Tag Archive for 'ferrari'

Off The Field Drama

Published on June 14, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments

Contrary to the expectation, sports these days seems to be more interesting off the field. The on field action has become quite predictable and boring. Off-the-field however, stories evolve as ego clash.

F1 has literally shifted from on-track racing to board room meetings and negotiations. Ferrari is already out of the championship. So they seem to have devoted all their time to countering Max Mosely. Being the head of FOTA, they are pretty much in the drivers seat making all the crucial decisions. Thus we see Ferraris’ decision being backed by FOTA. And when Williams decided to leave the ranks and sign up for next years championship, they were suspended from FOTA.

Ferrari and FIA are aiming blows after blows at each other, refusing to buckle down below the other’s ego. And Bernie finds himself amidst this confusion, knowing pretty well that despite what Mosely says Ferrari’s role in F1 cannot be undermined. If Ferrari decides to pull out, Bernie could lose a lot, unless he manages to recover the loss by filing law suitz against Ferrari.

McLaren have decided to keep mum. Their position is understandable. Just recently they were pardoned for their lie to the stewards and are compelled to remain quite. However, even their participation next year is subject to conditions.

Its so sad for Brawn and Red Bull that all the drama had to unfold this year. Being the two leading teams, any other year they would have been the main target for the journalists and would have made it to the top of the magazine covers every issue. This year though, their achievement has been overshadowed by all the altercations and threats to sue.

But F1 is not the only sport attracting interest. Elsewhere in the world of soccer, Real Madrid has gone back to its big budget spending ways, tempting Kaka and Ronaldo to joing and resurrect a dying team. Playing second fiddle to Barcelona the whole of last year, Real have splashed lots of money to ensure that big names play for it once again. Kaka and Ronaldo should definitely strengthen the mid field. They are also looking to land in David Villa, but the deal has not been confirmed yet.

Chelsea should be the most worried at this time. With Deco declaring his interst to move away from Stamford Bridge and Caravalho also wanting to rejoin with Murinho, theirs is a depleted side. Their bid for Villa was rejected and Chelsea obviously will not be able to meet Manchester United in the pursuit of Frank Ribery. Pato wants to talk to his former manager before confirming his contract at AC Milan, but Milan spokesperson has ensured that Pato stays at Milan. Ageing squad of Chelsea needs more than one fresh pair of legs to challenge ManU or Liverpool.

Sir Alex also has a daunting task on his hands. He now needs to find a winger as good as Ronaldo, which is almost next to impossible. The void left by Ronaldo shall not be easy to fill. Despite what the ManU fans feel, Ronaldo was instrumental in setting up many victories single handedly.

Cricket has become more boring than ever. I shall not even waste another line to talk about it.

The next few weeks shall be quite interesting. F1 sees teams and administration go into a war. And the transfer market couldn’t have been more interesting than it already has become. La Liga shall not be a one sided affair the coming season. I hope more big names transfer this year. And for god’s sake, somebody come to Chelsea.

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Prelude To The 2009 F1 Season

Published on March 11, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments
Ferrari

Ferrari

Finally, amidst all the drama we have a new season of the Formula 1 motor racing about to begin in just a few days over a fortnight. What with recession threatening to throw the future of the event into jeopardy, Honda pulling the plug on its team, ING refusing to renew their sponsorship of Renault and teams threatening to quit, its somewhat fortunate that we will get a full calendar this year.

It was already predicted that if the budget be not controlled, a few teams might consider walking away from the sport, but that the effect would actually happen this year was not expected. It came as a surprise when out of blue Honda announced its decision to dismantle the team and quit F1. Spiralling costs were seen as a major reason behind the decision, with recession not helping. A huge save-honda-campaign was launched by Bernie who took it upon himself to find a buyer to buy out the team. Apparently Michael had been approached, but he refused to get involved in the sport in that capacity. Ross Brawn was interested to buy out the team, and even Bernie was ready to provide behind-the-curtains funding. There were also occasional rumours of a third party hostile buy out, and that of Virgin Grp’s interest in the team. It all came to naught when it was finally delcared that the management team of Honda led by Brawn had bought back the team. Thus we have this year the BrawnGP challenger instead of the Honda challenger.

Just as AIG had refused to renew their contract with the soccer icons Manchester United, ING announced similar treatment to Renault. Renault though have dismissed any concerns regarding the funding and instead insist are well off. I am not sure but I also read this rumour that similar problem has been faced by Williams team. This definitely calls for some drastic implementations of budget regulations unless we are prepared to lose out a few more teams.

But the proposed budget implementations do not bode well with all the teams, and certainly not the viewers. For instance, one of the rules to be implemented in near future is that of engine standardisation, whereby all the teams shall use the same engine provided by a neutral company, just as is the case with current tyres provider Bridgestone and the standardised Electronic Control Unit manufactured and provided by Mercedes. Obviously the teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Renault, Toyota who manufacture their own cars will not be pleased with this constraint, as using the same engine eliminates one of the main uniqueness of each formula 1 car on the grid. A lot of research goes into the design of the engine and using the same engine could kill the sport. However, it also reduces the overall money spent by the teams on the research of the engines.

In view of reducing the budget, one of the better rules to be implemented this season onwards is the prolomged usage of the same engine for 3 races as opposed to just 2 last season. This is one the most important regulations for the season to cut down the costs. Also there are restictions on the usage of wind tunnels and all, though I am not very much clear about it. Also a reduction in testing time is a welcome idea.

But what begs a question is that when everywhere the emphasis is on the reduction of the budget, why is the super license fee being increased. Infact a few of the drivers did protest, but these things never work out. Bernie has made it absolutely clear that unless the license is paid the driver will not be allowed to race.

Moving on from the much hyped and discussed topic of recession and budget control, this season the driver-team lineup has almost remained the same. Vettel is I suppose the only exception, replacing Coulthard.

I have been following the winter testing and Ferrari looks a competitive package this time. Last year they were struggling a bit during the testing season, while this time around they have been at the top setting the pace almost every time. The pace seems to be good, and Raikkonen for once looks motivated. Hamilton had put his car through the laps well, but Hekki seems to be struggling coming to terms with the new car. This does make me feel hopeful of a Kimi resurgence. I feel sad for Alonso though. Having shown sparks of brillance towards the end of the last season, I expected much more of him during the pre-season training. The results have been pretty ordinary by his standards. I would love to see him at the top chasing down the Ferraris and the McLarens. He is one man I despised during the Schumacher era, but came to appreciate his talents later on. Give him a BMW an I am sure he’ll make life a hell for Kimi, Massa and Hamilton. He’s a class apart.

Its an anxious wait, striking off the days to the Melbourne Grand Prix. May the best Ferrari win.

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F60 Unveiled

Published on January 14, 2009 in Sports. 0 Comments
Ferrari
Image via Wikipedia

Yay, finally the time has arrived when the teams present their new challengers. Ferrari is the first one to roll out its F60 for the 2009-2010 season, which it did at its Maranello base on Monday.

The car looked quite odd though. The new regulations require a longer front wing and a short high rear one. Also the car had slick tyres on it. The KERS system has also been installed on the car, though Ferrari is yet to take a decision if it wants to use the KERS or not.

Generally Ferrari names its car after the season in which they will be used. The previous one for instance was called the F2008. This one though has been christened F60 to commemorate the milestone of Ferrari being the only team to have participated in all the 60 Formula One Championships.

Massa was pretty excited about the new car while Raikonnen was once again eager to get onto the race track to wrestle back the championship from Hamilton. With lots of rule changes this season, not to forget the re-introduction of the slick tyres, the choice of adjusting the front wing twice per lap so as to gain extra performance while overtaking, and the newly introduced KERS it should be a great season to watch.

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Who Deserves The Formula One Crown

Published on October 22, 2008 in Sports. 2 Comments

Another season has come to an end. The top two contenders have set for themselves a title shootout at Brazil. The chances are however skewed towards Hamilton who has a comfortable 7 points lead over Massa. All Lewis Hamilton has to ensure is that he needs to finish atleast 5th if Felipe Massa goes on to win the championship. And considering all the things he has done this year, its a small feat to achieve. For Massa though, it is an uphill task, not entirely in his hands. He needs to win to maximise his chances and hope for Lewis to commit a blunder, something Lewis hasn’t done this season.

So what hope does Massa have? If we look back in time, an year earlier, Lewis was under similar predicament. He had a seven point lead over Kimi Raikkonen when they arrived for the final race in Brazil (deja vu for Hamilton ?). But Alonso was the one challenging him then, and the top two contenders self destructed each other and allowed Kimi to claim the glory with a margin of just a single point.

Who are Massa’s allies? Well, ofcourse team mate Kimi for one. Alonso has vowed to help out Massa in his fight against the McLaren driver (few grudges last longer than expected). But not many to fill in the 5 places between Massa and Hamilton. I still maintain the best chance for Massa is to have Kimi smash into Hamilton at the start of the race (Raikkonen could argue that he just out-braked himself and couldn’t have done anything t avaoid the unfortunate disaster). Otherwise, Massa will just have to put in his best efforts and pray tothe gods to for once let Lewis’s car malfunction.

So who amongst these is the worthy candidate for the no. 1 driver in F1 position? I argue none!

Both Massa and Lewis had been awarded the best cars present on the grid. They had the best people working along to ensure that they go on and win each race possible. They had unlimited funds available to sustain the development of the 2008 car (most of the teams had switched to the next years cars long time back, while McLaren claims it has enough funds and crew members to develop both the cars – present and the future). So if these two are at top of the things, then its not only their effort, but the good fortune they have been blessed with of driving for their respective cars.

Take a look at drivers just a few places lower into the grid and you’ll find two champions. Robert Kubica and Fernando Alonso. They are the ones who have driven perfect races and extracted the most out of their cars, race after race.

Right from the beginning, Kubica maintained a good chart position performing consistently in each race. Finally, when he won the Canadian GP, he was viewed as a serious contender. But due to limited funding, BMW decided not to continue development of the present car and to actually switch to the new car. This was a big blow for Kubica who had a few words with the team principal. However, it is understood that things settled down, and Kubica continued his good run throughout the season. The BMW was not fast enough to out pace McLaren or Ferrari, yet he always mainted a gap which gave him a shot at the title.

Take a look at the double world champion and you’ll realise the stuff he’s made out of. He was shunted in McLaren for the rookie Hamilton, and decided to not continue. They parted ways and he returned to the team with which he had won the two championship titles. But this time Renault had been struggling. The freeze on engine development had hit Renault the most and it lost its footing. Infact, it was having to fight off the second tier teams. This was the team which welcomed back Alonso. And now take a look at what Alonso has achieved with the same team. No one ever predicted a podium finish for the spaniard this season, but instead he proved everyone wrong by claiming two races successively. He was amongst the points in nearly every race. Ranault now finishes the season fourth in the constructors championship – well ahead of their predicted position.

Had Kubica or Alonso driven in Ferrari or McLaren, they would have accumulated far more points than what Lewis and Massa have done. Alonso and Kubica have outclassed everybody on the grid. I would love to see them drive for Ferrari someday – they might go on to achieve (or perhaps better) what the legendary Michael Schumacher has done.

I would rate the drivers worthy of being the champions in the following order -

  1. Robert Kubica : He performed consistently with a car whose development was halted midway.
  2. Fernando Alonso : A very strong comeback in the later part of the season.
  3. Kimi Raikkonen : Worst hit by mis fortunes. He surely deserves to win, evident from the fact that he has most number of best lap times.
  4. Felipe Massa : Also hit by problems not his making. But whatever, I feel he doesn’t have the attitude to carry the championship tag. He needs to be more aggresive and think by himself instead of taking orders and doing whats safe.
  5. Lewis Hamilton : The least deserving candidate. Extremely arrogant. Known to make mistakes under pressure. Put him in a BMW and you’ll see him cry. He’s just riding on good fortunes to have actually start the career with a McLaren.
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Lewis Races From Pole To Chequered Flag

Published on October 19, 2008 in Sports. 0 Comments

Lewis Hamilton overcame the demons of his past to complete an almost perfect weekend, leading from the pole to the chequered flag. It was complete dominance on his part, and at no point of time were the Ferrari seen as competitive.

Even before the race started, the confidence level in Ferrari paddock was low. Hamilton appeared to be under no such pressure. The reason was to become clear in the next 15 laps. Massa had fueled lightest and yet failed to beat Lewis’s qualifying time ! The writing was on the wall – it would be almost impossible to beat Hamilton unless the rookie driver made a mistake.

But Hamilton drove a great race, zooming ahead from the start. He was pulling away on the harder set of tyres leaving the Ferraris of Massa and Kimi (who were both on the option set of tyres) behind by about 2 tenths a lap.

Kimi had a good, rather uneventful afternoon, in which he made no mistakes and completed the laps without ever challenging Hamilton. However, as was obviousy anticipated, he handed over the second position to Massa in the dying moments of the race to settle for a third place. He now stands fourth in the championship, trailing Kubica by 6 points.

Massa looked tired in his Ferrari. Evidently his car wasn’t handling as well as he would have liked it to. He was off the pace the whole afternoon. Aloso completed the race distance to take a complimentary fourth position. Having had back to back successes, he was content to play the safer game and settle for the fourth place. Renault now sits comfortably at the fourth position in the constructors championship.

Hekki suffered the most when his tyres deflated and later on the damage caused to the car while getting it back to the pits forced him to retire. Thus Ferrari now have a 11 point advantage over McLaren in the constructors championship.

The procession now moves to Brazil for the season finale in two weeks time. Lewis is pretty sure to be crowned champion. For Massa, there is little to fight for. All he can do is try to win, but the ultimate victory will depend on where Lewis finishes. A seven point deficit is too much to feel confident about. Unless somehow miraculously Hamilton commits a grave error and Massa finishes amongst the top two drivers, Hamilton has become the champion. Ferrari were the undoing of themselves. Questionable decisions from the pitwall, and unreliability issues plagued the chances of their drivers successes. I hope to see better performance by the prancing pony team in the next season.

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How Lewis Can Win The Title In China

Published on October 18, 2008 in Sports. 0 Comments

With just two races to go, the fight for the championship could not have been more exciting. As Alonso noted  last week both the title contenders have made errors and lost a lot of points. The leader has managed just 84 points this season, far less than what were seen in the previous seasons.

However, Hamilton can wrap it up this this in China. To do so, he must extend his current 5 point lead to more than 10 points over Massa. Mathematically even Kubica is in reckoning, but given the car and his rivals, his chances are pretty slim.

So, these are the equations for Hamilton to pip Massa – he must out score Massa by atleast 6 points and concede no more than 2 points to Kubica, which can be done in three ways -

  • Win with Massa finishing no higher than 5th.
  • Finish 2nd with Massa no higher than 7th.
  • Finish 3rd with Massa failing to score and Kubica not winning.

But once again, this is Hamilton we are talking about. Last year he held a 17 point advantage over Kimi and went on to lose the championship battle. Last race he again displayed that pressure is getting to him.

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Kimis’ Ferrari Contract Extension

Published on September 12, 2008 in Sports. 0 Comments

The news couldn’t have come at a better time for Ferrari’s ace driver and the defending champion Kimi Raikkonen. He has been granted an years’ extension to his previously 2009 expiring contract. He now has a contract which lasts till 2010, as long as Massa lasts.

The declaration also puts an end to the rumours of Fernando Alonso’s joining the Maranello based outfit. Speculations were rife that Alonso might switch to Toyota for an year and aim for a seat at Scuderia the next season. Also Kubica was being singled out as a worthy candidate to replace Kimi at the end of the next season. 

This must be a real morale boost for Kimi. He was in knee deep trouble earlier not having scored a podium for some time. But not everything was his undoing. Fate deserted him recently. Engine blowing off, rain washing away his hope of victory after having led till the third last lap and more to count. 

At the moment its fun to watch Massa and Kimi wrestle each other for the top drivers sopt at Ferrari. Massa must feel he deserves the top spot, but Raikkonen refuses to just give in to the pressure and he has been supported by the team president himself. And once again it appears like Hamilton is feeling the heat of contending for the cup. The championship couldn’t get more exciting. 

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