F1 2012

Red Bull 2012 Highlights

noreply@blogger.com (tarun khatri) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 22:37:39 PST

From the official Red Bull Website

"It's time to take a look back over the incredible year that was 2012 and remind ourselves of some of the mind-bendingly epic, unbelievable and world-changing events that took place in the Red Bull calendar"

It's been an amazing year for Red Bull, and some truly epic moments having taken place - Vettal winning his third F1 championship,12 year old Tom Schaar pulling off the world's first 1080 - and not forgetting Felix Baumgartner making world history by breaking the sound barrier with his free-fall from the edge of space, watched by an awe-struck 8 million people.

Catch up with all the exclusive content and incredible video highlights here http://highlights2012.redbull.co.uk/

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Michael Schumacher's last race of his career - His thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (tarun khatri) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:10:08 PST

Brazilian Grand Prix 2012 will be the last time we will see competing Michael Schumacher in a Formula 1 car. There is no doubt that he has been the best driver of all times, here are his thoughts on his last race.

When asked if he was likely to get emotional during the race about his 306th F1 start being his last, Schumacher replied:

"I know I will not. That's me. When I'm in the car, I'm focused 100 per cent on what I'm doing.

"Maybe in certain moments, such as when coming to the grid or when the chequered flag is down, I will think about this.

"Who knows, I might even be emotional in that moment... But so far there has not been too much of this."

Although not emotional about his departure, Schumacher admitted he had been affected by fans' outpourings of support at Interlagos this week.

"I'm obviously feeling touched. It is a very nice gesture from all those fans," he said.

"People who love motorsport liked what I was doing over all those years. It's certainly a good feeling. But I'm still focused 100 per cent."

He underlined he would not be changing his approach for his last race, or going for broke with a strategic gamble if rain hit.

"Usually in these conditions I try to do the best. It's not about gambling, it's about trying to be precise and spot on," said Schumacher.

Having already had the experience of retiring from F1 once, Schumacher added that he knew how he would feel when the 2013 season began without him.

"I have already been there sitting in front of the television and watching with interest," he said.

"I will have no hard feelings."

We at AAFORMULA1 will miss you Michael Schumacher.

Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

F1 2012 : Alonso or Vettel - CHAMPIONSHIP PERMUTATIONS

noreply@blogger.com (tarun khatri) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 06:36:18 PST

Alonso or Vettel - Who will be F1 2012 world champion

This is what Vettel needs to do to win the F1 2012 world championship

VETTEL WINS THE TITLE IF:

- He finishes in the top four
- He finishes fifth, sixth or seventh and Alonso doesn't win
- He finishes eighth or ninth and Alonso is third or lower
- He finishes 10th or worse and Alonso isn't on the podium

This is what Alonso needs to do if he has to win the F1 2012 world championship

ALONSO WINS THE TITLE IF:

- He wins and Vettel is fifth or lower
- He is second and Vettel eighth or lower
- He is third and Vettel is 10th or lower

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

F1 Weather Forecast: Brazilian GP, Interlagos - Sao Paulo (F1 Live Weather updates)

noreply@blogger.com (tarun khatri) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 23:46:13 PST

Brazilian Grand Prix and rainy weather is not a big surprise. There is every possibility that we end the season 2012 with a wet race.

Live weather widget below shows rain on Saturday and Sunday (24th and 25th October). So Let's keep a very close eye on the changing weather conditions of Brazilian F1 circuit : Interlagos. For all the latest happenings from the Brazilian Grand Prix : Interlagos : Be with us on Facebook

Free Weather Widget

Narain karthikeyan | The lost identity

noreply@blogger.com (tarun khatri) — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 23:38:56 PST

Written by Sandeep Ganesh

The lost identity | Narain karthikeyan (Still the fastest Indian Ever!)

He drives and takes corners at speeds what no other Indian can even imagine. He faces G-forces what only our Air-force Pilots experience and his heart beats at a rate almost thrice the rate of ours. Millions around the globe may recognize him by his name, but have forgotten his true identity.

His drive in the ill-fated team Hispania Racing Team is ruining his career progress and seriously hiding him from showcasing to the world, the raw talent and speed he possesses.

“The spectators call him slow, his team asks him to get more sponsors to retain his drive, his engineers echoes a radio message of system failure every race. He doesn't showcase the world his worries, but instead hides those in his smile and pushes even harder to get the best out of his available resources.”

A walk through the paddock and you can identify him by his wide grin and rustic Indian looks. Go ahead and have a chat with him and you will be astounded by his graciousness and humility.

However fast the sport is, he will always stop by and honor your wishes of taking his signature or a photograph.

“ The world has forgotten his true identity. All that the audience notices is his broken car stopping in the middle of the race. “

How many of the viewers have even looked back at his career highlights? Whatever impression they have of him will change instantaneously. He has proved his skills and talent in every event of the numerous he has participated. Here is the list of championships he has taken part in:

Formula Vauxhall Junior Championship, Formula Ford Zetec series, British Formula Ford Winter Series, British Formula Opel Championship, British Formula Three Championship, Formula Nippon F3000 Championship, Telefónica World Series, Nissan World Series, The 24 Hours of Le Mans, A1 GP, NASCAR and Superleague Formula.

Stunned?

Not just participation, but he has won many of them also. Even more surprising should be the fact that he is an Indian and achieved all of the above. An Indian unlike the European counter parts faces many hurdles such as infrastructure, sponsors, technology etc etc. But he did not let any of those to stop him from achieving his ambition: Drive in Formula One, the pinnacle of motorsport.

In 1996, he became the first Indian and the first Asian to win the Formula Asia International series. He tested a Formula One car for Jaguar Racing team as early as 2001, when he was just 24!! His formula one drive in 2005 for Jordan team came to end as he could not satisfy their monetary demands.

He continued as a test driver for Williams F1 team but it too came to a halt after his main sponsor TATA pulled out. His efforts bore some fruits, when he returned to Formula One to drive for Hispania Racing Team in 2011. But it has done more harm than any good.

“He is easily one of the Worlds Most Underrated drivers.”

Politics & Money have taken over the sport and have deprived many to survive and excel in the sport. Coming from a country where Motorsports is not recognised as a Sport, he has risen and successfully achieved his ambition of driving in Formula One. But noticing his raw skill and ability gone unnoticed is very disappointing.

His growth story will distinguish him from rest of the drivers in the global Motorsport community. He is a true representative of India's young spirit and he has set an example for the entire Motorsports fraternity of India to follow.

His true identity is lost and the many may never realize it, but for me and other million Indians, he will continue to be our hero. #trueindian.

For all those who still criticize him, all that I have to say is:

“ Those who can -- do. Those who can't – criticize ”.

myf1eye@gmail.com

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Twist of Fate for Vettel

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 08:43:36 PST

Sebastian Vettel had got everything under control, in the way he would’ve wanted until Indian GP of last weekend with no reliability issues as he witnessed with the alternator few races before and certainly could win seven races on the trot if he can win the remaining three events. But today he took a hammer blow which suggested that the title battle would go on nip and tuck to Brazil.
Vettel started how it meant to be with sticking faster times in all the sessions ahead or slightly behind Mclarens but in the final practice of today he saw the tale twisting a bit. He couldn’t utilise the entire hour as brake problems faded his track outing but he did head out in the final stages for a seven lap run. Nevertheless got into pace in a very shorter time.
Something to satisfy him on FP3 was the best middle sector time he managed to pull out in his last lap. The crucial qualifying session commenced with Vettel having a slight disadvantage of not having run in the afternoon practice. He locked up a several times and even kissed the armco with his rear left tyre after the turn 19 exit.
He was absolutely on the limit whilst creeping up more mistakes. To be honest, I’ve never seen Vettel doing so much blunders within an hour’s time. When Hamilton dipped in the 1:40s mark, it was clear that the pole chance has been taken away from Vettel. But the real drama came when Vettel headed back to pits after claiming p3.
He parked the car instantly on the sides as he was asked to by his race engineer. Christain Horner said the Renault authorities wanted them to do so and baffled of what the reason it could be. It’s reminiscent to the Hamilton incident in Spain when he was disqualified from his pole for not having enough fuel on-board for the mandatory FIA test.
It took four and half hours to investigate and decide on Vettel’s matter after he visited the stewards panel for inquiry. According to Article 6.6.2 of FIA Formula One Technical Regs, the car 1(Vettel) was investigated as it didn’t return to pits under its own power. The stewards accepted the hearing from concerned staffs and driver and considered it as a force majeure(unexpected event).
The rule says:
6.6 Fuel draining and sampling
6.6.1 Competitors must provide a means of removing all fuel from the car.
6.6.2 Competitors must ensure that a one litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time during the Event. Except in cases of force majeure (accepted as such by the stewards of the meeting), if a sample of fuel is required after a practice session the car concerned must have first been driven back to the pits under its own power.
6.6.3 All cars must be fitted with a -2 ‘Symetrics’ male fitting in order to facilitate fuel sampling. If an electric pump on board the car cannot be used to remove the fuel an externally connected one may be used provided it is evident that a representative fuel sample is being taken. If an external pump is used it must be possible to connect the FIA sampling hose to it and any hose between the car and pump must be -3 in diameter and not exceed 2m in length. Details of the fuel sampling hose may be found in the Appendix to these regulations.
6.6.4 The sampling procedure must not necessitate starting the engine or the removal of bodywork (other than the cover over any refueling connector).
But they couldn’t agree more on Red Bull’s claims. As per the same article, they apparently breached the fuel sample regulation. Stewards said Vettel’s car had 850 ml fuel on board which was not enough for the required one litre fuel sample. Therefore, he was excluded from the qualifying session and allowed to start at the back of the grid but he opted to start from the pitlane for tomorrow’s race.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was convinced that the necessary fuel for the mandatory one-litre sample was in Vettel’s car but the(6.6.4) regulation preventing the removal of bodywork meant that it could not be extracted. He said
“The rules dictate that one litre has to be able to be provided without the removal of bodywork, without manipulating the car.
“We believe that the fuel is in the cell, according to what Renault have told us, but you cannot dismantle the cell to give the sample.
“The car will be worked on tonight, so it is out of parc ferme, and we should have a better understanding and hopefully a cure for tomorrow.”
Why did it took so long for stewards to get the word out when Hamilton’s decision came fairly easy? I have no answer for that. There have always been concerns of engine mileage this season and Renault’s Remi Taffin said in the press conference that a new engine was being offered for their customers this weekend. Vettel can make a gearbox change if he wants now.
Alonso could arguably have felt a shy of relief as his main championship rival is thrown out of the result. This is a mega turnaround on this spectacular season where we have already had seven different drivers winning as much races since Melbourne. Despite having two DRS zones, overtaking is highly unlikely at Yas Island. Though Vettel will push as hard as he can, Alonso’s car is vulnerable on sector 1 so he needs to bag as much points as possible from p6 to close the 13 point gap that exist.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Hamilton stamped his authority in Abu Dhabi qualifying

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 08:42:54 PST

In the picturesque Yas Marina Circuit, time arrived to separate the best from the rest. Vettel has claimed pole twice with Hamilton conquering it once of the three meetings in Abu Dhabi. It was likely to be a straight forward battle between Mclaren and Red Bull with Lotus threatening to be in the mix as seen from the practice outings, and can Alonso who clearly pushing his car to the limit, through an element of surprise?

Since it’s a day-to-night qualifying, pitlane opened for q1 with track temperature reducing by nine degrees since the afternoon practice to 31-deg C. Grosjean and Kobayashi along with their midfield counterparts marched down the quirky pitlane exit which tunnels underneath and existed out of Turn 2 to start things off.

Apart from Marussia and HRT, every other team headed into the session on medium tyres. Kobayashi was the first to set a timed lap after settling in for a few laps with 1:43.939s. Maldonado looked quick all weekend and straightaway four tenths up to go quickest ahead of Grosjean and Resta while the future team-mates Hamilton and Rosberg headed out of pits.

Raikkonen was having a competitive car in a while and despite taking some tenths off in sector 1, he could only emerge second. Meanwhile, Alonso topped the timing screen with a very little margin of -0.021s before Maldonado disposed him off the top with a better run. Button was five hundredths down in his first run with Perez improving to eighth +1.13s off the lead.

Hamilton had undergone persistent lock ups as he tried to overshoot the brakes and went off the road while Raikkonen moved up in the order to second with two tenths down on leader. Alonso suffered lack of grip in sector one all the time despite nudging ahead of the leader board with a better lap, two tenths up on Maldonado.
Alonso, Maldonado, Raikkonen, Button, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Schumacher, Massa, Perez and Rosberg top 10 after half the session completed.

Vettel on his first run managed a p13 while a massive lock up encountered from Lewis’ car. Resta reported as saying disastrous traffic ahead while Williams’ Maldonado out brakes himself before bolting on a new set of softs. A blistering lap from Hamilton vaulted him up to the top with a stunning six tenths lead over his nearest rival with a time of 1:41.497s as Ron Dennis looked on. Vettel made some tiny errors which could’ve caused him so badly, locking up his wheels and almost shoving his car into the Armco after the exit of turn 19.

With five minutes left on the clock, Hamilton led from Alonso, Massa, Button, Vettel and Maldonado with Webber down at p13. Webber committed himself and jumped out of drop zone to go second fastest, four tenths down on Hamilton. Senna, Ricciardo, Kobayashi, Resta and Vergne were in the danger of elimination and needed a quick lap of 1:42s.

While Vettel’s lap helped him up to fifth, Vergne did his personal best lap, six tenths quicker than previous time on soft tyres, but not quick enough as he overcooked a kerb in final sector. He was asked to push for one more lap which didn’t help him either as found himself lining up on the grid with the usual suspects for eighth time this season.

With Vergne nearly a second off of required time into q2, Rosberg from nowhere moved up to second. Vergne’s spin aided Senna and Perez as they almost came together while aiming to put a lap in before the time ran out. At the bottom, Charles Pic with an impressive lap split the two caterhams and out qualified his team-mate quite comprehensively.
GRID – 18 to 24: Vergne, Kovaleinen, Pic, Petrov, Glock, De la Rosa and Karthikeyan

After seven cars eliminated, q2 was underway and the majority of cars including Kobayashi, Button, Hamilton and Massa headed on to the track quickly for a q3 berth. Resta set the early lap but Maldonado overhauled him for p1. Grosjean was looking quick all Friday and set a time seven thousandths up on team-mate Raikkonen.
Rosberg took too much of kerb and let the underside spark when landed hard. Most of the teams switched over to yellow soft tyres when Raikkonen topped the timing board. Alonso lost a bit of time in sector 3 to see himself in second behind Hamilton who improved a tenth on his fastest q1 time.
Vettel took a turn 12 side while Massa set a lap good enough for sixth. Sebastian Vettel replaced Alonso for second while Grosjean stayed in fifth. Webber beat Hamilton’s time to top the table but Hamilton dug deep again to enter into 40s mark with a 1:40.901.

Force India drivers were not as quick as Maldonado’s Williams who loved this street-like track. Hamilton led from Webber, Vettel, Alonso, Grosjean, Raikkonen, Massa, Button, Maldonado and Hulk with three minutes left on clock and running. Kobayashi was five tenths down in p15 when Maldonado still languished in ninth.
Paul di Resta hadn’t improvised and seemed as if his new chassis complemented him nothing. Senna disappointingly ended the session in 15^th with four tenths down for q3 qualification. Mixed emotions in Mercedes garage as Rosberg managed to squeeze in and progressed while Schumacher apologised for getting confused with KERS harvesting.

Alonso wanted a clear lap ahead and he got so until the final corner where Webber slowed down a bit. He reported on his team radio about this, but from the replay it was apparent that the Aussie was far ahead to influence on Alonso’s lap time, no lose or gain for the frustrated Fernando even though he felt so.
GRID – 11 to 17:
Hulkenberg, Perez, Resta, Schumacher, Senna, Kobayashi and Ricciardo

It was all down to the final session, both Mclarens and Lotuses were first out on track and Raikkonen set the timing sheets alight. After most of the frontrunners set a timed lap, the order was like this Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, Button, Kimi and Romain.
Hamilton’s time of 1:40.630 looked comfortable for pole. With four minutes remaining, Massa was able to come up with a time four times shy of Hamilton’s for sixth. Maldonado put on a storming lap to stimulate the top four for another run as he sandwiched in between the Red Bulls.

Webber kept it tight and went three tenths off the pace of leading pacesetter to go second while Raikkonen tried as much harder only to pull out a lap five tenths slower than Hamilton. Button again found himself casualty to tyre degradation in the final stages as he went six tenths down on pole time. Rosberg out qualified his team-mate for the ninth time and will start the race from fourth row of the grid.
It was Hamilton’s 25^th pole with such a dominating drive in the twisty final sector. Webber may have hate to drive in here but despite the KERS issues and burning the undertray he incurred on Friday it was a rewarding second place. Thanks to Vettel’s penalty though, as all the cars on the grid will move up a place. Maldonado was credited with third, starts beside Raikkonen on the second row, quite alarming.

Button and Alonso share the third row ahead of Rosberg and Massa with Grosjean and Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10. As for penalties, Reprimand for Perez’s impediment of Senna in q1. But stopped in the in-lap and as a result had to face the consequences as he was asked to.
It took four and half hours to investigate and decide on Vettel’s matter after he visited the stewards panel for inquiry. According to Article 6.6.2 of FIA Formula One Technical Regs, the car 1(Vettel) was investigated as it didn’t return to pits under its own power. The stewards accepted the hearing from concerned staffs and driver and considered it as a force majeure(unexpected event).

But they couldn’t agree more on Red Bull’s claims. As per the same article, they apparently breached the fuel sample regulation. Stewards said Vettel’s car had 850 ml fuel on board which was not enough for the required one litre fuel sample. Therefore, he was excluded from the qualifying result and allowed to start from back of the grid. However, Vettel will start from the pitlane it appeared to have.

He can make set-up changes to his car and Christian Horner was convinced that the necessary fuel for the mandatory one-litre sample was in Sebastian Vettel’s car but that regulations preventing the removal of bodywork meant that it could not be extracted. He also said:
“It is an issue that was reported on the in-lap. The instruction from Renault was clear. They wanted us to stop the engine immediately due to an issue that they saw within the fuel cell. We did that.
“The FIA accepted that, they accepted the technical issue that Renault reported to us, and unfortunately as the regulations dictate there has to be a one litre fuel sample to be able to taken from the car, and it is only 850ml that has been extracted.
“Renault are convinced that the rest of the fuel is in the tank but we have taken the car out of parc ferme tonight to further investigate.”
He added: “It is a frustrating scenario and we need to get into the fuel cell to understand what the issue is. We are working with Renault on it, and they dictate the amount of fuel that goes into the car.
“They are happy with the margins, they are happy with the amount of fuel that should be in the car but for whatever reason we have had this issue on the slow down lap.”

This has changes the whole landscape of the championship. Alonso could arguably have felt a shy of relief as his main championship rival is thrown out of qualification. This is a mega turnaround on this spectacular season where we have already had seven different drivers winning as much races since Melbourne. Despite having two DRS zones, overtaking is highly unlikely at Yas Island. Though Vettel will push as hard as he can, Alonso’s car is vulnerable on sector 1 so he needs to bag as much points as possible from p6 to close the 13 point gap that exist.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Toro Rosso to continue with JEV and Ricciardo

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 23:27:48 PDT

Scuderia Toro Rosso has made its decision to retain the current squad of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne for the 2013 season. It’s not a surprise after all, as the poor string of performances came along since the beginning of the season. At least they would have understood that, despite having skillful drivers, the car should be competitive enough to fight in the midfield.

The sister team of Red Bull has arguably had their best campaign in 2011, scoring twice as much points as in the prior two seasons. Both its drivers, Alguersuari and Buemi, drove their heart out in every single race like there was no tomorrow. There was little to choose between them until the very end, although both faced a lot of bad luck.

It was clear that only one of them would be retained to pair up Ricciardo the following season, but Dr. Evil, Helmut Marko, who largely influenced Vettel’s career and played a part in bringing Montoya into F1, had other plans. He ousted both the drivers to make way for the current line-up.

He argued that Toro Rosso was a school to nurture young talents and time ran out on them. So bitter it was, Alguersuari once admitted that Lotus team had inquired about him but since he’d a word agreement to stay put with STR, he let that chance go by. For 2012 then, Buemi took the reserve role with Red Bull while Jaime acted as a Pirelli test driver.

Before the season started, Ricciardo had already debuted in 2011 for HRT back in Britain and continued till the season’s end with the Spanish outfit, whereas Vergne was high on confidence after winning the F3 title. Ricciardo impressed in his home race as he brought home a couple of points followed by Vergne’s eighth place finish in the wet Malaysian race.

Since then, disaster struck as they battled hard to make it into Q2 with JEV being the usual casualty to be left out with the bottom six. They had to wait until Spa for a double points finish and repeated that feat later in Korea. It’s evident that the Faenza-based team has found some pace since the Asian flyaway races, but it’s a little too late to take the fight back to the competitive mid-pack teams.

The charismatic Aussie was quoted saying: “I am really pumped to know that I am continuing with Scuderia Toro Rosso for another season and want to thank the team and Red Bull,” he said. “There are big expectations for next year and I’m ready and willing to fulfil them.

“I feel I have been growing and developing as a driver and my approach to the technical side of the sport has also progressed this year, so I am sure that will serve me well in my second season with Toro Rosso. We have had quite a tough season, but despite that, I have always enjoyed a good relationship with all the guys and I am delighted at the idea of working with them for another year.”

The Frenchman, Vergne, has enjoyed mixed fortunes in his debut F1 season and finished as high as eight thrice in Malaysia, Korea and Belgium respectively and has a three point advantage over his team-mate.

Speaking on the occasion, “I am really happy about this great news,” said the 22 year-old. “Thank you Toro Rosso and thank you Red Bull, who have backed me since the early days of my career. It has been a difficult season and, as a rookie, I have learned a lot, thanks to the support I got and the excellent relationship I have enjoyed with all the guys.

“I feel much stronger now and I know I have become a better driver over the course of the season. I really believe in this team and with all the experience I have gained, combined with the team’s ambitious plans for next year, I think we can look forward to great things in 2013, attacking all the way.”

Equally delighted team principal Franz Tost quipped: “Both drivers have done a good job this season. Daniel joined us with a few Grands Prix under his belt and so his feedback and experience was particularly useful while Jean-Eric got up to speed, often having to deal with tracks he had never seen before.

“Since the summer break, both drivers have scored more points and everyone in the team has been impressed with their maturity in terms of working with the engineers and their racecraft on track. We will be doing our best in the next few months to produce a 2013 car which will allow them to demonstrate their talent.”

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Hulkenberg moves to Sauber for 2013

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:35:10 PDT

Nico Hulkenberg has long been tipped to replace the outgoing young Mexican driver to Mclaren, Sergio Perez. Hulkenberg was the obvious choice to the Hinwil-based outfit after Massa extended his contract with Ferrari for an year. Since Massa’s option in the agreement ran out early in the season, Hulkenberg and team-mate Resta were in the frame to switch squad to the prancing horse.

After Ferrari’s line-up cleared out, Mallya said to have put forward new offers to the driving duo of late. Nevertheless, with the economic instability in his business whose flagship aircraft firm’s license has just been cancelled and Sahara having a tough time on their own, the future is highly uncertain for Force India. Moreover, the Silverstone-based outfit fails to deliver its promise of attaining sixth in the championship to tie-down the German as they adrift of Sauber by 23 points.

Sauber is a notorious team good at spotting young talents and boy did they found one in Perez. Although, Sauber’s new CEO, Monisha Kaltenborn, was skeptic on future funding, the team remains upbeat for next year. This reflected in the race seat of Kamui Kobayashi as the Japanese driver struggles to find sponsorship from his own country despite securing a podium in Suzuka and proving his worth in all three seasons he has driven at.

It is Hulkenberg’s third team in as many years, having driven for Williams off the back of being the 2009 GP2 champion with ART Racing. Neither of the Williams drivers had an auspicious campaign in 2010 with Hulkenberg managing a best result of sixth in Hungary. His best moment came in Brazil when he clinched a pole in appalling conditions but that didn’t help him to keep the drive for 2011 as the pay driver Maldonado dispossessed him.

Force India opened its doors to Nico as a reserve driver under a stipulation to let him drive in 2012. In fact, he took the spotlight out of Sutil and became a talent to reckon with this year. While Hulkenberg’s move to Sauber may appear to be a sideways step, the team has claimed more eye-catching results than Force India with four podiums.

Hulkenberg has a flourishing chance with Ferrari in the turbo era as Sauber and Ferrari have close tie-ups with each other and will be under the radar of Stefano Dominecalli. Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and Gian Carlo Fisichella are notable talents of Ferrari who had driven for Sauber before and no wonder if Hulkenberg fancy his opportunities to be a part of that list.

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: “We’ve been observing Nico for some time now, and his performances have been very persuasive. That was the case in GP2 and has continued into Formula One. An obvious highlight was how he scored pole at Interlagos in 2010 despite the most challenging external conditions.
“He clearly showed he can seize the chance if it arises. But high spots like that are one thing; systematic teamwork is another, and on that score I have confidence in Nico too. I’m sure he will fit in very well with the Sauber F1 Team. We look forward to working together with him.”

After the official announcement, Hulkenberg said he is poised at achieving sixth in the championship with Force India while thanking the entire management team.
“The team is currently going through a very positive development and I’m certain that together we can achieve a lot. Until that time I will remain fully focused on my job with Force India. I’d like to thank the management at Force India for giving me the chance to return to Formula One as a team driver.”

The 25-year-old German has been a standout with some stunning drives on race days and currently languishes 12th in the championship with 49 points. There is little to choose between the Force India drivers in terms of earning points but it is Hulk having the upper hand in qualifying since Monaco. He has also shown some great pace on wet sessions especially in British and German GP with a career best fourth place finish in Belgium.

Sauber saved the announcement of second driver for a later time which is highly likely to be their reserve driver Esteban Gutierrez. Meanwhile, in Force India, Adrian Sutil seems likely to make his comeback but no official statements on it yet. Current Marussia driver, Charles Pic, is also looking for a step up the ladder but remains to be retained by his Russian outfit despite being a free agent for 2013. The ousted Toro Rosso driver, Jaime Alguersuari, who vows to be on the paddock next season and the Red bull reserve Sebastien Buemi have also been thought to be in the mix.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Kimi Raikkonen re-signed with Lotus for 2013 - Here is the full story

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:04:51 PDT

The much anticipated announcement has been released by Lotus F1 team today that Kimi Raikkonen will stay put with the Enstone-based squad for the forthcoming season with an youtube video. Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion’s return, has become one of the biggest stories this season. Having opted for Rallying in 2010, he drove a Citroen C4 for Citroen Junior Team and never really had a successful campaign. Even he raced in NASCAR twice after setting up his own rally team, Ice 1 Racing.

Raikkonen’s departure from F1 was a bit of a shock as Ferrari opted to buy Massa’s contract instead of his to pave way for incoming Alonso much to the dismay of fans and ever since thought he’d never return back to the sport he belonged to after a miserable run in 2009 with just a win in a sluggish Ferrari. It has been exactly 11 month now since Lotus announced Kimi would race for them for 2012 season. It was in a railway station that I jumped with joy after a friend rang me up to confirm Iceman’s return last November.

He was often compared to Schumi’s second coming to the sport but it was never the same as Kimi hadn’t got tired of turning wheel. Of course, Michael took a long while to get his form back as he kept himself away from an F1 cockpit for three years which Kimi luckily didn’t endure with. The revitalised Lotus team gave him a competitive car from the forefront hence he managed to pick a seventh place with some brilliant on track maneuvers and seemed never far away in terms of pace in Australia.

He settled in pretty well in the remaining races and surged to a podium finish at Bahrain where he nearly had won the race from Vettel. He showed a fabulous consistency rate as he finished every single lap of the season so far with a highlight of six podiums despite not securing a victory. Lotus seems to have down a bit in the development race now as Kimi couldn’t find a way through to fight for the championship head-to-head on race pace. Nevertheless, his second life at F1 has just been amazing with some sublime drives.

He looked as a title contender but only until his last podium in Belgium, since then, Lotus started falling back in terms of pace with Raikkonen trying his utmost level to keep third in the drivers’ championship from the two Mclarens. If Kimi gets a car that can challenge for the title next year, trust me, Vettel and Alonso have a serious threat breathing down their neck.

Here is the link to the video titled ‘One team, one commitment; Lotus F1 Team and Kimi Räikkönen reveal all’ that is hotting up in the F1 circle containing shots taken from his first test at the wheel of Lotus R29 back in January.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Sebastian Vettel wins the 2012 Indian Grand Prix. Full Race Report.

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 21:15:02 PDT

Double World Champion, Sebastian Vettel cruised to his fourth consecutive victory in the 2012 Indian Grand prix. The young German led the race from start to finish. He was followed home by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and the Red-Bull of Mark Webber.

Alonso made a great start and overtook both of the Mclaren's on the long straight during the first lap. Later on, he managed to close down the gap to second placed Webber and overtook him in the DRS zone on the main straight. Mark Webber couldn't do anything to defend the flying spaniard as the KERS unit on his car had broken down early on in the race.

The Mclaren duo of Hamilton and Button finished in fourth and fifth places respectively. Lewis Hamilton could have been on the podim but he just couldn't get inside 1 second of Webber and so wasn't able to deploy his DRS wing. This is the third race in succession where a Mclaren has failed to finish on the podium.

Felipe Massa finished race in sixth place. The Brazillian had to conserve fuel mid-way through the race. Kimi Raikkonen was seventh in his Lotus after spending much of the race behind Massa's gearbox. The Finn was within 1 second of Massa but the top-speed wasn't there in his Lotus and as so he had to settle for seventh place behind Massa.

Nico Hulkeneberg drove another brilliant but unspectacular race to bring his Force India home in eighth place. This was German's third consecutive top 10 finish in the last three races. Paul Di Resta could only manage a twelth place.

Romain Grosjean and Bruno Senna completed the top 10. Grosjean started on the harder tyre and so had a very long first stint but on the second stint he didn't have the pace to challenge his team mate and so settled for ninth place.

Bruno Senna,Nico Rosberg and Pastor Maldanado had been battling hard through the first part of the race. Later Maldanado dropped back with a puncture while Rosberg wasn't able to defend tenth place from Senna.

Rosberg's Team mate Schumacher had a disastrous race as the German was involved in first lap collision with Jean Eric Vergne. This meant that Schumacher had to come into the pits early to change his punctured tyre. Following that, the Legendary German couldn't move up the order and finally retired on Lap 58.

This was the third race in succession where both Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher failed to score any points. Since, Singapore the Mercedes team have dropped back down the field and are now battling hard to get inside the top 10.

Sauber also had a bad race as Sergio Perez tangled with the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo which forced him to retire. The Mexican got a puncture after the collision with Ricciardo which then damaged the rear suspension of his Sauber.

Home boy Narain Karthikeyan couldn't produce any sort of magic and finished down in 21st place. His team mate De La Rosa retired with what looks like a brake failure.

Here are the full results from the Indian Grand prix:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Grid	Pts
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	60	Winner	1	25
2	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	60	+9.4 secs	5	18
3	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing-Renault	60	+13.2 secs	2	15
4	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+13.9 secs	3	12
5	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+26.2 secs	4	10
6	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+44.6 secs	6	8
7	9	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus-Renault	60	+45.2 secs	7	6
8	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	60	+54.9 secs	12	4
9	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	60	+56.1 secs	11	2
10	19	Bruno Senna	Williams-Renault	60	+74.9 secs	13	1
11	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	60	+81.6 secs	10
12	11	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	60	+82.8 secs	16
13	16	Daniel Ricciardo	STR-Ferrari	60	+86.0 secs	15
14	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	60	+86.4 secs	17
15	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Ferrari	59	+1 Lap	18
16	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	59	+1 Lap	9
17	21	Vitaly Petrov	Caterham-Renault	59	+1 Lap	19
18	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	59	+1 Lap	20
19	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	59	+1 Lap	24
20	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	21
21	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	58	+2 Laps	23
22	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	55	+5 Laps	14
Ret	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	42	Brakes	22
Ret	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	20	+40 Laps	8

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Vettel takes pole position in Indian grand Prix

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 05:15:04 PDT

Sebastian Vettel continued his brilliant form enroute to taking pole position for the 2012 Indian Grand Prix. Despite making a mistake on his first run the young German got it all together for the second run and secured his second consecutive pole position in India.

Mark Webber made it a Red-Bull front row lock-out by setting the second fastest time.Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in his Mclaren. The Briton wasn't looking in a good shape prior to Q3 but did a good clean lap at the end of Q3 to set the third fastest time.

Hamilton's team mate Jenson button was fourth fastest while Championship contender Fernado Alonso could only produce a fifth fastest time.

The Ferrari team will have to hope for some miracle if they want to challenge red-bull as at the moment Red-Bull Renault seems to be uncatchable.

Felipe Massa was sixth fastest in the other Ferrari. The Brazillian had endured a tough day yesterday but managed to make it into Q3 and will be starting from P6 on the grid. He was followed up by the Renault of Kimi Raikkonen.

Raikkonen's team mate Grosjean didn't make into q3 and from the visuals it looked like the young Frenchman was over driving his Lotus.He will be starting from P11 on the grid.

Sergio perez,Pastor Maldanado and Nico Rosberg round up the top 10. Nico Rosberg didn't set a time in q3 instead he opted to preserve his tyres for tomorrow's race. Michael Schumacher couldn't make into q3 and will be starting from P14 on the grid.

Neither of the Force India's made into q3 which was a big dissapointment for the Indian fans. Nico Hulkenberg and Paul Di resta start from 12th and 15th respectively.

Home Hero, Narain karthikeyan qualified in 23rd place.

Here are full results at the end of Qualifying:

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Indian Grand Prix Second Practice:Vettel stays on top

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:22:57 PDT

Sebastian Vettel continued from where he left in First practice and topped the timesheets again for Red-Bull Racing. His teammate Mark Webber was second fastest in the second red-bull. Overall, both the Red-Bull cars looked quick on short and long runs so it would be no surprise if they come on top at the end of Indian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso led the charge for the rest of the pack and was third fastest in his Scuderia-Ferrari. Over short runs the ferrari doesn't be as quick as the red-bulls but on the long runs Ferrari,Red-Bull and even Mclaren are on par and are very close to each other.

Felipe Massa had a very difficult Second Practice as he spun his Ferrari twice which damaged both hard and soft set of tyres.This meant that the Brazillian had to cut his day short and sacrifice track time.He was fifteenth fastest.

Nico Rosberg showed a upturn in form as he set the fourth fastest time in FP2.Michael Schumacher was 13th fastest as he elected to do much more heavy fuel running.

Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in his Lotus-Renault. His teammate Romain Grosjean was ninth fastest.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were fifth and seventh fastest repectively.On the long runs Hamilton got a message from his team stating that he was the quickest guy on long runs.

Nico Hulkenberg was eigth fastest in his Force India and seemed to have got over the problems they encountered during FP1.

Here are full Results at the end of FP2:

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for f1 season 2012

Indian Grand Prix:Vettel on top in Free Practice 1

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:24:01 PDT

Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheets in the first practice session of 2012 Indian Grand Prix. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were second and third fastest with the trio trading fastest times in the final minutes of FP1.

Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber were fourth and fifth fastest in the other Mclaren and Red-Bull.

Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher looked in better form as compared to last two races and were sixth and eight fastest respectively.Felipe Massa was seventh fastest, sandwiched between the Mercedes pair.

Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen completed the top 10. Both of the Force India drivers finished outside the top 10 in 12th and 14th positions.

Both Di Resta and Hulkenberg were not able to get the tyres in their optimum working window and so lacked grip throughout the session.

The track was quite green at start of FP1 and many drivers were struggling for grip especially through turns 5,6,7,8 and 9. Esteban gutierrez replaced Sergio Perez for first practice as the Mexican was not feeling well. Vaterri Bottas and Geido van De Garde were other reserve drivers in action during FP1.

At the top, Ferrari, Red-Bull and Mclaren are very close to each other and the showdown is likely to be between these three teams.

Practice 2 Starts at 2.00 p.m(IST)

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Buddh International Circuit Track Guide - Sector by Sector explanation of F1 India Track

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 23:04:40 PDT

Indian grand prix is the next stop on the 2012 F1 Calendar ,so let’s take a preview into the Buddh International Circuit.

Sector 1:

The first corner of the BIC is a tight and slow 90 degree right hander and the driver’s have to judge their braking points perfectly to make the apex.

This corner is followed up by a fast left handed kink which leads the cars up the hill to turn 2.There significant elevation change as the cars head out from the exit of turn 1 to turn 3.

Turn 3 is a very tight right hander and it is one of the most slowest parts of the circuit with speeds as low as 80 km/hr. In order to get a fast lap a driver has to make the apex perfectly, if he misses the apex then he will have to compromise with the exit out of turn 3 thus losing time.

Turn 3 is followed up by a very long straight.The DRS zone is going to be present on this straight and most of the overtakings are likely to be seen in the braking zone for turn 4 at the end of the long straight.

This leads us to turn 4 which is usually taken at about 100km/hr in second gear.Turn 4 also marks the end of first sector.

Sector 2:

Sector 2 consists of the flowing portion of the circuit from turns 5 to turn 10. The second sector is the most important sector and bulk of the time can be made through the flowing sections of the second sector especially through turns 5,6,7,8 and 9.

Turns 5 to 10 demand good aerodynamic stability, as the drivers jink left and right through turns 6 band 7.

Turn 7 is followed up by a short straight which leads to another sequence of right and lefts.

These turns require picture perfect precision by the drivers and a good throttle and brake application is needed to get a perfect sector 2.

The concrete Kerbs between turn 6 and 7 have still not been modified, instead the organisers have named the Kerb as “Massa Kerb” as last year Felipe damaged his suspension during qualifying and the race by taking too much of the kerbing.

Sector 3:

Sector 3 starts with turn 10 which is a long sweeping right hander.The turn continues its right handed turn dipping sharply at turn 11.

The entrance of corner is usually taken flat out but the driver’s have to brake midway and balance the throttle in such a way that the rear doesn’t step out.

After turn 11 comes the fastest corners on the circuit, turn 13 and 14 are taken almost flatout with just a little lift of the throttle. The exit of turn 14 is followed by a short straight which leads to right hander at turn 15.

Turn 16 is the last corner of the track and a good drive is needed out of the corner to overtake the car ahead on the main start/finish straight.

That’s a lap of Buddh international Circuit. Hope you Enjoyed it.!!!

Event Details:

Race Date:	28 Oct 2012
Circuit Name:	Buddh International Circuit
First Grand Prix:	2011
Number of Laps:	60
Circuit Length:	5.125 km
Race Distance:	307.249 km
Lap Record:	1:27.249 - S Vettel (2011)

Event Time Table:

Fri 26 October 2012
Practice 1	10:00 - 11:30
Practice 2	14:00 - 15:30

Sat 27 October 2012

Practice 3
11:00 - 12:00

Qualifying

14:00

Sun 28 October 2012

Race
15:00

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

F1 Indian GP Preview: Redbull Racing

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 23:14:21 PDT

The reigning world champions on both worlds had arrived at the inaugural race in India with nothing to lose as they were far superior in every respect. Redbull are leading the pack this time around as well but not in their usual gimmick. Despite holding their hands up higher, there is a Horse lurking at the back to pounce at any given time as Vettel has a meager edge of six points over Alonso.

Before Vettel’s hat-trick winning streak, Webber had more wins under his belt but his good run of fortune gave up when he failed to deliver points on consistent basis, for instance, since winning in Britain he managed to accomplish only a solitary top six finish – a second step on podium in Korea.

Webber capitalised on his team-mate’s mistake to notch pole in Korea but Vettel got back strongly to work his magic out in race which suggested that a straight on battle is on the horizon among the Bulls along with Hamilton. Vettel’s focus would mainly revolve on keeping Fernando at bay though.

It’s safe to say Redbull got their mojo back after the lately developed Double DRS system appeared in Singapore and also due to persistent evolution of updates for every race running. The DDRS system has been used to good effect in qualifying with hat-trick of poles for the Milton Keynes based team and aided Vettel to take the fight back to Alonso.

With Ferrari’s windtunnel woes replicating in their results; Mclaren have a good shot at Constructors’ title if their British pair can pull out some decent finish on one of the toughest tracks in the calendar. I reckon the sector 1 at BIC has long straights which never really suit the likes of RB8 but the twisty sections of sector 2 and 3 with plenty of elevation changes could well decide the balance between top speed and good traction out of corners.

Last year’s race was a complete awash with Vettel beating Button narrowly by an eight second margin. It may not be the case this time on the silly season as Redbull haven’t been as quick as they looked in qualy as in Korean race- the track that shares many qualities alike with Buddh circuit. Webber’s title chances are running out of sight but he still clings on to the back of Hamilton who isn’t far away from Raikkonen either.

He might get his orders to hold back if wanted by his team but Vettel is in a league of his own now. Amidst getting excited to drive on the sunny tarmac of BIC, this is all what they have got to say:

Mark Webber: “It’s a challenging venue and I really enjoy the track, it’s a nice circuit to drive. There was a massive crowd there last year and it was a good atmosphere. The track is similar to Korea with mainly long straights in sector one followed by a very busy sector two and three, so we need to get the balance right between downforce and top speed. It should be reasonably straightforward weather-wise and I’m looking forward to getting out there.”
Sebastian Vettel: “I loved the track layout last year, but not just because I won the race. With an average speed of 235km/h, the course is the second quickest of the year after Monza. There is a lot of elevation change around the lap which adds to the fun, from as much as eight per cent downhill and up to 10 per cent uphill; it’s like a rollercoaster! It really has emerged as one of the most challenging circuits on the calendar for the drivers.”
Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Indian Grand Prix 2011 Revisited : As it happened

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 10:05:47 PDT

The next stop on the F1 calendar is the 2012 Indian Grand Prix. Last year India hosted its first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix so let’s just take a recap into last year’s Indian Grand Prix.

All the teams and most of the drivers had a big challenge on their hands as they had come to India for the first time. The drivers had to learn the track, adjust their braking points, keep off the concrete kerbs (which now have been named as “Massa Kerbs”) and moreover, get accustomed to the Indian weather.

The engineers always face a challenge whenever they go to a new Grand Prix as they have to adjust the balance of the car in such a way that the car is quick in qualifying and the race with minimal tyre degradation. For new races, the adjustment of these setups takes a lot of time and energy as the teams don’t have the data they usually have when they travel to older races.

Last year, when the F1 circus came to India, Sebastian Vettel had already wrapped up the world championship title but this year there is a tight battle between Vettel and Alonso for the World Championship. Both of the drivers are separated by just a 6 point margin with Vettel leading the championship.

Coming to the highlights of the last year’s race, there was bit of drama of the start line as Rubens Barrichello damaged his front wing.

Later in the race, Hamilton and Massa had another tangle which damaged the Briton’s front wing while Massa was given a drive through penalty. Massa eventually retired after damaging his suspension on the concrete kerbs.

The home team, Force India, didn’t have as good an outing as they would have liked but Adrian Sutil managed to finish in the points which was a great achievement considering the struggles the team had to cope up with during the weekend.

Sebastian Buemi and Pastor Maldanado retired from last year’s Grand Prix due to mechanical failures.

In the end Sebastian Vettel brought his Red-Bull home safely from start to finish and took the win. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were the two other podium finishers.

Though last year’s race was a bit short on action and drama, the crowd nonetheless turned out in full support for their favourite drivers, and the post-race reaction from the masses was positive.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Felipe proved himself for 2013 drive

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:23:14 PDT

Ferrari are in the forefront of rumour mill since the season’s start as to who will replace Massa for the next season or even right in the middle of the running one. As expected, the Brazilian did make the horses cry in Melbourne and retired, in many respects, was nowhere closer to Alonso at any given moment. There was some hope arrived when he clawed back some valuable pace after a new chassis fitted to his very slow and yielding Ferrari F2012 but nor did the results as his qualifying seemed less competitive.

The below par performance evoked speculations for a new driver taking his place at Ferrari which pretty much included the whole list of drivers in the paddock and also a few sacked ones. Until Spanish GP, the shaky start awarded with just two points on the board almost left Ferrari in despair. At Monaco, we did see Felipe got something out of his car and ran well enough on Thursday to get the right balance and prevailed at p7. A much needed points finish with p6 behind his former championship rival Hamilton has made the horses breathing at last.

His success reemerged at Silverstone after two races on a wet track which saw Ferrari making a great deal of progress as Alonso claimed pole while a bit disappointed Massa started from fifth – best grid position since Korea 2010 . With getting everything worked out as he’d have wanted, Massa fended off Raikkonen to take his place behind the podium finishers. At Spa, we did witness the old Massa in a ‘racing mode’ with some sublime overtakes to reel in a fifth place result. Despite all that, Ferrari still waited to lift the money off their hat.

Since the option in his contract ran out, Ferrari were fueled up to report on the case but they waited patiently for a sit down with Massa. In the next race, at Ferrari’s home, it was down to Massa to deliver as Alonso’s car cropped up an anti-rollbar failure on a crucial q3 lap to put him at the back. Loads of pressure invested on Felipe as they apparently had the fastest car but to the delight of adoring Italian crowd, Alonso won the party by finishing ahead of his team-mate on podium.

After all the drama at Monza, naysayers of Massa did quite get convinced that he retained his composure and form and would have deliver if he got some more space for himself in the team. I would say, the Japanese GP was a big highlight, not just because he secured a podium but it came in at the right time. Lewis and Perez decided where they would want to go next year and of the top teams only Ferrari’s move was left undisclosed.

The long wait was finally over and disproved the fact that Ferrari wanted Massa to leave as he was retained for eighth season running recently – the horse pranced didn’t it? Peter Sauber is good at spotting young talents and he did discover the one in Massa. I must say, it was Ferrari who chose to buy Raikkonen’s contract as opposed to Massa’s to pave way for Alonso.

He was that good but unfortunately things can change swiftly in F1, in Massa’s story, it actually quite the quickest. Since that near fatal crash in 2009 Hungarian GP, Massa was never the same man as before. He struggled to find rhythm and not faster enough even in a fast car. Ferrari does have a clear favourite, their ace-man, Fernando Alonso but coping with him is just as hard as coping with Schumacher as they need spotlights placed at them in any circumstances.

But why did Ferrari choose to stay put with Felipe when they had other colourful options? Ferrari issued a statement that had told the answer. They weighed up Felipe carefully and also the approached opportunities, they said. It was a decision solely made by the team not by Alonso they pointed out and eulogised Massa as a team player and a talented driver.

Ferrari did admit seeking replacements but in the end it was a smart move to keep Massa for yet another season as he knew their operations better than anyone else and can render hands if needed by Alonso to win back the title deceiving for long. The 2008 runner-up shouldn’t be taken lightly if Ferrari was to give him a good car in 2013. It’s good to see him not hanging his racing boots as he will be available for one more season unlike Schumacher, perhaps the toughest of his career – a season to redeem himself for maybe one more time.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Inspiring F1 ladies : Monisha Kaltenborn, Lella Lombardi, Maria de Villota and more

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:20:39 PDT

It’s not often women are related to F1 in the pitlane or at the paddock. Since the very beginning, there had been only handful of female drivers able to breakthrough into Formula One, of which, only a few qualified to start a race. For any aspiring female driver, Lella Lombardi could be a source of inspiration and a testament to what women can achieve when they can put the cars through its paces.

She earned to drive on Sundays twelve times out of seventeen entries and picked up half a point while finishing sixth at the Spanish GP of 1975 – due to a shortened race distance she was awarded with half of the actual points. Many of them were gifted with a development role in the last decade Britain’s Katherine Legge drove a Minardi at Vallelunga circuit in 2005 and American Sarah Fisher in a McLaren at the 2002 US Grand Prix as part of a demo run but none quite found their way into race days.

For this season, Maria de Villota having tested with Renault last season at Paul Ricard, signed with Marussia and DTM driver Susie Wolff with Williams team as part of development drivers. Maria had less experience in racing, compared to the Scot, Wolff. Horror struck the road in a crash at Duxford Airfield in Cambridgeshire when Maria crashed into back of a standing truck and lost her right eye with fractures on skull and pulled the brakes off to her driving career as a whole.

She attended press with a blue patch on her right eye for the first time since that near fatal crash and she was quoted saying as,
“I have motorsport in my DNA and there’s no way I can stay away from that world,” she said.
“I want to keep fighting because I believe so strongly in women being part of motor racing.”

Those words showed how strong a women she was and with much respect I wish to see her part of F1 soon.

The former Formula Renault and F3 driver, Susie Wolff, has been competing in DTM since 2006 but tasted her first sip of F1 only this past Wednesday with a Williams FW 33 at the Williams F1 Partner event. On the Silverstone circuit, she clocked hundred km with wet and damp runs and expressed her first emotions behind the F1 wheel as ‘incredible’. She said,
“It was incredible. I’ve waited a long time for this day, I’ve dreamed about this day for a long time, with the first lap something special.
“I’ve done a lot of days in the simulator so I knew what to expect but of course it is tremendously different when you are out there and going at those speeds.”

The simulator driver awaited this chance for a long time and revealed her conversation with Villota of late. Susie also disclosed that she raced for both of them and praised her as an inspiration.
“She is an incredible lady,” Before you even talk about her as a racing driver, she is an incredible person, an inspiration.“We were in contact a couple of weeks ago and she told me to drive for the both of us now, that I would be out there representing us both.“I had Maria’s star on my helmet, it’s with pride I have that, and without a doubt I was driving for the two of us.”

Also, a new team principal overtook Peter Sauber. Indian-born Monisha Kaltenborn became F1′s first female team principal after taking the helm at Sauber. The Swiss-based team said in a statement at the Korean Grand Prix that 41-year-old Kaltenborn, who was previously chief executive, would take over Sauber’s duties at race weekends. she is an Austrian citizen and the second Indian-born principal after Force India’s Vijay Mallya.

Joined at Sauber in 2000, she overtook as CEO a couple of seasons back. Sauber transferred a third of the company shares to her last year. All these highly devoted women signifies that it doesn’t matter who you are if the desire to be on the big stage is driven to the maximum.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Indian Grand Prix 2012 : Buddh International Circuit ready to Vroom again

noreply@blogger.com (tarun khatri) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:32:37 PDT

Article by Rajdeep Singh Chauhan

All you racing maniacs out there! Gear up for the second Indian Grand Prix at Buddh International Circuit. Yes, the second Indian GP is going to held from 26 to 28 October 2012. The long awaited debut to race Formula One cars in India will arrive again. Last year India stepped into the list of few nations by making first Indian GP to take place. Being built at a cost of US $350 million, the track is supposed to be around 5.5 Kilometers in length and is expected to have the second fastest average speed of any circuit. The track is one of the fastest in the world, with the cars reaching 320 kmph. Last year India successfully completed it's first ever Grand Prix with the win of Sebastian Vettel, the driver on the top of all at the time. This time it's looking more exciting as the audience for Grand Prix have increased much more by the experience of last year's race.

It will be amazing to see the F1 machines to cross you with the speed of 310 kmph. As its the second event in India, the organizers will definitely add some more this time which will increase the little more degrees of fever of Indian GP in Indians. Micheal Schumacher has said that this track has given him the most difficulties out of all in the world. The eyes will also be on only Indian team in F1 i.e. Sahara Force India.

With the start of countdown to the second Indian Grand Prix the tickets are available at various places on the internet. People say F1 is the game for riches but with its welcome in India this saying has gone something undigested. India will definitely rock second time at Buddh International Circuit showing it's entertainment fever to the world.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

'Massa kerb' at BIC (Buddh International Circuit, Noida)

noreply@blogger.com (king hustle) — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:01:06 PDT

Felipe’s chances to retain his driving seat for next year are rather flourishing now with the recent string of good results. But earlier in the season, Ferrari boss, Montezemolo, admitted that he wanted a fresh face with good talent and experience underneath but recently he quipped that he will sit down with Massa for a lengthy talk on Tuesday. It’s inevitable that whatever happens next year he will race for Ferrari in the forthcoming Indian GP on a kerb he may regret to forget.

‘Massa Kerb’, of course I’m not kidding, as reported by Times of India has been named after Felipe Massa. It’s easy to see why as he crashed twice there in the inaugural race. To be honest, in that race, only Hamilton and Massa’s battle was exciting to watch, even though the circuit had all the ingredients to pull out a fight-to-finish race and sadly 2011 was another ‘year of Redbull’, certainly a boring one.

Last year, Felipe Massa called for changes to the BIC after he crashed out in qualifying. On the final run in q3 he pushed to the limit and went on the wrong side deeply into Turn 8, the car landed so hard so that his front suspension broke. He reckoned the kerb was too high to master as the approach to Turn 8 is at around 215kph speed.

The BIC authorities claim that in order to host SBK next year and MotoGP hopefully in the future, the kerbs are placed at 25mm higher to meet the regs but as per FIA, the kerbs can be up to 2 inches higher. To prevent drivers from kicking dust onto the track, grassy areas are added as well.

The ‘Massa kerb’ is on the right-hand apex of the fast-flowing Turn 8 chicane. He clouted that Himalayan kerb and ended his qualifying ambitions as a whole with front suspension damage and sailed through the gravel while Alonso found his way to start from third on the grid. The race Sunday saw Massa’s hopes shattering as he broke the left-front suspension on the same chicane but the exit of it.

As for the upcoming race, the kerbs of Turns 6, 7, 8 and 9 have been extended from five to 15 meters in width to hamper drivers from taking much of the apexes. The speeds taken through that sequence is crucial as Turn 10 is winding and getting a good exit proves to be vital for a timed lap.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Mark Webber takes pole position for 2012 Korean Grand Prix.

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 02:50:11 PDT

Mark Webber has taken pole position for the 2012 Korean Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel made it a Red-Bull front row lockout by setting the second fastest time. The young German had been faster that his Australian team mate throughout the session but he just couldn’t put a lap in together to dislodge Mark Webber from P1.

Lewis hamilton and Fernando Alonso were the best of the rest and will be starting from third and fourth positions respectively.

Felipe Massa continued his impressive rejuvenated form and was sixth fastest in his Scuderia-Ferrari.

Hamilton’s team mate Jenson Button had a dissapointing qualifying session as he couldn’t make it to Q3 and will start the race from eleventh position.

Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in his updated Lotus-Renault. His teammate Grosjean was seventh fastest.

Nico Hulkenberg was the sole Force India inside the top 10. He starts from P8 for tomorrow’s race.

Completing the top 10 were the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Schumacher in ninth and tenth places respectively.

Niether of the Sauber and Williams could make into Q3. Sergio perez and Kamui Kobayashi will be starting from twelfth and thirteenth position respectively

The Williams team were far off the pace and had troubles getting temperature into their tyres.

Here are the full results from Qualifying:

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Sebastian Vettel tops Second Practice in F1 Korea 2012

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 02:47:23 PDT

Sebastian Vettel put his Red-Bull on top of the timesheets in the second practice session of the 2012 Korean Grand Prix. Mark Webber was second fastest just three hundreths of a second behind his German team mate.

Clearly, Red-Bull seem to have the best one lap pace but on the longer runs Mclaren and Ferrari look quick.

Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest in his Scuderia-Ferrari.He was followed by the Mclaren of Jenson Button.

Lewis Hamilton didn't look as quick as he was in first practice and he finished eight fastest almost half a second down on his teammate Button.

Michael Schumacher showed strong pace throughout the session and was fifth fastest.His teammate Rosberg was seventh fastest.

Nico Hulkenberg and Kimi Raikkonen rounded of the top 10 in ninth and tenth places respectively.

Lotus team were trying a new exhaust layout so it will be interesting to see whether they can optimize the car for tomorrow's qualifying with all the data they gathered today.

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Lewis Hamilton tops First Practice in Korea

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 02:47:43 PDT

Lewis Hamilton topped the first practice session of the 2012 Korean Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso was second fastest in his Scuderia Ferrari. The Spaniard looked all set to top the first practice but Hamilton dislodged him from the top of the timesheets in dying moments of practice 1.

Red-Bull continued to show strong pace as Mark Webber was third fastest while Vettel was fifth fastest. Felipe Massa has improved his form in the last few races, he was fourth fastest.

Mercedes Duo of Schumacher and Rosberg were sixth and seventh fastest respectively. The Mercedes team clearly have more pace in their car and are continuing to improve the upgrade package they brought in Singapore.

Paul Di Resta rounded of the top 10 in his Force India.

Here are the full results from Practice 1:

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012

Sebastian Vettel wins the Japanese Grand Prix

noreply@blogger.com (nishant raj) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 03:06:28 PDT

Sebastian Vettel has won the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix. The young German led the race from start to finish and clinched victory with over 18 seconds gap to second place man Felipe Massa.

Felipe Massa finally got back to the podium after almost two years, his last podium being in 2010 Korean Grand Prix. His team mate Fernando Alonso had no such luck as he crashed out on the first lap of the race after suffering a puncture due to contact with Lotus of Kimi raikkonen.

Home hero Kamui Kobayashi finished in a hard fought third place. The Japanese driver was chased hard by the Mclaren of Jenson Button in the later stages of the race.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton finished in fourth and fifth places for the Mclaren team after showing such strong pace in practice sessions.

Kimi Raikkonen finished in sixth place for the Lotus team. His team mate Romain Grosjean was again involved in a first corner crash as he took out the Red-Bull of Mark Webber. Grosjean was given a 10 second stop and go penalty which dropped him to the tail end of the grid and he finished in nineteenth place after retiring in the latter stage of the race.

Mark Webber eventually finished in ninth place after being dropped back to the tail end of the field.

Nico Hulkenebrg and Pastor Maldanado finished in seventh and eighth places respectively. Both of them drove a calm, cool and collected race and managed to bring some solid points for their respective teams.

Daniel Ricciardo was the final points finisher who drove brilliantly to defend the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.

The Mercedes team endured a very tough day as Nico Rosberg got caught out in first lap crash while Michael Schumacher could only finish eleventh.

Here are the full results at the end of the Japanese Grand prix:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h28:56.242
 2.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    20.639
 3.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +    24.538
 4.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.098
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    46.490
 6.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    50.424
 7.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    51.159
 8.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    52.364
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    54.675
10.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:06.919
11.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:07.769
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:23.400
13.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:28.600
14.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +  1:28.700
15.  Grosjean      Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
16.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
17.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap
18.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap
19.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:35.774

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Pic           Marussia-Cosworth            39
Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth                 34
Perez         Sauber-Ferrari               19
Alonso        Ferrari                      1
Rosberg       Mercedes                     1


World Championship standings, round 15:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       194        1.  Red Bull-Renault          325
 2.  Vettel       190        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          283
 3.  Raikkonen    157        3.  Ferrari                   263
 4.  Hamilton     152        4.  Lotus-Renault             239
 5.  Webber       135        5.  Mercedes                  136
 6.  Button       131        6.  Sauber-Ferrari            115
 7.  Rosberg       93        7.  Force India-Mercedes       81
 8.  Grosjean      82        8.  Williams-Renault           58
 9.  Massa         69        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         15
10.  Perez         65       
11.  Kobayashi     50       
12.  Di Resta      44       
13.  Schumacher    43       
14.  Hulkenberg    37       
15.  Maldonado     33       
16.  Senna         25       
17.  Vergne         8       
18.  Ricciardo      7

Be with us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates for F1 season 2012