Formula One Features — February 2011

In 2010, Red Bull Racing overcame Establishment goliaths Ferrari and McLaren. Jaguar Racing had a vision and got nowhere near it. Red Bull pulled it off spectacularly. The great irony is that Jaguar stood more chance of poaching Adrian Newey than Dietrich Mateschitz.

McLaren's MP4-25 will best remembered for its pioneering F-duct but it was an interesting car all around.

Ferrari started well in 2010, lost its way a little and then finished strongly. Post British GP, nearly 50 points adrift, many thought it was merely bravado when Fernando Alonso said he was still aiming to win the championship. In the end he only missed out as a result of the strategic error in Abu Dhabi.

You could see the attraction of Brawn to Mercedes. Despite being a large stakeholder in McLaren they didn't control the team and never would, whereas here was a chance to do just that, and with a championship winning car and team with Ross Brawn at the helm.

Renault's performance was one of the unexpected highs of 2010. Yes, they finished fifth, and yes the core of the team had taken Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso to world titles, but at the end of '09 the whole team was shrouded in uncertainty.

The 2010 season saw Williams back into the constructors championship top half for the first time in three years - eighth in 2008, seventh in 2009 and sixth this time was indicative of forward progress even if the team is not the force it was in its halcyon days of the '80s and '90s.

Force India was happy with its 09-10 winter and progressed during a season that saw several innovations, but technical chief Dominic Harlow admits that resource was needed to optimise all of those.