F1, Malay flavour.

Before I say anything else, I want to express my delight at the official confirmation that India will host a F1 race next year ! The track is said to be near Delhi (apparently in Noida, read more here.) and the race will no doubt generate even more interest for the sport amongst the masses and revenue for the organisers and politicians ! I wonder what difference would it do to the average man’s driving; as it is,  everyone on the Indian roads seems to be in a race against another. Hmm, they might actually give the F1 drivers a few tips, for all we know !

Now that the main news is out of the way, I shall move on to my monologue. Malaysia has for years been my favourite circuit on the calendar. It has a wide track, two great straights and many corners that provide for overtaking and therefore great racing. Today was no different. We saw a really good start, great first corner moves, a fantastic opening lap and some great scraps throughout the race. The Petrov-Hamilton fight was as absolute classic. They jostled against each other, leapt, snarled, hissed and pushed their cars to the limit in an effort to go one better than the other. Hamilton had done well to finish where he did after qualifying so low down the order. I wonder who made the decision to release him so late for the qualifying, I am sure there is a conspiracy going on at McLaren so that they take decisions that prove detrimental to his chances of winning the race. But being the modest guy that he is, he didn't complain, took it in his stride and kept going until he saw the rear end of Sutil’s car. It was perhaps then that he decided to go a bit easy and cruise behind Sutil, seeing that the Force India car has such a beautiful livery and a sexy rear wing and diffuser.

No doubt Vettel was jubilant at the end, he had after all achieved what he had set out to do. He took Webber by surprise at the start and then maintained his lead throughout, helped significantly by the mechanics who kept him stationary in the pit lane for a mere 3.9 seconds! However, I personally feel that Chandhok would have been the most elated of the lot today. He has arguably the poorest team on the grid, an underperforming car to drive, the nephew of one of the greatest drivers as a team mate and the expectations of a billion people (not literally of course) to deal with. Under such circumstances, he not only finished but also lapped Trulli and Bruno Senna. Now that is what calls for a huge celebration. If he manages to pull it off again, he will no doubt have achieved something that Karthikeyan never managed. Does that make Chandhok a better driver than Karthikeyan? I don’t believe so, just as finishing above Schumi doesn’t make Rosberg a better driver than him. Schumi’s poor run continues, although this time it was due to a mechanical problem. He seemed better today, had the pace and did well to jump a few positions after the start. However, a good finish eludes him. The season is not yet over and he will bounce back, of that I am sure.

Malaysia is also a race of attrition as was evident with quite a few mechanical failures. It is hard to say whether the cars were carrying little niggles prior to the race or whether they developed so along the course. Whatever the case, Alonso certainly felt the pinch. He had done well to nurse an ailing car almost till the end. He stayed subdued, maintained race position, picked up speed later and did a daring move on Button in the penultimate lap. Sadly his engine soon breathed a last smoky sigh. I dont know what is wrong with the Ferraris, but they seemed to lack pace for most of the race, just as they did in the previous GP.

Despite a good spectacle that we had today, one must remember that it was so because the rain mixed up the grid nicely yesterday. I still dream of a race where most teams are comparable in performance, do not suffer any mechanical failures and where they don’t end up in a procession from start to finish. Least of all, I hope they don’t all look similar !

(image courtesy IJsselstein)

F1, stalled !

The new Formula 1 season is upon us and it was with a  great deal of excitement that I looked forward to it, to see some of the most brilliant drivers of this age pitted against each other in competitive cars. The prospect of watching the pairs of Button and Hamilton, Vettel and Webber and Massa and Alonso battling it out as team mates and potential title contenders was mouth watering . Three additional teams had joined the fray and Force India looked to become a strong midfield contender this year. If this wasn’t reason enough, a certain Mr Schumacher had decided to return with the team that won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles last year. Which F1 enthusiast wouldn’t relish the prospect of such an exciting and compelling season ahead !

Sadly, it was all over in the first race. The excitement was short lived and in my case lasted for a few laps only. What was expected to be a exciting contest between drivers has now turned into a contest between the manufacturers. It is a bit like modern day cricket, where the conditions are heavily stacked in favour of the batsmen at the expense of the bowlers’ misery. Flatter pitches, regulations, protective equipment, heavier bats and even the ages old ‘benefit of the doubt’ have favoured the batsmen.

There is no balance left in the sport. Narrower tracks, an increasing number of ‘street circuits’ have hampered bold driving styles and overtaking opportunities. Any overtaking, if it happened, was due to the disparity in the cars’ weights, aero packages and driver skill. With the new regulations for 2010, I think it is time to safely say that F1 as we knew it is dead. No longer will we be able to see bold overtaking manoeuvres, wheel to wheel racing, frantic pit stops, elaborate strategies (not the Singapore 08 type !) and, to put it simply, some very good old fashioned racing. Which F1 fan can forget JP Montoya’s daring moves on Schumi and the rest in the years gone by and more recently, Kobayashi’s stunts last year at Abu Dhabi. It appears that F1 has stalled this year just when it was meant to accelerate away.

Personally I feel that there was nothing wrong with F1, until they brought in all the changes that is. F1 has always been at the pinnacle of motorsport, pitting both man and machine against each other leading the best combination to the top pedestal. It was a victory of both man and machine. Lately, it seems that the focus is just on the machine and the man has been forgotten in a world of eco-consciousness and corporate power struggles. The fun and thrill of seeing a human versus another has taken a back seat. Sunday’s race at Bahrain was testament to that. I had been waiting for this weekend, salivating all over at the prospect of seeing a good race but after the first few laps, I stopped drooling. My mouth got parched and I felt dehydrated. It felt as if the whole process had just got into reverse gear. The drivers had settled into formation, much like at Monaco, and it was the same train from start to finish, unless ofcourse, somebody crashed out or had mechanical issues. Barring a few exceptions the standings after the race mirrored those of the qualifying session. If I had the sensibility to understand this earlier, I would have just watched the qualifying session and not bothered watching the race ! I understand the importance of Monaco on the calendar and why drivers hold it in such high regard, but please spare a thought for the paying spectators and us television audience. We like to see good driving, racing and overtaking rather than a procession of cars from lap 1 to 70. And surely, one such race in a calendar year is enough !

Apparently, the FIA don’t think so, hence the slew of new changes. With the old system, atleast the refuelling left an element of suspense about each team’s strategy. With different cars running different fuel loads, we expected a frantic dash by some, a more sedate drive by others. We got to see overtaking not just at the first corner but many more times in the race. Pit stops made for exciting points in the race as that was where some of the strategies unfolded. The drivers could race at full tilt knowing that they don’t have to preserve their tyres and save them till the end of the race. Track positions changed hands frequently and as demonstrated last year, the final standings were not a replica of the qualifying sessions !

The best things in life are the ones that are simple and the administrators are FIA need to see this. F1 had only dulled over the past few years due to Schumi’s and Ferrari’s domination. It didn’t require a change in regulations to be more exciting, all it needed was an even playing field. Now that we have the drivers and more than one constructor who can push for victory, I think it is time the sport went back to the starting line. Cost cutting measures, safety regulations, green agendas are all fine but not in the one sport where money, risk and petrolheads are its living embodiment. Let man and machine be one again. Give us back the racing, give us back our Forumal 1.