Honda - Power of Dreams to perish today??

Just a break in my Top 5 drivers of the year to bring the news that Honda will most probably quit F1 today, with an announcement imminent over the next 24hrs. We did know the recession would impact Formula One but this is a huge blow to the sport. The name Honda has strond ties with Formula One, and today they will announce that the team will be sold. Apart from the 700 employees who will get their pink slips, notable F1 figures such as Ross Brawn and Jenson Button will be left homeless.

If Honda are to cut jobs in Japan, their F1 program would not look justifiable in the eyes of the employees or the public. Honda are reportedly spending $218 million on their F1 project, but this figure also included the Super Aguri expenses. In these tough financial times it will hard for a company to justify spending on a project like this while they have to look to cut expenses. 

This will be a big blow not only for F1 but for a lot of people as well. Ross Brawn should not have trouble finding another home but Jenson Button will have to pull something out of the abg to get a drive next year, with only few drives available. Upcoming drivers Bruno Senna and Lucas Di Grassi will have to look elsewhere or head back to Gp2. And finally spare a thought for the employess back at Brackley, who have had a miserable year and a worse ending to it.

Bernie Eccelstone will have to pull something special out of the bag to get a solid buyer for the team. Red Bull as well are looking to sell the Toro Rosso team, so expect a whirlwind of cost cuts to hit the sport. Let us hope, by the time we reach Melbourne next year that there are no other teams who will suffer the same fate, especially another manufacturer..  

Year 2008 - Top 5 Drivers

It has been quite a while since my last entry and the season has long gone. But looking back I am sure everyone who witnessed the season will say "what a season" and I am no different. It literally came down down to the line and is probably one of the best finishes ever in the history of Formula One. From the beginning it has been a see-saw battle between the Ferrari's and McLaren's Hamilton, with the pendulum swinging alternate ways every race. But at the end of the season there were many drivers who were outstanding and I have listed my top 5 drivers of the year. 

Please remember this is my view and people are free to comment even though it probably will not change my views. I will list the drivers with 5 different entries starting today. So let's get on with it...

Top 5 Drivers

#5

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel has all the ingredients of making history in Formula One, and his performance this year has justified that even further. Vettel was mega this year, disposing off his team-mate with ease and recording his debut win in Formula One. But apart from that you are looking at a future World Champion in the making. He is one of the few drivers to come in directly from F3, albeit in a testing role. 

Toro Rosso are the former Minardi team, with many member still remaining with the team. Expectations for the Toro Rosso team were very low, with maybe couple of points coming out of a wet race or a race with many retirements. Vettel only scored his first point of the season in Monaco, being luckless in the races before. But after that Vettel was awesome, amassing an incredible 29 points in the last seven races, beating early title contenders Raikkonen and Kubica, and only losing out to Alonso, Massa and eventual Champion Hamilton. 

Vettel got better as the season went on, consistently putting his Toro Roso into Q1. Then came Monza where he managed to get Toro Rosso's first ever Pole Position, and more notably Vettel's first pole. Getting pole was one thing, getting onto the podium was the aim for the race. Vettel stunned everyone by dominating the race without ever being threatened at any point. This made the 21yr old the youngest winner in Formula One. 

Vettel's teammate Sebastien Bourdais, CART champion was impressive too at the second half of the season, but the way Vettel dominated him, it made Bourdais look very average. Vettel could also have been the difference in the outcome of the World Championship when he overtook Hamilton with two laps to go.  

All in all it has been an excellent year for the young German and expect him to make an impaice in Formula One in the next couple of years. Next year's job will be at the wheel of Adrian Newey's Red Bull with Mark Webber, another excellent qualifier. Many have dubbed him as 'Baby Schumi' and expect him to live up to that name.   

Fallout from the Japanese GP

Fernando Alonso pulled off a stunnng victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, but his victory seemed to overshadowed by the antics of the two champiosnhip contenders, who in my view honestly dont deserve to be champions. Alonso drove brilliantly reeling off a barrage of low 1m19s laps on a consistent basis when it was most needed, which eventually resulted in him winning. I do believe Hamilton and the Ferraris would have been quicker but nonetheless his drive was brilliant, without a flaw. 

Now this brings me to the title showdown with two races to go and five points in hand. As I have said before even when Hamilton is unlucky, he is lucky. And I do believe this will help him in winning the championship. Hamilton's aggressiveness defintely caught up with him this weekend but will surely fire him up even more for this weekend's penultimate race. The arguments are going to rage on on both Massa and Hamilton's penalties but there are key facts of the race, that have been well pointed out byEd Gorman from The Times: 

1. Lewis does not make his move on Kimi until very late on the straight. He whips out almost at the point that his front wheels are on the white line at the end of the pit-exit lane.

2. Lewis is parallel to Kimi when he hits the brakes and Heikki is right behind Lewis, so Kimi is well and truly trapped.

3. Lewis goes straight on but then Heikki takes his place alongside Kimi, pushing the Iceman wide in a sequence which is the direct consequence of Lewis's initial passing attempt.

4. Lewis is tracking Fernando and Robert along the straight towards Turn 3. He is in third place. As they approach the apex of Turn 3, Lewis is about three car-lengths behind Fernando. He does not make a move on Fernando but when he gets to the curbs at the apex his car gets pitched off, across the track and runs very wide over the run-off area. This is why Lewis is in seventh place, and behind Felipe, by the time they approach Turn 10 next time round.

5. There is no doubt that Lewis was responsible for a sequence of events which primarily disadvantaged Kimi.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/formula_one/

This explains how Lewis went from 3rd to 7th which most of us missed and also a deeper understanding into the reason behind the penalty. With the title on the line was it really worth it on Hamilton's part? But I am sure it is really easy for us to sit here and judge, while the drivers have a second or less to trust their instincts. 

It is safe to say that last year's Chinese Grand Prix costed Hamilton the World Championship, so he will be determined to make sure lightning does not strike twice!!

Hamilton's Appeal thrown out

Well the news is out now that Hamilton's appeal has been 'inadmissible' by the FIA which is a big blow to the McLaren Mercedes team. They were confident that they could get he result overturned but the FIA has rejected the appeal. As drive-thru penalty's cannot be appealed McLaren were always fighting a losing battle to make it stick. McLaren based their whole case on last season's Japanese Grand Prix, where an appeal was heard about whether or not Liuzzi should have been handed a 25-second time penalty for passing Sutil under yellow caution flags. That punishment was in lieu of a drive thru penalty that is normally handed down for such offences. Lawyers for McLaren had argued that, while drive-through penalties are not susceptible to appeal, 25-second time penalties are. The judges said the Fuji case was not relevant because "none of the parties concerned had raised the inadmissibility of the appeal in that case."

The main problem here is that Hamilton drove his heart out in one of the best races ever, and its a shame he lost out because of his mistake. People would not have reacted this way if it was a normal race but under the circumstances they feel differently. 

Fans who think the FIA is trying to discourage overtaking because of this are just totally off the mark. There are rules which all drivers have to stick by and cutting chicanes will give any driver an advantage. Not one driver on the F1 grid supported Hamilton's move and felt that he was in the wrong. In my opinion it is just bad luck and just inexperience on the part of Hamilton. Either way he looks favourite to win the inaugural night race in Singapore, with the rain gods increasingly looking likely to support him. 

Including the Belgian GP Hamilton has been impeded 4 times this year, others being the 5 penalty gird position in Sepang, 10 place penalty following his crash into Raikkonen at Montreal, and drive thru penalty at Magny-Cours. All have been justified and I dont think there is any bias on the part of the FIA. Have some of them been harsh decisions? yes for sure but that's Formula One. Juan Pablo Montoya has been penalised numerous times and so has Fernando Alonso in controversial circumstances.

Hamilton has to put this behind him and go out and win that title, that is if the team can manage to do it wihout making any stupid mistakes.

In closing, I dont think McLaren have ever won a battle with the FIA, maybe getting a new legal team will be a  good start...

Singapore - F1's first night race

The Formula One Championship this year has been tightly contested, and with one point separating the top two drivers (as they stand today), we are in for a cracker of a final few races. However the Championship this week has been overshadowed by the fact that Formula One will have their first ever night race in Singapore, the first ever night race in the history of Formula One. Now some people might be thinking how the hell can these guys race at night?? Well in America its nothing new to race at night as the circuit is heavily lit up. For example the company Valerio Maioli, who are contracted for the lighting said the following:

In terms of numbers, the logistical set up is understandably vast. During the event, 108,423 metres of power cables, 240 steel pylons and around 1,600 light projectors with a total power requirement of 3,180,000 watts will be used. With an illumination measurement of around 3000 lux, the lighting will be four times brighter than the lights at sports stadiums.

So this might be Greek and Latin, but with this equipment it means that the track will be lighter than day. This promises to be one of the most interesting races of the season, or most spectacular atleast. However am not sure whether overtaking will be a big possibility here, as it was lacking in Valencia and Monaco is almost impossible to pass. Another factor to take into account will be the possibility of rain, with thunderstorms expected over Saturday and Sunday. It will be interesting to see what happens if it does rain at night. 

Championship-wise my money will have to be on Lewis and the McLarens to be the favourites here. At night the weather will be cooler and it looks like the McLarens look better in cooler conditions. Massa seems to be more cautious in comparison to Hamilton, who is a lot more aggressive. Massa will have to step up and grab this opportunity as you will never know whether he will get this opportunity again. He will have to be more aggressive, as he was in Hungary in order to win this Championship.

Today the FIA will hear McLaren's appeal on the Spa result. In my view it will be inadmissible even before it reaches the courts as it is a drive-thru penalty which cannot be contested. It cannot be contested during the race and will surely not be open to be contested after the race. However McLaren seem confident and are sure they can get the result overturned, but it would be a shame if the result is changed now and will only lead to all teams contesting drive-thru's. 

So all-in-all it promises to the a cracker of a race this weekend and I for one cannot wait for the weekend to begin..

Spa - Greatest Race of the Decade!!

I know that everyone is still reeling from the Belgian Grand Prix, not only the final verdict but the race as well. I see many posts and comments about the "Death of Formula One" and "how the stewards screwed up" but the way I see it, rules are rules. The rule clearly states that no driver can gain an advantage by cutting the chicane, which is exactly what Hamilton did. Had he waited till the run up to Eau Rouge, he would have no problem. But Hamilton clearly gained and set Raikkonen up for the corner, even if he had blocked the inside line into La Source, Hamilton would have gone around the outside. It is a pity as Hamilton and Raikkonen drove the wheels off their cars, and the result being neither of them winning the race. Let us not leave out Heidfeld's drive to second, which was quick thinking on the part of the BMW Sauber team. If Alonso had pitted a lap earlier he would have probably won the race.

The race started off in damp conditions with all drivers on soft dry tyres, barring Renault's Nelson Piquet, who was on a one-stopper. Raikkonen got the jump on Massa into Eau Rouge as Massa eased off slightly and then almost drove Massa off the road trying to secure his second place. Next lap Hamilton spun at La Source, giving Raikkonen a run on him coming out of Eau Rouge and muscling his way past. This set the tone for the remainder of the race with Massa in third, Alonso in fourth, Bourdais an impressive fifth, and Kubica, Vettel and Heidfeld behind. It looked like it will finish in this fashion, but with 4 laps from the finish, it started to rain and Hamilton closed in on Raikkonen. With 2 laps to go Hamilton was forced to go around the outside in to bus stop and cut the chicance thus leading to the controversy. Hamilton waited for Raikkonen letting him by and immediately pouncing on him going into La Source. It was a smart move by Hamiton, but maybe a little over smart. After that both drivers could hardly stay on track as they both used the run-off at Pouhon, then forcing Hamilton off to the grass on Fagnes. Raikkonen then spun and one would assume that this race was over. Think again, going into the next corner Nakajima went off and it was a miracle that both Hamilton and Raikkonen missed hitting him. However Raikkonen's luck finally ran out when he lost control and hit the wall just before bus stop. Now all Hamilton had to do was stay on track to win the race, which he duly did. Massa decided to take the eight points rather than risk it all. Heidfeld, who switched to intermediate tyres with 2 laps to go charged from 7th to 3rd on the last lap to finish an amazing race, with Alonso finishing fourth.   

However this is when the controversy exploded and Hamilton was given a 25 second penalty, Harsh yes but fair. However nothing can be taken away from Hamilton, and for that matter Raikkonen too, who declared it was 'all or nothing' for him. With this result, Massa is just 2 points away from Hamilton, heading to Monza this weekend.

Monza should suit the McLaren again and I expect Hamilton to be in a strong position  to win this weekend, with Ferrari's close behind. The question now is will Raikkonen help his teammate and repay the favour from last year? That we will get to see this weekend. While we cannot hope for Monza to bring the same excitement, the championship is definitely hotting up and one retirement for any of these drivers will determine the outcome of this championship. Monza, home of the Ferrari tifosi - Bring it on!!

 

Even when he is unlucky, Hamilton is lucky!!

Last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix turned out to be a great race, definitely not what I had expected. The Hungarian GP in normal conditions is a processional race but right from the start you could see this race was always going to be different. Hats off to Felipe Massa, a driver who has faced a barrage of criticism following his dismal Hockenheim performance, where he easily let Hamilton through. After the race at Hockenheim, Hamilton was quick to say "He didn't defend very well, All I know is that if it was the other way around then he wouldn't have got past." Boy did Massa make him eat his words. Massa seemed to be in total control of the race and started to pull away after his first stop, even though Hamilton was fuelled for a longer second stop. Hamilton's puncture brought a new twist to the race, and even though he had a 45sec lead over the rest of the pack (barring Kovalainen) it was not looking too good for the McLaren driver.

But as has happened before, Hamilton luck turned when the Ferrari engine went up in a huge puff of smoke on the start finish straight. It was reminiscent of the time Mika Hakkinen's engine blew on the last lap of th Spanish Grand Prix, back in 2001. There is nothing much to do or say, but just move on and be happy with the performance you have put it. Massa was perfect until the engine let go and his loss seemed to be Hamilton's gain.

A brilliant drive from Timo Glock, who has not put a foot wrong all weekend, ensured that Kimi Raikkonen finished third, following a disappointing drive by the world champion. All this played straight into Hamilton's hands, who goes off for the summer break with his lead still intact.

As predicted Ferrari did fight back this weekend in the form of Massa's challenge, but they have to put up a much stronger and more consistent effort, if they are to beat McLaren and Hamilton. Kimi still looked out of sorts but once he gets his qualifying worries behind him, he will be back in contention.

So a little summer break and then the battle resumes, it is safe to say that BMW are out of the reckoning for the title. The way the last few races have gone, it seems to be up and down between the Ferrari's of Massa and Raikkonen, and Hamilton's McLaren. One thing is for sure we are in for hell of a battle between these three guys when the season resumes..

Hungarian GP Preview

The buzz going into this years Hungarian Grand Prix is whether Lewis Hamilton and his Vodafone McLaren Merecedes can make it three in a row. He is definitely coming off a hot streak and not many people are willing to put their money against him winning. However, I do believe that one of the Ferrari's or both will fight for victory. My money this weekend will be on Raikkonen winning as he is due a victory, but ruling Massa out will be a mistake too.

The Hungarian GP is normally one of the least interesting races on the Formula One calendar, with regards to the track, but off the track I believe Budapest is one of most interesting cities to visit. The Hungaroring is a tight and twisty track where overtaking is close to impossible and often turns out to be a processional race. The circuit is pretty similar to Monaco, minus the glitz and glamour. While the Hungaroring might not appeal to some drivers, it has been witness some of Formula One's most memorable moments.

Hungaroring has been witness to the classic duels between Senna and Prost, Mansell's tyre blow which cost him the F1 Championship, emotional debut wins for both Fernando Alonso (2003) and Jenson Button (2006), and more recently the falling out between Alonso and Hamilton, which exploded during last year's qualifying. 2006 probably had the best F1 race in Hungary, the only time a wet race took place, which saw Championship rivals Alonso and Schumacher starting from the middle of the pack and carving their way up the field, until both retired in the finishing stages of the race.

This year's race will definitely be a crucial race as the Championship gets tighter. McLare are sure to be favourites after they trounced the opposition, including Ferrari at the last race in Hockenheim. McLaren normally do well here and to add to that Hamilton is looking as confident as ever, and will be looking to repeat last year's success at this circuit. Both Raikkonen and Massa have been under fire, following their disappointing performances at the last race, but expect them to bounce back with a bang. With chances of rain being very low, it will definitely be a McLaren vs. Ferrari battle.

Behind the leading pack, look out for the battle between Renault, Red Bull and Toyota. Alonso has been extremely unlucky in the last couple of races and is due for a good result, at one of his favourite circuits. Glock returns from his horror crash last week, while Webber and Coulthard will be aiming for a good finish here. Lastly watch out for Sebastian Vettel, the Toro Ross driver has been hugely impressive in the last couple of races and will be hoping to go even better here.

Qualifying and strategy will be crucial here so let us see which team can master the conditions this weekend...

Formula One in India

As far as I can remember I have been a race enthusiast and a huge Formula One fan. Ayrton Senna has always been my idol and to be honest he is one of the reasons a lot of people I know, apart from me, got so hooked on to Formula One. This started way before we got the races live on TV, Star Sports, which if I remember right started in 1993. We used to get the videos of the races prior to this and for anyone who watched racing at that time, there were only two names that were ever mentioned, Senna and Alain Prost, not disrespecting Nigel Mansell's extraordinary talent. Racing between these drivers was fierce at that time, with neither driver ever giving an inch to the other.

It is hard to believe that it is actually 20 years later and the strong talk of a Formula One race on the streets of Delhi is sending chills down everyone's spines. Motorsports in India and Formula One in particular seen massive growth, especially amongst the younger audiences. After cricket and maybe football it is the most watched sport in India. Not only have the viewers increased, but through various efforts of the FMSCI, governing body of motorsports in India, drivers aspiring to be in Formula One have increased, due to the various junior categories that exist. JK Tyres have played a big role in developing drivers, including Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok and Armaan Ebrahim.

Attending races has always been fun, greeted by the deafening sounds of the V8 engines, but having a race in India is just way beyond everyone's dream. A Formula One race in India has been talked about for the last few years with nothing come out of it. However, recently Vijay Mallya, Force India Team Owner was confident when he said that India will have a Formula One race in 2010 and no later. This statement seems the strongest ever and I think the possibility of having a race in 2010 or 2011 has a 90% possibility. The fact that India have a team on the F1 grid is a huge achievement by itself, and with Karun Chandhok knocking on the doors of Formula One, this is definitely the best time to have a race in India.

Signing a deal with Bernie Eccelstone to host a Formula One race might be a significant and huge step, but it is only the first step in many towards hosting a Formula One race. Apart from the budgets, the infrastructure requirements for a Formula One race is very demanding and the level of planning has to be at the highest levels for an event of this stature. It is imperative that people with experience in motorsports are involved with the planning of this event. A Formula One event is like no other event in the world and careful considerations have to be made while planning this.

All that said, having a Formula One race in India will be mega, and possibly the most glamorous event the country has even witnessed. And I am sure people will pour in from all over the country to witness this, now let us just hope that we have an Indian driver on the Formula one grid...

Chandhok Triumphs at Hockenheim!!

Sunday saw two exciting races at the Hockenheimring in Germany, which resulted in amazing drives by both winners. Lewis Hamilton had the machinery to power him towards his fourth win of the this year's Formula One season, while India's own Karun Chandhok soaked in tremendous pressure to win his first race of the season. He has been luckless the whole season but it was clear to see that this victory had nothing to do with luck, but rather a commanding and strategic drive to the chequered flag.

Chandhok, driving for iSport qualified a disappointing 11th, struggling to find the right balance of the car. As we have often seen this year, his qualifying pace has been up and down, while his race pace has certainly been impressive and on par with the top runners. The feature race on Saturday was no different as he brilliantly fought his way up to fifth place, closing in on team-mate Bruno Senna in fourth rather rapidly. Then all of a sudden with five laps to go there was a heavy downpour which left teams and drivers pondering whether to change to wet tyres or stick to their dry tyres. Both Chandhok and Senna decided to opt for the wets which ultimately resulted in them finishing in 8th and 4th respectively. This gave Karun pole position for the sprint race on Sunday.

Starting from Pole he had a good start but was beaten to the first corner by the quick starting Lucas Di Grassi who jumped from fourth to first. Chandhok always knew he had a strong car and took about two laps before making his move on Di Grassi. He had a great run coming out of the chicane and both drivers went side-by-side into the hairpin with Di Grassi on the inside and Chandhok on the outside. It was a perfect dummy sold by Chandhok as he cut back inside and powered out of the corner, giving him the edge for the next right hander. After that Chandhok started to pull away until Andreas Zuber, who started 11th and edged past Di Grassi for 2nd, began to climb all over the rear of the iSport car. With 20 laps remaining, it seemed like an arduous task for Chandhok to keep Zuber at bay, but he did it brilliantly, driving intelligently by not wearing out his tyres. Even though there was just a half a second between them, the only way Zuber could have gotten past was by Karun making a mistake, even a small one would have given Zuber the lead.

Chandhok went on to win with Zuber second and team-mate Senna coming in third, second time this year that they have been on the podium together, however the Indian winning this time.

Both team-mates seem to have a very strong relationship, which is hard to find in any form of racing and this can be nothing but good for the team. This is Chandhok's second win in the GP2 series, following his debut win at Spa Francorrchamps last year. He was the first Indian to make sure that the Indian National Anthem was played at a Formula One weekend last year, and followed it up again this year. Even though it is not as good as hearing it the first time, listening to the national anthem on a race weekend makes each and every one of us very proud and still gives me goose bumps thinking about it.

Chandhok would have definitely got his deserved share of praises from the Formula One paddock, but he must know that it is important to continue this form into the next race weekend. With two podiums and a victory in the last four race weekends, he should aim to finish consistently in the second half of the season.

He is easily the fastest Indian in the world right now, but what we would like to see is the fastest Indian in the world showing off his stuff in a Formula One car very very soon...Come on Karun you are the Indian F1 Force!!

Do McLaren have the Superior car now??

Lewis Hamilton's back-to-back victory at Hockenheim has clearly showed the McLaren Mercedes to be be the better car, but is it going to be like this for the rest of the season?? Ferrari's below par performances have sent shockwaves through the Maranello-based team, even going so far to question the drivers' thirst for victory. Ferrari still seem to be reeling from their disastrous British GP, over a fortnight ago. If things do continue to like this, Hamilton could wrap up the Formula One Championship before the Formula One circus reaches Suzuka, Japan.

Hamilton's first stint made people think that he had 5-6 laps fuel less than the Ferrari, but when they came in a lap or two later, it was evident that the McLaren was setting a scorching pace. It was only one McLaren that was literally flying, as Kovalainen was looking very lackluster. After the first round of stops it was obvious that Hamilton would coast to victory followed by Massa. Then with about 30 laps to go, there was a suspension failure from Timo Glock's Toyota that sent him crashing into the wall bringing out the safety car. This caused majority of the teams to stream into the pits, with only Hamilton, Piquet and Heidfeld deciding to stay out. This baffled almost all teams and viewers as McLaren chose to keep Hamilton on track. I was pretty sure that Mclaren had made a big mistake and possibly cost Hamilton victory. However he proved all of us wrong and drove an amazing last stint and was a second quicker than anyone else on track
. Hamilton's performance was on par with a Schumacher performance, but we all know how much Schumacher has achieved, can Hamilton do the same??

Hamilton breezed past Massa like he was standing still, quite a disappointing defense from a championship contender, and went to to win the German GP. Sebastian Vettel was holding of Alonso with everything he had, and this was for 9th position, I would expect Massa would do more to fight for the championship. I really believed Massa had what it took to be Champion this year, but has been very disappointing the last couple of races and with Kimi totally out of sorts this weekend, Hamilton is looking good for a maiden Championship.

Kimi might have had one of his off weekends but ruling him out of the Championship would be a big mistake. Just the way Hamilton was not seen as a serious challenger couple of races ago, Raikkonen is being seen as fading away. However, Raikkonen and Massa will hav eto work really hard if they are to be able to challenge the McLarens. Ever since the Silverstone test couple of weeks ago, the McLarens have found couple of tenths of a second over the Ferrari and will look to capitalize on it during this week's test at Jerez. They have aerodynamic updates and will definitely be using the shark fin cover, which they tried during the Hockenheim test last week. Ferrari will have to dig deep and find something to beat the McLaren, with Hamilton looking very likely to be dominant at the Hungarian GP in less than two weeks time. To me it seemed like they went the wrong way with the set-up, because your car can't get slower by a second in the space of 2-3 weeks.

The battle is going to be between Hamilton, Raikkonen and Massa and right now it is too close to call, let us hope we all have the same dilemma going in to the final round of the Championship in Brazil...

The Championship Starts Here!!

Lewis Hamilton's stunning win at Silverstone, along with Ferrari's miserable weekend has just blown the 2008 Formula One Championship wide open, and this is where it all begins. Last week the talk was about Hamilton not being able to handle the pressure but he has answered his critics, and answered them in a very convincing fashion.

The race was one of the best seen in a long time and there were two standout performers in Hamilton and Barrichello who made it even better to watch. Rubens Barrichello has been struggling with the Honda for the past two seasons, with this season being no better. Actually, they seem to be languishing at the back of the field with the Force India F1 team, and turning their efforts to next year. Barrichello's decision to change to extreme wets at a crucial time seems to have been the best decision made all weekend, and it makes me wonder why not even one of the other teams tried this as most had nothing to lose. Barrichello was a whopping 10secs faster than anyone on track when he changed tyres and came from 16th to 3rd (would have been 2nd if he did not have a problem with his fuel rig). Hamilton astonishingly managed to lap in similar times to Barrichello, which made his driver even more memorable.

Massa probably had his worst Formula One or racing weekend ever, having trouble on all three days. He started off Friday practice by slamming the barriers and wrecking his car after sliding on oil which came from Alonso's car on the first session. When he was about to set off for his final qualifying lap in Q3 there was a mechanical problem which caused him to stay in the pits. On race day, he spun about 5 -6 times which took him out of contention completely. Massa will have to bounce back strongly to ensure he stays with the Championship leaders.

Raikkonen was carving his way through the field and was on the tail of Lewis Hamilton until his first pitstop, when he decided not to change his tyres. This cost him the race as the rain began to come down heavily and his tyres were in no shape to take on Hamilton. Alonso was the only other driver who decided to not change his tyres and paid the price for it. Alonso, along with Hamilton and Barrichello were the only drivers not to make a mistake during the race. Both Raikkonen and Alonso to an extent had a chance to challenge Hamilton if they had changed their tyres, which also shows why these three drivers are easily the best drivers on the grid today.

Robert Kubica could not cope with the conditions as he too slid into the gravel trap. With all rivals struggling this weekend, Hamilton gained a lot with regards to the Championship. There are three drivers tied at 48 points, namely Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa with Kubica on 46 points and his team-mate Nick Heidfeld a further 10 points adrift. McLaren seem to have found a huge performance gain in the past few weeks and in my opinion should be the favourites going in to Hockenheim in two weeks time. Each of these drivers have made about 2-3 mistakes this year, which could end up costing them the Championship in the long run. It's hard to imagine that drivers of the calibre of Schumacher or Alonso would make these kind of mistakes, given a good car and in these circumstances. If either of these driver want to be Champion they will definitely have to step up to the plate and make fewer mistakes.

On another note, Karun Chandhok's drive to 3rd place at Silverstone was indeed a joy to watch. Silverstone is a very tough track to overtake in and Karun overtook about 5 cars on his way to third, after starting 10th. The last time I saw someone overtaking cars in this manner at the British GP was in 2002, when Barrichello started last and carved his way ended up finishing 2nd. Karun's move on Zuber when he sized him up at Priory and dived inside at Brooklands was probably the move of the whole weekend. Next is the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and this will be Karun's first trip there, but I don't see it being a problem for him. He is still looking for his first win of the season so let us hope it is here...

Silverstone Preview

This year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone has already got off to a big bang with the announcement that Donington Park will be hosting the British GP starting 2010. There has been a constant battle with the BRDC for keeping the GP but and Max have found an alternate venue for one of the most important Grand Prix's on the Formula One calendar. Being the base and home for most of the teams, a calendar without the British GP would be unheard of. Donington Park will always be associated with the Senna name for his miraculous display on the first lap at Donington Park in 1993, the last time a race was held there. Senna overtook SIX cars en route to one of his greatest victories ever.

But saying that I personally will be sad to see Silverstone go!! It is a beautiful track with some of the most challenging corners amongst all Formula One circuits today. Copse is a perfect corner to start the lap which is almost flat before coming into the twisty Maggots and Beckets complex. Stowe is the famous corner where Michael Schumacher's brakes failed in 1999 and he went crashing into the barriers injuring his legs and putting him out of commission for most of that season.

The Ferrari's are clearly the favourites coming into this race following a dominant 1-2 at Magny-Cours. Kimi Raikkonen has always gone well here, consistently finishing on the podium for the last couple of years. This year he will be more than determined to win following his disappointing second place in Magny-Cours. Felipe Massa is probably in the form of his life and is driving very smartly this year to constantly finish in the points and be the current leader in the Championship. On current form, Ferrari are looking most likely to dominate this year's British Grand Prix.

As I previously wrote Lewis Hamilton has been struggling to fight the leaders in the last couple of races due to his own faults but will be more than motivated and inspired to perform in front of his home fans this weekend. He has super quick last week during the three-day test at Silverstone and could probably be the only driver who will be able to split the Ferrari's this weekend or even pull off a surprise win. Lewis seems to be in good shape this weekend and don't be surprised if he is on pole come Saturday. His team-mate Kovalainen is due for some luck but I don't see him challenging the top three at Silverstone, even though his first win is not too far away.

Surprise package of the year, Robert Kubica and BMW hope to be back to 'normal' after their disappointing outing last time out in Magny-Cours, where they clearly seemed to be struggling. He will have to

Can Lewis Hamilton handle the pressure??

After his stunning win in Monaco Lewis Hamilton has suffered for the past two races, due to rookie mistakes and has suddenly fallen out of love with the media, yes British media included. The pressure has clearly gotten to Lewis Hamilton, the question is how well he can cope with it and overcome it before it's too late. He has got the gift that not many other drivers possess - raw talent and ability and given a competitive car he can make it do wonders. McLaren have a bigger role to play here - to ensure they protect their driver from outside influences.

Lewis Hamilton has been a part of the Ron Dennis owned McLaren family for over a decade and has had the best possible (and comfortable) route to Formula One. The first time he met Ron Dennis, during a karting race, he confidently told him that not only will be race in one of his cars but he would also win the Formula One World Championship in one of his cars. He has never looked back and has now reached the heights of his stardom. Hamilton has been backed by McLaren almost throughout his career and has won the F3 Euroseries Championship and the GP2 Championship on his way to Formula One.

He was deadly in his rookie year in F1 as took the battle to both Alonso and Raikkonen. He had the advantage of having the best car, which was being setup by a two-time World Champion, and had absolutely no pressure on himself. If he lost to Alonso, it was ok as it was his rookie year, and if he beat Alonso, he would be the rookie that beat the two-time World Champion. After having a great rookie year pundits predicted Hamilton as the title favourite this year, along with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. He started off strongly by winning at Albert Park, but has failed to show results that match his ability thereafter. Monaco was a great win for him, despite hitting the barrier, but apart from that he has looked very ordinary.

He crawled from the start line in Bahrain and soon hammered the back of Alonso's Renault before the end of the first lap. Canada was a disaster as he hit Raikkonen at the end of the pit lane. For the first time in his career, this mistake was seen as a very stupid one and people were slowly starting to doubt his abilities. A crucial mistake Hamilton made was not admitting to this being his mistake. This was not received well by the public, British media included, who have been his strongest supporters ever since he reached Formula One.

His ten-second penalty was completely justified and Hamilton always knew he was at a disadvantage coming into Magny-Cours. After getting on to a great start he blew his chances when he received a drive-through penalty, by refusing to yield a position to Sebastien Vettel, when he crossed the chicane to get past him. This has been the topic of controversy for the past few weeks but as far I am concerned, I don't see any problem with the decision. Yes you could say he was clearly ahead going into the chicane, but that is only because he did not brake and cut the chicane. If Hamilton had braked or eased for the corner, I am quite confident he would not have been ahead and would have had to wait before getting past the German. if he had just yielded the position he would have gotten past in no time. This is where I feel the team let Hamilton down, it was so close that the driver does not have the visuals that the team will have.

McLaren in their statement have said they did not even know about this incident until FIA Formula One race director Charlie Whiting called the team and asked them to inform Hamilton of this penalty. After the incident, the team should have immediately called Charlie Whiting and checked whether Hamilton should have let Vettel back in front. Their inefficiency has just made things even tougher for their star driver. Hamilton refused to talk to media after the race and was visibly upset with the weekend.

The British media have supported Hamilton through thick and thin, and have also been his greatest admirers. For the first time in his F1 career, they have attacked their blue-eyed boy, criticizing him to no ends. The question is how will Lewis respond to this? In my opinion, Lewis will respond the only way he knows, by blowing the competition away at Silverstone. Best way to get them back on his bandwagon is to deliver the results we all know he is capable of. Riding high after last week's testing at the Northamptonshire circuit, Hamilton is supremely confident going in to this weeks British GP, with my money on Lewis winning it. He will be more charged up than ever before, like any driver will be at their home grand prix.

Lewis cannot afford any more mistakes at this stage or he will be left behind by both the Ferrari's. If I was you, I would think twice before counting Lewis out of this year's championship. Hamilton's performance in the next couple of races will depend on how he handles the pressure, but remember one more mistake and the media will be all over him like a swarm of flies and getting back from that will be tougher than ever before..

Rise or Fall of the FIA??

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile or the FIA have been excessively in the news over the past few months for all the wrong reasons and there seems to be no end to it. It started off with the Max Mosley scandal to the fallout from the judgment on Mosleygate, threats of a breakaway F1 championship, the return of F2, and finally the power struggle between Mosley and Eccelstone.

A quick background - FIA started the first Formula One Championship in 1950 and are the governing body for almost all motor racing events around the world. The current President of the FIA is none other than Max Mosley, former barrister, racer, team owner and until recently, close ally of Bernie Eccelstone. Eccelstone and Mosley have been credited as the masterminds behind the phenomenal rise of Formula One on a global level. Mosley has been President since 1993 and is currently in his fourth and last term as President. Mosley has been at loggerheads with the Formula One Manufacturers for the past decade, with many threats of a breakaway series. The FIA has also been blamed of showing favouritism towards Ferrari in the past years which has also been a cause for the rift between the federation and manufacturers. Last year when McLaren were found guilty, Mosley was fierce in his criticism towards the team and their owner Ron Dennis, who have always had a stormy relationship.

Two months ago, News of the World, British tabloid reported that Mosley had engaged in sexual acts with many prostitutes in a Nazi role-play. This video was circulated on youtube giving the whole world access to this video. The Formula One manufactures, motorsport governing bodies around the world, race organizers went after Mosley, citing this is no way for the head of a gloabl body to behave, and asked that he resign from his post. Mosley is not the head of the world's automobile governing body for no reason, he bought his time, used his resources and emerged victorious in the general assembly body which was arranged to vote on whether he stays or goes.

Mosley might have won that battle but the war is far from over. This has also caused a strain in his relationship with Bernie Eccelstone, the two allies who worked so hard to get Formula One to where it is right now. Eccelstone has been working with the manufacturers to look at the possibility of creating a new series. This as we know will be a herculean task but if anyone can do it, Bernie Eccelstone is that man.

The FIA last week announced plans of bringing back the famous F2 name, as an inexpensive feeder series to the Formula One Championship. This is obviously aimed at Eccelstone's GP2 series, which is currently the most successful feeder series for Formula One. With this move, the intentions from the FIA are clear, and will not be taken lightly.

This leads us to the biggest rivalry brewing in the world of motorsport right now, battle between FIA's Max Mosley and F1's Bernie Eccelstone. Their relationship dates back more than 35 years, with Max and Bernie forming a terrific duo to take control of the sport and bring it to where it is right now. They worked together during the FISA-FOCA wars, Mosley and Eccelstone were instrumental in bringing the levels of safety in F1 to an all time high after the tragic death of Ayrton Senna, and now they will face their toughest battle ever.

Mosley's victory in the sex scandal has once again re-established Mosley as the key decision maker in the motorsport industry. However his extracurricular escapades have caught the eye of many detractors and many want to be distanced from Mosley. It will be interesting to see how far they both take their threats forward. Eccelstone will have to pull off the impossible if he is to create a breakaway series, and it should be noted that he is not getting any younger. At 78 he is more active than half the people involved in the business. Mosley has the backing of Ferrari, who will not be involved in a breakaway series, thus bringing Toro Rosso with them. He is trying to create a different feeder series, wresting control of the sport from his long-time friend Eccelstone.

Both Max & Bernie are getting older by the day and what the future holds after they retire will be interesting to see. This will result in either the rise or the fall of FIA, how it goes from here will be interesting to see..

Preview to Magny-Cours 2008

Well we are back to France at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, probably for the last time. Even though the Magny-Cours circuit is a fantastic circuit for most drivers, its in the middle of nowhere and one of the least favourite locations for all of the Formula One paddock. It is quite a shame as it has some terrific corners from high speed corners to the tight Adelaide hairpin to the fast and slow chicanes. This circuit has the unique feature of corners being named after other circuits sich as Estoril and Adelaide. As every other race, finding the ideal setup here is key as this circuit demands more downforce than Canada and being smooth here is crucial.

Each lap is 4.41km with the race being a 70 lap race, normally a tw0-stop strategy, even though Michael Schumacher successfully converted a three-stop strategy to win in 2004. The only overtaking opportunity here is the Adelaide hairpin and nowadays the revised penultimate corner offers couple of opportunities. Alonso showed us last year that overtaking is possible but really really tough.

This year, even though the qualifying session has been really close, the Ferrari's look a level better than the rest. With both McLaren's starting outside the top ten it should be a walk in the park for the Ferrari. One interesting note is that thunderstorms are expected during the race which could work in favour of Hamilton, who has shown his extraordinary talent in changing conditions as in Monaco this year. Hamilton is starting 13th due to his ten-place penalty following his crash with Raikkonen in Montreal. The other McLaren driver qualified 6th but has been given a five place penalty for impeding Mark Webber's flying lap.

Former team-mates and Trulli are starting from the second row after a sensational qualifying performance from both drivers. However, both are expected to be running with a light fuel load. The surprise of the afternoon has been the pace of the BMW Sauber team with Nick Heidfeld struggling to get into Q2 and finally ending up in 12th position. Canadian GP winner qualified a disappointing 7th but will move up to 5th due to the McLarens being pushed back. Kubica should now look at gaining maximum points and possibly a podium finish. The Red Bulls of Webber and Coulthard also put in a great effort to finish 8th and 9th. The other team that impressed were the Toro Ross drivers of Vettel and Bourdais, showing that the new car is a step forward.

The race today could be interesting if there are changing weather conditions. If not look for it to be a procession race as overtaking is quite hard over here. However saying that, with Hamilton starting 13th I am sure he is gonna prove me wrong and for sure going to entertain with moves that are either gonna work or put him out of the race. So my money is on a Ferrari one-two with Hamilton finishing in a top five position..

The Formula One Ladder

Many people are envious and jealous of Formula One drivers, and the status and position that they enjoy. People often also think that there is nothing much to it and its just a case about driving a car, but let me tell you that the while driving at the pinnacle of the sport is tough, reaching there is even harder. The emotional and physical test drivers have to go thro to reach this level of racing is also an extremely arduous task. I will explain this in detail little later.

Racing in India has picked up a great deal in the last couple of years with the rise of Karun Chandhok, Narain Karthikeyan and last but definitely not the least is the Force India team owned by Vijay Mallya. A lot of credit has to be given to the JK Tyre organization, who have been promoting racing for more than a decade now. Hats off to Sanjay 'Hardy' Sharma who has been instrumental in the rise of Karun, Narain, Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran. JK Tyre has been sponsoring these drivers and have helped them with initial funding to take their careers to the next level.

There are more opportunities for youngsters wanting to take up the sport now with regular karting and racing championships. The Indian National Racing Championship comprises of Formula Maruti and Formula LGB with a new series also being introduced last year. Karting is the first step towards building your career in racing. Karting is considered the first step in any serious racer's career. It helps in preparing the driver for high-speed wheel-to-wheel racing by not only helping develop quick reflexes but also precision car control and decision-making skills. In addition, it brings an awareness of the various changes that can be made to try to improve the competitiveness of the kart .

INRC is the second step towards reaching the Formula One dream. While this will the normal step for Indians, Europeans will take the Formula Ford route. Formula Ford is one the most competitive series with 30 guys battling wheel-to-wheel. As India is still a small player in the motorsport world, the series is not the most competitive one and it is hard to judge on the talent front. However, it has produced stars like Karun, Narain and Armaan.

The next logical step is to move up to Formula Renault V6 Asia, which was introduced three years ago. Karun re-ignited his racing career by winning the championship that year which has helped in establishing it as a highly credible championship. The budget for this series ranges from $250,000 to $300,000. Another option is the British Formula Three Championship, another exciting and competitive feeder series. Winners in F3 who have gone to Formula One include the late great Ayrton Senna, NASCAR refugee Juan-Pablo Montoya, Reigning Indy Racing League Champion Dario Franchiti and F1 veteran David Coulthard. Narain and Karun have both won races in the British F3 Championship.

While the British F3 series is a good option, it is also a very expensive option with budgets close to @1.2 million. Other series which are a better option budget-wise include F3 Euroseries, Italian F3, German F3, and All Japan F3 Championship.Formula Three cars use slick racing tyres with 2-litre engines, with Dallara chassis dominating majority of the F3 cars.

A highlight at the end of every year is driven on the narrow streets of Macau, the old Portuguese settlement in China, a single race which has made careers. Past winners include Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher. India's Narain Karthikeyan was leading the Macau GP comfortably when he crashed. That was probably the worst moment of his life as he was driving like a champ all weekend.

Faster classes than Formula 3 cannot be used in Macao, because the street track is partly so narrow that only guard rails separate racetrack from spectators. There is no room for turning outs and during crashes the whole track is often totally blocked. The entry list comprises drivers from the Italian, British, German, Japanese and European F3 series.

The next step in one's racing career is the World Series Renault. The budget for this series is about $ 700,000 and lost some of it's competitive edge with the arrival of the GP2 series. Nonetheless it is a fierce competition with former champions such as Robert Kubica, Heikki Kovalainen and Toyota test driver Franck Montagny.

GP2, the brainchild of Bernie Eccelstone and Flavio Briatore is the last step before reaching the doors of Formula One. The series takes place on the Formula One weekends, lending credibility to the series, giving drivers the advantage of learning the circuits, and use of the Formula One facilities. They use a 4 litre Renault V8 engine with 580 horsepower.

The budget here is about $1.7 million. These cars are about 4-5 secs slower than the slowest car on the F1 grid, thus ensuring the jump to F1 is not that difficult for drivers and that they are well prepared. Former Champions include Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock. This is the ultimate step before reaching the doors of F1.

Kimi Raikkonen might be the only driver in recent history to make the jump to Formula One after a mere 23 races. After winning 13 out the 23 races in the Formula Renault UK series he was drafted in by Peter Sauber to drive for the Sauber team in 2001, amidst concerns over granting a inexperienced driver a super license. Kimi is a natural talent and always has been. However all the other drivers have taken the normal steps up to the pinnacle of motor sports.

So if you think reaching F1 is an easy ride, think again. Karun is one driver who has taken all these steps and let us hope he gets reaches the final step..

Testing Roundup - Barcelona: June 12-14, 2008

Following a chaotic Candian Grand Prix, things went back to normal as testing resumed at the Circuit de Catalunya on June 12, 2008. Canadian GP winner Robert Kubica and other podium finisher David Coulthard were the only regular drivers on hand for the first day of testing. Test drivers on hand included Gary Paffett for McLaren, Luca Badoer for Ferrari, Gp2 drivers Sebastian Buemi for Red Bull, Kamui Kobayashi for Toyota, and Romain Grosjean for Renault. Former Super Aguri driver Anthony Davidson was back at a Formula One wheel for Honda and Nico Hulkenberg for Williams Toyota.

GP2 Asia Champion Romain Grosjean had his first full day behind the wheel of the Renault, and completed only 60 laps after suffering an engine problem in the morning. This test is important for the Renault team as they have to take a decision on whether to continue development on the R28 or start focusing on next year's car. Badoer topped the times with a 1:22:412 followed closely by Kubica who did a 1:22:682 while the Red Bull's of Coulthard and Buemi came in 3rd and 4th respectively. Testing finished early with the final hour being disrupted by rain.

Day two saw the return of most of the regular drivers with Luca Badoer topping the times once again with a 1:21:013, a full second faster than the first day. Pedro De laRosa's McLaren finished second with a 1:21:374 with Timo Glock clocking a 1:21:574 in third place. Nelson Piquet, under pressure for his seat, finished a mammoth 129 laps before suffering engine problems. Grosjean also suffered the same problems yesterday, which could be a worry for the Enstone based team.

Day three saw Renault's Nelson Piquet topping the timesheets with a 1:20:076 followed by the Mclaren Mercedes of Pedro De la Rosa. While this was a definite confidence booster for Piquet, he was also quick to admit it was probably done with qualifying in mind.

Overall it was a useful test for most teams, with rain not playing too much of a role in the proceedings. McLaren Mercedes are confident that they have the fastest car on the grid and feel they have improved vastly in the high speed corners, where they were losing out to the Ferrari last year.

It is important to know that teams normally have a race team and test team. The test team have a separate team taking them from test to test to ease the burden off the race team. Obviously the teams with more money have the advantage of having more personnel at their disposal for a separate test team. Testing also provides teams to look into the abilities of various drivers, not only their speed but their technical feedback too. Drivers like Raikkonen prefer to stick to the driving side and dont get too involved in the technical side of things. Michael Schumacher was known for his involvement in the technical side of things, which helped him to be probably the most complete driver ever in Formula One, with Alain Prost a close second. Amongst today's drivers, the most complete driver would undoubtedly have to be Fernando Alonso. Alonso famously boasted last year that he brought six-tenths to the McLaren Mercedes, and this has been proved right as he has improved the Renault dramatically in the last couple of months.

Testing is an integral part of any team and the best time for teams to test out new parts, new designs and even new drivers. Let us see who has gained most from the test last week, when we head to Magny-Cours this weekend..

Next Indian Formula One Driver

The last three years has seen India making a strong impact in the World of Formula One. The biggest impact will obviously have to be Vijay Mallya's ownership of a Formula One team, namely Force India. Ten years ago, no one could have every predicted an Indian owning an F1 team, but this year it became a reality for all. It could have been two F1 teams from India if the Spice Group had managed to work out a deal to buy the struggling Super Aguri team. They came close but could not work out a deal finally. The Force India team, promoted by Shah Rukh Khan in India has brought in a whole new bunch of viewers for the sport, and can be nothing but good for the sport. All they need now is an Indian driver to drive for the Indian team, to hold our flag up high, and listen to Jana Gana Mana blaring on the podium. Now the question is who will be the Indian driver to step up to the plate...

India has had only one F1 driver till date, that being Narain Karthikeyan in the Jordan F1 team in 2005. Narain was also a test driver with the Williams F1 team in 2006-07. Narain's highlight that year was finishing 4th at the US GP at the famed Indianapolis Speedway. But I should add that only 6 cars took part in that race, either way he will always go down in history as the highest finisher for an Indian in an Formula One race. As Narain has made A1Gp his home with some fantastic performances, his chances of getting back into F1 look bleak, but anything is possible.
In the last couple of years Narain's 'Fastest Indian in the World' tag has been constantly threatened by none other than Karun Chandhok, and rightly so.

Karun hails from a family of racers, with his grandfather Indu Chandhok and his father Vicky Chandhok, leading racers during their time. It is easy to see where Karun gets his talent and abilities from. Vicky Chandhok has still got the ability to wring the neck out of any car that he manages to get his hands on. Dont take my word for it, ask the American and British cops, or for that matter, any country that he has driven in. Karun has always lived, breathed and dreamed Formula One and is one of the most committed drivers presently in the sport.


If I am not mistaken, his first words ever spoken were 'çar' instead of 'mom' or 'dad' like normal babies do so. His visits to the race track in Chennai started at an early age when he used to spend the whole day there with his father. Amazingly he still continues to go to the track to help out the youngsters, whenever in town.

Karun has taken the necessary steps in the racing ladder, with the next obvious step being Formula One. After successfully winning the Indian National Racing Championship and Asian Formula Championship in 2000 & 2001, Karun moved on to the Formula 3 series in England. He was the winner of the inaugural Formula Asia Renault V6 Championship in 2006 which led him to take part in the GP2 Championship with Durango. GP2, for those who dont know, is the last step before reaching the doors of Formula One. Previous champions include Nico Rosberg (2005), Lewis Hamilton (2006) and Timo Glock (2007). Karun started the 2007 season slowly and was leading in Turkey with 10 laps to go before he was punted off by Nakajima. However he finished on a very strong note with a historic victory in Spa, possibly the greatest circuit for any racer. This was also the first time the Indian national anthem was played in any form of racing, bringing tears to many, including Karun himself. This resulted in a test with Red Bull Racing, where he finished a creditable seven-tenths of veteran driver David Coulthard.


This year the task is even tougher, with his team-mate being none other than Bruno Senna, nephew of racing legend Ayrton Senna. Ayrton Senna once said "watch out for this kid, he is gonna be even faster than I am". This year is gonna be crucial for Karun, as good performances will ensure a seat in F1 next year. However, this year the competition seems to be at the highest levels with drivers in a position to win the championship. Karun needs some luck to help him have a good race. He finished on the podium in Monaco last time out and is testing this week at the Paul Ricard circuit in France and the more familiar he gets with the car, the more he can be ahead of the pack.




The only other Indians racing Armaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran, but both seem to be far away from Formula One for now. With Narain out to conquer A1, Karun seems to be the frontrunner to be the next Indian to get into Formula One. Well let us support our fellow Indian and drive him to Formula One..

Formula One 'Silly Season' Begins

As we are seven races into the Formula One season, it is easy to say that the 'Silly Season' has begun. Some people might say why Silly Season or what is Silly Season? This refers to the driver market and their plans for the next year. Silly because rumours are at the highest levels about who will drive for which team next year. Even thought we are not even half way through the season let me give you my views on how it is looking for next year.

Let's start with Ferrari, Massa and Raikkonen are sure to be behind the wheel of the Prancing Horse. There are strong murmurs around the paddock that Raikkonen will hang up his racing boots in 2009, paving the way for a new driver in 2010. There is a strong possibility of this due to couple of reasons. Firstly Raikkonen should be Champion this year unless he has miserable luck like he did for the last two races. Either way I see Raikkonen coming out on top, but it's gonna go down to the wire. Secondly Raikkonen drives for the pure pleasure of driving, he does not care of the PR work around it. The way he sees it, his job is to come, drive and then live his own life the way he wants to. After a second title he will get bored and want another challenge. Raikkonen is easily one of the top three drivers in Formula One right now, along with Alonso and Hamilton so it would be a shame for the sport if he does decide to retire. Massa on the other hand has come to life in the last couple of races and has raised his game to be a serious championship contender. However, if Raikkonen does stay with the team beyond 2009, Massa will have to give way for either Alonso or Kubica, as insiders suggest.

McLaren seem to be set to retain their drivers for the next year with both Hamilton and Kovalainen doing a great job. Many pundits expected Hamilton to blow the Finn away, but Kovalainen has put in some great drives to be on par with his teammate.

BMW Sauber is the team where most of the changes might occur. Kubica's contract will run out soon and the team will have to work hard to keep the Polish driver, who is a Ferrari target. With Kubica improving rapidly, I am sure not only Ferrari will be gunning for him. However, his team-mate Heidfeld on the other hand seems to be in trouble, with Kubica dominating him in the first seven races. But it should be remembered that we are not even half way through the season so Heidfeld has more time to show the form he showed during last year's Formula One season.

Williams set to keep both Rosberg and Nakajima next year, with Rosberg putting in some outstanding performances this year. However it is just a matter of time before Rosberg hunts for a championship winning car, a car his talent is worthy of.

Renault are another time with an unpredictable future with regards to drivers. Nelson Piquet Jnr, son of three time World Champion Nelson Piquet, has been struggling in his debut year, and has been blown away by Alonso. Rumours suggest he has been given a three race lifeline, to prove himself or be loaned off to another team. Alonso has reportedly signed a deal to drive for Ferrari in 2010, which is mainly contributing to the Silly Season.

Honda have two veterans on their side in the form of Button and Barrichello, and with Ross Brawn at the head, dont see these two leaving team next year.

Red Bull and Toro Rosso will definitely have some changes next year. Even though Coulthard secured a podium last time out in Canada, look out for the young teenage German sensation Sebastian Vettel to move up from Toro Rosso to the Red Bull Racing team. Webber will in all probability keep his drive with a possibility of Nelson Piquet going to the Toro Rosso team.

Toyota seem set to keep their drivers too, as both Trulli and Glock have put in commendable performances this year. However one must wonder if this team will ever be in contention for the championship.

Lastly and definitely not the least is then Force India F1 team. Sutil was outstanding in Monaco, but apart from that has not been off the pace. Maybe Monaco was the breakthrough he needed to understand the car. He better improve, as waiting in the wings is India's very own Karun Chandhok, who is easily the fastest Indian in the world right now. Karun has been through F1 ladder and will be knocking hard on the doors of the Force India F1 team next year. His brilliant performance in Monaco earned him third place on the podium and will definitely be in contention for race wins in the GP2 season this year.

Seven races into the season and we are already deciding the drivers market for the next year, sound a bit silly to you?? Now we know why it is called Silly Season...

Tomorrow I will blog about the guy who will probably be India's next Formula One driver - Karun Chandhok..

Canada F1 review

This is my first blog and I plan to update this on a regular basis. This will contain various views on the F1 season and news updates too. Let me start with yesterday's Canadian GP..

For the second race in a row, the Formula One race in Canada was an action packed thriller, leading to a debut win for both Robert Kubica and the BMW F1 team. Similar to the Monaco GP over a fortnight ago, the Canadian GP provided lot of overtaking, crashes, and the all new hammering helpless cars from the rear. Who says we need rain to make a F1 race interesting??

Saturday's qualifying took place in controversial circumstances as certain parts of the track started to wear out causing problems for many drivers including reigning World Champion Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica took full advantage of the conditions to slot in 1-2 and while Kimi could only settle for 3rd. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg put in superlative performances to get to 4th and 5th respectively on the grid. With resurfaced parts of the circuit having started to fall apart during qualifying, most drivers were fearful about the state of the track for Sunday's race. With all teams being highly critical of the condition of the track, the authorities took up the enormous task of re-surfacing certain parts of the track including the hairpin. This is not the first time that the drivers have suffered with the surfacing at the hairpin. In 2006, if my memory serves me right, Schumacher passed Raikkonen on the penultimate lap, when Raikkonen went wide due to low grip levels. Well one thing, we were assured of a interesting race ahead.
Race started off smoothly with Hamilton in the lead, followed by Kubica and Raikkonen. Hamilton pulled away a 10 second lead from Raikkonen in third and was looking like he was going to dominate the race until Raikkonen started to reel fastest laps one after another. Force India's Adrian Sutil's gearbox failure brought out the first safety car on lap 17 which cut Hamilton's lead to nothing and led to the top six pitting together when the pit lane opened. This was a lottery and a test for the pit crews. Little did anyone know that what transpired in the next couple of minutes determined the outcome of the race. Kubica and Raikkonen jumped Hamilton and emerged jointly out of the pits only to be stopped by the red light at the end of the pitlane. Hamilton, who suffered a slow stop did not see the red light and rammed the back of Raikkonen's Ferrari, destroying both the McLaren and the Ferrari. Rosberg also missed the red light and hit the Hamilton, resulting in a broken wing. With the two title contenders out it looked to be a battle between Kubica, Alonso and Massa, until Massa was forced to pit again, due to a fuel rig problem. With half the field not pitting and the other half of the field pitting, this race was going to go down to the wire.

Heidfeld now led the race and looked to pull out a big lead before his stop. The BMW F1 team changed Heidfeld to a one-stopper and he still managed to come out ahead of Kubica and Alonso. Heidfeld was forced to let Kubica by. BMW's strategy to change Heidfeld to a one-stopper ruined his chances of winning, and effectively ruined Alonso's chances. Alonso, on a lighter fuel load was stuck behind Heidfeld, who was fuelled up till the end. Alonso's frustration finally caught up with him when he lost the rear after turn 6 and went straight in to the wall.

Kubica at this point showed why he is World Champion material by pulling out a 17 sec lead in 7 laps. He was like a man possessed putting in one fastest lap after the other. I wonder if he knew this was the race and not qualifying. This sealed the win for Kubica as he came out if the pits comfortably ahead of Heidfeld. Massa fought back from last to claim fifth place, which included a great move to get past both Barrichello and Kovalainen at the hairpin.
Kubica's victory was the first for him and the first for BMW. All in all a highly entertaining race with few after thoughts.

In my view, both Hamilton and Raikkonen have showed that it is their cars working well for them this year rather than their driving abilities. Both have made 2 unforced mistakes in the first seven races, which is definitely not the way championship contenders should be driving. Same can be said about Alonso, but his only way is to take more risks and be more aggressive. While it is clear Massa is not on the same level of Hamilton and Raikkonen, in terms of pure talent, he is ensuring he finished every race and also seems to be a strong contender. Which leads us to yesterday's winner - Kubica.

Kubica's crash last year at Canada was the most terrifying crash witnessed after a long time, and for him to bounce back like this shows enormous courage and determination. He was dominated by his team-mate last year but this year is easily the 'Number One' driver in the team, deservingly so. He has been consistently finishing in the points an taking complete advantage of his rivals mistakes. We have seen in the past few years that in order to win a championship you have to be consistent. Alonso also mentioned at the end of last year that the driver of team that wins the championship is the one that has most points - not most wins, not most fastest laps and definitely not most crashes.

Hamilton and Raikkonen will have to pull up their socks now, as will their team-mates if they want to have any chance of winning the championship. Could Kubica be counted as a serious championship contender now? Seems unlikely but this guy seems to be something special so I would think ten times before discounting him..