Half-Term Review

With 10 races down, here are my thoughts on how the class of 2010 have fared so far this season...

Jenson Button, McLaren, 2^nd Place, 133 pts
A-

It's fair to surmise that thus far Jenson has exceeded expectations – the paddock duly expected him to be eaten alive by his better-established and, in the eyes of most, more talented teammate. However, after racking up two expert wet-weather drives involving some bold strategy calls, and consolidating those with three consecutive podiums, Button has proved he's the real deal. Sitting just twelve points behind Lewis in the standings currently, he's now got a real shot at becoming Britain's first back-to-back champion.

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Leads, 145pts
A
With four top-two finishes in the last four races, things are certainly looking rosy for Britain's other contender for glory. While his Turkish win may have been handed to him on a silver platter courtesy of Mr. Vettel, he was there to apply the pressure on the German to cause the infamous Red Bull clash in the first place. He's also the only man to break the Austrian team's stranglehold on Pole Position, an advantage he utilised to the maximum to take victory at Canada. McLaren clearly aren't as fast as Red Bull at the moment, so does the fact that Lewis leads the standings reflect ability or merely luck? Time will tell...

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, 9^th, 36pts
C-

Many expected Schumacher to add to his lofty tally of 91 victories coming into the season, but it's become patently obvious that the machinery at his disposal won't cater for that. That said however, he has consistently punched under his weight in comparison to teammate Rosberg, who has taken all 3 of Mercedes' podiums this year so far. Whilst it's clear that there will have to be considerable improvements on the part of the Brackley-based team, equally Michael is going to have to up his game if his much-lauded comeback is to be branded as anything but failure.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 6^th, 90pts
B+
With almost triple the amount of points to his name than his more illustrious teammate, Rosberg's season is going just about as well as could have been hoped for given the calibre of the Mercedes mount provided for him. His three podiums have all been richly deserved, but then again he did struggle somewhat inexplicably at Barcelona considering Schumacher had his best showing of the season. The title's out of reach, but given the circumstances the possibility is there for Rosberg to take his maiden victory at some stage this year.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 4^th, 121pts
A

Vettel has been devastatingly quick just about everywhere, but poor judgement and luck have conspired to keep Red Bull's supposed number one from leading the standings. At least 80 points have gone begging thanks to a combination of technical trouble at Bahrain, disintegrating brakes at Melbourne, a puncture at Silverstone and a somewhat farcical decision to try and wrest the lead from Webber at Turkey. He has the fastest car beneath him, and if the team is indeed behind him in the way many paddock figures suspect, he should be the man who comes away from Abu Dhabi World Champion.

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 3^rd, 128pts
A

2010 has been the year Mark Webber has come of age. With three victories to his name, one more than any of his rivals, Webber is looking like the man most likely to take the fight to his teammate for the title. His drives at Barcelona, Monaco and Silverstone were absolutely second-to-none, the only real blot in his copybook being his aerial antics with Kovalainen at Valencia, which were largely of his own making. The talent is there, he has the car, and all he needs is the full backing of his team to ensure a fair title fight in which Mark has a real chance of becoming Australia's first champion in 30 years.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 5^th, 98pts
A-

At first glance, A- may seem a tad generous to the pre-season favourite who's wound up in 5th place at the halfway stage. However, his misfortunes have been very little of his own making. If it weren't for 1. being nerfed off track at the first corner in Melbourne, 2. his team's ill-judged decision to not place a 'banker' in qualifying in Malaysia, 3. being baulked by backmarkers at Canada, 4. being caught out by the safety car at Valencia and 5. being handed a draconian penalty by the stewards at Silverstone, he would be well in the title hunt despite his own blunders at China and Monaco. Write him off at your peril.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 8^th, 67pts
C+

After two consecutive podiums in the first two outings of the year, things have gone rapidly downhill for the Brazilian – he just doesn't seem like the same man who came within a whisker of denying Hamilton the title in 2008. He hasn't scored points since Turkey, and is in serious need of some reinvigoration. To notch up at least one victory this season would go some way towards helping the paddock to overlook what has largely been a season to forget for Felipe.

Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 11^th, 29pts
B+
Whilst it's hardly been the Williams team's breakthrough year, lying just seventh in the constructors' standings, Rubens is as ever performing a solid job with the equipment given to him. He's tallied a fairly impressive 29 points so far, compared to just two for his highly-rated rookie teammate Hulkenberg. After bagging a fourth and a fifth place in the last two races, things are looking on the up, and beating former teammate Schumacher seems well within the realms of possibility.

Robert Kubica, Renault, 7^th, 83pts
A

Kubica has been another driver to well and truly put his teammate in the shade – Kubica has amassed a hefty haul of 83 points so far compared to just six for Petrov, another highly fancied GP2 graduate. The Renault car, admittedly inconsistently, has been close to the leading pace, and when the car's been up to scratch Kubica has delivered the goods. Two podiums and counting this year for the talented Pole reflect this, and the onus is now on Renault to repay the faith Kubica has put in the Anglo-French squad who have now extended his contract to the end of 2012.

Adrian Sutil, Force India, 10^th, 35pts
B

Having just about shaken off his reputation as a crasher with just one mechanical retirement to his name this year so far, Sutil has been a constant presence in the points-scoring positions since Barcelona. He's another driver that has been performing favourably against his teammate, and it will be largely up to Adrian to defend Force India's current 6^th place in the constructors' standings from the onslaught of Williams and Sauber.

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber, 12^th, 15pts
B+
When his car hasn't given up on him, Kobayashi has shown striking pace throughout the season. Now with 15 points to his name, this young Japanese charger who impressed so much in his outings for Toyota last year has been able to show what he's truly made of. He's failed to consistently outpace his vastly more experienced teammate De La Rosa, but given the gulf in mileage of an F1 car that's to be expected. Showing the occasional flash of genius was all that was required from Kamui in order to secure his immediate future, and that's precisely what he's done.

The Rest

Vitantonio Liuzzi in his first full season for Force India has been somewhat hit-and-miss, and crucially far less successful in the way of points than teammate Sutil. Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg really have failed to deliver the goods considering the pace of their cars, and their lack of experience won't be an excuse for too much longer. The STR pairing of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersauri have both seemed genuine future prospects at various points this season, whilst looking frankly ordinary at others. It's difficult to judge De La Rosa given the appalling reliability of the Sauber, but it's beginning to come clear his pace isn't as strong as Sauber teammate Kobayashi's. The Lotus drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli have just about done everything that's been asked of them, as has Virgin's Timo Glock, although Lucas di Grassi in the other Virgin has endured something of a baptism of fire. Bruno Senna's pace in the HRT has looked reasonable despite only having finished on three occasions, while Karun Chandhok has proved surprisingly competent and the wheel of his HRT, nabbing a 14^th place at Melbourne to lie ahead of both the Virgins, Trulli and his own teammate Senna in the standings.