Rumor has it that in effect for the 2011 season Kamui Kobayashi is limited to four ambitious overtaking moves per season. This race [as well as others] is the primary reason for this "suggested" rule change. In this race Kamui performed 5 overtakes in one corner. Overall Kamui jumped from 14th to 7th which is amazing considering how horrible his car is. Also add in the mix that he did all of this in front of his Japanese home crowd adds to the wonder of these overtakes.
Crash of the year: Mark Webber @ Valencia [European Grand Prix]
How could any other crash beat this head over heels rear end collision between Mark Webber's Red Bull and Heikki Kovalainnen's Lotus. Keep in mind, Webber walked away from the wreckage with no injuries.
Golden Cock: Michael Schumacher @ Hungaroring [Hungarian GP]
The biggest news of this season was the return of 7 time F1 champ Michael Schumacher and as expected Schumacher went back to his days of treating his former teammate, Rubens Barichello, like a bitch. In this video it shows just how close [and how fast] Schumacher was to squeezing the life out of Rubens. [I should probably rename this the Michael Schumacher prize]
Rivalry of the Year: Vettel vs Webber
When teams are performing well and have drivers performing just as well, it should be no surprise that both drivers would want to duke it out for the top spot. Just like Prost vs Senna and Alonso vs Hamilton when they were all at McLaren, the top tier team at the time, tension between them for the title called for some risky moves, this year was no different. The first hint of tension was after the Turkish Gran Prix were Vettel's overtake on Webber for first nearly knocked both out of the race. Webber dropped down to 3rd given McLaren a 1-2 finish while Vettel stalled his car and couldn't go any further. Everything seemed calm again until the British GP where after Webber's crash at Valencia, Webber was given the spare car while Vettel continued with his original car... the story continues in this video here. [pay attention to Webber's expressions] after this though it calmed as Webber won the race and went on to lead for most of the season. It wasn't until Abu Dhabi at the end of the season was their relationship discussed again, this time to benefit Webber. After dominating the last set of races for the season as well as Abu Dhabi qualifying, it looked as if Vettel was in a prime spot to win the race. Of course him winning the championship was unlikely as Alonso needed to place 5th but he qualified 3rd. Eventually team orders were not needed [and Red Bull already said they weren't gonna use them] as pitstop strategy mixed with a pesky little Russian in a Renault prevented Alonso from passing 7th giving Vettel the win and the world championship.
Catastrophic Failures: Sebastian Beumi @ Chinese GP Practice
I thought it was epic when Raikonnen's entire spoiler separated from his car, but for your two front wheels to detach simultaneously under braking, that is truly epic.
Moment of the Year: Heikki Kovalainnen @ Singapore GP [last lap]
Normally when a driver is involved in an accident, they get out of the car, check if their in one piece, then leave the track marshall's to take care of the rest. Heikki [aka the iceman, seeing that Kimi is no longer in F1] pretty much extinguishes the fire of his own car as it spontaneously combusts on the last lap. His efforts in keeping the fire out of the pitlane [where all the fuel pumps are] should also be applauded as he stayed in the car until he was in a safe spot, despite the raging flames going on behind him.
Lolz moment: Pharell vs the Lotus T127's engine @ Brazilian GP
Before performing for F1 Rocks in Brazil, Pharrell decided to visit some of the teams during the practice sessions. Most of his time was spent around the Lotus pits who showed him around [seeing that they are one of the more open teams on the grid] the result can be seen here [fast forward to 5:03]
Race of the Year: Korean Grand Prix [aka the mud race aka the race of the safety car]
The Korean GP was the newest race on the calendar, so new in fact that the pavement was still fresh. This freshness made the track super slippery and few cars could manage to find enough grip to stay on the track much less race on it. By the time race day came along, rain prevented the race from beginning under normal conditions as the track was like ice. This video pretty much sums up the entire race [btw this is the first time I stayed up late to watch an Asian race, never again] The result of both Red Bull's crashing put Fernando Alonso at a HUGE advantage towards the driver's championship and with 3 races to go, it looked like he would eventually take it.
Rookie of the Year: Kamui Kobayashi
Kamui Kobayashi, evidently one of the most talented drivers on the grid especially seeing how good he can be with a bad car. Of the 19 races of the season, the car failed Kamui 8 times and for the other 11 times where the car was working, he finished in the top ten 9 times. This display ensured he finished the highest among the rookies [although he entered F1 in 2009 for 2 races, 2010 is his first complete season.] In terms of rookies that started completely new for 2010, my choice would be Nico Hulkenberg especially after scoring his maiden pole position.
Driver of the Year: Fernando Alonso
Call him whatever you want, a cheater, a sly devil or a con artist despite his tainted record, it is no denying that his previous two championships were not a fluke. He is nearly impossible to overtake yet he doesn't block too much, he is plainly fast and has attributed his success to keeping calm and carrying on which has caused him to benefit greatly during the failures of Red Bull. Despite winning the first race of the season, no one expected him to lead frog so far and so fast especially so near to the end of the season. As much as I am a Vettel fan, Alonso is worthy of winning the award of driver of the year, however, I'm not jumping on his bandwagon again [yes I was an Alonso fan during 05-06 but that was it] especially after this.
And that's it, I ensured to ignore the come back of the year [which was performed by Vettel] as I've spoken quite a bit too much about him already.
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