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Formula One 2010: It’s Ferrari at Bahrain

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 01:15:25 +0000

Finally, the F1 season has begun, and as usual it’s a delight to listen to the revving of engines at 15,000+ rpm, screeching of tyres, pit stop poker and what have you!

There is a whole new set of drivers and teams this year, not to mention some radical new changes and regulations too. Just to quickly touch upon some of them;

The most significant change of all is the ban on refuelling during a race. Cars will now be equipped with a larger fuel tank ~ 250 litres or so. This will also change the bodywork and structure of the car, not to mention the weight distribution. Pit stops will be allowed only for tyre changes. I think this will be the single biggest killjoy of all changes, simply because when to refuel, how much fuel to start with, how many stops etc used to contribute hugely to the strategy aspect. This will also eliminate a key differentiator among teams in terms of ‘pit lane poker’ and keeping the competition guessing.

Usage of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) has been disallowed in this season. The number of dry tyres any driver may use has been decreased from 14 to 11 sets per weekend. During qualifying, a driver who participates in Q3 must start the race on the same tyres he used to set his grid time.

This year will see 12 teams – 24 cars take part, so from the qualifying perspective, seven are to be eliminated in Q1 and Q2, leaving the top ten to battle for pole in Q3.

Another BIG change is in the points allocation and scoring system – from the earlier one where the top eight got 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point to the present system, where the top ten will get 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point. I’m not sure if this makes any sense other than providing an incentive to more drivers who finish the race. However, on a positive note, I’m happy to see a significant gap between the #1 and #2 scores. There HAS to be a premium on winning the race and the previous system even rewarded a driver who rarely won a race but consistently finished #2.

The actual race of course marked the return of Ferrari to the top of the leaderboard after a lacklustre 2009. Fernando Alonso, driving a Ferrari for the first time, joined Nigel Mansell and Kimi Raikkonen as the only other drivers to win on their Ferrari debut. This Grand Prix also marked the return of the maestro, Michael Schumacher, well into his 40s now, as he came out of retirement to race in a Mercedes. It was quite strange NOT to see him in the all too familiar scarlet Ferrari colours.

Initially, the race seemed to be a cakewalk for Sebastian Vettel until problems with the Red Bull forced him to slow his pace, letting both Alonso and Massa through. Some 3-4 laps later, even Hamilton passed him and a podium finish, that was his for the taking, literally evaporated as Hamilton then pulled away lap after lap. I was hoping that problems with Vettel’s car and a minor scare for Hamilton (some vibrations in the car) could force both cars to pull out, leaving the way for Rosberg and Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes to come up the points.

Another debutant, India’s Karun Chandhok, had a totally forgettable outing, crashing his HRT on the second lap itself. Ferrari now lead the championship with 43 points, ahead of McLaren on 21, Mercedes GP on 18 and Red Bull on 16. Alonso leads the driver’s standings with 25 points, followed by Massa on 18, Hamilton on 15, Vettel on 12, Rosberg on 10 and Schumacher on 8.

Here’s looking forward to the next one in Melbourne on March, 28 now.

Renault admit race fixing, get two year suspended ban

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:38:40 +0000

So after all the outcry following Nelson Piquet Jr’s allegations against Renault and then the sensational exits of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds last week, the FIA dished out a two year suspended ban to the Renault team for ordering Piquet Jr. to crash in the Singapore Grand Prix last year. This move by Piquet allowed team mate Alonso, then running in 15th place, to win that race.

They were probably lucky not to be thrown out of the sport altogether, and the two high profile resignations – Briatore and Symonds, along with Piquet, as well as the fact that they owned up to the conspiracy had much to do with their being let off lightly.

Briatore was banned from the sport for an unlimited period while Symonds got a five year suspension.

F1 veterans are calling this “crash-gate” just the tip of the iceberg, and saying there are far murkier dealings in the glitzy and glamourous world of Formula One. Fingers crossed on how many more skeletons are set to tumble out of the closet !

Force India now a ‘force’ to reckon with

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:44:25 +0000

If there is one team which has suddenly captured the imagination of F1 fans, it has to be Force India. From being also rans to almost there the whole of last year, they have got a new lease of life, if the results from the last two GPs are any indication.

At the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, Giancarlo Fisichella finished 2nd, the first ever points finish for the team, and if Sutil had been careful during his pit stop at Monza on Sunday, this could have been a second straight podium for them. Instead, he finished 4th. The Brawns of course roared again with a 1-2 finish, Barrichello winning the race and Button coming in 2nd, while Kimi came in 3rd.

Sutil seems to have a history with Kimi, who knocked him out of the Monaco Grand Prix last year as he was running 4th. A similar thing happened this year also, though on a different circuit. Here of course, he could not overtake Kimi on account of the latter’s car being equipped with KERS. To top it all, Kimi almost stalled at the pit lane, but Sutil himself goofed, knocking a couple of the pit crew as he came in. As a result, they exited the pit lane at the same position they were in before, an opportunity lost for Sutil.

Fisichella of course has now moved to Ferrari and had a poor show, but his replacement at Force India, Vitantonio Luzzi put in a strong performance during qualifying and even got them within sniffing distance of having both cars in the points, before being forced to retire on Lap 22 thanks to a mechanical failure.

Considering each point is worth $$$, these two results must have come as a godsend for bossman Vijay Mallya, and for sure, I’m gonna be following this team far more closely than before.

Schumi calls off F1 comeback

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:09:30 +0000

Aw, crap !!!!!

Just when I was looking forward to the prospect of watching Michael Schumacher return to Formula One at Valencia on 23-Aug…

Turns out he’s cancelled his plans to return to Formula One owing to fitness concerns.. namely the neck injury he sustained early this year while riding a bike. He said,

“The consequences of the injuries caused by the bike accident in February, fractures in the area of head and neck, unfortunately have turned out to be still too severe. That is why my neck cannot stand the extreme stresses caused by Formula 1 yet.”

Readers will recall that this situation came about thanks to the horrific crash suffered by Felipe Massa during the qualifying session at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Ferrari’s reserve driver, 38 year old Luca Badoer would drive for them in Valencia.

Sigh… the season continues, I guess…

Felipe Massa survives horrific crash in Hungarian Grand Prix

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:40:26 +0000

The weekend gone by marked a rare occasion when I actually missed out on watching Formula One raceday (the Hungarian Grand Prix). However, the qualifying session on Saturday more than made up in terms of being eventful.

During the final qualifying round, Massa was negotiating Turn Three of the Hungaroring circuit when all of a sudden his car seemed to veer off the track and smashed into the tyre wall, with Massa slumped over the wheel.

Replays showed in chilling detail exactly what happened. A few seconds before Massa passed that way, a spring came off Barrichello’s car and bounced on the track, hitting Massa’s helmet with a violent force. You can imagine the impact of something like this at over 150 mph. He lost conciousness and had his feet on the brakes as well as the gas pedal, careening off the track, leaving ugly tyre marks all over as he hit the barrier.

Luckily, even though it seemed a mild concussion, he was alive, though it was later revealed how badly the accident had impacted him. He suffered a fractured skull and almost lost vision in his left eye.

Credit must be given to the safety measures in place and particularly the quality of the helmet he was wearing.

Introduced around 4-5 years ago, these carbon-fibre Schuberth helmets are extremely tough and are designed to withstand extreme stress, upto 1.5 tons. The material is similar to those used in making parts in commercial planes and fighter aircraft.

The helmet is made of 18 layers of the Japanese T1000 type of carbon fibre. The T1000 is used only in those places where the stresses are at their peak.

Olivier Schimpf, F1 Project Director at Schuberth summed it up succintly when he said, “If such an accident had occurred five years ago, Massa would have been dead.”

Sombre enough !!

An evening at the Sagar Plaza Formula One Sports Bar

Atul Karmarkar — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:40:51 +0000

Was chatting with a friend about the Turkish Grand Prix, and how some years ago, we used to watch the race each Sunday at a pub over pints of beer. The talk turned to the Formula One Sports Bar at the Hotel Sagar Plaza, and if it was worth a shot going there again.

It was ages since I’d been there of course, but a quick call to the hotel confirmed that the bar was very much in existence, and the receptionist sounded almost shocked when I asked the question. As expected, there was the usual faff about coming early and stuff, first come first served and all that blah.

Come Sunday evening, and there were a few drops of rain, but nothing much as it turned out. I reached a bit early and headed straight for the bar, and oh boy… what a change ! The seating arrangement was not like before and it seemed much more crowded and stuffy, like they had decided to just dump as many seats as was humanly possible !

There were around 15-20 people already in the bar, so anyway, the race started on time at 5.30 pm, and so did we. There was a cover charge of Rs.250/-, but what pissed me off was their insistence of serving only Fosters beer during the race. I wasn’t too keen to have a vodka or whiskey that early in the evening anyway, so we settled for a pint of Fosters (Rs.80 each), along with some fries (bloody expensive).

The projector screen wasn’t all that great either and the weird railing on one side of the seats made it difficult to see the lower half of the screen so we shifted to a different location. That was only only marginally better, as someone’s head was nicely obstructing the screen. Just when I slightly shifted my chair to get a better view, another guy came and plonked himself behind the first guy, a little to the left, which meant instead of seeing the lap timings and track positions, I only got to see two bobbing heads in different directions !

We decided to order stuff to eat, and though there really wasn’t much choice, it was ridiculous to see a chicken sandwich and chicken burger being priced the same (Rs.150). Wasn’t too great anyway, with the burger patty spilling out of the buns, and watery tomatoes to boot, which totally soaked a couple of tissues as well.

The race itself was ok, with Button taking the title to grab his sixth win in seven races this year. An amazing turnaround for the Brawn GP team. Towards the end there was a bit of excitement as Vettel, who started on pole and then lost it during the pit stops, tried to hassle his team mate Mark Webber. His race engineer even said, “Don’t push it, Mark is faster”, but Vettel didn’t seem to care and only went even faster. Webber, till then coasting along, got a rude wake up call and upped his pace, but only just, and finished second with Vettel grabbing the final podium place.

Was an ok evening I guess, though we certainly ain’t going back to the Sagar Plaza F1 sports bar anytime soon.. and yes, the icing on the cake for the day was Federer winning the French Open… Finally !!

What the hell is wrong with Ferrari?

Atul Karmarkar — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:12:14 +0000

The recently concluded Spanish Grand Prix was probably one that left millions of Ferrari fans stupefied. Not because the team again struggled for points as they’ve done this entire season so far, but for the amateurish manner in which their entire race was managed.

A goof up in the fuel calculations meant Massa literally struggled to finish the race. It was pathetic to see him having to yield positions to other drivers like Vettel, and then incredibly, even Alonso, who was almost 13-15 seconds behind. One can imagine the frustration Massa must have felt when his race engineer said over the team radio, “Let him pass, Felipe, let him pass”. From a potential 4th place finish, Massa had to be content with 6th, only the second time Ferrari got into the points this year.

Last year, a horrible screw-up in the pit lane ruined Massa’s race in Singapore, when the fuel hose was unhinged and got stuck to Massa’s car like an anaconda. This, when Massa was in the running for the championship.

For a Ferrari fan like me, all this is sheer stupidity and I recall marvelling at the amazing pit stop strategy during the time Michael Schumacher was driving for them, with Ross Brawn and Jean Todt managing things. They had a fantastic team and I can remember the excitement each time Schumi came out of the pits as well as the sheer delight when he managed to get the jump on his rivals.

Brawn of course, now has a team of his own, and Todt has also left Ferrari. All the expertise and implementation of strategy is only too obvious with the trail blazing way Brawn’s team has performed this season. Schumacher of course is still visible in the Ferrari pits but his exact role or the extent to which he has a say doesn’t seem to be quite clear.

What does this mean for Ferrari? Is this the end of the road for them? Early days, but they certainly have to get their act together if they are to remain a competitive force in Formula One.

Brawn GP creates history, does a 1-2 in Australian F1 Grand Prix

Atul Karmarkar — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 08:16:59 +0000

Brawn GP has created history, winning the Australian F1 Grand Prix on their debut !

In a completely topsy turvy race, marked by several accidents, Button and Barrichello did a 1-2, leading to a dream finish for Ross Brawn, who only recently bought the team from Honda.

There was of course some indication of how good they were, when they finished the qualifying yesterday in the same order, becoming the first debutant team in 39 years to finish 1-2 in qualifying.

The actual race was a different thing altogether, with accidents and skirmishes galore, and the safety car was called out quite often, including the last couple of laps, when Kubica tangled with Vettel. It all boiled down to a simple fact; the one who could keep out of trouble, and keep his car out of trouble would win the race / finish in the points !

For Ross Brawn, this is not a new experience, as he’s been the master tactician and strategist behind many Michael Schumacher victories while at Bennetton and later at Ferrari. If anything, he needed some sponsors, and he’s found a backer in Richard Branson, who’s Virgin Group has inked a sponsorship deal with Brawn GP. It may be recalled that Branson himself had plans of buying the Honda F1 team, but nothing came of that.

Cheers, Ross !!

Win most races, become 2009 F1 champ

Atul Karmarkar — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:46:02 +0000

The FIA has finally given the go ahead to a change in rules, whereby the driver who wins the most races in a year will win the championship. In case there is a tie for same number of wins, only then will the points come into play. This re-look has probably come about thanks to Hamilton winning the 2008 championship by a single point, despite Felipe Massa winning more races than him.

There has been a big debate on this issue for a long time, especially in close run title chases as in the past two years, and opinion has always been split on whether only wins should count, or should overall consistency also be rewarded. You could have a driver who wins a race, but then either finishes out of the points or retires every other race as compared to a driver who is always in the points, but may not win that often.

While I feel consistency throughout the year is good, it would be pretty strange to have an F1 champion who could potentially finish in the top three / top five each time and not win a single race.

Some F1 champion that would be, huh? :-p

The FIA also decided upon several other rules and regulations for the season.

Ross Brawn is owner of Honda F1 team

Atul Karmarkar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:04:02 +0000

And so it’s final… and official !!

The new owner of the Honda F1 team is not Vijay Mallya or Carlos Slim, or even Richard Branson, but Ross Brawn.

Brawn has purchased the team from Honda and is the new owner and team principal. The driver line-up of course remains unchanged, with Button and Barrichello hoping to improve on their performance of last year.

In an interview, Brawn shared his thoughts on buying the Honda F1 team, the alliance with Mercedes for engines as well as the way ahead for the team.

Atul Karmarkar.Com» Formula One

Formula One 2010: It’s Ferrari at Bahrain

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