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Preseason testing has suggested that Ferrari and McLaren are clearly ahead of the rest of the pack for 2008. Towards the end of 2007, I had expected Ferrari and McLaren to be not so dominating in 2008 because they were working on improving their 2007 car till the last race at the cost of ignoring development of their 2008 car. In contrast, BMW and Renault had started development on their 2008 car midway through 2007. I had expected BMW to match, if not exceed the pace of Ferrari and McLaren in the early part of the 2008 season, but that is not evident from the testing so far. One would’ve expected the spy scandal to have had a negative impact on McLaren’s development of their 2008 car, but their pace looks good so far. But questions on reliability may well be answered only when the races start.
The new rule requiring gearboxes to last for four races will test the reliability of the cars and I think it is a step in the right direction by the FIA. This, along with the engine change rule will increase the longevity of future F1 cars. Such rules will ensure that research going into developing an F1 car is more relevant to commercial automobiles.
The surprise packages during testing have been Williams and Red Bull. Kazuki Nakajima has impressed with his pace, though its yet to be seen how he fares in the races. Nakajima and Rosberg form a formidable driver lineup to back Williams’ resurgent car pace this year. After the critics had virtually written off Frank Williams’ team, this will be a remarkable comeback by a man who has dedicated all his life to his passion for racing. If Williams returns to the sharp end of the grid this season, the comeback will be complete and this will be a much greater victory for Frank Williams than any of his numerous past championship wins.
It will be good to see Fernando Alonso in a not so competitive Renault this year. It’s not very often that one gets to see a double world champion, at the peak of his form in a midfield car. I think being in a car which is clearly not expected to win will help Fernando a lot. He will not have the pressure to win. At the same time, Fernando will give a big boost to the team – psychologically and on the track – and Renault may be challenging for the podium midway through the season. I think we will see the best of Fernando Alonso this season. Despite all that was talked about him last year, one should remember that last year proved only one thing – Fernando, like Michael Schumacher and most former champions, will go to any lengths to win. He is not a saint, and does not (or perhaps should not) pretend to be one.
I am an Indian, but I don’t have much expectation from Force India this season. They will do well to beat Super Aguri (if Aguri makes it to the grid). The other two Japanese teams look disappointing so far. Even the great Ross Brawn will need a couple of years to make a visible impact to Honda’s performance. In a grid dominated by promising youngsters like Nakajima, Nelsinho, Sutil, Kubica, Hamilton, Rosberg and others, David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella seem to be out of place. 2008 may well be the last year for these veterans, who were good, but were always second best.
2008 promises to be an exciting season. We will find out if Fernando can win with a Renault, if Hamilton and Kovalainen can be friends, if Mario Thessien can finally mount the podium and if Mark Webber will finally get a car that his talent deserves.
March 8th, 2008
Vijay Mallya is undoubtedly the most flamboyant businessman in India. In the Indian press, he is often compared with Richard Branson of Virgin. He leads a colourful life and is a successful businessman. His spirits group- United Breweries- is an industry leader. He also owns ‘Kingfisher Beer’, which is a reasonably known international brand. More recently Mr. Mallya has entered the airline industry. Doing well in this segment will be much more of a challenge as the competitive landscape is extremely tough right now, and the stakes are much higher.
When Mallya’s Kingfisher airlines entered Formula One earlier this year as a sponsor to Toyota F1 team, it seemed to be a good, measured move which would enhance the brand visibility of his airline just as it was about to start services in international routes. But Mallya’s latest move to buy the Spyker F1 team is a much bigger move and an extremely ambitious one. It is to be noted that Mallya will use his own money - rather than involve any of the shareholders of his publicly listed company- for buying and running Spyker. The kind of money involved here is huge. Buying the team will cost around 80 – 90 million euros (450 crore Indian Rupees). In addition to this, the operations of the team will have to be financed. Considering that Spyker is presently a loss making entity (it made a loss of around 13 million euros in the first half of this year), this will be a very costly affair. Moreover, Mallya will be hoping for a turnaround in the team’s fortunes in another 1-2 years. This will be the most difficult part. Teams like Toyota and Honda have proved that money cannot guarantee success in this sport. And anyway, Mallya can never hope to match the budgets of the manufacturer-backed teams.
My guess is that, having entered the deal, Mallya will stick on with Spyker for 2-3 years and control the financial bleeding of the team. He is smart enough not to believe in miracles. He will try and minimize the bleeding of the team financially. He will utilize the 2-3 years to build a well-known brand out of his airline. He will try and bring in an Indian driver and use him to endorse his company. He will also try and make sure that an Indian Grand Prix happens- latest by 2009. At the end of these 2-3 years, Kingfisher Airlines will be known world over and Mallya would’ve achieved his objective. At the end of this period, Mallya will start looking for a good price at which to exit his ‘investment’. Inevitably there will be another corporate entity somewhere which would want to utilize Spyker’s (or whatever it will be called then) services for achieving its own corporate objectives, and the story will continue thus…
Things could go wrong though, if Spyker’s financial bleeding cannot be stopped without severely hampering its competitiveness. Mallya is rich, but he is not stupid. He is not a Roman Abramovich, who is spending his personal fortune on a soccer team to simply amuse himself. Mallya’s move is strictly business oriented. This is a calculated gamble that he is making. He is hoping that the money that he will bleed in Spyker will be compensated by making Kingfisher the airline of choice for flying in and out of India. But this is a risky move since Mallya is totally inexperienced in running an F1 team. I doubt if he has ever owned any motorsport team.
Mallya is going for all or nothing here. He is entering untested waters and the only reward that will justify his risk is if his airline becomes the number one Indian carrier in international routes. Here’s wishing Mr. Mallya best of luck in his leap of faith!
My Blog
September 2nd, 2007
One of the things that I miss these days in Formula One is a character- a driver with an attitude. As much as I am a fan of Fernando Alonso and increasingly of Lewis Hamilton, I cannot but admit disappointment at the highly diplomatic and rehearsed way they do their PR.
None of the top drivers today- Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton , Massa, Button … is capable of making the headlines when outside a racing car. They are simply not mercurial enough to be interesting characters. Even though Michael Schumacher was also of a similar mould, his ‘winning at any cost’ motto in life made sure that people are always interested in what he says. I feel that Formula One needs a Juan Pablo Montoya or a Jacques Villeneuve. In the good old days it was always amusing and interesting to hear what Montoya would say about Michael or what Villeneuve would say about the FIA. Nowadays it is a boring activity to listen to a post race press conference or an interview with the drivers.
There are scores of sportsmen out there who can keep talking pleasantries and exchanging smiles, who can give diplomatic answers to specific and pointed questions. To make a sport interesting, one needs to add the human element. Something like a personal rivalry or an emotional comeback or a man fighting the system and the politics. After all we are all humans. We appreciate human emotions being displayed on the sporting field- as long as it is within the rules and spirit of the game. If Alonso doesn’t like Hamilton, he should say so in the open. If Kimi Raikkonen feels that the new rules by the FIA are stupid then he should express his feelings. I am sure the FIA wouldn’t dare suspend a driver of his stature for such actions. Such things will give the human touch to the sport which it is currently lacking. This will also add enormous entertainment quotient to formula one. Lets not forget yet, that formula one is after all a sport and the primary motive of every sport is to provide entertainment to the spectators.
I hope somebody emerges from the young blood in F1 as the new JPM or JV to keep the fans engaged between the races (as well as during them) by speaking their hearts out.
July 20th, 2007
I was very excited about watching a formula one race again after a long long gap. But that was the only exciting part of the race. The race itself was not very exciting. Lewis Hamilton made a great debut in a McLaren car which looked very good. McLaren was much closer to the Ferrari pace than I had imagined. I do not know about others, but I certainly missed Michael Schumacher. Something big was missing. I think it will take some time to get used to the void. Coming back to the race, Massa’s misfortune in qualifying robbed us of an interesting contest. I for one would really love to see what the Ferrari management will do if Massa has a 10-15 point lead over Raikkonen after 6-7 races. Nothing to take away from Kimi, the ice man had a perfect qualifying session and made no mistakes in the race. Ditto with Alonso. He did the best he could. He could have put some pressure on Kimi if he had gotten ahead of Hamilton and Heidfeld in the beginning. Bad luck to Kubica. I thought he deserved a top five finish. BMW has done a fine job in the last couple of years and the results are for all to see. Unless they screw it up badly, they should be there right at the top in 2008 or 2009. And that is where I see Massa or Kimi (whoever becomes the no. 2 driver in Ferrari) move into in the future.
As for this season, I think the good news is that Ferrari are not way ahead of the competition (at least not yet!). As the season develops, the fight will be between Ferrari, Mclaren and BMW. Renault will fade away slowly. I haven’t seen much of Kovalainen yet, but as of now, I believe Heidfeld and Kubica are better racing drivers than the Renault drivers. Toyota and Honda have been disappointing. Jenson Button must be cursing his luck again. If the FIA stands up to its commitment of making the sport much less expensive to compete, then I expect Toyota and Honda to stop existing as stand alone Formula One teams in the near future.
I almost forgot to mention the good performance of Felipe Massa whose only shortcoming in the race was his inability to overtake Fisichella in the closing laps. Also, a remarkable performance by Super Aguri. They actually beat Honda, Williams and the much hyped Red Bull. Another long wait before the next race in Malaysia. I just hope that this season is as exciting as the last year!
My Blog
March 21st, 2007
When I was a kid of about 10 years old, we got a cable connection at home. That was the time when satellite television was introduced in my country. Only a few channels were broadcast those days. My favourite channel those days was a sports channel which I would watch for long hours. In those early days I was introduced to formula one. In the beginning I did not realize the greatness of the sport. I did not even know what formula one meant. I did not know who Alain Prost was or who Ayrton Senna was. I hadn’t heard of Ferrari or Mc laren. I simply liked watching fast cars… and I felt a rush of excitement when a car overtook another. I continued watching the sport for many years on TV, not regularly, but whenever I did, I liked it. Years later, when my family moved to a big city, I met friends who were, to my surprise, also formula one fans. Only then did I realize that F1 had a fan following in India, albeit small.
Many years have passed. Now I know a bit of history about the sport. Some technical aspects too. One can say that I am a ‘more refined’ watcher of the sport now. I understand the strategy, the technicalities, the politics and the money involved in Formula One today. I know how crucial pit stops are. I know which tire does well in which track. I am mature enough to enjoy a Monaco race with the knowledge that overtakings will be exceptions.
There are many things about formula one that I feel attracted to. The glamour, the speed, the politics, the strategy, the personal rivalries, the technology. But I feel that it doesn’t matter that formula one drivers are driving their cars at 300 kmph. It wouldn’t have made much difference if they had been driving at 150 kmph. Of course, it feels good to know that your favourite sport is at the leading edge of sport. But that is not what made it my favourite sport. More than the technology behind the 300 kmph speed, I admire the courage of the men behind the wheels who take a parabolica or a eau rouge at that speed. I do not mean to belittle the efforts of the engineers and technicians behind the technology. Of course I appreciate the great efforts they put in. But they are not the reason I watch formula one.
I like watching the pit girls before the race and the celebrities that throng the tracks. But they are not what I dream about when I think of a race weekend.
When I think of the big money that is involved in the sport, it excites me. But that is not what keeps me awake on saturday night as I think of the starting grid the next day.
I ask myself- what is the one thing that makes me long for those weekends when I can watch a race. What is the one thing that made me love this sport so much even when I saw no one around me who had even heard of it.
It is simply watching two men fight each other with their courage and their talent. Each man fighting and exploring the limits of the grip in the tire, the limits of the car, the limits of the track and the limits of his own courage and the courage of his rival. That is what gives me an adrenalin rush. That is what gives me pure pleasure. Now THAT is why I love this sport.
January 20th, 2007
The 2006 FIA Formula One world championship has come to an end. Most people will agree that this season has by far been the most exciting in recent times. We have seen close fights in both the drivers and constructors championships, both of which were undecided till the last race in Brazil’s Interlagos circuit. Various changes in rules and regulations were introduced by the FIA before and during the season which added to the excitement. The new qualifying format was a hit with the spectators for sure. Also, the decision to allow tire changes during races helped drivers adopt more aggressive driving styles.
Formula One has lost one of its greatest champions and its most popular personality- Michael Schumacher- at the end of this season. Schumacher has been at his best in his last season. There is no denying that he is physically fit to have carried on for atleast 1 more year. Its probably the psychological factors that led to his decision to retire. Its very tough to keep oneself motivated week after week and test after test.
Fernando Alonso took his second consecutive drivers’ championship. Alonso will be taking a lot of learning from this season. He’s probably learnt that formula one racing is not all fun. The incidents in Monaco, Hungary and Imola and the mass dampers controversy and his alleged remarks against his team would have all added up to educate him on the harder side of life in formula one. This has not been like 2005 where he had built up a nice lead early on in the season and maintained it for the rest of the season. Alonso has gone through a lot of ups and downs in this season. Apart from the controversies mentioned above, the titanic battle with Michael Schumacher would have helped Alonso immensely to improve as a racer. Throughout the season he has absorbed pressure well. He has never given up in any race, always keeping the pressure on the guy ahead. He has shown creativity in overtakings. He has also shown that he is a brilliant defensive driver when the situation demands. He drove one of the best wet races in recent times in Hungary till the mistake from the pit crew undid him.
2007 will probably herald the beginning of the Alonso- Raikkonen era. Let’s hope the new Mc Laren car is decent enough to let this be a close enough fight. There will be some exciting new drivers on the block- Kubica, Rosberg, Hamilton and Kovalainen. Kubica has especially been impressive and with BMW’s steady improvement in this year, he might well end up among the top 5 drivers in 2007. It will be interesting to see how Raikkonen and Alonso adjust to their new environments. With Bridgestone being the sole tire supplier for 2007, the current Bridgestone teams might have early advantage next season. That should make the Ferraris favourites next season. But we all know that Formula One is not as straightforward as that.
The impact of the engine design freeze will be interesting to note. With new teams like Redbull and BMW improving by leaps and bounds, old horses like Williams will have to buck up soon. Otherwise sponsorship money will dry up before they realise what happened. Many people have written off Frank Williams’ team. But I beg to disagree. Frank Williams came up in life the hard way. He started with zilch. He has always been a hustler. He did not give up the sport even after a life threatening accident that left him half paralysed. The man is shrewder than what most people think. He has two advantages going into 2007. His team are on Bridgestones and he has a bright young driver in Nico Rosberg. I am sure he and Patrick Head will look to build on these strengths and help the team put in a better performance in 2007.
All in all, 2006 has been an eventful season to say the least. It has brought back the ‘excitement’ element to the sport. The adrenaline rush is there once more. Michael Schumacher will no doubt be missed next year. But the future of the sport seems to be bright with new rules aimed at cutting costs being introduced in coming years. Also, a host of young exciting drivers hold promise for the future.
October 23rd, 2006
I am one of the people who have disliked Michael Schumacher for a long long time. I am one of those people who have always criticised his attitude and arrogance. I am one of those people who thought it will be a great day when Michael Schumacher finally leaves the sport.
On Sunday I sat and watched the post race press conference in Monza. I heard the announcement from Schumacher. Somehow, what I felt was not happiness. I don’t know why. The guy whom I disliked most was leaving the sport. Far from being happy, I was actually a bit sad at heart. Imagine the start of the grid next year. No Michael Schumacher. Hard to think after all these years isn’t it. I always despised Schumacher’s ‘anything for a win’ attitude. But when I saw the emotions on his face yesterday, I realised that I have no right to despise that attitude. It takes a lot to get into F1. And even more to stay and to win. Being fast is not enough for you to get into F1. You should know to be bad. And Michael Schumacher knew how to be bad. He got into F1 under dramatic circumstances by cheating Eddie Jordan. And he cheated him again to go to a top team, Benetton. There were a lot more controversial things that happened in his career. But there is no point in stirring up those stories now. The point is that, you cannot be goodie goodie and get into F1 and become a world champion. I do not know much about Schumacher’s family background before he came to F1. But one thing’s for sure. This guy had the drive to win. He was born to win. He could never have done a ‘Barrichello in Ferrari’ kind of role for anybody. If he had taken up boxing, I am sure he would’ve been a champion. If he had been a businessman he would’ve been a very successful one.
When you have that kind of thing inside your head….which says that no matter what, you must go for the win, you must win….then I guess you get what we call the killer instinct. And Schumacher had a real killer instinct. And he was one tough SoB. Only he knows how much he wanted to get into the sport and how tough it was to get in. Only he knows the kind of hardships he had to go through in all these years. The kind of sacrifices he had to make for the sake of a win. He had to go racing the day after his mother died. And I think he won that race. Formula One is a tough tough sport. Schumacher was a hustler. I am sure inside his head he felt his actions in Jerez, Monaco, etc were completely justified. He was well within his right to demand preferred driver status in his team. There is no point in us arguing whether his actions were legitimate or not. Try to understand this man. When you have that kind of drive to win and that kind of ego inside your head, you cannot help doing what he did.
I have always intensely disliked Michael Schumacher and will perhaps always dislike him. But one thing’s for sure. I’ll miss him when the drivers line up on the grid in Melbourne next year. I hope there’s another Michael Schumacher (not just in terms of talent, but in terms of the head) among the new kids on the block. Love him or hate him, you cannot help think that Formula One will not be the same without him.
September 11th, 2006
Another race, another edge of the seat thriller. This is the most exciting season in recent years by far. Alonso’s driving in the last 15 laps was the best piece of defensive driving I’ve seen. After San Marino and Canada, this was yet another piece of ‘to the limit’ racing between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Unlike Canada and Imola, the Istanbul circuit is full of overtaking opportunities. This is what makes Alonso’s 2nd place even more special.
There were two turning points in this race. The first one was the safety car period which clearly worked in favour of Renault. The second one was Michael Schumacher running wide in one of the corners during his second stint. Had it not been for that, he would’ve gained track position over Alonso after the 2nd pit stop. A lot of observations could be made from this race. One of them is that Michael Schumacher made a mistake and Fernando Alonso did not. The same thing happened in Hungary too. To me, this is a sign that the Schumacher era is over and the Alonso era has begun. Alonso knew that his car was not as fast as the Ferraris. He had to drive a perfect race and hope for others (Michael) to make a mistake and for things to work out in his favour. And he did just that. A few people would’ve doubted Alonso’s temperament after Hungary, but Alonso proved today that he’s got a cool head on his shoulders and nerves of steel in his body. Nothing to take away from Michael. He drove a brilliant race in the last 15 laps, but Alonso was just too good. If Michael couldn’t, then nobody else could.
This result has proved one more thing. A faster car doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory. So it is 4 races and 12 points. Definitely a tight finish on the cards. The next race could also see some major announcements made by Ferrari regarding the future of its key personnel including Schumacher. But I really doubt that even if Schumi has decided to call it quits after ‘06, whether he will announce it at this stage of the season.
Brilliant driving by Fisichella and Massa too. But the real victor of the day was definitely Fernando Alonso.
Continue Reading August 27th, 2006
Usually I do not believe in destiny. But after watching yesterday’s race in Hungary, I felt that Fernando Alonso is destined to become world champion this year. On Friday Alonso committed some silly mistakes and got rightfully penalised for his actions. At that time the 2 second penalty imposed on his qualifying time seemed to have effectively destroyed his chances in this race. But just as the qualifying session was about to start, news came through that Michael Schumacher was also penalised 2 seconds for having committed a similar mistake. And then in yesterday’s race, when Alonso retired he must’ve been thinking about what could’ve been… But then, just as Michael Schumacher looked set to finish in a strong position and dent Alonso’s championship lead severely, he too retired from the race with just 3 laps remaining. Destiny, it seems, favours Alonso to win.
Continue Reading August 7th, 2006
It’s almost midway in the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship season. And Fernando Alonso seems to have one hand on the cup already. The season started in Bahrain this time instead of Australia. But it didn’t make much of a difference to Renault. They started very much like last year. They had the fastest car in the first 4 races. Schumacher and Ferrari upped their game in Imola. Imola was a good race, and ironically for Alonso, it was a complete reversal of last year’s race as he tried in vain to get past a struggling but determined Schumacher.
Continue Reading June 18th, 2006
