Vishal's Blog

An astounding fact about the current Formula One season is that six erstwhile world champions (Vettel, Button, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen and Schumacher) would be racing together aiming for a top finish. This has never happened before in the history of Formula One. Well, not for argument sake but for mere fascination, the six champion drivers were posed a question - Who is the best driver to have donned the racing gear ever? Most and even the great Michael Schumacher had the name of irrepressible and street smart - Ayrton Senna on their lips. With 80 podium finishes, 41 wins and 162 races – the three time world champion stands tall amidst many could-have-been best-drivers to have raced so far. Moreover, to the aficionados as well as the armchair enthusiasts, Senna simply provided the joy of watching Formula One. The best of all times What are the ingredients of a best driver in Formula One? The answer to the question is probably someone who is very quick; one who has...

What lies in store for Michael Schumacher? Michael Schumacher's return to the adrenaline filled high speed world of Formula One at the start of the 2010 season delighted the hearts of many. The competition in Formula One had only increased since his retirement, and everyone expected a ferocious slugfest of a living legend, Michael Schumacher with the likes of Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel. However, after a subdued re-start to Schumacher’s Formula One career, these days an oracle pops up at every nook and corner to write his obituary. Negativity is being assiduously searched and presented. One such writer, about Schumacher’s comeback decision says "the vain folly of a middle-aged man...who made the mistake of kidding himself that he still has that old magic.” Others feel that after his finishes at 6th and 10th place in the first two races in Bahrain and Australia, the intimacy, the enigma and the ineffable passion with which he drove till the end of 2006 s...

Monza - 2009 It was a day of huge anticipation for Force India. After the superb performance at the Belgium circuit where Fisichella managed a podium finish, a lot was expected of them. Adrian Sutil, who was never touched by history before, didn’t disappoint. It was a professional performance from the German but he got the rough end of the pineapple. He finished 4th and was denied a podium finish by the Brawn GP who pulled off a 1-2 finish. The bar for this race wasn’t raised too much but Sutil will definitely agree that sometimes the difference between the best and the rest is a matter of only a few seconds. He unfortunately lost 2 valuable seconds because of a small error in the pit stop when he lost control over the brakes slightly knocking out two pit crew. He managed to earn points because Hamilton spun his car in the second last lap. Rubens Barichhello the eventual winner of the race managed to reduce the lead from 16 to 14 for the driver’s championship. Kimi Raikonnen continued ...

Turkey 2009 Qualifying History beckons Vettel. Historically, whoever has started on pole in Turkey has won the race. Vettel started on pole in the two podium finishes so far in his career. He was on pole once again today and had a glimmer in his eye, rightly so. It’s difficult to say who would win tomorrow, however Button who is leading the championship table this year and qualified behind Vettel would ensure he stays in the hunt to get closer to the world title. Rubbens Barrichello finished behind Vettel. A strong performance by Mark Webber brought him as close as fourth. Jarno Trulli for Toyota disappointed after his performance in Monaco made amends to reach 5th this time. The Ferrari’s who seemed lost till the races before Monaco where Raikkonen finished 3rd carried on their good performances to finish 6th and 7th respectively with Kimi leading the pack. Mclaren’s Lewis Hamilton and his partner Heikki Kovalainen weren’t effective with their car this time around finished 14th and 16...

May 24, 2009 – Monaco Qualifying Imagine what is two hundredths of a second? That was the difference between Button who eventually got to the pole before Kimi Raikonnen on a track which offers a maximum down force of all the Formula One tracks. Monaco is considered to be the world’s greatest and most challenging circuit. Nelson Piquet once remarked “Racing on this track is like flying a helicopter in your living room.” That is how difficult this track is. Button delivered a best time of 1 minute and 14.902 seconds to get his fourth pole in 6 races this year. He has already won 4 out of the 5 races. As far as Ferrari is concerned, this was the best start to finish so far in this year. Massa finished 5th. The 37 year old Rubbens Barrichello finished third ahead of Sebastian Vettel of the Red Bull. The week that has led to the Monaco has been action packed with Ferrari threatening to leave the Formula One arena if the cap on technological investments was not removed and they appear seriou...

Bahrain 2009 Qualifying Amidst talks of the Ferrari head honchos to not to panic, it was another forgettable day for the Ferrari’s even after making a few changes in the car. The two Ferrari’s only managed to finish 8th and 10th respectively with Massa leading. For the first time ever the two Toyota’s would be starting at the pole. Jarno Trulli led his team mate Timo Glock to the pole. The winner of the Chinese Grand Prix and the new kid on the block Sebastian Vettel finished 3rd. The reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton managed to finish 5th. The temperature shot to 40 plus degree Celsius at the track, one of Narayan Karthikeyan’s favorite tracks made it difficult for the drivers. The car tyres also proved to be a big challenge at this track in the Qualifying sessions. Race Day There was a stark contrast between the races held last Sunday at Shanghai and today at Bahrain. It was pouring last week end and this one would be a dry race. The Brawn GP and the Red Bull were lanes ahead o...

Qualifying Can it be a Déjà vu? It was once again Sebastian Vettel who took the pole position today. He took the pole in Monza last year and won. This time he is followed by none other than Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber and Rubbens Barichello were fraction of seconds away from Alonso and very close to challenge him. The poster boy of Formula One and the winner of two previous races Jenson Button was fifth. Ferrari’s bad luck continued in spite of Kimi pulling out the best of the new car F60. Massa said that not having KERS would definitely be a handicap, however it seemed the current problems for Ferrari are more related to the diffusers and not KERS. Kimi was 8th on the grid with Hamilton behind him on 9th. Race Day While the IPL match between Delhi and Chandigarh started late in South Africa, the race in China started on time while it was still drizzling. For the first few laps behind the safety car it was very difficult for drivers to control the car as they kept spinning. After 8 ...

Qualifying With the Brawn GP doing good last week end and Ferrari doing well on Friday, we thought the gates were wide open for a thoroughly entertaining 2009. But that was not to be. Saturday was another petty day for Ferrari after a remarkable practice session on Friday. Kimi said that the new F60 lacks only grip, but the ever optimistic fans know that the start itself is not satisfying. Kimi would start 7th on the grid and Felipe 16th. Jenson Button led once again from the front to take pole position for the second consecutive week after a not so good practice session on Friday. His partner Barrichello encountered a gear box problem which needed a replacement and therefore lost 5 places on the grid to start 8th. Jarno Trulli was sensational and clearly look inspired from the mid-week result ruling of the Australian GP in his favour. He was 2nd on the grid. Timo Glock was 3rd. Force India were not able to do a great deal except to meet the numbers. They would start 18th and 19th. Rac...

Qualifying Is Ross Brawn a magician? Yes, indeed. Michael Schumacher knows it and now the world has got a glimpse of his brilliance. A few months back, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were literally unemployed. They might have surely been into an existential dilemma. There was a big question mark on their F1 career. In came Brawn (the new owner of Brawn GP) and the Honda team got a new life. This was a destiny meeting for sure. Well, when Felipe was asked who he would rate the foremost competitor of Ferrari this year, most of us would have expected he’d say McLaren Mercedes. But to everyone’s surprise he mentioned the name of the new kids on the block – Brawn GP. And his words may just come true as this car would start at the pole position this year at the Melbourne GP. The presence of Schumacher in the Ferrari camp was heartening. However, they could not just match up with the speed of the Brawn car and finished 7th and 9th respectively. Kimi had to encounter a hydraulic problem ...

Submitted - Chembur-Ghatkopar Plus (Times of India) March 29, 2009 is the day when Formula One would re-emerge, re-confer and re-start to enchant us with its mesmerising charm. Just like the last year, this year too promises to be a king size entertainer. The global slowdown has made the organisers scratch their heads in bewilderment though. Team Honda has announced that they would be pulling out of Formula One due to financial problems. Keeping in mind the interests of the sponsors, new rules have been introduced to bring down costs. These rules are mostly focussed on introducing new technology in the car which would also make the Formula One cars "greener" and more energy efficient. The new rule which has raised most eye brows is the introduction of the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). This would however be optional for teams. Most of the teams have radiated their disapproval about using KERS though, but are preparing their cars to race with it as well. No one would w...

Submitted - Zig Wheels (Times of India) The Formula One season kicks off on March 29. The fans would once again find a reason to keep themselves busy on weekends with the race and again on week days with its discussions. Hamilton’s performance last year has provided the much required spark to Formula One after Michael Schumacher’s retirement. He has thus proved that his performance on debut was not a fluke. Ferrari has to pull up their socks this time around. With Fernando Alonso too coming good in the few races last year, it seems that the number of title contenders may increase this year. Force India team has entered into an agreement with Mclaren (for the supply of engines) and expect a turnaround in their fortunes. 2009 season promises to be an exciting season. Much depends on how the drivers cope up with expectations. We analyse what lies in store for them at the ground zero at the various venues around the world. March 29, 2009 – Melbourne Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit is a beauti...

Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One boss feels modern technology (in F1) owes ecology an apology. There is a global-crisis which has affected Formula One as well. He has therefore proposed a few regulations this year to provide 'responsible entertainment' to fans by reducing both the emissions and the team spendings. The teams according to him also have to think about the drastic dip in revenues of their sponsors and accordingly cut costs. Various teams were at loggerheads with him on the cost-cutting issue but now it seems the dark clouds have parted as these teams have started unveiling their cars for the new season. Losing is inevitable. But the smart ones never forget the lesson. And that is what Ferrari is doing. After a heart-breaking and nerve-wrecking defeat by a solitary point to the nearest rival Mclaren in the driver's championship category, instead of resting on its laurels they have taken the initiative and unveiled its new car before their rivals for the year 2...