Sunday had all the makings of one of the best stories of the season.
A year to the day after Felipe Massa sustained life-threatening injuries in qualifying at Hungary, the Brazilian was marching toward his first victory since his return to the grid. All the uncertainties and underperformances of the year were momentarily forgotten as Massa led after a fantastic start in which Sebastian Vettel was overtaken on both sides by Ferrari drivers.
But with fewer than 20 laps to go, shades of Formula One's past emerged again.
Team orders have been and likely always will be a part of Formula One, whether they are banned or not. One could not help but think back to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in 2002 as Massa moved aside Sunday to let Fernando Alonso assume the lead.
In the previous example, Schumacher already had a commanding lead in the World Championship when Rubens Barrichello was ordered to move aside by Ferrari and let Schumacher take the top step on the podium.
This time around, Alonso is simply trying to stay in the title hunt, and it remains debatable whether it will make any difference. The Spaniard had been reeling in his teammate in the laps leading up to Massa stepping aside, but if Alonso was truly faster, then he should have been able to overtake his teammate in the nearly 20 remaining laps. Nevertheless, it was Alonso who was celebrating his 23rd grand prix win, tying him with Nelson Piquet for ninth on F1's all-time list.
Most Wins, F1 History (fifth to ninth)
Rank -- Driver -- Victories -- Starts
5. -- Jackie Stewart -- 27 -- 99
t6. -- Jim Clark -- 25 -- 72
t6. -- Niki Lauda -- 25 -- 171
8. -- Juan Manuel Fangio -- 24 -- 51
t9. -- Fernando Alonso -- 23 -- 149
t9. -- Nelson Piquet -- 23 -- 204
Two of Alonso's wins have now come amid considerable controversy, as Alonso also came out victorious at Singapore in 2008 with Renault after teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. was ordered to intentionally crash.
A story that likely would have gotten much more play had Ferrari's sleight-of-hand not occurred was that of McLaren's weekend. While Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button remain the leaders in the standings, the team struggled to find speed throughout the weekend, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Both were more than 25 seconds behind Alonso, and Hamilton voiced his concerns to reporters after the race.
"We've got to make up some pace on our main rivals," he said. "We need to go back and figure out where we can improve and pick it up again very quickly."
Fortunately for McLaren, this weekend's venue, Hungary, emphasizes downforce rather than pure speed. It's a track that McLaren has been successful at in recent years, having won each of the past three events and four of the past five overall. Drivers constantly compare the car setup to that of Monaco, as the majority of corners are relatively slow. But that does not mean you should expect this year's winner in Monte Carlo, Mark Webber, to be the first to the checkered flag.
Hungary result by Monaco winner, same season past five years
Season -- Driver -- Hungary finish
2010 -- Mark Webber -- ?
2009 -- Jenson Button -- Seventh
2008 -- Lewis Hamilton -- Fifth
2007 -- Fernando Alonso -- Fourth
2006 -- Fernando Alonso -- 14th
Since 2006, no Monaco winner has reached the podium at the Hungaroring that same season. Kimi Raikkonen is the last driver to win both races in the same year (2005), and since 1993, only three times has a driver won both races in a single season. Clearly, Webber has his work cut out for him.
Hungary has not often yielded close finishes, especially recently. The past two events have been decided by more than 10 seconds, and both 2005 and 2006 were won by more than 30 seconds. The 2007 edition provided a close finish, with Hamilton edging Raikkonen by less than a second. It was also the race when then-teammate Alonso blocked Hamilton in pit lane during qualifying in an attempt to hinder Hamilton from completing a final lap, which gave the pole to Alonso. Suffice to say, while extremely talented, Alonso has never been far from controversy.
