9 races, 5 winners, anyone's championship

If 2009 was exciting, 2010 was promising to be a classic with 4 world champions on the grid and at least 4 teams trying to establish themselves at the front.

Red Bull started the season nicely, with Vettel taking pole in Bahrain, but a spark plug issue dropped him to fourth. Alonso inherited the win and lead the first Ferrari 1-2 since the 2008 French Grand Prix. At least the Tifosi were happy; the rest of us were just hoping to see some real racing in Australia.

Another race, another pole for Vettel, another mechanical problem. This time it was a tactical Button who took advantage of Red Bull's misfortunes to grab his first win for 2010. Could he finally prove his doubters wrong?

Malaysia saw Webber taking pole to maintain Red Bull's impressive record. A mistake at the first corner gave Vettel the lead and the car held up for Vettel to finally celebrate his first win of the season. So far we'd had 3 different teams winning the first 3 races, an exciting start to the season that we hadn't seen since 1990.

Vettel returned to his qualifying form in China, but the Red Bulls faded away in a hectic race with changeable conditions, which was won by Jenson Button. The 2009 champion was now leading the 2010 championship.

Before Barcelona and Monaco, Webber promised his dogs to go back with as many points as possible and he's not a man to break a promise; two straightforward poles and wins at Barcelona and Monaco gave him 50 points and the championship lead. Had the bad luck finally abandoned him?

Two teammates tied in points at the top is a recipe for disaster though, as Red Bull discovered in Turkey. At a race to forget, Vettel hit Webber while fighting for the lead and gave Hamilton his first win of the season. Button got a bit too close trying to grab the lead and just avoided another Red Bull-style drama.

Hamilton was back for good, and he showed it with an emphatic win in Canada. The race was a classic, packed with action and far from predictable. Even if Alonso only managed 3rd, Ferrari's pace looked good and it gave them hope that they could return to their early season pace.

The season so far had been so exciting, some people were almost looking forward to the procession that is Euro GP. Luckily for the rest of us, that's not what we got. Drivers proved that overtaking might be hard on the Valencia street circuit, but not impossible. Vettel was back; a pole and a win gave him the confidence boost which he desperately needed after Turkey. Alonso was fuming after a safety car ruined his race but, crucially, not Hamilton's. Webber proved that Red Bull does give you wings when his car went flying after it hit Kovalainen's Lotus.

And for the rest of us, Valencia proved that with good drivers in fast cars and a bit of luck, F1 is at its best.