Canadian Grand Prix voted best race of 2010

2010 F1 season review

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Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Montreal, 2010

F1 Fanatic readers named the Canadian Grand Prix the best race of the 2010 season.

The race, which returned to the calendar this year, received the second-highest rating of all races since the start of the 2008 season.

Only the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, where the world championship was decided on the final lap, out-ranked it.

The German Grand Prix was rated the worst race of the season, after Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa to hand victory over to Fernando Alonso.

Overall the exciting F1 season was reflected in the voting. Four of the five highest-rated races of the last three years were in this season:

RaceAverage rating out of ten
1.2008 Brazil8.756
2.2010 Canada8.668
3.2010 Australia8.638
4.2010 Belgium8.368
5.2010 China8.326
6.2009 Brazil8.309
7.2008 Monaco8.177
8.2008 Britain8.164
9.2008 Italy8.153
10.2010 Turkey7.984

For more on how this year’s races compared to previous seasons see this article: F1 Fanatic readers rate the last 50 races

F1 Fanatic 2010 race ratings

2010 F1 Fanatic race ratings
RaceAverage rating out of ten
Canada8.668
Australia8.638
Belgium8.368
China8.326
Turkey7.984
Korea7.536
Britain7.203
Singapore7.194
Italy6.759
Malaysia6.684
Hungary6.654
Japan6.642
Abu Dhabi6.602
Brazil6.253
Monaco6.217
Europe5.454
Spain4.919
Bahrain4.587
Germany3.740

F1 Fanatic readers are invited to rate each Grand Prix out of ten immediately after each race. This year over 56,000 votes were cast. More information: Where F1 Fanatic readers are from

2010 F1 season review

Browse all 2010 F1 season review articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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81 comments on “Canadian Grand Prix voted best race of 2010”

  1. This year’s highest rated 5 races are all McLaren wins interestingly. Nonetheless it was a fantastic season.

    1. I noticed that, too. Still, I don’t think any other races were more entertaining than those five this year.

      1. I loved Canada – really exciting race with loads of overtaking. My favourite move was probably Button on Alonso. The live footage was shot from above in the helicopter and Brundle/Legard both missed it at the time. Great race

        1. @TBone I noticed that too! I can’t believe I can remember it happening, but I was nearly jumping out of my seat and they missed it!

          My favourite race this year was Melbourne rather than Canada, but judging by the graph, I guess there must have only been a few votes between them. But I don’t understand how Korea was voted less entertaining than Turkey! Perhaps there is too many haters of Alonso to get an accurate representation of how good that race was. There was drama in every form; crashes that were so very important given the championship situation, mechanical failures, countless overtakes and heart breaks. I go for Webber, and I still gave it a 9 I think!

          Anyway, I reckon there should be a poll where we vote for the ‘most memorable moment of the season’. I know for certain that events such as Webber’s backflip, Buemi’s wheel failure, Hulkenbergs’s pole, Button’s Melbourne victory (considering how no-one predicted it) and of course the Red Bull collision in Turkey will be things I will remember for the rest of my life. I can even recall how I felt and what emotions were going through me as it happened live in front of me.

          What a year!

          1. I think Korea’s rating was hurt by the ages wasted behind the safety car, especially at the start of the race.

      2. Do agree with Keith those 5 races did provided all the excitement.

        1. @Keith – Yes. Of course. I’d forgotten about that momentarily. I do remember saying some nasty things about the stewards at the time, whilst cheering for Lewis and his enthusiasm.

      3. I’m surprised Kubica wasn’t the best race of the season.

        Sarcasm aside, I try to vote objectively for each race. But I often vote high since I enjoy watching. I think it’s mainly due to my recent interest in F1 and having had a DVR for the past 5 years.

        Something I think would be more interesting would be to let people rank over the season and then have people rerank at the end but in 1-19 fashion.

        I think part of the reason the McLaren wins were more popular were because Red Bull’s car was so dominant that a McLaren winning was more exciting.

        I also noticed that Vettel’s wins (and some of Mark’s) were poorly ranked in comparison. I think part of it has to do with the dominance of their car. But perhaps there’s also a dislike for Vettel.

      4. maybe had something to do with Mclaren not having the fastest or second fastest car so something interesting and unexpected had to happen for them to win. Rain, high tyre wear or pair of colliding red bulls seemed to do the trick

      5. The Canadian GP was great. I remember worrying that I had made a mistake getting seats on the pit straight, since there was going to be so little pit action during the race with the refueling ban… was I ever wrong! :)

      6. i dont believe on unbias choices

    2. Exactly, they had to fight and think and be skillfull to get to the finish first (as compared to driving away into the distance or winning by having people in front just fall away).
      Quit a bit of wet racing as well in the top spots, although the average of this season is very good.

      1. Was just about to say the same: they had to work to get the victories – that has been my problem with Red Bull all year: sure they are fast, but if they win from the front, and they tend to do so, it is rather boring to watch.

    3. I don’t think there’s any bias in the top-rated races being McLaren wins. I’m a Red Bull fan through and through, but Canada was my top race of the year. I try not to rate races based purely upon who wins, it’s about the action throughout the pack during the course of the race – and Canada 2010 certainly had plenty of that. Likewise, if I was an Alonso fan I’d still have found the Bahrain GP unbearably dull.

      Having said that, it’s hard to rate races objectively when they are part of a season. For example, the actual race at Abu Dhabi was really dull – had it been earlier in the season it would probably have scored lower, but because Alonso’s failure to get past Petrov meant Vettel was able to clinch the WDC, that leant it a sense of excitement.

  2. Korea and Singapore are surprisingly highly rated.

    1. Well I think they have reason, Korea was a great race as it showed the championship moved from Webber to Vettel to Alonso& in Singapore many enjoyed some wheel to wheel battle on track which many ended in tears.& two driver provided some entertainment that day, Webber by a pit stop & then some great pass & who can forget Kubica’s brilliant driver towards the end.

  3. The bottom 4 are Tilke tracks.

    The highest ranked Tilke-drones: China (wet race), Turkey (Teammates war) and Korea (wet race)

    1. Have a look at the 3 highest rated non-Tilke tracks. Canada (Uncertain tyre degradation), Belgium (wet race), Australia (wet race).
      Do you see the pattern now?

  4. Germany, Canada put on a better race than you.

    Can you confirm that you understand this message?

    1. germany beat abu dhabi and bahrain for the worst race.. so team orders are good yeah?

      1. Hockenheim isn’t a bad track, but the race it produced this year was hard to swallow, definitely. But, Catalunya has been at the bottom of the charts consistantly, even with several attempts to change the track to be more interesting… Is it because they test there in the spring and the have a surplus of data to work with, or is it just a poor design? thoughts?

        1. Catalunya is just a problematical circuit. The twisty last sector of the lap pretty much spoils an otherwise decent flowing circuit. A downhill start/finish straight also doesn’t help either, less chance of slipstreaming when going downhill.

          Catalunya will always be troublesome, but Valencia produced a good race this year. The ideal Iberian double header for me would be F1 trying out the new Aragon circuit and move the European GP to Portimao in Portugal.

          1. Agree, the MotoGP race at Aragon was awesome, and I’d dearly love F1 to move there. Whilst I haven’t seen a race at Portimao, it certainly looks like a track that would produce some interesting battles.

  5. it’s a shame this fine race was marred by the fraudulent actions of lewis hamilton and mclaren mercedes. qualifying a car underweight should be an automatic disqualification, yet only a token penalty was given. and not for the last time – the very next race would again demonstrate how hamilton and mclaren mercedes play under a different set of rules, and with the overt blessing of officials. 2 very black days for the sport.

    F-duct International Assistance

    1. It was a minor infraction that didn’t require a stronger penalty than what was given.

      See: Did running low on fuel give Lewis Hamilton pole position? No.

    2. What utter nonsense!!

      1. why nonsense? i love it when fact is shot down without any explanation. sure, the extra fuel would not have added much to his lap time but the lap should never have been allowed in the first place. the fia clarified the matter stating that cars were not to run out of fuel during qualifying. in addition, hamilton failed to complete his in lap at +30% time limit, and still managed to avoid any meaningful penalties.

        1. yeah, brings back memories of good ol’ days of FIAmilton 2007, doesn’t it?

    3. First of all, it was only a very minor thing (of the level of McLaren protesting Williams and BMW for having cooled fuel by 0.noting).

      And it was a lovely sight to see Lewis pushing the car to the pits, that was something we had not seen for years.

      1. Agree, it was epic to see a last ditch effort from McLaren to try and get pole – after so many unchallenged Red Pull poles, scrape every last bit out of the tank and see Lewis push. As Keith noted, the fuel level wasn’t what gave him pole – although it might have helped his mental focus.

        I find it sad that such things don’t happen more often in F1, and find the new rule about it, while understandable, no improvement.

      2. I thought Hamilton starting to push the car back to the pits was great, just like when Button had to run to the podium in Monaco last year, after going back to the pits.

        I think one of the reasons I liked these moments is because F1 drivers aren’t allowed to do any on track celebrations when they win anymore.

        By the way did anyone find any good pictures of Hamilton pushing his car in Canada as at the time I couldn’t find any.

        1. Yes, I have a photo on my facebook page which is bit of a p-take on Johnnie Walker’s ads, which I thought was quite hilarious. I can’t remember where I got it from though. I’ll look for the link when I get home (facebook is banned here at work. So probably, is blogging on work time ;) )

      3. Yeah, yeah. Had this been Alonso, u people wud have flooded this blog with ur hate messages about how unsporting, cheater and all other nasty things about him.

        If u see the pre race interviews bwetween eddi Jordan and Martin Whitmarshs, u will come to know that Mclaren did it on purpose coz this track was their best bet and t hey wanted pole/winn at any cost and hence they put the minimum fuel and got pole postion at $10000.
        Thats very paltry sum for 2 tenths of a sec and it is the same amount Ham was ahead of Vettel.

        I never considered that F1 fans like drivers coz he is from some particular country but after reading the above comments, I am sorry but I beg to differ that. Keith himself isnt biased but the vocabulary/wordings he uses for ham/Button and Alonso are different.

        Now u would ask me abt the proof and I dont have that at the moment but next time, when I have that , I will show .

        1. Thats very paltry sum for 2 tenths of a sec

          Where did you get the idea they gained two tenths of a second from?

          As I wrote in the article linked above they probably gained far less time than that. Here it is again if you missed it: Did running low on fuel give Lewis Hamilton pole position? No.

          Keith himself isnt biased but the vocabulary/wordings he uses for ham/Button and Alonso are different.

          Of course I use different words at different times but if you think I’ve got a secret agenda to stick it to your favourite driver you’re barking up the wrong tree.

          The bottom line is if you don’t agree with what someone’s written, back up what you’ve got to say with facts instead of pretending you know how people would react if something was about Alonso and not Hamilton. Save the juvenile bickering for another site.

          1. “Save the juvenile bickering for another site.”

            I would do that but there is no dearth of
            people in this world who wont appear on the new one where I go to.

            We dont have proofs in formula1 and who knows this better than u. Do we have proof that ALonso was involved in Singapore crash. NO, unfortunately for some and fortunetly for me, NO. We all watch races, listen to drivers’ radios and interviews from different F1 legends and form our conclusions.
            Mclaren would not have gained 2 tenths but listen to Eddie Jordan’s interview before the start of the Canadian race and u will get to know where I got that figure from .
            I am not against any driver of particular nationality and I dont hate any driver coz I am a true F1 fan and love all the F1 aloinf with the package it comes with (good or bad) but there are some u just bark against someone on any given occasion. This is what I dont like. And there is no need for u to get sentimental, there is no smoke without fire.

        2. I never considered that F1 fans like drivers coz he is from some particular country

          Of course some people like drivers based on where they are from it happens in every sport. Usually you would expect a drivers biggest following would be from their native country. F1 wasn’t as big in Spain as it is now before Alonso came along and started winning races, I suppose you don’t think that had anything to do with Alonso being Spanish.

          Now u would ask me abt the proof and I dont have that at the moment but next time, when I have that , I will show .

          Never let the facts get in the way of a good argument.

    4. People shouldn’t be allowed to comment while they drunk!!!
      underweight???!!! The fine was because Mclaren took too long to get to parc ferme after qualify. They didn’t break any rule other than that.

      1. that’s pedantic. why did they take too long? because the short-fueled. why did they short-fuel? to get under weight.

        1. They weren’t underweight because the weight of the cars is done without any fuel (or other liquid consumables such as oils and lubricants) at all. So the amount of fuel remaining wouldn’t have mattered from that perspective. Either the solid part of the car was heavy enough to pass the test or it wasn’t. Since McLaren was permitted to race, then we must assume the solid part of the car was heavy enough to pass and that therefore the rules concerning weight were respected throughout.

          The reason there needs to be a litre (note: volume not weight) of fuel remaining in the car after qualifying (and the race) is to check the fuel sample matches the one given to the FIA at the start of the weekend. Failing the test is an offence with triggers automatic disqualification from whichever session the test was conducted in. When McLaren stopped, there was enough fuel for the sample, so that rule was satisfied.

          The only reason there was a problem was because the car didn’t get back to the pits… …and there is no effective means for the FIA to ban people from not making it back to the pits.

  6. I had the pleasure of being at the Canadian GP and the atmosphere was just as cracking as the race, the entire city loves F1, there are street festivals with live music and F1 related tents, actrations and activities, you can transit from the centre of the city, 10 minutes to the race track. It’s a bargin too, i got my 3 day general admission ticket for $100 CAD, around £78. And managed to talk the wonderful staff into letting us watch the support races from the hairpin grandstand.

    I will definatly be going back… Beautiful track, fantastic people, some locals noticed we were beerless and suggested we help them empty their cooler… party mad city, great weekend.

    1. HounslowBusGarage
      15th December 2010, 12:10

      Sounds fantastic!

  7. i’m still surprised that the “bookends” (Bahrain & Abu Dhabi) weren’t rated as the worst races..
    i guess that abu dhabi gets bumped up a bit due to the hype, and the championship tension

  8. These are always biased whenever Lewis or Jenson win

    1. Come on, Karan, rather than complain, voice your choice! LOL

    2. Gotta agree with Karan.. Lewis and Jenson wins are always raved about. Jensons win at Australia was apparently one of the top moments of the season… it cannot get more biased than rating a fluke as a moment of the season.

      Anyways, I do go tharris19 way and vote … but there aren’t enough of us.

      1. “it cannot get more biased than rating a fluke as a moment of the season.”

        It was a fluke even though it happened at 3 separate points this season? Australia, China and Italy were all masterful displays of when not being the quickest driver, but the quickest thinker can win races

        1. But we dont want that very often , do we ?
          Circumstances like Aus/China wont come often and Button showed in Korea/ Japan that he isnt a very good thinker when the stakes are high. He chose to switch tyres between dry and wet but dare he switch the tyres between soft and hard. He chose hard in Japan and and what did he achieve (5th and then 4th) . Hardly a QUICK THINKER.

    3. These are always biased whenever Lewis or Jenson win

      Which races do you think should have been ranked higher, then?

    4. These are always biased whenever Lewis or Jenson win

      That is simply not true. I’m sure some people are biased in their voting, but I’d like to think the majority of us are rating the RACE, not the RESULT.

      As I’ve commented elsewhere, being a Red Bull fan I don’t really like it when other drivers win! But a cracking race is a cracking race, and there’s no denying this year’s Canadian and Australian GPs were just that. Likewise, the Abu Dhabi GP was pretty rubbish, even though the result was one of the best all season as far as I’m concerned.

      If you think it’s biased then please say which race this season you think offered more excitement that Canada.

  9. Montreal always fails to deliver. Bernie, can we take this of the calendar and race in Qatar please? ;)

    1. Vietnam are looking to host a race. Well, a proposal for a race has been floated …

    2. Thats exactly what we need… an exciting circuit such as Montreal replaced by a Tilke circuit in the middle east.

    3. Its Hammer time
      16th December 2010, 16:28

      Don’t even joke about this…

  10. Abu Dhabi or Singapore are placed higher up in my own ranking, as is Monaco. Abu Dhabi was a very interesting season finale, and to see all the tension up in the air had me at the edge of my seat the whole time.

    Monaco was very nice as well. The crashes were impressive, Alonso´s charge to sixth was very nice to watch, and I liked the race as a whole.

    But my favorite was Canada, without doubt. all the passing and tension up to the end was very fun to watch. specially the Hamilton/Alonso duel. they both played fairly which was a big plus I´d say. Remember the pitstop?

    1. Abu Dhabi was a very interesting season finale, and to see all the tension up in the air had me at the edge of my seat the whole time.

      Really? I found it a snooze fest and was losing interest once it was clear no one was passing the Renaults.

      Canada was fantastic. I loved the new Silverstone. I love Monaco and Singapore because I like exciting street circuits. And Spa through Suzuka were great fun too.

      Korea should be more interesting without so much safety car. Let’s just hope no one uses team orders so blatantly or so early as this year.

  11. Abu Dhabi or Singapore are placed higher up in my own ranking, as is Monaco. Abu Dhabi was a very interesting season finale, and to see all the tension up in the air had me at the edge of my seat the whole time.

    Monaco was very nice as well. The crashes were impressive, Alonso´s charge to sixth was very nice to watch, and I liked the race as a whole.

    But my favorite was Canada, without doubt. all the passing and tension up to the end was very fun to watch. specially the Hamilton/Alonso duel. they both played fairly which was a big plus I´d say. Remember the pitstop?

    1. I agree that Abu Dhabi was tense but that’s only because it was the last race of the season. Imagine if it had been earlier on, when the championship was still wide open – it would have been really dull.

  12. Sods law…I missed Montreal as I was at Download Festival..bah!

  13. The 2010 Canadian GP was great thanks to the unexpected tyre degradation. A situation that could’ve been replicated at other GP’s if it wasn’t for the rubbish rule about having to use both tyres in a dry race >:[

  14. Its rather disappointing look at the state of the sport, seeing as the top ten race of the last 3 years are either rain affected, championship deciders or crash(still championship related).

    1. Sorry and Canadian was exception tyre degredation.

      1. “exceptional” :)

    2. They still produce exciting races ;)

      1. Theres no denying that, they were amazing, but when was the last dry race in the first part of the season that was a classic?

  15. sorry for the double post!

  16. A well-deserved primate.

  17. I am a bit surprised that Europe and Japan are not rated higher. (Yes, I enjoyed a race in Valencia).

    1. They weren’t won by Mclaren

    2. I think there was an element of protest voting about Valencia because of the way the safety car ruined some drivers’ races.

  18. Question Keith, what program do you use to make your graphs? :)

    1. It’s just Excel.

  19. 1. 2008 Brazil [WDT won by a British driver]
    2. 2010 Canada [1-2 win by 2 British drivers]
    3. 2010 Australia [Win by a British driver]
    4. 2010 Belgium [Win by a British driver]
    5. 2010 China [1-2 win by 2 British drivers]
    6. 2009 Brazil [WDT & WCT won by a British team & driver]
    7. 2008 Monaco [Win by a British driver]
    8. 2008 Britain [Win by a British driver]
    9. 2008 Italy [exception]
    10. 2010 Turkey [1-2 win by 2 British drivers]
    11. 2009 Australia [[Win by a British driver]

    Is it just me or is it really a coincidence? ;)

    1. P.S. I forgot to add that (as a Ferrari fan) without any doubt this year’s Canadian GP deserved to win the best race of 2010. Even if Ferrari didn’t win I still think it’s (as many worldwide F1 fans) the best race of 2010… ;)

      1. berlinerkindlGP
        16th December 2010, 1:32

        Vettel is just exceptional. :)

    2. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t – these polls have only been running for three years in which time two championships have been won by British drivers so to an extent I’d say it’s unavoidable.

      But as I said to other people who made this point, are there races in there which were won by non-British drivers which are far too low in the list?

      Also, do remember that only around a third of visitors to the site are from Britain (see link at the bottom of the article).

    3. The voting is by readers of this website who mostly would have tried to be unbiased, there always seems to be some votes rating the race a 1 or 10 no matter what the race was like.

      Rather than looking at who won the race you should look at what actually happened during the race itself. Wet races will always get a higher rating, the same will be the case if the race is a championship decider.

      If you look at this season if Red Bull managed to get it right they would normally take a comfortable victory because they easily had the quickest car, whereas the races that McLaren won either had a bit of rain or plenty of drama.

  20. Loved this Grand Prix, great 5-way duel, tyres going off more rapidly than anywhere else, back markers causing trouble, Alonso vs Hamilton, Red Bulls strategy that looked great than really bad, lots and lots of overtaking, Schumi driving like a madman. Had it all and we didn’t even need rain.

    Hope the Pirellis will allow us to see more of the same.

  21. looking at the last 50 races rated, are we really saying that spain 2010 was worse than spain 2009?

  22. Four of the top five are Mclaren wins, . ¿Is this a joke? I think british readers, likes races won by british drivers….

  23. Jraybay-HamiltonMclarenfan
    17th January 2011, 4:02

    Yessss! I’m Canadian thank you all for voting! LoL but in honesty I thought Australia was the best race and Canada a close second… anyone else?

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