Race red flagged in Sepang

Jenson Button sealed his 2nd victory with Brawn GP in Sepang amidst utter chaos and drama, when the race had to be stopped due to torrential rain after 32 laps. The race never started again and ‘finishers’ got half points according to FIA rules. Heidfeld, Glock, Trulli, Barrichello, Webber, Hamilton and Rosberg were declared as the points scorers.  Trulli, Webber and Rosberg received their tallies in fractions. And considering the fiercely aggressive competitiveness shown by teams this season, these half points may well decide the champion this year.

This is not a new affair in Formula-1. Here is a list of races that were red flagged. Out of these races, half points were offered at 4 races.

1. Spanish GP, 1975
2. Austrian GP, 1975
3. Monaco GP, 1984
4. Australian GP, 1991

The most significant 1 was Monaco GP, 1984 which changed the whole picture of the season. Mclaren star Alain Prost was declared the winner but got 4.5 points. Interestingly, he lost the season to his teammate  Niki Lauda by only half point!

Back to Malaysia. Before the rain, we witnessed some excellent racing action. Rosberg jumped to the pole from 4th position because of slow start by Button. Alonso found a weirdly empty passage on the grid and he was 5th from his original 9th position by turn 1. Kimi also showed some nerve by making some bold overtaking moves, but subsequently managed to settle down on 6th, gaining only 1 spot. For the first time this season, Brwan cars were struggling for pace. In the middle, Alonso was defending a convoy of Kimi, Glock and Webber for almost 8 laps, before conceading. As nobody was losing time, they were moving like a train as if an imaginary string was attached to them.

Then came the deciding moment; the pit stops. The rain delayed a bit from the initial prediction. As the first batch of cars tooks their first stops, nobody bothered to switch to intermediates. A few laps later, Ferrari brought in their lead driver for the race, Kimi and in a shocking move, put him on not even intermediates but directly on wet weather tyres. All the other drivers being on slicks, Kimi was losing 20s a lap to the race leaders. Ferrari desperately needed rain (I was picturing Stefano Domenicali and Michael Schumacher doing a rain dance in the pits!) Ultimately when the rain finally hit the track and everybody had taken their 2nd stop for tyre change, the classification showed Kimi with only 1 stop but on 16th spot! As always, a bold move by Ferrari ended up in disaster. In this chaos though, Massa surprisingly entered point scoring zone but again caved and ended up 9th.

Brawn GP were criticized for their slow and lazy pit stops in Australia. But here in Sepang, they showed perfection both in strategy and implementation which put Button back on the lead. The rain persisted long enough to summon safety car and finally when the drivers started feeling like swimming with a blindfold in their cars, the race was stopped. The long wait eventually ended with a completely different classification from what we expected.

2009 Formula 1 season Hamilton vs FIA update: FIA 1- Hamilton 0

In addition to the F1 season, I am now following yet another sport which turns out to be highly entertaining. The clash between Hamilton vs FIA is getting yummier. Last season, Hamilton won this game on sudden death by winning the title, which made all the initial troubles irrelevant. Its only been a week this season, and Hamilton already took his 1st blow from FIA. Although this time, it was altogether caused by his constructor.

We got a dramatic start to the season with 1st FIA hearing in 1st week. FIA, which has been trying to confuse itself with self made laws, ruled in favor of Toyota driver Trulli and excluded Hamilton along with its constructor. Surprisingly, this turns out to be a logical and fair judgement! (How often do you see that with FIA!) The stewards took into consideration the tape of team radio instructions to the Mclaren driver and ruled that Mclaren tried to  mislead them. How dumb are these stewards to get disoriented so easily? It takes them 2 hearings to reach such a simple  judgement. Apparently they did not have access to  the team radio tape during the 1st hearing. How convenient! I have started to imagine FIA office like administrative section of my college now. Nobody is accountable and nobody cares about the person on the other end.

Brawn GP creates a history at Melbourne

Ross Brawn is arguably the happiest man on the earth right now and he should be. He managed to put both of his drivers on top in first ever race under his own title, Brawn GP. Button and Barichello were ecstatic as they walked to the podium and the crowd in Melbourne was loving it. Another person who will be as happy as team Brawn is Bernie Eccleston. He got what he wanted; F1 is alive again with a new spirit. (It would be impetuous to claim that the whole season would be as exciting as this race, being that this race was in Melbourne. But the quality of overtaking maneuvers and overall competitiveness was excellent)

The turning point of the race was a crash between Kubica and Vettel. Fighting for 2nd place, Vettel was defending his position with all his might when an idiotic overtaking maneuver by Kubica on a turn kicked them both out of the race. The safety car was summoned and Vettel tried to limp behind it for a couple of laps on 3 wheels, but eventually gave up. This changed the whole picture. Barichello, who suffered an initial blow due to a poor start, jumped right on top with Button and Trulli came 3rd. Hamilton was at right place at right time and manged to score valuable championship points due to his ability to keep cool when others were on a rampage; unlike reckless Ferrari drivers. Both Kimi and Massa had an excellent start thanks to KERS but lost the positions due to poor tyre and fuelling strategies by Ferrari. In addition to that, the amazing skill of both the drivers to go off track without anyone’s ‘Help’ made sure that the team was well out of scoring zone. Just like last year, Ferrari got a start they didn’t want. Newbie Buemi also took advantage of last minute confusion to grab a few extras, along with Alonso.

P.S- Thanks to adamant BCQC Abhimanyu organizers, I had to miss the live telecast of the race. So I planned a media blackout, just like in How I Met Your Mother (The SuperBowl Sunday episode). And it was successful!

Australian GP Qualifying: How did this happen?

I am tempted to compare Brawn GP with a phoenix bird, very much rising through the ashes. A team which didn’t even exist a month ago managed to put both of the drivers on the front row of the grid for the start of the season at Australian GP, 2009. The relentless efforts put by team chief Ross Brawn seemed to have worked perfectly fine. Jenson Button grabbed the pole position followed by team mate Rubens Barichello (And the team managed to get sponsorship from Virgin group) Vettel manged to go 3rd fastest in Q3 to prove that he is worth the trust put on him by Red Bull management.

The biggest disappointment of the day would have to be Alonso and Hamilton, former and reigning world champion. Hamilton barely made it into top 15 but never came on track for Q2. He will start the race from that poition. Alonso failed to make it to the top 10 after all the speculation. He is 12th on the grid. It was a mixed day for BMW. While Kubica will start the race from 4th position on the grid, his teammate Nick Heidfeld managed only 11th spot. Interestingly, Heidfeld was using the new KERS while Kubica was not. Apparently, Kubica’s weight was a problem while accommodating KERS. But it meant better weight balance and that seemed to have worked.Next surprise was Nico Rosberg. He is 5th but he could well end up on the podium tomorrow.

The qualifying started under speculations over the performance of the tricky new rear diffuser designs used by Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota. Their design is able to generate more downforce leading to better car control and cornering speeds. Though FIA has cleared those designs for this weekend, they are still under the scanner and decision to an appeal made by few other teams is under consideration. Whatever the outcome is, it seemed to have worked well for the teams as except for Nakajima, rest 5 finished in top 10.

Ferrari had a rough day. Both the drivers managed to squeeze as much as possible out of a dull F60. Massa will start 7th and Kimi 9th. The car was not tuned properly. At a particular moment in Q3, Massa actually felt that a tyre was punctured! Looks like they will have to witness the others ‘Blitz’ past them tomorrow. Mclaren have already decided to let this race go without even thinking about the points. Force India, well, lets just say this shouldn’t be how a team has to start a season.

One thing is for sure; new rules have rejuvenated the sport like never before. All the teams look extremely competitive and there is hardly anything to seperate between the top 5. This will definitely make the season more interesting.

A sad race in Shanghai

The most uneventful race after Valencia. Apart from Hekki Kovalainen’s tyre failure leading to damage and retirement, it was a very ordinary race. A few overtakings but nothing exciting. Hamilton finished the fastest followed by the two Ferraris in reversed order. Following the unstated team orders, Kimi let Massa through to help his c’ship challenge. No need to raise eyebrows, it was perfectly legal. The same thing as we saw in Hockenheim with Mclaren. Results

It all comes down to Interlagos in Brazil 2 weeks later. Curiously enough, Massa is now 7 points behind Hamilton, the exact same situation Kimi was in this time last year. Ferrari would hope for the same miracle 2nd year in a row.

With both the drivers on podium, Ferrari look good for constructors’ c’ship this year. They lead by 11 points. Unless they show some extraordinary skills of screwing up like in mid season races, I think they are safe.

Now about a SOB called Fernando Alonso. Read this first of all. He had to flap his big mouth and again had to show why I call him SOB. Throughout the earlier part of the race, he was putting pressure on Massa. No hard feelings had he not spoken before. But you know what they say…. Never try to overtake a F2008 in a R28 when Massa is not pulling a ‘MASSA’

Kubica finished 6th today and is now officially out of the championship race. Its between the Brit and the Brazilian in the homeland of the later. We can expect another sensational season finale this time.

Accusations and Speculations

This week, leading to the Shanghai Grand Prix has been a wild one. As the championship title contenders leave no stone unturned to win sunday’s race, a lot has been happening ‘off-the-track’ as well. The round begins with ‘Former World Champ’ Fernando Alonso. In a weird turn of events, Alonso openly admitted that he will support Massa or Kubica to win championship over former team-mate (rival?) Lewis Hamilton. Was it really necessary? I mean the last thing Lewis needs at this moment is another controversy. Like a good boy, Lewis kept mum and showed his pace during qualifying, sealing the pole position. Alonso probably setting up the field for probable move from Renault to BMW or Ferrari in coming seasons. A lame act of damage control for being a jerk in the past and a desperate attempt of revenge!

Next in line was his boss. Briatore claimed that just like last year, Lewis will lose his lead in last 2 races and give away championship to Massa. He just likes to flap his mouth a lot. Words just come out. No need to pay attention.

Last was dear old Massa. Lewis has been under fire from colleagues for being over-aggressive. No man with a bit of sense of F1 would deny that. But Massa is also feeling the heat. So he came to Lewis’s rescue! The way Massa drove in Japan could easily be compared to a rickshaw driver in Pune. Both of them need to calm down. Otherwise it will be season 2007 all over again. Kubica could be this years Kimi!

Alonso makes it 2 in a row

And yet another disastrous race in F1. Alonso wins yet again, Renault look confident for the next season. Piquet also scored 5 points.

What looked like a normal grid, turned upside down as both the Ferraris were pushed back and Mclarens suffered heavily. Kovalainen failed to complete the race and Massa and Hamilton were penalized for their over-aggressiveness. But the aggression did not wear off. Massa managed to squeeze out 1 c’ship point. Though Kimi ended his point scoring draught, he is now officially out of race for championship.

Hamilton and Massa are getting really fierce. The remaining races will be amazing.

The most boring race of the season

Thats what it was. On an excellent street circuit of Valencia, the race was a total bummer. There was virtually no overtaking. Though Massa managed to win comfortably ahead of Hamilton, I did not enjoy the race 1 bit. Results

Track was amazing. It seemed like a dangerous one, but turned out to be safe. Only Sutil drove into the wall, but you cannot blame the track for that. The view was fantastic and good camera work made it perfect. Aerial view of Ferrari passing over a bridge was a real treat. Steve Slater expressed a valid concern about the camera work. It was evident from the qualifying session that we would have seen Local Hero (or Brat!!) Alosno for the better part of the race. But he retired on the first lap itself (courtesy: Nakajima…god bless him!) so dodged a bullet there. Did not have to see him at all!

Kimi’s season looks grim. He expressed concern over qualifying performance. He improved that by qualifying 4th. But lost track position to Kovalainen on the starting grid itself. Things got worse during 2nd pit stop when Kimi started with refuelling hose attached in a hurry to overtake Kovalainen, dragging the refueller with him. Scene was pretty ugly. As if this was not enough, Kimi’s engine blew on the following lap. Thats 2 in a row. Man, whats up with Ferrari? Fisichella and both the Torro Rosso Ferrari engines survived with relatively good results but the main Ferrari engine blows with 9 laps to go.

Hamilton has taken important lead of 6 pts over Massa. Things are not turning out in the right direction for Ferrari even after a win.

A weird qualifying session

Silverstone circuit saw an unexpected qual result as Kovalainen grabbed the pole from Webber on the very last run. He was a whopping 0.5s faster than Webber. Following Webber was Kimi. Heidfeld out-qualified teammate Kubica for the first time this season as Kubica did not participate in Q3. Massa will start 9th. He is probably still in shock from yesterday’s accident caused by oil spill from Fernando Alonso’s blown engine (could he BE more annoying). Both Ferraris seriously lacked pace and were outpaced by even Vettel’s Torro Rosso for most of the race.

Disappointing day for home crowd. Hamilton panicked in Q3, oversteered on penultimate run and finished 4th. Button could not even make it to Q2. Coulthard, on his last GP in front of home fans, was 11th fastest.

After the session, while reporting to FIA, everybody congratulated Hekki on his brilliant performance (Alonso pinched his butt…GOD!! Somebody stop him) Everybody, but Hamilton, who just sat there staring nowhere. He did not even acknowledge him. That was a bit rude of him.

The weather at Silverstone was amazing. Rain was seen on 1 side of the track while pits had nice sunshine. Rain is also expected tomorrow, so race is bound to be interesting. Apparently, British GP is going to be shifted to Donington Park from 2010. F1 will sure miss one of its fastest circuit.

Julian Bailey, former Lotus driver was commentator. His commentary was basically circling around denying each and every claim made by Steve Slater (who was accurate most of the times), except on 1 point…that Rupert Grint, who was standing in Red Bull pits was in fact, ‘some character from Harry Potter’. I don’t think I can stand him for an entire race. Chris Goodwin, where are you?

Highlights

This has been a very curious week. Here are two highlight events-

1) Alonso has spoken. He has said that he has an option of moving to Ferrari at the end of this season. Thats classic Alonso for you! Spoken like a true loser. Now that he knows that he stands no chance at all to win Championship with Renault, he has made another of his old tricks and increased speculations at the start of the season itself. Though both the Ferrari drivers are under contract till 2010, you never know. But just imagine what that would do to Ferrari followers. It will be a nightmare come true. I don’t think there are many people out there who support Ferrari as well as Alonso at the same time. I will be caught in a practically unsolvable dilemma. Ferrari should really consider this aspect of the move.

2) Obnoxious News Channels. Thats what they are. Remember little Prince?? The kid who was trapped in an open bore well gave a hot topic to the everHungry media. A déjà vu. A girl named ‘Vandana’ was the victim. The innocent thing had no idea what was going on. No offense meant, but don’t you think that it was hyped just too much? Sure it was a significant news, but wasn’t there anything else happening in and around the world that was remotely important? ( I had to wait for half an hour to get the score!) What was even more angering was the way they presented the news. Hyper-excited tones, mindless descriptions, and above all pathetic animations.

The reporter was practically dancing around the image behind trying to explain the simple logic of the rescue operation. The whole thing was ridiculous.