5 reasons why I look forward to the 2010 F1 season...

5. Tank full of fuel....

While i am skeptical about what the no re-fuelling rule would do to race starts, it is definitely a game changer and while the teams try and adapt to it, we will see variability in performance, race starts, strategies which will shuffle up the leaders and create exciting races.

At least Ferrari wouldnt have to worry about this...

4. The cars look so damn deadly....

I am not a big fan of the shark fins but I have to admit the cars this season look other worldly and i mean in a good way. I'll let the pictures talk...

3. That darn German is back.....

F1 without schumi is like having a full meals without sambhar. Love him, hate him, support him, loathe him, hysterically scream for him, hysterically scream against him but F1 without him frankly feels a little bland. What would we do without seeing him do this...

or this...

or even this.... :)

Welcome back Michael...

2. Imagine a corner....

According to me, there are only 3 world champions in the current grid (what more in god's name does Button have to do, you ask?) and that is Alonso, Hamilton and of course, Schumi. But, by god! what quality! If ever there were 3 ruthless, super-talented, no-holds-barred racers at different stages of their careers wanting as much as ever, if not more, to beat each other and prove a point, it is here.

With the history these three guys have with each other (agree, not much between Hamilton and Schumi), imagine them fighting for a first corner and predict an outcome at your own peril....

1. Alonso in a Ferrari...and is probably going to win it....

I'd dig the season if nothing else happens but more and more of this...

0. To conclude...

You must be thankful to be born in the same era as Sachin. You are insanely lucky to be able to witness Roger Federrer in action. But i have a feeling that this F1 season might just blow it all away....

Things i want to do in 2009...

Places to see...

On a serious note...

Things to do...

Thing to learn...

Thing to give up...

Not sticking to plans like these

and finally, Things to specialise on...

Wish me luck folks, with all your heart and none of the aforementioned sarcasm....

Bernie plans to make Formula1 Car-less...

Bernie Ecclestone floated a new plan today that he believes will revive formula 1 and help the game survive the current economic conditions. His plan is quite simple. "I will make F1 car-less", he said, his eyes glinting in excitement. He then stared at his feet for the next 10 minutes before someone near him reminded that he was in the middle of making an announcement, he proceeded to explain. "If you look at the cost of operations of F1 teams and really break it down, it all boils down to the cars. Remove that from the equation and the operation becomes a profit making machine", he announced, his voice going up an octave in self-admiration. "I have discussed this with all the teams and they are very receptive of the idea", Bernie continued. 

According to Bernie's new plan, teams will field 2 'runners' who will basically lap the track just like they used to do with a car. Bernie plans to mandate that these runners make suitable whining and grunting noises to imitate the sound of an engine and also expects that they maintain a 'racing line' around the track. Bridgestone will now supply the shoes to the runners in 3 standard variants: hard, medium and soft compounds. 

"This is really a big change for us", said the president of the bridgestone formula 1 division. We have never made shoes before but thankfully nike has offered to team up with us. So hopefully with their support we will be able to provide reliable rubber to these runners"

Ferrari's chairman Luca Motezemolo welcomed the move saying that it will bridge the divide between the big and the small teams but warned his team that the emphasis on the pit crew has grown even further. "Our pit crew cannot goof up like we did in the last season. You cant make mistakes while inserting liquid food hose. There is a real danger you might end up hurting or worse, killing our runner"

Max Mosely felt that it was a paradigm shift for the sport and compared it to the time when Nazi's won the world war. When reminded that the Nazi's lost it, he had asked, "Are you sure?" and winked at the blushing female reporter. 

Following the announcement, the aerodynamic engineers have started an intense crash course of human physiology hoping to turn themselves into health and physical training experts. "We think we can add a lot of value as aerodynamic engineers by being able to reduce some fat here and add some fat there.", said an anonymous source as his team runner's eyes widened. "The human body is not that different from a car", he concluded with a gruesome finality.

Lewis hamilton thinks that the new rule is good for the sport before quipping, "of course, nothing is going to change. As you all know, I am the best". He then proceeded to scream "drrrrrrr" before running like a maniac out of the room, yelling as he left, "You see?"

Mclaren did not have comment to give as yet. In the words of Fernando Alonso, "they will be busy trying to get ferrari's designs". When asked what designs are needed now that there are no longer any cars, Fernando's reply had become incomprehensible and distorted and his eyes had shot up in the sockets and a wierd electronic hum began to rise from inside his head. Falvio quickly guided a smoking alonso out of the room saying, "Excuse us, he is a little out of shape today"

Lost in all this was the lone dissenting voice of the formula1 fans. When asked about the rule, the fan had asked, "Isnt running already a sport?" Bernie has reponded to this by claiming that Formula 1 will take the International Assosiation of Athletic Federations to court for conducting "runner" based sports without paying royalties to the FIA.

 

Lewis is the new world champion...

Jinx. Jinx.

China wasnt quite what i had expected. The jinx didnt work out so well, did it. It looks like Lewis has sealed the deal in china and will nail the lid on the coffin in Brazil. Massa looked positively gutted in China, most probably realizing that he is nowhere close to WDC material. But, lets just hope that somehow, by some miracle, Lewis manages to lose 2 titles in a row for, as much as i think Massa is not a worthy WDC contender, I think Hamilton is the most arrogant, spoilt driver on the grid. Now, how would such a miracle end up happening. Lets conjure up a few alternate realities.

Rain rain go away, come again another day, little Filipe wants to play...

We know that Ferrari hates rain and Massa is afraid of it like a rabid dog. We also know that the Hamster on the other hand, absolutely loves the wet weather. But then, no team goes into a race hoping for rain (except honda, maybe) for it tends to upset strategies and create unnatural results. There are so many different ways in which rain can screw up Hamilton's title chances. 

A spinning Force India forces safety car...

...and Hamilton goes into pits and comes out at the wrong time. He is stuck behind slower cars (a la truilly train) and finally, somehow, manages to jump upto 6th place thus losing the championship to Filipe. Incidentaly, Filipe, who is running second controversially overtakes Fonzie with 2 laps to go. Fonzie then gets a Ferrari contract in 2010 and the rest is future. Force India is happy to 'play a part' in the world championships and Mallya promises that they will be a strong lower mid-field car next season.

Hami goes 'merry-go-around'...

...except it aint so merry. Hamilton, driving with absolute confidence in the pouring rain, screws up at turn 2, spins like a top and deposits his car next to the barriers. He slowly extricates himself and joins the field at the back only to realize that his car is not behaving like it should and jumps into the pits to make adjustments to his car. He completes a heroic race to end up 8th. Meanwhile Filipe, gifted second place by kimi (yet again), tries desperately to overtake a scorching vettel but end up 2nd anyway. He walks (crawls) away with the championship...

Hami gets DC'ed...

Not hard to imagine is it. Hami ends up behind DC by some quirk of fate and while attempting to overtake him (all in the rain), DC makes a strong 'defensive' manouver to keep his place (given that this is last f1 race) and that puts Hamilton into the barricades. End of race and i am jumping in joy.  

"...reliability is so good, that infact, Hamilton has not retired from a race due to mechanical failure this season...", said the commentator during the chinese gp.

If f1 is anything like cricket, you can trust that one single sentence to jinx up Hamilton in Brazil. A simple DNF, and the opportunities are so many - tyre failure, engine blows, gearbox, brake, electronics...we can keep going on and on. But i would go for tyre failure. I can trust hamilton to screw up his tyres. However, I  will take a Hamilton DNF in any other form as well.

The Fozie, Kubica and Kimi start trap...

...and Lewis walks right into it. He is pushed wide and in a moment of 'red mist' he tries to overttake all 3 at once and ends up stuffing it into the barriers. Ron Dennis 'retires'....

Have you heard the one with the nervous pit crew...

No, i am not talking about Ferrari here. Mclaren pit crew, on the verge of their first world championship in 9 years?, are a nervous wreck. The fuel hose fails to come out, lollypop goes up and Lewis begins to pull out. Thankfully, no one is hurt but Lewis loses 30 seconds. Filipe who had been leading all race, decides to rev down his engine and cruise to a victory.

 

F1 Australia 2007 - Check out Hamilton's awesome start

See the highlights of the Grand prix...

Albert Park: Ferrari and Kimi stake claim; Hamilton storms into F1 scene

2007 was the season where Kimi was supposed to get his deliverance and early signs appear that way. The ‘Iceman’ led the Australian grand prix from start to finish with a performance that would worry Ron and his two talented drivers at Mclaren.. read on

The liveries of 2007....

Colour is doing the rounds as one of the most talked about aspects of the 2007 season, even after discounting Lewis hamilton from the headlines. Car launches have been revealing liveries ranging from the innovative to the ghastly. Liveries have been as much a part of a formula 1 car as its design and performance is. So what paint job do the machines of 2007 boast of…

Read more

Sorry blog, I cheated on you!

As chandler says in friends ..."if we are gonna cheat on our house, shouldnt it be with a hot younger looking house.."

again...apologies to my trusted blog here...but every once in a while a man needs excitement and hits ...so in case u r one of my faithful friends who happened to stumble here, go and read my article: "F1 enters a new era" at sportsnob.net

Alonso is nearly there as Ferrari stumble

Alonso needed a miracle and he got one. Up until schumi's engine began to spew smoke and he pulled over with an admirable calmness, the race was shaping up to be a blinder. It wasnt exactly an exciting race with few overtaking manouvers but Alonso's drive injected a lot of thrill to it. Starting fifth on the grid he needed some catching up to do with schumi who was leading the race what with Massa moving away early on and letting Schumi through (i am not again gonna talk about team orders). Alonso, who set the fastest lap of the race, drove like he had rarely done in the recent past : an all out racing. Dismissing off truilly with disdain he had some trouble getting past a determined ralph. At points he pushed too much and lost a bit of time and racing line. But then when the overtaking came it was awesome - a typical karting move that saw him shoot past ralph into the third spot with massa ahead of him.

Ferrari's bad luck started early on, though it was much less advertised with Massa having a slow puncture. He had to go in earlier than ideal and that is when Alonso pushed. I sometimes get the feeling that Alonso observes schumi keenly and learns from him. In a typical schumi style, he did a couple of blistering laps bringing down the time constantly before he pitted. This and the fact that massa was caught behind a slow heidfeld ensured that when he came out he was 2nd on track. The race was already on.

For nearly the rest of the race, Alonso pushed really hard. But so did schumi. The fact that the gap remained constant for quite a few laps indicated that both of them were on their limits, not erring and pushing as hard as they could. If that had continued, we would probably seen a schumi-alonso 1-2 with maybe an exciting last 10 laps. But it was not to be. It had been a really long time since Schumi had an engine failure during a race that he might have forgotten that it could happen. It did happen and at the wrong time. Probably the biggest anti-climax of the season. Alonso's punch of the fist as he swept past the idle scarlet car indicated how much the victory meant. It has nearly sealed the championship for Schumi.

Brazil awaits. Who knows, a wet race and anything could happen. Schumi could still be the chamipion although i can already picture alonso jumping in joy on the podium with his 2nd championship. Go Nando!

Excellent Fernando Alonso videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3KuuwvCEGU&search=alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrf2djg4rGU&search=alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47JDmOTR9s0&search=alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9t9ngrLqeI&search=alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA0nfz_MbAs&search=fernando%20alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le1CHSkEmD8&search=fernando%20alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItUcMX9SMf0&search=fernando%20alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtvsNyfBnJ4&search=fernando%20alonso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRR8BA33fLA&search=fernando%20alonso