.
“In England maybe, but in the rest of the world it was not an argument any more since two days after that discussion.
“Germany is like another grand prix. It was a first and second for Ferrari as it was another race for Red Bull. Honestly I am really serious about it – and I don’t know why in a certain country, and it is England to be honest with you – there is this certain weight on the shoulders because honestly you need to have the perception not only of what is happening there but what is happening around the world.
“That is my personal view without any negative comments about anyone – if you understand what I mean.
“In my view there was a debate and it was too long for nothing – and honestly we were speaking of nothing because unfortunately I had to say that Vettel won by four points.”
Red Bull Racing has ‘come of age’ this season and proved itself as the best team in the world at the moment.
That is the view of its boss Christian Horner, who reckons the work that helped it clinch both the constructors’ championship and the drivers’ crown with Sebastian Vettel is all the proof that is needed about how good the outfit is now.
“It is a big performance from the team,” said Horner about its efforts in 2010. “This team has come of age this year. It is a very young team and I am just very proud to represent them – today I believe they are the best team in the world.”
Horner says he is overjoyed about the way the season ended for his team – and reckons every member of the Milton Keynes-based outfit deserved praise for the efforts of this season.
When asked what it meant to him personally to have won both titles, Horner said: “The last one hasn’t really sunk in yet, so this time will take a little bit of time as well. It is a very special feeling and it was fantastic to have Mr. [Dietrich] Mateschitz here to see our first drivers’ world champion.
“We have had tremendous support from Red Bull, from Dietrich, and I know the excitement that will be in Milton Keynes and the surrounding area, from every single member of the team who has put everything into this championship. It is thoroughly deserved and it is a very proud team.”
Horner said the team did not want to celebrate the title success the moment Vettel crossed the line – as it wanted to wait until it was guaranteed that Alonso could not take the fourth position he needed to claim the title.
“I spoke to ‘Rocky’, his [Vettel’s] engineer, the lap before and said I would not speak to him until we know what the result is,” explained Horner. “As soon as Rosberg crossed the line we knew it was his and it was a very emotional moment.
“It has been a tough season for both our drivers. They have both driven phenomenally well, they have taken the championship down to the wire and either one of them could have won it this year.
“They both had their time, Sebastian has led this championship once and that is after Abu Dhabi, which is the most important time to lead it. So we are very, very proud of what he has achieved.”
Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel clinched the world championship in the ‘right way’ reckons boss Christian Horner, after the team refused to throw its weight behind one driver this year.
Despite criticism in recent weeks that Red Bull was risking throwing away the drivers’ crown by not backing its then lead man, Mark Webber, the outfit stood firm in allowing both drivers to keep racing.
That decision ultimately paid off with Vettel taking the crown by just four points from Fernando Alonso – just a week after Red Bull could so easily have sacrificed seven points for the German by ordering him to give up the win for Webber in Brazil.
“I always said nobody had a crystal ball,” said Horner when asked by AUTOSPORT whether there was some relief that his team’s tactics had paid off.
“I believe it has been won the right way, and it has been down to what they did on the track.
“We took a bit of stick on the way for not having switched them last week, but we have always believed in supporting both guys equally – and that is the way we go racing. It has been won the right way.
“But compliments to all of our competitors, Ferrari and McLaren, with Fernando, Lewis and Jenson. They have been great competitors and it has been a fantastic season for F1.
“They have pushed each other to the limit, which is perhaps why there have been a few more mistakes than previous years, but we have done it our way and I am just absolutely elated with achieving a double world championship.”
Horner said the stress on the pit wall in the closing stages of the race was hard to take – as flashbacks from the late-race heartbreak in Korea were still fresh in the team’s mind.
“It was unbearable because we had been in that position a few times this season and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory – with Korea less than one month ago,” said Horner.
“I actually forgot to breathe at one point during the last five laps. I think Sebastian was the coolest of all of us. How these guys watch the big television while they go around is beyond me.
“To have won the drivers’ world championship and the constructors’ is just a phenomenal, phenomenal performance by every single member of the team.”
Horner also admitted that there would have been some sadness if the team had left Abu Dhabi without having added the drivers’ crown to its constructors’ success.
“The constructors’ is the big one for the team, and while the drivers’ is the big one also for the team, the prestige goes with the drivers’.
“We would have been a bit disappointed if we had not walked away with the drivers, but last week was an unbelievable achievement. This one is the icing on the cake and Sebastian Vettel – F1 world champion at 23 years of age – has a very, very bright future ahead of him.”
Source: Autosport.com
By winning the drivers’ title this season, the young German will be more relaxed and even better according to Helmut Marko. Autosport.com has the story.
World champion Sebastian Vettel will be a more relaxed – and better – driver next year after clinching his maiden title in Abu Dhabi.
That is the view of Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko, who has stuck with the German through the good and bad times of his career, and stood on the podium with him after Sunday’s race.
“I think he will be more mature, more relaxed after this,” Marko said about the impact of Vettel’s title. “So we are really looking forward to the next season.”
Marko praised the way that Vettel kept his head this season – especially in the difficult times.
He also confirmed in public for the first time that Vettel’s actions behind the safety car in Hungary – when he dropped back behind the restart and got a penalty – was not a simple case of him not paying attention.
As AUTOSPORT hinted last week, Vettel had actually tried to help the team by allowing Webber as much of a headstart as possible so the Australian’s tyre strategy would pay off – but slipped up by not remembering the mandatory distance he had to stay behind him. That earned Vettel a drive-through penalty – and gifted Webber a vital victory.
Sources suggest Vettel only confessed to the truth of the matter a few weeks ago – as Marko confirmed the German had ‘tried to help the team’ at the Hungaroring.
“I believe he had some tough races, like Turkey, and then there was Monte Carlo and Barcelona – where we found out his chassis had a problem,” explained Marko.
“Then he had this problem in Budapest where he tried to help the team but got the drive-through.
“But the hardest was Korea – leading and dominating the race under really difficult situations, and then having this engine failure 10 laps from the end.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner echoed Marko’s comments about Vettel’s mental strength this year – especially the way he coped with the difficult times.
“He has never lost his focus,” he said. “He has kept his cool, he has never given up belief and he has never given up. He is a very, very determined young man.
“There have been low points for him this season. Korea a month ago, the way he handed that was unbelievable. He shrugged himself down, and said ‘no, we will be back, we will keep pushing and we will keep fighting’, and he has never lost belief in himself or the team. We are very, very proud of him.
Sebastian Vettel”He has just grown and grown. He has got stronger with each season and he is only 23 years of age. It is remarkable progress and great maturity.”
Although delighted with Vettel’s own performance this year, Horner was well aware how much his performance was helped by the pressure from Webber this year.
“It is a monkey off his back at a very young age,” said Horner. “He has achieved some awesome statistics in his short career. But let’s not forget he has been pushed very, very hard by a huge performance from Mark Webber this year.
“I am hugely proud of what Mark has achieved. He has pushed relentlessly, he has taken the championship down to the last race.
“He could well have won this championship as both had their opportunities, so let’s take nothing away from him, or from his performance this season. He has brought the best out of Sebastian and he has pushed him tremendously hard.”
Marko also mocked McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh for his criticism of Vettel earlier this year – saying his rival would have been better off focusing on his own drivers.
Whitmarsh blasted Vettel after he crashed into Button at the Belgian Grand Prix – saying his driving was more reminiscent of the junior categories than Formula 1.
When reminded of those comments after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Marko reckoned the words came back to haunt Whitmarsh after his driver Lewis Hamilton crashed himself in subsequent races.
“I think Whitmarsh was trying to put a lot of pressure on us,” said Marko. “He should look and try and keep Hamilton on the road instead. I think it would have been better for his team, rather than making comments which are not justified.”
Mark Webber paid tribute to team-mate Sebastian Vettel, following the German’s world championship-winning victory in Abu Dhabi.
The Australian and his fellow Red Bull driver were in the fight for the title, along with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, until the final race of the season. But Webber lost out by finishing just eighth on Sunday.
Webber praised Vettel’s performance as both drivers pushed each other on during the season.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to Sebastian because he’s done a good job this year,” Webber said on his official website. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve pushed each other and it’s always rewarding to get out of bed to do that.
“It’s amazing to think that the only time he led the championship was after the last race, but that’s the only time it matters. Well done to him.”
Webber admitted his own frustration at losing out at the last race, but believes he will come back an improved driver in 2011.
“I’m very disappointed by what happened on Sunday evening, I aimed for the biggest target in motorsport and it didn’t work out,” he said.
“I’m reminded of that great adage – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well, I’m still alive and I’m sure I’ll bounce back from this season a better driver.
“Right now though, I need a good break. The gas has been wide open since the third week in January and it’s been a long season. There’s been a lot of travel, a lot of emotion and a lot of effort. It’s time for some time out.”
Source: Autosport.com
After losing the chance to win the drivers’ title for Ferrari, Italian government ministers have criticised the team for making that pitstop strategy mistake. Autosport.com has the details.
Luca di Montezemolo has reponded to criticism from Italian government ministers, after the team came under fire following the manner in which it lost the world championship in Abu Dhabi.
Roberto Calderoli of Italy’s Northern League party called for di Montezemolo’s resignation after what he called a “demented strategy” to pit Fernando Alonso earlier than planned during Sunday’s race.
But di Montezemolo dismissed the comments, coming from a political party he has been critical of in the past.
“For all of us it’s a difficult day, the night hasn’t lessened the bitter taste after the sad end to an extraordinary season,” di Montezemolo said on Monday.
“We’re sorry to see that there are some politicians on the outside who are ready to push for the guillotine when things go badly.
“We don’t understand anyone who revels in self-defeatism, who sinks into the culture of ‘everything’s gone wrong, we have to start all over again’. They are vices that are very Italian, that we must learn to shake off.”
Di Montezemolo repeated his pride in Ferrari’s comeback in the later stages of the season.
“The hard law of sport requires just one winner, but we ended up fighting right up to the final race – including an exceptional fightback when the critics said we were beaten four months ago,” he said.
“We have always stayed united, acting as the people of Ferrari know how: gritting our teeth and never letting go.. We have returned Ferrari to where it should be – fighting for victory.
“In sport, we remember the margin between victory and defeat is always very slim. You have to know how to accept losing just as you have to enjoy your successes with restraint.”
Red Bull Racing has so far only just offered a ‘glimpse’ of its full potential this year despite capturing both world championship titles.
That is the view of its team principal Christian Horner, who reckons that the valuable lessons the team took on board during a sometimes difficult 2010 campaign will help make the outfit so much stronger next year.
“There have been some challenges this season, but it is a tough sport and as a team we have got stronger and stronger,” Horner told AUTOSPORT.
“We have developed a lot in the last two seasons. We came close to winning last year, and arguably had it not been for the double diffuser we would have done it.
“But we turned that to our advantage this year. We managed to develop a car for this season while challenging for a championship last year, which is obviously the target going into 2011.
“There are a huge amount of positives, and a huge amount of lessons that have been learned. We have only just seen a glimpse of the potential that this group is capable of.”
Horner, who flew with his team to Red Bull’s headquarters in Austria immediately after seeing Sebastian Vettel win the drivers’ crown in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, believes that Red Bull Racing has the strength in depth now to ensure that its push to the final round this year has not compromised its car development for 2011.
He also thinks that the race-winning form the team has shown over the past two seasons can now be consistently reached.
“It is not like it is a flash in the pan,” he said. “Everybody said last year that McLaren and Ferrari were so focused on 2008 that they missed out on the rule changes in 2009, well – we didn’t start 2009 particularly early.
“We turned out with a good car; we fought the championship all the way through and managed to also develop a good car coming into this year. And that remains the challenge for next year.
“It has been a culmination of many things, but the commitment, the dedication, and the sacrifices that have been made with family time to achieve the results we have had is all testimony to the group of people we have and the tremendous backing we have had from Red Bull and Dietrich Mateschitz.”
Source: Autosport.com
Soooooo, where do I begin?
For starters, great write up Elton. Saves me from going from post to post on Autosport and Fanatic.
Well lest get the actual race out of the way, since I mostly want to talk about the season and what not.
Were it not for the fact that this was the championship-deciding race, it would have been dull as ditch water. In fact after Ferrari’s pitting decision and realising Alonso was going to struggle, it still was dull as ditch water. Sure the venue looks amazing and it must be a great place to be with amazing facilities. I also like the dusk – night race time. But my god it is a rubbish track with yet again a stupid, no beyond stupid pit lane exit. It’s frankly ridiculous that this track and the new Korea pit lanes got signed off. Since when in Abu’s case, was it a good idea to have the exit marker/line so that the timing stops, but then have that stupid tunnel with a very sharp corner where by the speed you can go at is SLOWER the the speed limit when in the pits proper!!!? I couldn’t be bother to time it, but there must be about 8 seconds or more of this shite before your actually on the track and up to speed. It’s a complete joke, and can only be the result of limitless cash, and pressure from I assume His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to do something unique.
So anyways, stuff happened and His Crashness Sebastian Vettel is World Champion. Big wow. Well OK it’s a great achievement and also the youngest to do so. So congrats to him, but he’s not my most favorite driver. Before this season he was a lot higher up my list, but the behavior he has showed and his team, have made a huge impression on me. But I’ve mentioned this before, so I won’t retread old ground. But it’s been an amazing season for the energy drinks team so fair play to them. I would have loved if Webber could have done the deed, but his mistake in the wet Korea cost him dear. Here we all thought his ‘accidental contact’ with Lewis in Singapore could be the deciding factor. It seemed it would have been, but alas it turned out that losing points in Korea and not gaining them in Singa was the knife to his heart. Gutted really.
What pisses me off is the fact that for most of this season all the press talk was that this would be his best chance?!?! Er what? Why exactly? How hungry do you think he’ll be next year!? It could go either way of course and he may just give up, but I highly doubt it. Also, I 100% believe Red Bull will have yet another fantastic car next year. They didn’t really go over board with mods during the season so with winning the Constructors Championship without much effort, next years car I think is going to be up there again. Mclaren and Ferrari both spent and worked to get 2nd place, so that would have hurt next years design time for sure. And it seems the new Pirelli tyre is working very nicely indeed.
So whatever my thoughts of Seb and co, it could be worse; we could have been crowning Alonso! Though I did love how he displayed his feelings about not winning to Petrov on the parade lap. “Petrov is faster than you. Do you understand the message?” Hilarious!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX7FAKMPrRA
So race and season done for a few months. Damn, what excuse am I going to use now for doing nothing all day?
So what of the coverage? Well we didn’t get HD (god damn it Bernie!), but we did get upscaled footage from Abu. Not that I could watch it with my Sky box playing up. However, the lack of HD is not the Beebs fault. Yet again though, we got an amazing season from them. While Eddie Jordan can be OTT, DC is always a nice antidote. The pairing is great asset to the show. One thing is for sure, that EJ can pull some blinders in regard to gabbing people for interviews and always asking what we are always thinking.
Jake plays a brilliant part also, by playing devils advocate but at the same time egging on EJ in his antics.
Ted Kravitz is great as always with the technical aspect. It’s just a shame we don’t see more of Lee McKenzie. She’s always behind the camera but has proven she can be in front of it. I think right from the start they should have had her play more of a roll with Martin Brundle on the grid before the start. Everyone knows Martin and have a lot of time for him and the BBC. But having a good looking chick (yeah she’ll love me for calling her that!) will always make things happen and people smile.
The red button is the icing on the cake though. The forum after the show is a brilliant idea. The 20 mins or so after the race is great for the casual viewer, but for the hardcore among us, it’s really great to get a more in depth analysis and drivers views of the race and incidents. The of course we have David Croft and Anthony Davidson doing the five live commentary. An awesome team that for this season was nearly always what I listened to. I can tolerate Jonathan Legard any more. Man he HAS to go. I really like Martin Brundle, but he is being crippled by the prick next to him.
Finally, the choice of music the BBC uses is yet again sublime! Time and again someone finds the perfect track to bonce off what has happened on the track. All that need to be done is to ditch the graphical title credits. They just don’t go with the legendary Fleetwood Mac song. That song was always associated with real footage (technically nothing else was possible of course back when the BBC last had the rights). The Beeb must never loose the rights! You hear BBC? NEVAR!!
Can’t wait for the season recap, to see all the drama’s and fun from this most excellent season and of course they’ll be some great music to accompany it all. It really has been brilliant. Sure there has been stuff that has pissed me off, but over all? Awesome. Four drivers with a chance of winning on the LAST race!? Not one occasion of a driver winning back to back races?! How cool is that? I’ve not seen anyone do the math and calculate the driver’s scores using the old points system. About 2/3rds of the way through it was said that there wasn’t a massive difference, but I’m sure the championship would have been decided before now using them. But all this was due to the teams being so mixed up and not the points. It could have been very different had Brawn done the same as last year and won every race for half the season. One thing for sure is this. One of the reasons the FIA went with them was the thought that the second placed driver would challenge more for the lead. Er no. You need to be able to OVERTAKE first guys!
Well I’m over 1200 words, so I sure by now you’ve had quite enough of me. Now for the long wait till 11th of March for another exciting….oh wait, it’s Bahrain…..nevermind.
Thanks for the great comment invisiblekid. It’s been an incredible season and I have just posted a season review. See the link:
http://www.walkingleaf.co.uk/2010/11/21/formula-one-2010-season-review/
Love that YouTube video as well! It’s not Petrov’s fault that Alonso couldn’t get by. The Russian was driving his own race and if Fernando wanted to win the drivers’ title, he had to fight for it!