The infamous pairing of Alain Prost and Ayton Senna at McLaren during the late ‘80s pitted a master tactician against an incensed racer, and history seemed to repeat itself at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, courtesy of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
Slippery conditions contributed to a fascinating race at Albert Park, which started in dramatic fashion when the stuttering Ferrari of Fernando Alonso nudged Button’s McLaren and spun to the back of the field. The Spaniard was on the back foot for the rest of the race and must have seethed inside of his helmet as he failed to find a way past his dogged (and slower) team-mate Felipe Massa, who made a dream start, but seemed content to follow the inspired Robert Kubica to a fourth-placed finish.
But of course Massa finished third… due to yet another unfortunate technical failure to the rapid Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, who is surely the early favourite to win the championship despite his DNF in Melbourne. His team-mate, Mark Webber, didn’t have a particularly good start to the race, got disadvantaged in the pitstop maelstrom and never quite looked like he was going overtake anyone at his home race… until he ploughed into the back of Hamilton’s car in the closing stages, that is.
I am not really a big fan of Hamilton, because he is prone to hot-headedness and can be an unscrupulous operator at times. But heaven knows, the man’s a racer. Although he blotted his copybook by getting stuck behind Alonso’s Ferrari, who was struggling to the finish on threadbare tyres, Lewis certainly fashioned overtaking maneuvres where other drivers seemed content to follow each other around.
Lewis was the brave combatant; ever the courageous competitor, and his driving skills made for compelling viewing… but despite all his Senna-esque heroics, the Briton only finished sixth. His team-mate had a quiet race by comparison – critics may argue that the defending champion’s greatest feat was to survive the first corner brush with Alonso… but Jenson nonetheless finished on top of the podium.
Button’s masterstroke was to pit early for slick tyres, and to make them work for three quarters of the race. The top four finishers all stopped only once, but whereas Alonso might have been up there with Button by the end had he not have to fight his way through the field, the Briton was just as quick as those drivers on fresher rubber.
Those who fear that the season’s grands prix may be processional (unless the weather intervenes, of course) might be proven correct given the incredible durability of the Bridgestone rubber being supplied to the teams. A marked difference in the degredation
But that should not take anything away from Button’s brilliant drive to victory at Albert Park. He wasn’t extravagant to watch, but nursed his tyres with aplomb and proved tactically astute… one could almost argue that his decision to stop early for slicks was brave… So what if his win was undramatic? Whereas Hamilton made things look difficult, Button turned in a vintage Prost-like performance, dare I say.
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