Blogging on to Formula 1 (F1) or A1

A truly exciting race to watch. Tough luck for NZL and GER for coliding with each at the start of the Spring Race. I did get the feeling that even though the race stewards exonerated NZL of any wrongdoing the NZL driver was drifting right unnecessarily, espescially when the track is wide enough to allow 5 cars to turn into a hairpin line-abreast. An overall fantastic drive by Team Malaysia. A good car and all his Grand Prix driving experience really helped Alex Yoong to pile the pressure onto rookie Hinchcliffe of Team Canada. Better luck next time dude! The whole event had a dramatic turnaround after the 1st lap incident between NZL and GER. I was seriously expecting the black beauty and the German to be duking it out over there. I must also mention the really smooth pit work by Team Czech Rep. It was team work really got that car onto the 2nd step of the podium there.

After the Czech Rep. GP the following are the championship standings:

1 Germany 20
2 Mexico 19
3 Malaysia 17
4 Canada 11
5 Czech Republic 11
6 Great Britain 11
7 USA 10
8 Netherlands 9
9 France 8
10 Australia 8
11 China 8
12 South Africa 7
12 New Zealand 5
13 Italy 5
14 Switzerland 4
15 Indonesia 1

The real cat amongst the pigeons here is Malaysia with 17 points, 6 clear of Canada.

Holy crap in hell... I can't believe the damn engine blew up!!! I am just so disappointed here. One can't really place the blame on Ferrari. These things happen sometimes, ask Mika Hakkinen. I guess luck was on Alonso's side this time around otherwise there was no way he would've been able to win. The Ferrari pit stop strategy and Michael's driving had done the trick again. Mechanical gremlins can be such a BITCH sometimes. Well, I guess that 8th Championship title shall remain a dream for MSC. I hope he has it in himself to maybe make a comeback for one season later on and give it a shot again! Kimi did a good job to bring in the McLaren into 5th place starting from 11th. Really good going there. But I do feel that if they had gone for a 1 pit-stop strategy he could've maybe made the podium.

Congratulations to Alonso!! I guess he deserves this victory after all!

A fantastic qualifying result for the Scuderia and Toyota. And I think this is precisely why making a switch to a single tyre supplier makes sense. It could just as well have been the other way round with the Michelin runners locking out the front 2 rows, now wouldn't that be a BITCH?!

I think this is a one-off for Toyota, Ralf and Jarno should just calm down and make hay while the sun shines and not boast and attract too much attention. They should remind themselves that of 2 Jap automakers competing here they are the ones without a victory!!

Anyway, I am happy about the qualifying results today. Ferrari front row and A1 Team India sticks it Pakistan again.... Suck it Pakistan! It was nice going for Germany and New Zealand, they had an awesome fight for the pole position in the Qualifiers for the Czech Republic A1GP. But one should note that the engg team for both NZL and GER is the same as the one that helped France to the championship crown last time around. It is no wonder that a rookie like Hulkenberg is managing so well. He just has a fantastically easy car to drive. I should congratulate and point out A1 Team Malaysia's efforts in the Qualifying session. I think Alex Yoong's F1 experience is really helping the team out there. Hopefully I can catch the Sprint and Main event tomorrow.

Good driving by Nico Rosberg of the WilliamsF1 Team. I am telling you given some competitive equipment this guys could really do wonders for a team.

There was an incident during the F1 Qualifying session at Suzuka. It seems that during the beginning of the last Qualifying session (Q3) Alonso was attempting to overtake Massa but couldn't. This happened during the 1st lap, i.e. everyone had just exited the pit lane and they were just beginning their Out Lap (it's the lap which they must do before a timed hot lap). At this point Alonso was attempting to overtake Massa but couldn't. I did not actually see the incident but it was reported as such in the live timing and commentary provided at www.formula1.com. What I don't understand is how in god's name our dear beloved Signor Briatore is finding this similar to the Monza incident where Alonso was found impeding Massa's timed hot lap. I think Briatore is acting more like a kid than Massa is. Briatore has gone as far to state that inspite of lodging a complaint the FIA will not do anything against Ferrari. 1st of all, there has to be something to punish, how the hell does one impede someone on their out lap??

As the blue arrow shows in the picture, Ferrari have increased the height of the barge board (it's a plece of bodywork that sits in front of but lower than the side air in-takes). It's primary purpose is to regulate the air-flow around the sides of the car. Typically the barge board rear-facing edge (or as we like to call it 'barge board profile' ) is smooth and slanting down. By giving it a sabertooth profile and varying the height of the profile it is supposed to reduce the turbulence in that area and provide for better engine cooling as the less turbulent air enters the engine side air in-takes - better engine cooling means better reliability.

Image courtesy www.formula1.com

Everyone that knows F1 also knows that F1 in the end is a team sport. No matter how great the driver is, he cannot do jack on track if he is not with a team that gels well with themselves and himself. All the great champions that ever graced F1 know it, except for Alonso and a certain Canadian driver/singer/songwriter. I would put Jenson Button into this category as well, but then he is not a champion (as much as I would like to finish this sentence with 'as yet' something inside just laughs whenever I think about it). If Alonso is suddenly starting to feel lonely in his team, then maybe he should've thought twice or at least should have had the decency to involve our beloved Signor Briatore in his negotiations with McLaren last year when he dropped a bomb on everyone and announced his plan to jump ship to McLaren after having secured the Drivers' Championship with Renault. I have my doubts that Renault will even think about sabotaging a champions title defence, espescially after having committed their future to F1. Absolutely no team will want to come within a hundred feet of being projected as a team where they sabotage your race if they know you're about to leave. It's just not good business sense.

I would just like to apologize to all those Senna and Fangio fans out there for comparing them with MSC and making a point that MSC is better. I have realized that it was wrong and there is no point in comparing across eras because it is quite pointless. All the aforementioned Drivers are great and will be regarded as the greatest of their times. Like Sir Frank Williams put it, can we really compare Wellington with Patten?

The new season of Motorsport World Cup started and France, the defending champions have made a good start to their campaign. The suprise of the race at Zandvoort, Holland was Team USA, managing a podium finish. Way to go guys! Team India had another disappointing race. I dont know why they keep putting that 17 year old into the Sprint and Main event all the time. He needs more practice time and maybe an odd shot at Qualifying, but we definitely need someone with much more experience behind the wheel during the Sprint and Main event. Hopefully we can do slightly better next time... Suck it Pakistan!

2007 marks some major changes to F1 as we know it. First and foremost, MSC will not be there. I have not known F1 without the guy, so I had to mention it one more time. There will be a return to a single tyre supplier, so that races dont go to the team with the better tyres that particular week-end. Engine homologation will come into place. This is simply the worst thing that could happen to F1. Like I have mentioned earlier, I simply don't support freezing engine development for 3 seasons, that's just insane to me. Where is the logic that is preventing them from freezing it for 4 or even 5 years? I am sure it is there somewhere, if someone can find it then please let me know. While I do support every measure to help privateer teams be more competitive, there is a limit to everything. I don't want to see F1 being reduced to GP2! I am glad they will be continuing with the existing qualifying format... thank god for that. This format is truly exciting and they should not even dream about fiddling around with it for another decade or so.

With MSC gone I will be only 50% motivated to watch the new F1. Hopefully Kimi can give Alonso a good fight if Ferrari can build a car tough enough for the guy. Kimi is a great driver, but in order to succeed he really needs a car that suits his driving style and he is a driver that deserves that sort of a car. In the mean time, I would like to see how Alonso adjusts to driving a McLaren with that ticking time bomb in the rear. That thing has had more engine failures in the last few seasons than I can remember.

It was quite an interesting Chinese Grand Prix that was held at Shanghai this Sunday. While Ferrari did take a hit in its quest for the Constructors' Title, dear old MSC couldn't have proven it more convincingly that he was, is and for a long time will be the BEST thing that ever happened to F1. I am truly gonna miss the excitement and magic this guy brings to the F1 race track. So, heading into Suzuka, Japan, Alonso and Michael are tied in the Drivers' crown. The Chinese Grand Prix also marks 91 victories for Michael along with the fact that he has officially surpassed Alonso in total victories this season 7 to 6.

I was being told last year that Michael's time is over and he should retire. All this just proves that Michael's time is not over, he has chosen to end it here, on a high. I can guarantee that if he were to continue he would be pick up a 9th Championship and become the only Centurion in F1 history.... No offence to Fangio and Senna, but take that!!!

Now about the Chinese Grand Prix. I am very disappointed in Bridgestone again for not being able to produce a good wet weather tyre. I can't imagine how frustrating that is for someone who is considered as quick and comfy as a fish in a wet race (MSC)! I think they are taking it easy now it has been confirmed that Bridgestone will be the sole tyre supplier for the next season. Shame on them!

Jenson drove another strong race, and congratulations to him for that. Still doubt if he will ever be able to repeat his Hungary glory ever again if Kimi, Kubica, Massa and Renault have their way. I guess he should be looking to switch to McLaren, Renault or Ferrari after his Honda contract expires. I for one would not like to see him in a Ferrari, he is just not good enough.

I am bummed out by the fact that I have to go to work this Sunday and so will be missing out on the F1 Japan GP and the A1 Czech Republic GP. But since the Brazil GP will be in a different time zone I hope to catch that late in the night.

The FIA (well, Max Mosley actually) is hell bent on restricting F1 engine development. This whole idea of engine homologation means that the championship entrants will have submit an engine to the FIA, which the FIA will certify. After this the team/supplier will not be allowed to modify the engine (basically make improvements in performance to it) for a whopping 3 years!!! I couldn't believe it when I first read it. The whole idea is to reduce costs. While it will definitely reduce costs it takes a big chunk out of the technical pinnacle that F1 really is. I mean, this thing is extreme. I could understand a 6 month to a 1 year freeze. That would also reduce costs, but this is taking it too far. I mean, they could just as well have asked them to use existing road car parts. While it would still be F1 and still be motor racing, but that not at all exciting in anyway.

F1 is supposed to be unique, not something that is ChampCar pretending to be unique. I totally support restrictions on design modifications for the running season, but not something that restricts design across seasons.

There is apparently a huge confusion in the FIA about the grid line-up because of the different combinations that can be followed to enforce the 10 spot penalty. According to me they should proceed down the grid in the order in which the drivers qualified and enforce the penalty. Therefore the grid should look this tomorrow (logically):

01 Fisichella
02 Button
03 Rosberg
04 Webber
05 Montoya
06 Raikkonen
07 Alonso
08 Klien
09 Trulli
10 Villeneuve
11 Schumacher M
12 Heidfeld
13 Speed
14 Liuzzi
15 Albers
16 Schumacher R
17 Coulthard
18 Barrichello
19 Monteiro
20 Sato
21 Ide
22 Massa