Red Bull, the dominant machine in Formula 1, has seen a slight slump this year with their car lacking pace compared with Ferrari and McLaren. But their driver Max Verstappen has brought them the drivers championship with his brilliant driving in the third fastest car (as per Zak Brown) and was outstanding in every race.
He won his world title in the Las Vegas Grand Prix this year by finishing ahead of his title rival Lando Norris. Red Bull now has a total of 8 world championships just one behind Mercedes F1 team. But it all started in 2010 when Sebastian Vettel won them their first-ever Formula 1 title against Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in Abu Dhabi GP.
sebastian vettel, red bull racing
— meike (@vroomvettel) August 6, 2021
abu dhabi grand prix, 2010
win no. 10 wdc no. 1
“you just wait sunshine, you just wait” pic.twitter.com/qjySvg8GiO
The German driver was teamed up with Australian driver Mark Webber and both went to take on Lewis Hamilton from McLaren and Fernando Alonso from Ferrari. One of the most diverse seasons in Formula 1 was the 2010 F1 season as many different drivers won races in many countries. Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are the prime contenders for the world championship and both won 5 races each. Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber won 4 races, Lewis Hamilton won 3, and Jenson Button won 2.
The season also saw the return of Formula 1 GOAT Michael Schumacher after retirement from the sport in 2006. But he didn't win any races in his second stint with the Mercedes team. Consistency played a huge part in Red Bull's victory as Sebastian Vettel was very consistent in podiums compared with Fernando Alonso who battled mechanical issues in his Ferrari car very often.
The Final race in Abu Dhabi is a Do-or-die battle for the four drivers, Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso and Vettel and the championship is online. Fernando Alonso needed to finish 4th to win the championship and qualified 3rd next to Vettel and Hamilton. The Spanish driver was seen as having the advantage to win the world championship after the qualifying session.
Vettel was the pole sitter ahead of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. The race started and Sebastian Vettel went flying into the lead ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Alonso. The Spaniard had a bad start and he was pushed to 4th place and Jenson Button clinched the third spot. All Alonso needed to do was stay in the fourth position to win the championship for the third time. Alonso stopped for an early pit which changed the course of the race. After entering with P4, he came back 13th. Vettel and Hamilton pitted very late around lap 24 and were behind Button who was P1.
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Red Bull's First ever world title
"You Just Wait, Sunshine..."😎
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) December 2, 2024
A flashback to 2010 when Sebastian Vettel won his first ever world title!#F1 #Formula1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/j7ozIhhxOZ
Jenson Button again pitted in Lap 39 and came back behind Lewis Hamilton and Vettel. Fernando Alonso fought hard and gained some positions and was in seventh behind Petrov and Kubica. He tried very hard to surpass them but they didn't allow him to the 4th place. For more than 75% of the race, Alonso got suck behind the slow-moving cars in front of him and lost his title. With the race win, Sebastian vettel won his first-ever world title and became the youngest-ever championship winner in Formula 1.
Alonso Abu Dhabi 2010.
— Ellis 🏴 (@TeamLhEllis) December 11, 2023
Bro spent 75% of the race behind a slower car, went wide 3 times and locked up IN A TITLE DECIDER 😭 https://t.co/GDhXcParqy pic.twitter.com/JjdwE78KhB
Red Bull continued to dominate the grid for three more years until the end of the V8 era and the arrival of the current hybrid era in Formula 1 ended their reign. It took 8 more years for Red Bull to regain their lost spot in 2021 when Max Verstappen won his first world title ending the Mercedes dominance.