2011 F1 season all set to go

The typical lazy Sunday evenings are not going to be the same anymore. It’s time to fasten the seatbelts and get ready for some adrenaline-pumping action. Yes, after the cancellation of Bahrain Grand Prix, the 2011 Formula 1 season is all set to begin in Melbourne this weekend, with all the happiness and disappointments of the previous season still lingering fresh in the minds of F1 fans across the world. 

Whats more, with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix scheduled on Oct-30-2011, we could even get to catch some action live from Delhi. With Force India among the competing teams and Narain Karthikeyan back in F1 with Hispania Racing, we Indians have all the more reasons to cheer.

An unprecedented 5 World Champions would be lining up on the grid this year in the form of Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and the defending champion Sebastian Vettel. Between them, these drivers have won 12 titles, an amazing 7 of them going to Schumacher, 2 to Alonso and 1 each to the other three. Add to them front-runners like Mark Webber, Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg and you know that this is going to be no ordinary season.

The 2010 season was so extraordinary with so many twists and turns in the course of the championship that ended with a dramatic climax which stunned and shocked the audience in equal measure. An amazing comeback in the final few races of the season, especially in the season-ending Abu Dhabi saw Sebastian Vettel become the sport’s youngest ever world champion, while an extremely rare flawed strategy by the Ferrari team made sure that Fernando Alonso lost the championship by a whisker.

If this season is even half as dramatic as the last one, we are in for a treat. And, it promises to be more than that. While all the drivers would make sure that intra-team and inter-team rivalry is at its highest, the new-for-2011 quickly-degrading Pirelli tires, the adjustable rear wings and the return of KERS are sure to make things more interesting for us and a bit messy for the drivers. I just can't wait for it all to begin.

Not to forget that Robert Kubica, the highly rated Renault driver who was involved in a horrific crash at a rally event a couple of months back, is recovering quicker than expected. Once back, he is sure to spice things up even more.

2011 Indian GP Countdown begins

People seem to be really crazy at times. Take for instance those who would love to own and drive super-fast sports cars but are against Formula 1 racing. ‘What an irony?’ you would think, but, they have their own set of so-called logic and reasons. The prime reason is that it’s a total waste of precious fuel. This being said, I don’t see anyone conserving and consciously saving every drop of fuel that they could. The other most commonly heard reason is that it’s not men-dependent but machine-dependent and hence not fit to be classified as a sport. I bet those who said this statement would not have watched the still fresh-in-memory 2009 Belgian GP where Kimi Raikkonen and Luca Badoer drove similar-speced Ferraris, but finished first and last, the latter, with all due respect to him, also enjoying an incident-free race like the former but still finished where he did.

Any which way it is, India, after years of speculation of whether it will or it won’t, has finally joined the list of nations hosting an F1 race and the 2011 Indian Grand Prix is all set to burn the adrenaline rush of many die-hard F1 fans in the sub-continent, myself included. Amidst increasing doubts of whether its going to go the 2010 CWG way, which by the way, much to the shock and surprise of the entire world, started and ended in a spectacularly grand manner, the inaugural Indian F1 race is scheduled on October-30-2011 at the Greater Noida circuit near Delhi, being developed by the Jaypee Group. With the addition of India along with the new for 2010 Korea, the 2011 F1 calendar now stands extended to an unprecedented and historically long 20 rounds.

The fact that the 2010 F1 season, being proclaimed by many as one of the best F1 seasons ever, is headed towards a thrilling and dramatic finish with 5 drivers still in contention for the championship with just 2 races to go will only add to the excitement and enthusiasm of the fans and organizers alike. We can only hope and wish that the organizers get everything ready on time unlike this year’s Korean Grand Prix, the presence of which in the 2010 F1 calendar was confirmed just two weeks before the actual event happened on October-24-2010. Here begins the countdown to make my dream of watching Ferraris, McLarens, RedBulls and Force Indias live in action come true.

2010 F1 Season headed for a dramatic climax

Racing is all about fighting it flat-out and passing on track, swapping positions due to strategies and above all close but fair competition amongst the racers. Formula 1, the highest rated motor racing series in the world was hardly any of the above, atleast in recent memory. A myriad of reasons made it tougher and tougher to even challenge the top-runners, let alone fight and pass them on track. That’s exactly why spectators and F1 followers across the world are all smiles and thrilled with the way in which the 2010 F1 season has unfolded. With only 5 out of the 19 races remaining, not two, not three, but five racers are still in hot contention for the driver’s title whereas it’s a three-way fight for the constructor’s title. Nothing like this have ever been witnessed in the recent past, not since early eighty’s, say experts and pundits, who have been following the sport for many decades.

 

With 4 world champions on the grid in the form of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, two-time winner Fernando Alonso, the defending champion Jenson Button and the 2008 title-winner Lewis Hamilton, everybody could sniff that the stage has been set for an epic battle on track. Add to the already impressive list, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, two drivers from a relatively new team on top of their game in the quest for winning both the championships and Felipe Massa, the 2008 runner-up on his comeback after a life-threatening injury and you know that this is not going to be the usual run-of-the-mill season in F1.

And it hardly turned out to be so. With a storming 1-2 in the season-opener in Bahrain, a slump in form after that, a dominating but controversial 1-2 again in Germany, a humiliating setback in Spa and a stunning return to form in Monza, none other than Ferrari hinted better at what the championship holds for all the teams. Red Bull, McLaren, Renault, Mercedes – you name the team and they would have experienced their fair share of ups and downs, the latter two yet to find their competitive touch and consistency this season. And so, here we are right now, almost at the end of the storm. Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel will try everything in their reach and some things out of their reach too in their quest for becoming the 2010 world champion and folks at Ferrari would kill their brains to try, reach and beat Red Bull and McLaren for the constructor’s trophy.



For die-hard F1 fans across the world like me, it’s going to be a lengthy, nail-biting climax to the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and I can’t wait for the results. If this season is any indication of how F1 is going to be, we can rest assured that F1’s future is secure and there are going to be no dearth of fans for the sport and no half-filled grand stands at the venues.



Image Source: AutoBlog (www.autoblog.com/www.aol.com)

2010 F1 Season begins with a Ferrari 1-2

What started off as a daily habit of reading newspaper during my early years has now culminated in a craze for Formula 1 Racing. In those days , I started following Formula 1 courtesy "The Hindu" and the headlines related to F1 used to have two words sculpted in it no matter what - "Michael Schumacher". Everything in F1 was, in a way or other related to the supremely talented racer or his legendary driving on tracks. Yes, there were allegations against his aggressive driving habits, there were controversies over his team favoring him at the expense of his team-mate, but none can even think of denying the divine skills that he possessed, especially in wet tracks, which earned him the title "The Rain Master". 

The 2010 F1 Season, which started yesterday (14-Mar-2010) with the Bahrain Grand Prix is significant for the same reason - the legend has returned to F1 after 3 years in retirement. This along with the presence of 3 other World Champions in Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso had made sure that the expectations for the season-opener were sky-high. Not to mention the young talents like Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Adrian Sutil all of whom lined up with all guns blazing, it was pretty obvious that there is going to be no dearth of excitement and surprises in this F1 season. The new regulations also means that this season is going to be a journey in an untrodden path. 

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix - Qualifying:
2009's star performer Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) just managed to nudge ahead of Felipe Massa (Ferrari) to take the pole position in the season-opener. Following Vettel and Massa was the second Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) shared the second row with Alonso while Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) managed to pip his illustrious team-mate to take fifth place. Mark Webber (Red Bull) joined Rosberg in the third row while Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) started from the fourth row on the grid. Jenson Button (McLaren), Robert Kubica (Renault) and Adrian Sutil (Force India) completed the Top 10. India's F1 debutante Karun Chandok (HRT F1) started the race from the final position (24th place) after failing to manage a lap in any of the free practice sessions due to technical problems. 

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix - Race Day:
Fernando Alonso took a superb victory ahead of Felipe Massa to make it a Ferrai 1-2 in the season opener. Putting besides them a dismal show in 2009 season, Ferrari has come back with a bang and with two top drivers in top form, I think it will be difficult to challenge the scarlet team this year. By winning on his debut with Ferrari, Fernando Alonso has repeated the feat Kimi Raikkonen acheived in 2007, the year in which he went on to win the driver's championship too. Lewis Hamilton took a decent third place for McLaren. 

Sebastian Vettel had a clean start to the race and lead comfortably until problems in the exhaust system of his Red Bull slowed down his pace and allowed the podium finishers to move past him. Poor chap, let's just hope that he gets not only a quick but also a reliable machine in the forthcoming races. Felipe Massa was in hot pursuit of his team-mate Fernando Alonso for most part of the race after the latter moved past him in the very first corner of the race. Sebastian Vettel managed to bring his Red Bull to a respectable fourth place. Michael Schumacher never managed to get past Nico Rosberg and the two Mercedes drivers took the fifth and sixth places. The defending champion Jenson Button finished a disappointing seventh in his McLaren debut folowed by Mark Webber (Red Bull), Tonio Liuzzi (Force India) and last year's runner-up Rubens Barrichello (Williams). Totally 8 drivers failed to finish the race including Indian racer Karun Chandok, who crashed in his very first lap in F1.

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix - Top 3:

1. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)


2. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)


3. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 

The Legend (Schumi) is Back in Action

In what has turned out to be the biggest news in motor sport of the year, Michael Schumacher has confirmed that he is returning to what he did best over the years - Formula 1 Racing, in 2010. Mercedes-Benz has managed to pull a casting coup of sorts in it's line-up for 2010 - at one end, the very young and supremely talented Nico Rosberg and at the other end, the legendary, iconic Michael Schumacher. Add to it the Team Principal Ross Brawn and the line-up is incredible. Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn share a very special relationship and it was this duo which brought the Ferrari team back to winning ways in F1. Also, Michael won all his seven F1 Championships under Ross Brawn.

Being a die-hard fan of Schumi like millions of others across the world, I was overwhelmed when the news of Michael replacing the injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari this year came out. But Schumi's neck injury ensured that the moment for which hordes of fans were waiting with bated breath did not happen. After all no one will ever forget the popular Schumi trademark - pumping his fists and jumping in air while standing in the podium even after making winning a habit over the years. I am sure it was Michael who made many people in India watch F1 and thus turned them into fans of the sport. Now that the legend is going to be back in action next year, competing with people almost half his age, he has made a world of good for the sport making sure that people across the globe will be glued to television sets during the 2010 F1 season. I wish Michael gets a good car and start the season directly challenging for the race victory and ultimately for the championship. Soon cometh March-2010!