On The Podium

Mark Thompson/Getty Images Some say Formula 1 had peaked in the 1980 ’ s and ever since, the sport has seen nothing but a decent in its graph leading to a straight-line hit below on the x axis today. Racers of the yesteryear are unable to keep up with the way things are run; slowly letting that passion fade. And the new kids on the block, who are filled with relief and joy having made that final big step to join one of the crown jewels of motorsport, are being battered by the golden eyed racers of back-then. It is fair enough to say, two drivers who fit into this category are Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. Japanese grand Prix is one of the stand out races of the 2005 season. It was one race that cemented Alonso and Kimi ’ s names in the prestigious ‘ greats ’ book of Formula One. The former Ferrari teammates who ’ d qualified at the back of the grid in P17 (Raikkonen) and P16 (Alonso) due to hostile weather conditions sighed a breath of relief to know the race on Sunday

Murray Walker once said ‘Anything can happen in Formula 1 and it usually does’. Probably if you were watching the 1980’s races, you wouldn’t have been so wrong, but this today, it is definitely one quote distant from delineating the reality of Formula 1. An F1 fan in India had to stay awake up till 1am to watch the grand prix du Canada. With hindsight, Canada never fails to provide a good show. In 2011, the race went on for 4 hours with Jenson Button pitting 6 times, being thrown back to dead end of the field but finally taking the win. And who could forget 2014 when Daniel Ricciardo snuck his car ahead of the Mercedes to take his first win in what was a fantabulous race overall? Evidence is in the bag, nothing could go wrong with the thrilling competition around here. Unfortunately, 2015 was the beginning of may one-offs. The race was comfortably won by Lewis Hamliton, who as such as already pretty much sealed his world title this season, followed by Rosberg and Bottas. The

Starting on the front row for the Austrian Grand Prix are the two Mercedes drivers - Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg alongside Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.  Here's how the grid is set for tomorrow's race!