The 2010 Formula 1 Constructor's Beauty Contest:

The championship is over; 2010 saw Red Bull and Seb Vettel take the top prizes in a season where the drivers crown wasn’t decided until the very last race.

As Renault and Force India battled for 6^th in the Constructor’s championship and McLaren strove to keep 2^nd place, the top five finished thusly:

1 Red Bull

2 McLaren Mercedes

3 Ferrari

4 Mercedes GP

5 Renault

But how does the Championship look if we do away with the necessity to actually win races and score points? What if we take the Championship down to the shallowest level there is and base the positions on how nice the car looks?!!

So here it is, “The Top 5 2010 Formula 1 Constructors Beauty Contest”….

5 - Red Bull

I’d never been a fan of the blue Red Bull livery, but when you see it during a night race, the blue takes on an electric sparkle and it never looks the same again. Toro Rosso’s brighter twin – the Red Bull has a mass block of blue, tipped with the signature red and yellow from the Red Bull logo. It’s a look which goes with the brand, it’s modern, a bit funky – and full of energy!

4 - Lotus

I was initially disappointed when I saw Lotus’ green paint-job. Like many others I was hoping for a new John Player Special with black and gold (which we’ll get to see next year!). But it’s grown on me and the classic green is a great nod to the heritage of the Lotus name.

3 - McLaren

I’ve got a soft spot for McLaren, I’ve collected a few models and the colour scheme looks beautiful. There’s no real change to the paintwork in 2010 from last year – but the metallic silver and rocket red is superb. The reflective body has an almost organic quality, as light conditions change – so does the car as lights dance along the sleek lines. The McLarens have demonstrated to Mercedes what a silver car ought to look like!

2 - Virgin

This is the most exciting car paintwork of all the teams. Even Gok Wan would agree that black and red are a killer combination, but it’s not just the colours that make this design stand out – look at the ‘tattoo’ on the front wing! The swirly decal looks like a cross between a floral print and a Celtic symbol – but whatever it is, it looks cool. It features on their merchandise too and is the second best reason to buy a VR shirt*! If I can scrape together enough pennies then I hope to be wearing a Virgin top as well as my McLaren one next season! Virgin show flare and creativity, they are the only team which can start from the back of the grid and still look like the cool kid at school, they would have been number 1 on the list if it weren’t for the sheer bravery of….

1 - Renault

Renault! They’ve dumped French Euro-Chic and but stuck to their old racing colour – yellow. Yellow cars get a tough time, nobody seems to like them – but Renault have made it work big style with the R30.  The yellow and black design make it look like a supercharged wasp. This is going to be a controversial choice for number 1, when it was launched I saw people recoil in horror when they saw the photos, but I feel I have to defend it. The colour scheme is so simple and yet so bold. It’s glossy, and smooth and uncluttered. I absolutely love it.

So here’s the new adjusted Constructors top 5.

FIA official standing:       Beauty Contest Winners:

1 Red Bull            -->    1 Renault

2 McLaren Mercedes    -->    2 Virgin

3 Ferrari             -->    3 McLaren

4 Mercedes GP         -->    4 Lotus 

5 Renault             -->    5 Red Bull

Want to see the cars? I would have posted pictures here but I want the blog to be as uncluttered as possible (for reading on smaller/mobile screens) – don’t be lazy – do a Google image search!

[* The first reason obviously being that they are a Yorkshire team! It’s something I mention quite regularly!]

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