Tag Archive for 'FormulaOne'

F1 2011 Indian GP : The First Lap

Published on November 4, 2011 in Sports. 0 Comments

It was so exciting to finally see all the cars zoom past us on their first lap. The combined sound of those 20 cars was worth taking all the trouble to get there.

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Hungarian GP 2010 : Schumacher vs. Barrichello

Published on August 2, 2010 in Sports. 0 Comments

To all those casting doubts over the skills of Schumacher, you may now rest in peace knowing that he is still the same fierce, bold, courageous and feared driver of old. These characteristics when viewed from a different perspective might give you an image of a reckless madman behind steering wheels, but when applied to a Seven Times World Champion shows you the true definition of a Legend. I am always full of praise for this guy just for these reasons. He has the guts to commit himself to such maneuvers. It isn’t any piece of luck that he has never been involved in any major accident despite such highly risky driving. It is down to pure talent of the God of Racing. No other driver could have been involved in so many near-collision incidents as has been Schumacher, and yet the next race you cannot discount him repeating the feat again.

Once again, it is all down to your perspective, how you see yesterdays duel between the two age old drivers. Schumacher had the right to steer right and defend the move by Barrichello. It was him challenging the other driver. What he did was perfectly legal. Had Barrichello deemed it was too risky then he should have slowed down and aborted the overtaking move. He could have tried to go to the other side of the track and tried his chance. I do not see Schumacher not-being-in-control. It was an intentional block.

If it scared the shit out of Barrichello, he must think twice before trying to overtake the Master.

The stewards must show consistency while awarding penalties. Earlier in the season, Vettel had almost put Hamilton into the pit wall, but I do not remember Vettel getting any punishment. The media has created this furor around Schumacher, tagging him as an unsafe driver, that he gets so many decisions against himself. As Paulo Coelho named his book – The Winner Stands Alone!

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F1 2010: Bahrain GP – The Most Soporific Race Ever

Published on March 16, 2010 in Sports. 0 Comments

For all its pre-season hype, the excitement of having 4 champions on track, the eagerness to get a competitive Ferrari back on tract, the season opener couldn’t be a more boring car procession.The front runners, the ones having the fastest cars, just followed each other around the track completing the mandatory 49 laps without trying any overtaking maneuver. And the new regulation of fueling ban ensured that the nothing exciting could even happen during the pit stops.

The qualifying was the first to signal that something is not right. Until the last year, Q2 used to see the cars go zoom-broom at top speeds. Then the Masters of Strategy would work out a fuel strategy to give their drivers the best shot at glory. This did mean that slower cars could end up in front of faster ones, but at least it did mix the grid up a bit, and then the pit stops would become interesting. The new format of having no fuel strategy for Q2 and Q3 somehow reduced the charm of Q3. And when Vettel set the fastest Q2 lap, it was only a matter of wait and watch to see Vettel do it again in Q3. After all, there is no change in the car from Q2 to Q3. So the result of Q2 and Q3 should be the same, unless of course one of our drivers gets nervous and commits a mistake, something we saw Webber do. Or else if you were foolish enough like Adrian Sutil to be the only driver running on Hard than the Super Softs which the remaining 9 had chosen.

After qualifying we knew who the fastest guy was – Vettel. We also knew that Alonso and Massa were strong. But when everybody starts the race with the same amount of fuel, and when you expect everybody to come into the pits at almost the same time, and when you already know that to overtake the car in front you need to be 2-3 seconds faster which you are not, then where the hell did FIA see an opportunity for the drivers to overtake one another?

Another impact of removing refueling was that drivers chose to dive into pits only once, and play it safe on the track to conserve their tires.

For all the talk about reducing cost associated with getting a team ready for a race, and lessening the impact of machinery on race result, FIA has made the race day boring. Perhaps it were the slow corners of Bahrain which wasn’t the ideal place to judge the new regulations, or perhaps I was expecting just too much, but I wasn’t impressed with the show. If the same repeats for a few more races, F1 might face an even greater scare than all the scams, match-fixing and recession of the past couple of years. With a dwindling fan base, they need to do a quick rethinking.

Congrats to Alonso and Schumacher. Is this the beginning of the end of Schumacher – Ferrari legacy? Will Alonso become the next Schumacher of Ferrari? I certainly hope so. And I think the next season will once again be Schumacher vs. Alonso – one last time, and I will put my bet on Schumacher to walk away with the title. That would most certainly be a fairy tale end to a great illustrious career.

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Off The Field Drama

Published on June 14, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments

Contrary to the expectation, sports these days seems to be more interesting off the field. The on field action has become quite predictable and boring. Off-the-field however, stories evolve as ego clash.

F1 has literally shifted from on-track racing to board room meetings and negotiations. Ferrari is already out of the championship. So they seem to have devoted all their time to countering Max Mosely. Being the head of FOTA, they are pretty much in the drivers seat making all the crucial decisions. Thus we see Ferraris’ decision being backed by FOTA. And when Williams decided to leave the ranks and sign up for next years championship, they were suspended from FOTA.

Ferrari and FIA are aiming blows after blows at each other, refusing to buckle down below the other’s ego. And Bernie finds himself amidst this confusion, knowing pretty well that despite what Mosely says Ferrari’s role in F1 cannot be undermined. If Ferrari decides to pull out, Bernie could lose a lot, unless he manages to recover the loss by filing law suitz against Ferrari.

McLaren have decided to keep mum. Their position is understandable. Just recently they were pardoned for their lie to the stewards and are compelled to remain quite. However, even their participation next year is subject to conditions.

Its so sad for Brawn and Red Bull that all the drama had to unfold this year. Being the two leading teams, any other year they would have been the main target for the journalists and would have made it to the top of the magazine covers every issue. This year though, their achievement has been overshadowed by all the altercations and threats to sue.

But F1 is not the only sport attracting interest. Elsewhere in the world of soccer, Real Madrid has gone back to its big budget spending ways, tempting Kaka and Ronaldo to joing and resurrect a dying team. Playing second fiddle to Barcelona the whole of last year, Real have splashed lots of money to ensure that big names play for it once again. Kaka and Ronaldo should definitely strengthen the mid field. They are also looking to land in David Villa, but the deal has not been confirmed yet.

Chelsea should be the most worried at this time. With Deco declaring his interst to move away from Stamford Bridge and Caravalho also wanting to rejoin with Murinho, theirs is a depleted side. Their bid for Villa was rejected and Chelsea obviously will not be able to meet Manchester United in the pursuit of Frank Ribery. Pato wants to talk to his former manager before confirming his contract at AC Milan, but Milan spokesperson has ensured that Pato stays at Milan. Ageing squad of Chelsea needs more than one fresh pair of legs to challenge ManU or Liverpool.

Sir Alex also has a daunting task on his hands. He now needs to find a winger as good as Ronaldo, which is almost next to impossible. The void left by Ronaldo shall not be easy to fill. Despite what the ManU fans feel, Ronaldo was instrumental in setting up many victories single handedly.

Cricket has become more boring than ever. I shall not even waste another line to talk about it.

The next few weeks shall be quite interesting. F1 sees teams and administration go into a war. And the transfer market couldn’t have been more interesting than it already has become. La Liga shall not be a one sided affair the coming season. I hope more big names transfer this year. And for god’s sake, somebody come to Chelsea.

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The BrawnGP Stint

Published on March 14, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments
BrawnGP

BrawnGP

The recently concluded testing at Barcelona sent shockwaves throughout the F1 paddock regading the high competitiveness of the BrawnGP challenger. With the least amount of testing done, they have already managed to top the speed charts. And not only that, they have managed to put in those quick times quite consistently. This begs a question – Are the BrawnGP really this quick ?

Not a lot should be read into the testing times. A lot of factors come into play, not uncommon among which is the sandbagging that the teams use to not reveal their actual performance pace. This allows them to have an element of surprise going into the first race. Also the fuel loads are not the same for everyone during the testing. Some run longer testing durability and reliability for a race condition, few others test short burst to see if the pace is upto the mark or not and also few, like McLaren says, do not use the complete package that will be used in the race.

However, what BrawnGP has managed to do has amazed even Massa himself, who admitted that Ferrari cannot match the pace of the BrawnGP. Ferrari have been quick, and prior to the Barcelona test they were the ones featuring on the top of the charts. But recent events has thrown things into disarray. McLaren seems to be suffering performance issues. Renault are once again finding themselves lower than what they would have liked to be. Ferrari though quick are not as quick as the BrawnGP.

F60

F60

Also quite a lot can change in a few days once again. Ferrari, BMW and four others have concluded their testing season, but McLaren has another 3 days of testing at Jerez this weekend. Things could turn out in their favour still, with Ron Dennis telling everybody that the aerodynamic package to be used for the Melbourne GP was not used upto now, and will be tested this weekend. If this is indeed true, then they have taken a gamble allowing themselves just 3 days to test their final aerodynamic package.

An interesting rumours that I read regarding the BrawnGP was that they could be running illegal car to top the time sheets and get some sponsorship. With Honda having pulled the plug on its team and Ross Brawn buying out the team, they will be looking for sponsors now. A good performance during the testing season can ensure them just that. I am not trying to accuse Brawn, but its just that he’s a shrewd businessman. If this is not the case, then they have simply managed to produce something magnificient and remarkable into this years championship, and will definitely be one of the main contenders.It could happen that Rubens and Jenson end up chasing each other for the first place in Melbourne, provided the car lasts the distance.

The time is almost up. Within a fortnight it will all be clear who is what. We shall discover the real reason behind BrawnGP pretty soon.

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Prelude To The 2009 F1 Season

Published on March 11, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments
Ferrari

Ferrari

Finally, amidst all the drama we have a new season of the Formula 1 motor racing about to begin in just a few days over a fortnight. What with recession threatening to throw the future of the event into jeopardy, Honda pulling the plug on its team, ING refusing to renew their sponsorship of Renault and teams threatening to quit, its somewhat fortunate that we will get a full calendar this year.

It was already predicted that if the budget be not controlled, a few teams might consider walking away from the sport, but that the effect would actually happen this year was not expected. It came as a surprise when out of blue Honda announced its decision to dismantle the team and quit F1. Spiralling costs were seen as a major reason behind the decision, with recession not helping. A huge save-honda-campaign was launched by Bernie who took it upon himself to find a buyer to buy out the team. Apparently Michael had been approached, but he refused to get involved in the sport in that capacity. Ross Brawn was interested to buy out the team, and even Bernie was ready to provide behind-the-curtains funding. There were also occasional rumours of a third party hostile buy out, and that of Virgin Grp’s interest in the team. It all came to naught when it was finally delcared that the management team of Honda led by Brawn had bought back the team. Thus we have this year the BrawnGP challenger instead of the Honda challenger.

Just as AIG had refused to renew their contract with the soccer icons Manchester United, ING announced similar treatment to Renault. Renault though have dismissed any concerns regarding the funding and instead insist are well off. I am not sure but I also read this rumour that similar problem has been faced by Williams team. This definitely calls for some drastic implementations of budget regulations unless we are prepared to lose out a few more teams.

But the proposed budget implementations do not bode well with all the teams, and certainly not the viewers. For instance, one of the rules to be implemented in near future is that of engine standardisation, whereby all the teams shall use the same engine provided by a neutral company, just as is the case with current tyres provider Bridgestone and the standardised Electronic Control Unit manufactured and provided by Mercedes. Obviously the teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Renault, Toyota who manufacture their own cars will not be pleased with this constraint, as using the same engine eliminates one of the main uniqueness of each formula 1 car on the grid. A lot of research goes into the design of the engine and using the same engine could kill the sport. However, it also reduces the overall money spent by the teams on the research of the engines.

In view of reducing the budget, one of the better rules to be implemented this season onwards is the prolomged usage of the same engine for 3 races as opposed to just 2 last season. This is one the most important regulations for the season to cut down the costs. Also there are restictions on the usage of wind tunnels and all, though I am not very much clear about it. Also a reduction in testing time is a welcome idea.

But what begs a question is that when everywhere the emphasis is on the reduction of the budget, why is the super license fee being increased. Infact a few of the drivers did protest, but these things never work out. Bernie has made it absolutely clear that unless the license is paid the driver will not be allowed to race.

Moving on from the much hyped and discussed topic of recession and budget control, this season the driver-team lineup has almost remained the same. Vettel is I suppose the only exception, replacing Coulthard.

I have been following the winter testing and Ferrari looks a competitive package this time. Last year they were struggling a bit during the testing season, while this time around they have been at the top setting the pace almost every time. The pace seems to be good, and Raikkonen for once looks motivated. Hamilton had put his car through the laps well, but Hekki seems to be struggling coming to terms with the new car. This does make me feel hopeful of a Kimi resurgence. I feel sad for Alonso though. Having shown sparks of brillance towards the end of the last season, I expected much more of him during the pre-season training. The results have been pretty ordinary by his standards. I would love to see him at the top chasing down the Ferraris and the McLarens. He is one man I despised during the Schumacher era, but came to appreciate his talents later on. Give him a BMW an I am sure he’ll make life a hell for Kimi, Massa and Hamilton. He’s a class apart.

Its an anxious wait, striking off the days to the Melbourne Grand Prix. May the best Ferrari win.

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