Blogging on to Formula 1 (F1) or A1

More Fun At Malaysia

Seriously, this new qualifying format is quite amazing. I still can't believe how MSC managed to qualify in 4th position after he was narrowly eliminated in the 1st qualifying session itself. This new format is giving some very close and edge-of-the-seat action. I actually think it's more fun than the race itself.

Nico has continued with his storming form. I am certainly not the only one when I say - "Did you see that!!" It's turning out that Sir Frank's decision to give the race seat to Nico instead of Narain is turning out to be a fantastic decision for the Williams-Cosworth team, but we will never know how good Narain would've been with such a competitive car. My guess is, pretty damn good.

I had a few Qs about the 10 spot grid penalty that everyone will be incurring (I am not complaining about it, just wondering how it works). If anyone knows the answer then please let me know. Since MSC and Ralf both will be incurring the penalty, does this mean that Ralf will slot into 19? Because after MSC takes the shaft it means Ralf is in P9 after which a 10 spot penalty puts him in P19 and not P20 ( = P10 + 10). Whatever happens, P20 isn't much worse than P19 considering he only has to contend with either a Midland or a Toro Rosso.

Finally things seem to be going right for the little Roman, it seems that the bad luck mistakingly stung Alonso as issues with his fuel rig meant that he accidentally got more fuel into his car which made it underperform during the last qualifying session. Hence the Spaniard will slot into P7 after MSC gets the shaft for changing his engine.

Congratulations to Christian Klien for out-qualifying his veteran team-mate DC.

DC hasn't been the one to hide his feelings about F1. While it is commendable that he speaks his mind, he should also be careful not to be whining. And, I am afraid that I have seen a lot of DC whining during his time at McLaren and it doesn't seem like it has changed.

I agree with the fact that there are aspects of the Quali rules that can easily confuse the spectator. I agree that race fuel 3rd quali session is a little wierd, but it sure does get extremely interesting during the last 5-7 mins. I also think that the fuel credits system is unnecessary. Even the 10 spot grid penalty is quite severe. I think it should be 5 spots. Basically, it's a system, and it's not fool-proof and has some flaws. I think it's the best system that has been put in place since a long time. Let the people get used to it, and if people are still complaining - I mean people who are not DC - then something should definitely be done to improve it. One of the reasons that the previous system fell apart was that people didn't give it time to entrench itself.

It is being reported that Bernie Ecclestone has struck a deal with Fuji Speedway to host the Japanese GP from 2007 onwards. There is also speculation that it is possible that Japan might be the only Asian nation to be hosting 2 rounds of the F1 World Championship. So is Suzuka out or not?

I hope it isn't, Suzuka is a wonderful track that has given us some spectacular wet weather racing. It will be surely missed.

Nico made quite an impressive debut in F1 in Bahrain. He is the 1st rookie in 10 years to have set a fastest lap time in his debut. The last time round this happened was in 1996 and the rookie behind the wheel at the time was spectacled Canadian Villeneuve (currently racing for BMW). Another point to notice is that Villeneuve was in a Williams at the time, same as Nico. I am sure Nico has a great future in F1 ahead of him. I will definitely be watching out for this guy.

This was yet another torrid day for the little Roman. I still can't believe how much bad luck has hounded Fisico since he joined the Renault F1 Team. I am beginning to think that he may have actually made a mistake in doing so and should maybe stuck with Sauber.

Speculation is rife that Renault will be pulling out of F1 at the end of this season anyway with their No. 1 driver heading to McLaren. So, it'd be in Fisi's best interest if he could secure a race drive ASAP with another team. I would highly encourage a jumping of ships because it seems Renault dont really seem to give a CRAP about him.

Finally the 2006 Formula One World Championship has begun. You cannot begin to imagine how anxiously I have been waiting.

So, it's a brand new season with brand new rules and brand new cars(mostly) and brand new livery. In fact, I would say it's probably the best looking season yet. I really like the McLaren livery and the timeless scarlet red of Scuderia Ferrari (I hope that doesn't ever change).

One thing (amongst many) that has changed is the Qualifying format. And I couldn't believe it, but it actually turned out to be very exciting and action packed. Hats off to whoever came up with the idea, I just hope the tail enders dont complain about not getting enough air-time anymore. But, inspite of this exciting new format, there are still are people who found the middle 10 min of the 60 min session to be boring... All I can say is 'Damn dudes, go bungie jumping during that time to get your heart rates up!' I hope this system is here to stay.

I still can't believe that the FIA hasn't done anything about Toro Rosso running V10s when they can clearly afford a brand new V8 from Cosworth, who incidentally are supplying V8s to Williams. Do they need someone to drop an anvil on their head? If there's anyone who should be running V10s it is Super Aguri!! The FIA is truly an entity of contrasts, they can come up with brilliant stuff like the new Qualifying system and be completely stupid at the same time. But on the other hand the world does come in contrasting opposites, so I really shouldn't be surprised... and yet I am!!

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the race as well. 'Congratulations' and 'Well Done!' to the Renault F1 team. Alonso's victory was pure team work in my opinion. It just happened to be that on this day Renault's team work was a smidge better than Ferrari's.

Massa did a great job qualifying in 2nd place, just a little bad luck during the race. I am sure he should be fine for the next one.

When it comes to Schumacher I am officialy speechless. In my opinion there is only one other person who anyone can compare with Schumacher - and that is Sachin Tendulkar. Both are veterans of their sport and after 16 years of active duty they still continue to rewrite the record books - not just by edging past the previous record holder, but by completely decimating him. on Mar 11, 2006, Michael Schumacher matched the legendary Ayrton Senna No. of Poles record by reaching 65. With this being the beginning of the 18 race season I reckon that that record will be overtaken by a huge amount by Michael. If there's anyone out there who think of a more grandiose title than 'His Royal Highness' then please let me and everyone know. In my opinion Michael certainly deserves it.

Kimi certainly did a fastastic job finishing 3rd after failing to qualify, awesome stuff. I now firmly believe that he is the one who deserves to take over at Ferrari after MSC retires. Nico Rosberg was also impressive in setting and resetting the fastest lap during the race. That surely was unexpected. Best of luck to him. I am sure he has a long and properous future ahead of him.

As the following link will show you, there is a chance of rain at Turkey. That's more good news for Bridgestone, they are definitely better than Michelin in the wet. Considering MSC drives in the wet like a fish swimming through water, it appears the Turkish Grand Prix will be the most exciting one yet (Remember Australia when it rained just a smidge). I've been dieing to watch a wet race. It's been a more than a season since that happened. I just hope they don't change the date of the Turkish Grand Prix next season.

All Ferrari fans, pray to the Rain Gods!!

Recently the qualifying format that A1 Grand Prix Racing is going to use, was revealed. The Qualifying session will be made up of 4 (that's right, 4) 15 min sessions, interspersed with brief breaks. During each 15 min session any car may roll-out at any time and post a maximum of 1 flying lap. After the 4 sessions the best 2 lap times for each car will be aggregated and the resulting time will be used to determine the the position for Sunday's Sprint Race. The Sprint Race is a 15 min race (featuring a 'rolling start'). The finishing order of this race will determine the grid positions of each car in the main event. The qualifying session will be held on the Saturday of the Grand Prix week-end at 2PM local time. The time of the Sunday Sprint has not been decided yet.

This is quite an interesting qualifying format, very different from Formula 1. The fact that the drivers might have to contend with traffic (upto 24 other cars) during qualifying is quite interesting. Lap times will obviously get quicker and quicker as more and more rubber laid out on the tarmac during the course of the qualifying session. The last session will be very interesting. The Sunday Sprint does ensure that the most consistent teams will occupy the top spots of the starting grid. But, the fans may not want to wait till Sunday morning to know about the final starting grid. That was a major reason why Sunday Qualifying was abandoned in Formula 1. Maybe they should have the Sprint on Saturday itself.

I will write about more Sporting regulations as and when I find out about them. Keep checking in.

His Highness Sheikh Makhtoum drives the A1 Team India car down Rajpath, Delhi, India on a demonstration run
Image courtesy www.pitpass.com

The FIA has been given another proposal for a new Qualifying format suggested by the drivers' of F1. Their suggestion is to allow them to do another hot lap after everyone has done 1 with low fuel and using the fastest lap time of the 2 to determine the grid position. This is reminiscent of the dual session quailfying format we had in the beginning of the season.

Here's an alternate suggestion (like we need another one, but here it is nonetheless)! Have each driver do 3 consecutive hot laps. Use the aggregate time of the 3 laps to determine grid position. Allow refuelling after qualifying run. Allow tyre change after qualifying run. order of appearance to be determined by the championship ranking in reverse (this will mean that the leader of the championship will always qualify last).

With the average lap time being 1:23 sec this would mean that approx 1:24 min of air-time would be needed for broadcasters. With about 20 min of commercial time they could easily have a 1:45 min qualifying session. If we can spend that much time watching a race, why can't we do the same for qualifying?