2010 Brazilian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Sebastian Vettel won in Brazil as Red Bull clinched its first constructors’ championship with a one-two. Fernando Alonso finished third, keeping the drivers’ title fight alive for a four-way showdown in Abu Dhabi.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams
Pole time	1:14.470
Fastest lap	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:13.851 on lap 66
First	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Second	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing
Third	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
5 November 2010	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
5 November 2010	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
6 November 2010	Practice 3	11:00 – 12:00
6 November 2010	Qualifying	14:00
7 November 2010	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Fernando Alonso arrived at round 18 leading the 2010 F1 World Championship on 231 points, with Mark Webber on 220. Red Bull Racing headed the constructors’ standings with 426 points.

Race entries

Christian Klien returned to HRT in place of Sakon Yamamoto for the final two races of the season.

Free Practice

Sebastian Vettel led FP1 while McLaren assessed aerodynamic changes to its cars. Vitaly Petrov crashed at Ferradura, and Kamui Kobayashi spun at the same corner, damaging a tyre against the barrier. Fernando Alonso also stopped when a high-mileage engine failed slightly earlier than Ferrari had expected, requiring a replacement before the next session.

Red Bull stayed ahead in FP2, but Felipe Massa’s home preparations were interrupted by an electrical fault affecting the clutch after he ran over a kerb. He stopped on the circuit, while Michael Schumacher and Jaime Alguersuari made contact at the Bruno Senna S. The busy session also included a near miss for Kamui Kobayashi behind Heikki Kovalainen.

Rain left FP3 damp and shifted attention towards wet qualifying preparation. Robert Kubica set the pace on intermediates as teams tested their cars’ behaviour in the closing stages. Jenson Button struggled for front-end grip, while Lewis Hamilton made mistakes of his own, leaving McLaren with work to do before the decisive session.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2010 Brazilian Grand Prix FP1, 5 November 2010

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:12.328	23
2	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.482s	28
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.517s	24
4	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.939s	24
5	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	+1.042s	24
6	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+1.188s	26
7	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+1.218s	26
8	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+1.315s	25
9	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.590s	26
10	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber	+1.672s	23
11	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.676s	23
12	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams	+1.827s	29
13	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+1.918s	20
14	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.939s	26
15	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+2.042s	23
16	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	+2.159s	26
17	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+2.290s	30
18	16	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+2.406s	29
19	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	+3.275s	25
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+3.532s	20
21	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	+3.729s	26
22	25	Jerome d'Ambrosio	Virgin Racing	+4.379s	28
23	20	Christian Klien	HRT	+4.511s	18
24	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	+5.032s	30

Free Practice 2 Classification

2010 Brazilian Grand Prix FP2, 5 November 2010

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:11.968	28
2	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+0.104s	34
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.360s	36
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.688s	33
5	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.709s	19
6	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	+0.914s	37
7	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.238s	33
8	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber	+1.254s	40
9	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+1.365s	34
10	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+1.378s	36
11	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+1.552s	37
12	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.642s	41
13	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams	+1.757s	39
14	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.773s	32
15	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+1.850s	26
16	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	+2.077s	37
17	16	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+2.336s	33
18	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+2.610s	37
19	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	+3.016s	47
20	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	+3.133s	43
21	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	+3.465s	35
22	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	+4.102s	42
23	20	Christian Klien	HRT	+4.114s	38
24	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+4.182s	35

Free Practice 3 Classification

2010 Brazilian Grand Prix FP3, 6 November 2010

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	1:19.191	16
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.309s	17
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.345s	19
4	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.544s	9
5	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.600s	9
6	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	+0.696s	22
7	16	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+0.818s	24
8	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.865s	13
9	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	+0.973s	24
10	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	+1.129s	13
11	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.146s	6
12	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	+1.230s	18
13	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	+1.261s	22
14	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams	+1.344s	12
15	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+1.350s	27
16	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	+1.355s	20
17	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+1.422s	20
18	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber	+1.794s	25
19	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	+3.135s	18
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	+3.258s	27
21	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	+3.683s	20
22	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	+4.003s	22
23	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	+4.167s	20
24	20	Christian Klien	HRT	+4.459s	19

Qualifying

Nico Hülkenberg headed qualifying for Williams, with Sebastian Vettel second and Mark Webber third.

Nico Hülkenberg stunned the field with his first Formula 1 pole as the track dried in Q3. Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber qualified second and third, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Qualifying Classification

2010 Brazilian Grand Prix Qualifying, 6 November 2010

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams	1:20.050	1:19.144	1:14.470	35
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:19.160	1:18.691	1:15.519	27
3	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:19.025	1:18.516	1:15.637	28
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:19.931	1:18.921	1:15.747	32
5	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:18.987	1:19.010	1:15.989	34
6	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	1:19.799	1:18.925	1:16.203	32
7	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	1:19.249	1:18.877	1:16.552	31
8	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1:19.879	1:18.923	1:16.925	30
9	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:19.778	1:19.200	1:17.101	31
10	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	1:20.189	1:19.153	1:17.656	33
11	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:19.905	1:19.288	—	25
12	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	1:19.741	1:19.385	—	26
13	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:20.153	1:19.486	—	23
14	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	1:20.158	1:19.581	—	24
15	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	1:20.096	1:19.847	—	24
16	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber	1:20.174	1:19.899	—	26
17	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	1:20.592	1:20.357	—	23
18	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:20.830	—	—	13
19	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	1:22.130	—	—	13
20	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	1:22.250	—	—	14
21	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	1:22.378	—	—	14
22	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	1:22.810	—	—	13
23	20	Christian Klien	HRT	1:23.083	—	—	15
24	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	1:23.796	—	—	15

Sébastien Buemi and Adrian Sutil were each handed a five-place grid penalty for causing separate “avoidable accidents” with Timo Glock and Kamui Kobayashi respectively at the Korean Grand Prix.

Christian Klien started from pit-lane after he stopped with fluctuating fuel pressure on the way to the grid.

Bruno Senna handed a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.

What happened in the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix?

Vettel passed Hülkenberg into the first corners and Webber followed soon afterwards. Alonso overtook Hamilton, then had to work past the Williams while the Red Bulls opened a valuable gap.

With clear track ahead, Vettel and Webber maintained their advantage. Alonso settled into third, while Hamilton and Button followed on strategies that left them unable to challenge for the lead.

Liuzzi’s accident brought out the safety car, but lapped cars separated the leading contenders at the restart. Vettel held first place while Webber remained ahead of Alonso through the final stint.

Vettel won ahead of Webber and Alonso, securing Red Bull‘s constructors’ crown. Hamilton finished fourth and Button fifth, ending the reigning champion’s mathematical title hopes. Alonso headed to the finale eight points clear of Webber, with Vettel and Hamilton also still in contention.

Further down the points places, Michael Schumacher, Nico Hülkenberg, Robert Kubica and Kamui Kobayashi completed the scoring positions. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2010 rules.

After the race, Fernando Alonso headed the drivers’ standings with 246 points, followed by Mark Webber on 238. Red Bull Racing led the constructors’ table on 469, with McLaren on 421.

2010 Brazilian Grand Prix race results

The 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix was held on 7 November 2010, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	71	1:33:11.803	25
2	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	71	+4.243	18
3	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	71	+6.807	15
4	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	71	+14.634	12
5	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	71	+15.593	10
6	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	71	+35.320	8
7	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	71	+43.456	6
8	10	Nico Hülkenberg	Williams	70	+1 Lap	4
9	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	70	+1 Lap	2
10	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	70	+1 Lap	1
11	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	70	+1 Lap	0
12	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	70	+1 Lap	0
13	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	70	+1 Lap	0
14	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	70	+1 Lap	0
15	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	0
16	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	70	+1 Lap	0
17	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber	70	+1 Lap	0
18	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	69	+2 Laps	0
19	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	69	+2 Laps	0
20	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	69	+2 Laps	0
21	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	69	+2 Laps	0
22	20	Christian Klien	HRT	65	+6 Laps	0
NC	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	62	+9 Laps	0
Ret	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	49	Accident	0

2010 Brazilian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	66	1:13.851	210.049
2	8	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	67	1:13.855	210.038
3	1	Jenson Button	McLaren	71	1:13.932	209.819
4	6	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	69	1:14.047	209.493
5	4	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	65	1:14.184	209.107
6	5	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	70	1:14.283	208.828
7	23	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber	65	1:14.748	207.529
8	10	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams	70	1:14.985	206.873
9	14	Adrian Sutil	Force India	64	1:14.997	206.840
10	22	Nick Heidfeld	Sauber	68	1:15.068	206.644
11	11	Robert Kubica	Renault	61	1:15.161	206.388
12	3	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	71	1:15.219	206.229
13	9	Rubens Barrichello	Williams	69	1:15.227	206.207
14	7	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	69	1:15.330	205.925
15	12	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	70	1:15.485	205.503
16	17	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	68	1:15.695	204.932
17	16	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	69	1:15.935	204.285
18	25	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	60	1:16.767	202.071
19	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	37	1:16.940	201.616
20	19	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Racing	69	1:17.161	201.039
21	18	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Racing	69	1:17.316	200.636
22	20	Christian Klien	HRT	63	1:17.690	199.670
23	24	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	66	1:17.695	199.657
24	21	Bruno Senna	HRT	66	1:17.731	199.565

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2010 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix.

2010 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	246
2	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	238
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	231
4	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	222
5	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	199
6	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	143
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	130
8	Robert Kubica	Polish	Renault	126
9	Michael Schumacher	German	Mercedes	72
10	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Williams	47
11	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India	47
12	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Sauber	32
13	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Williams	22
14	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Force India	21
15	Vitaly Petrov	Russian	Renault	19
16	Sébastien Buemi	Swiss	Toro Rosso	8
17	Pedro de la Rosa	Spanish	Sauber	6
18	Nick Heidfeld	German	Sauber	6
19	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	Toro Rosso	3
20	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Lotus Racing	0
21	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Lotus Racing	0
22	Karun Chandhok	Indian	HRT	0
23	Bruno Senna	Brazilian	HRT	0
24	Lucas di Grassi	Brazilian	Virgin Racing	0
25	Timo Glock	German	Virgin Racing	0
26	Sakon Yamamoto	Japanese	HRT	0
27	Christian Klien	Austrian	HRT	0

2010 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Red Bull Racing	469
2	McLaren	421
3	Ferrari	389
4	Mercedes	202
5	Renault	145
6	Williams	69
7	Force India	68
8	Sauber	44
9	Toro Rosso	11
10	Lotus Racing	0
11	HRT	0
12	Virgin Racing	0

2010 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2010 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	14 March
2	2010 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	28 March
3	2010 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	4 April
4	2010 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	18 April
5	2010 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	9 May
6	2010 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	16 May
7	2010 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	30 May
8	2010 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	13 June
9	2010 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	27 June
10	2010 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	11 July
11	2010 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	25 July
12	2010 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	1 August
13	2010 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	29 August
14	2010 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	12 September
15	2010 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	26 September
16	2010 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	10 October
17	2010 Korean Grand Prix	Korea International Circuit, Yeongam	24 October
18	2010 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	7 November
19	2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	14 November