On The Podium

After being in F1 for more than four decades, they are known as the one of the sport's oldest and most glorious teams, with fabled drivers,(Juan M.) Fangio,(Michael) Schumacher,(Niki) Lauda,(Alain) Prost, (Phil) Hill and many others driving for them, and of course, their infamous digits that speak for themselves. 850 Races, 15 driver's championships, 16 constructors' titles, 220 wins, and 668 podiums! Yes, I'm talking about Ferrari. Image is everything in F1. And Ferrari being one of the oldest on the grid, sure have established theirs in the sport. Ferrari, the "best" F1 team, celebrated glorious days back in the 2000's with Michael Schumacher. With super digits and big drivers speaking for them, we would expect Ferrari to be the "best" in terms of everything. Car, drivers, strategy.. and they were! No doubt. But ultimately, the team in itself, in the recent years, is a let down. Ferrari's 'spoil-sport' attitude started way back

Sebastian Vettel will remain the long waited for, 2012 world champion after FIA stated 'no case' to answer over Vettel's overtaking move on Toro Rosso's Jean Eric-Vergne controversy, and hence the pass was legitimate.  A  green flag waved by the track before Vettel made his move overrides the flashing trackside warning lights which Ferrari were seeking clarification on. Charlie Whiting, FIA delegate quoted  that  the yellow-flag sector at Interlagos started at the light panel just before Turn 3, at marshal sector 3, and ends about 150m before Turn 4, where a green light panel is displayed. However, there is a marshal's post in between these two panels and a green flag was being waved there on that lap. Under the FIA's rules for the Brazilian GP, if a green flag is displayed before a green light - as it was in Vettel's case - it is the first green that counts. Therefore, there will be no further action taken on this case.  Congratulations Seb and R

F1 season is over. It was a brilliant showdown in Brazil. Thank the rain for all the excitement and for bits and pieces of nail and hair all over the floor. All settled. Sebastian Vettel is the youngest ever 3 time world champion, though Alonso took the chequered flag under the safety car in P2. Everyone was happy, for a nice and long season and finally, a world champion.  Right after all that happiness and relief, news pops in. "Vettel's title legal?"   Twitter burst with comments about this. "TAKE THE TITLE AWAY" sreamed Alonso fans and "Ferrari International Assistance [ F.I.A ]" Moaned Vettel fans. When confirmation came out, that the two moves Ferrari had spotted were legal, twitter was back to a socio-friendly site. Tweets with loads of omg's and ily's. On Wednesday, another uproar of tweets flooded my twitter. It was again Ferrari upto something. This time, it was a move on Vergne that caught everybody. A YouTube video suggesting that

It's been nearly 72 hours since Sebastian Vettel clinched his 3rd historic title. Now,  rumours and speculations cloud the minds of Adrian Newey, Christian Horner and Sebastian Vettel, as to if the 3rd title was meant to be forever. In the last 2 days, there have been video tapings of Vettel making 2 illegal moves. One on Kamui Kobayashi, and second on a Toro Rosso. The move on Kobayashi was cleared saying that it was the 'yellow-red' caution flag being waved and hence not illegal. Today morning, another video showed the 3 Time world champion (hopefully!) making another move, which apparently was illegal, on one of the Toro Rossos. Vettel  made a pass under one of the yellow flag periods.   Ferrari have been given the time until 30th November to appeal and protest. But Ferrari have no intentions in doing so.  Click Here for Analysis Yet, there are few people suggesting its not illegal. If you do observe the video closely, you'll find that Vettel only started the m

2010, 2011, 2012.. these 3 years would be treasured forever in Sebastian Vettel's life. The 25 year old German, who clinched his 3rd  consecutive title this Sunday in Brazil, certainly knows how to make his way from a small BMW Sauber team into one of the big teams, RedBull Racing.  In 2007, the german made it into F1. Indianapolis was the place and he started in 8th. On sunday, he became the youngest ever driver to score a point. 19 years and 349 days. It doesn't end there, in 2008, he worked as a full time driver for Toro Rosso. That year, he added another "youngest ever" to his list. After winning in a wet monza track, Seb became the youngest ever driver to record a win,  21 years, 73 days. Sebastian drove the very next year, with Toro Rosso's sister team, RedBull racing alongside the very experienced Mark Webber. He got them their first win and at the end of of the year, he was crowned vice-champion, beating Mark Webber and standing behind Jenson Button in

All through his career, McLaren has been 'the one'. In December 1995, at the age of 10, Lewis Hamilton approached McLaren Team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for McLaren one day." Nearly, after 14 years of the McLaren team nurturing and establishing Hamilton as 'one the best drivers on the grid', Lewis decides to move to another team in 2013, in sight of a 'new challenge'. That news hit fans like a lightning bolt. Would Lewis' fans shift heir base along with his  move to Mercedes? That same day, news erupted that McLaren have opted to replace Hamilton with Sergio Perez!  It was another dose of lightning strike. Sergio Perez, by then, had already finished thrice on podium and also showed he had winner worth talent in him and had a long way to go in F1. But surely, we didn't expect McLaren to make a hasty move and gamble their 2013 season with an inexperienced driver in a very experienced team

This is what Jaime Alguersuari had to say on 'Michael didnt defend againt Vettel'.  Alguersuari is an ex-Torro Rosso driver who apparently got 'KICKED' from Torro Rosso for under-performing in the 2011 season.  He has a 'strong sense of attraction' to fellow country-man Fernando Alonso. Seeing this comment from him was a bit of bittersweet. Start with the sweet. I think this is very sweet because I just realized I'm living in a world where 2 people of the same country can give up anything in hand to let his fellow country man live his dreams. I'm in a way very proud of him. And it's also kind of sweet, that he would do this despite knowing the fact that he's going to get kicked again , for doing such a thing, if he plans to drive for that team for another year and once again, he'll be jobless for yet another year of his life. Michael had no worries when letting Vettel pass for the championship and certainly, he had nothing at all to lose.

RedBull, McLaren, Lotus and Ferrari aren't the only ones on the grid. It's time we shed some light on the smaller teams. With Mercedes and Williams each having a win added to their portfolio, and Sauber having 4 podiums this season. All teams looked pretty good in the start of this season. Probably as Narain Karthikeyan said, it's all about tyre management. While the top teams like RedBull, McLaren and ferrari  were struggling with tyres, the smaller teams managed their podiums and wins. The moment when the big shots got the tyres working in the right window, it was the usual suspects on podium again. But if McLaren has gambled on Sergio Perez for a driving seat alongside Jenson Button next year, then there's no denying that, there is skill and talent in the new podium finishers this year.. Williams : (Pastor)  After many years, finally this year, williams sprung a surprise at the Spanish grand prix. Pastor Maldonado beat Alonso to win. Pastor wasn't quick only t

Lights, Camera and Action! every director hopes to create the a movie that excites the viewers and that hits big in the box office. Wondering where the movie topic popped up from? Well. I'm talking about a director-less film, which sure did hit the box office on a high and made the viewers feel worth of their 2 hours time every weekend. The perfect set up, 24 boys with crazy toys. The perfect background, around the world. The perfect script, strategies and management. The spice, unpredictability. The most realistic looking action, incidents. The romance, girlfriends and wives (Wags). The perfect ending, the world championship and 'happily ever afters'. And one more! The best parties for hits (wins) and the ruthless penalties for 'hits'. This is the movie: F1 2012  It was a thrilling end to an enthralling season.  Its was either Red or Blue, A bull or A stallion, wet or dry and more importantly, Vettel or Alonso. Voices spoke "Fernando" and &quo

It all started at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where 2 drivers, race winner Kimi Raikkonen and pitlane to podium master, Sebastian Vettel in 3rd, swore.  Headlines flashed from newspapers, to magazines, to websites - "DOUBLE WORLD CHAMPION SWEARS ON PODIUM". When the first wave of these headlines flashed, I ignored it. But the second time, it wasn't the press and the media fussing about with this news, but it was, in fact, the FIA! To be completely honest with the readers, the FIA and media have unnecessarily expostulated around this. And according to me, this all connects to the press conference being conducted in the podium.  Imagine , you build the best robot for your school science fair. Everybody said so. But on the day of the results, your competitor, influenced the judges to make himself win. You’re shocked to see you haven’t won, even after many favored your project. You’re agitated and don’t know why. After a few hours, the school committee found out and ri

That's it! It's now down to the next 72 hours to see who The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace will Favour. The championship has narrowed down to just 2 contenders, Alonso and Vettel, both double world champions seeking for their 3rd, in the final race of this dramatic yet thrilling season of F1. Sebastian Vettel, the reigning world champion currently enjoys coign of vantage with a 13 points lead,  heading into this 4.3 Km track.. But wait! You can't rule out Alonso yet! Seb has surely got a better car, and has optimised his results. But Alonso's relentless accretion of points over the course, has kept him well in reach for his 3rd. "Life at it's best, is completely unpredictable" Chris Walker. We have seen the unpredictable in the past, and its time to see it ONE more time this season. The circuit of Interlagos, feeds good excitement to the fans and a real challenge for the drivers. Its not just like "Any other track.." Sao Paulo in itself is pret

We are only 1 single race away from the end.. for the championship to be settled and to see who among the 2 best drivers on the grid - Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso will emerge winner of all. As of now, Vettel has an advantage of 13 points. Honestly, If I were to put my money on one of them, I couldn't have been able to decide. Alonso, experienced, aggressive and calm under given circumstances. On the other hand, Seb. He's young, psychologically fit, aggressive when he needs to be, and determined. So, who'll triumph over the other? We'll have to wait for a week more! :)  That's all serious - 'at the end' talks. This year's new addition - Circuit of the americas! F1 returns to America after 2007, and this can be said, the Americans havent lost it in them yet! 100,000+ fans!! And my, what a turn up! I would personally call the COTA something like a goodie bag. In which you get treats like Eau Rouge from Belgium, Maggots and Becketts from England

They may be friends off track, but on track, it HARDCORE racing! With just 1 race to go in the longest season in 60yrs of F1, its a showdown between the experienced and aggressive Fernando (Nando) Alonso  -VS- the young, calm prodigy Sebastian (Seb) Vettel. The climax is near with Seb in the lead from Alonso.  To stop Vettel winning the title, Below would be the ideal situation: Alonso          Vettel 1st                 4th or lower 2nd                7th or lower 3rd                 9th or lower

                            Who can put the kibosh on Sebastian Vettel? RedBull cars are known for their dominant pace during the entire course of an F1 weekend. So when 2012 season began, it was a shocker to notice such off paced cars from RedBull. The regulations of 2012 which banned the off throttle blown diffusers, had affected them dearly. Both Seb and mark relied on strategy and good tyre management for podiums and the team’s 2 race wins at Monaco and Bahrain.  With the first leg of the season, before the summer break, being a rollercoaster ride for the team, with respect to reliability issues , lack of pace and sometimes a mismanaged strategy.  All the 2 million spectators around the world muttered these words: “RedBull are simply,  just not quick enough”.  This was the story of the reigning constructor’s champions – RedBull racing before.. Round 14 : at Singapore happened. The RB8 was quick all weekend, through FP1, FP2, FP3 & qualifying. But a mistake in Q3 cost Seb