Sunday, October 28, 2012

Vettel wins Indian Grand Prix 2012

Vettel wins Indian Grand Prix from Pole


Sebastian Vettel scored an easy win starting from Pole. He could ward off the challenge of Fernando Alonso who was 9.4 seconds behind. Mark Webber who started second, finished behind Fernando Alonso. Lewis Hamilton tried to win the third place from Mark Webber but could not do so despite Webber having a KERS problem. Hamilton was 0.6 seconds behind Mark Webber. Hamilton's team mate Jenson Button came 5th and he set the fastest lap time on the 60th and last lap.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari came 6th. Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus was only 0.7 seconds behind Massa and finished at 7th. Raikkonen now doesn't have any hope for the drivers title. Nico Hulkenberg of Force India finished 8th, Romain Grosjean of Lotus finished 9th and Bruno Senna finished 10th.

The Indian Grand Prix 2012 didn't have much of first lap excitement as the usual suspects Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado and Kamui Kobayashi kept their cool. However, it was Jear-Eric Vergne who clipped Michael Schumacher's rear right tyres forcing him to pit. Since then it was an immensely forgettable race for Michael, as he was lapped in no time. Though he was setting comparable times as the top drivers, the time spent in slowly moving to the pits with a completely shredded rear tyre ensured that he couldn't move up. He was driving on 18th place and one lap down when he retired.

It is a sad race for Mercedes as well, as Nico Rosberg too finished outside the points. It would be interesting to hear Ross Brawn's excuses as he has been giving one excuse after the other in the last three years. To save his skin, he also ensured that Mercedes lured Lewis Hamilton to the team and forced Michael Schumacher to retire.

Narain Karthikeyan in the opening laps was told to mind his brakes, so he drove within himself. His teammate Pedro de la Rossa spinned and hit the barriers due to a brake problem. Narain finished at 21st position.

Final positions in Indian Grand Prix 2012:


1. Sebastian Vettel             Red Bull
2. Fernando Alonso            Ferrari
3. Mark Webber                 Red Bull
4. Lewis Hamilton             McLaren
5. Jenson Button                McLaren
6. Felipe Massa                 Ferrari
7. Kimi Raikkonen            Lotus
8. Nico Hulkenberg           Force India
9. Romain Grosjean          Lotus
10. Bruno Senna                Williams
11. Nico Rosber                Mercedes
12. Paul di Resta              Force India
13. Daniel Ricciardo        Toro Rosso
14. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber
15. Jean-Eric Vergne       Toro Rosso
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams
17. Vitaly Petrov              Caterham
18. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham
19. Charles Pic                 Marussia
20. Timo Glock                Marussia
21. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT
22. Michael Schumacher Mercedes RETIRED (5 laps down)
      Pedro de la Rossa       HRT        (Accident) 18 laps down
      Sergio Perez               Sauber     RETIRED (40 laps down)


Sebastian Vettel's Indian Grand Prix win was the 4th win in a row for him. 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Vettel leads Redbull to 1-2 in Indian Grand Prix Qualifying


Vettel leads RedBull 1-2 in Indian Grand Prix 2012


Sebastian Vettel continued with his dominant run and scored the pole position which was barely 0.044 seconds than his team mate Mark Webber.

The second row is occupied by the McLaren drivers lead by Lewis Hamilton.

The third row now belongs to Ferrari drivers lead by Fernando Alonso.
Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus was seventh followed by Sergio Perez of Sauber. Amul would be very happy sponsoring the Sauber team. Pastor Maldonado of Williams was 9th followed by Nico Rosberg who didn’t choose to make a run in Q3.

Michael Schumacher was the big casualty as he could not qualify for the Q3 and was only 14th fastest with a time of 1:26.574. He was more than half a second slower than his team mate Nico Rosberg. We are not sure why there was a such a big gap between the two. In the last few grand prix races it was Michael who was generally faster than Nico Rosberg. We hope tomorrow will be better for Michael Schumacher as this will be his last Indian Grand Prix.

A late run from Pastor Maldonado resulted in him going to the top spot in Q1. The Williams team gave a strong performance in the Indian Grand Prix.

Heikki Kovalainen breached his Caterham in the dying minutes of Q1. He was eliminated in the Q1 along with Jean-Eric Vergne 1:27.525, Vitaly Petrov 1:28.756, Timo Glock 1:29.613, Pedro de la Rosa (1:30.592), Narain Karthikeyan (1:30.593) and Charles Pic (1:30:662). The 107% time was 1:32.071 and hence all drivers qualified and we will see a full grid tomorrow.

Narain Karthikeyan excelled in the Indian Grand Prix and was just one thousandth of a second slower than his team mate. He qualified at P23 followed by Charles Pic of Marussia.

Qualifying results of Indian Grand Prix 2012

1. Sebastian Vettel Redbull
2. Mark Webber Redbull
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren
4. Jenson Button McLaren
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari
7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus
8. Sergio Perez Sauber
9. Pastor Maldonado Williams
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
11. Romain Grosjean Lotus
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
13. Bruno Senna Williams
14. Michael Schumacher Mercedes
15. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso
16. Paul di Resta Force India
17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
19. Vitaly Petrov Caterham
20. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham
21. Timo Glock Marussia
22. Pedro de la Rosa HRT
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT
24. Charles Pic Marussia

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Red Bull scripts Vettel's victory in Korean Grand Prix 2012

Red Bull scripts Vettel's victory in Korean Grand Prix 2012


Red Bull stage manages victory for Sebastian Vettel's in the Korean Grand Prix to catapult him into the driver's championship lead.

In the opening lap of the Korean Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull who started on 2nd of the grid moved to the side of pole sitter Mark Webber and then pulled ahead without much resistance from Mark Webber and Webber watched the flanks and stopped Lewis Hamilton from attacking Vettel. A scripted move perfectly executed by the Red Bull drivers to give Sebastian Vettel the lead. In an relatively incident free race, Mark Webber finished second followed by Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari finished at P4, Kimi Raikkonent of Lotus was 5th, followed by Nico Hulkenberg of Force India at 6th. Romain Grosjean of Lotus, managed his restrain his urge of causing mayhem in the first lap and finished 7th. In a fantastic race for Toro Rosso team, both their drivers drove from the back of the grid to finish in points - Jean Eric Vergne in 8th and Daniel Ricciardo in 9th. Lewis Hamilton who was struggling with tyre wear finished at 10th.

In what was an ugly demonstration of the Korean track's poor quality construction and materials used, the astro turf came off and got stuck in Lewis Hamilton's car slowing him down in the last few laps. However, he still managed to hold on to the 10th place keeping Sergio Perez at 0.3 seconds behind him.

In the opening lap of the race, Kamui Kobayashi did the Grosjean act of hitting other cars. Kamui Kobayashi's kamikaze act took out Jenson Button of McLaren and Nico Rosberg of Mercedes in the first lap. Kobayashi was handed with a drive through penalty and later retired from the race. There was only one more retirement in the form of Pedro de la Rosa of HRT.

Sergio Perez, who is heading to McLaren next year in place of Lewis finished at P11 followed by Paul di Resta of Force India at P12. Mercedes had poor race pace and Michael Schumacher's car despite his race craft, could not finish within points. He finished at 13th position.

The sad pace of the Mercedes cars may have actually made Schumacher to wait till October to announce his decision and made Mercedes to sign up Lewis Hamilton and then forcing Michael Schumacher to retire.

Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna of Williams finished 14th and 15th. Vitaly Petrov led the two Caterhams to finish at 16th followed by Heikki Kovalainen at 17th. Timo Glock and Charles Pic of Marussia finished at 18th and 19th. Narain Kathikeyan of HRT - India's lone F1 driver - finished at 20th position.



Friday, October 12, 2012

Mark Webber the Lead Bull in Korean Grand Prix

Mark Webber the Lead Bull in Korean Grand Prix


The Formula One Korean Grand Prix 2012 Qualifying was great for Red Bull as they scored a 1-2 position. However, it was Mark Webber who scored the Pole position for Red Bull instead of Sebastian Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton was on the verge of failing to qualify for Q2 but could do so at the end qualifying at 16 in the Q1 to make the cutoff for Q2. He then scored P3 position in the final leg of qualifying.


Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was P4 followed by Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus at P5.

Felipe Massa was driving close to half a second of his illustrious team mate Fernando Alonso and it appears that Ferrari is going to retain Massa as that means there would not be any other young driver to challenge Alonso and hence harmony is maintained. He scored a P6.


Following Massa is the “first lap nut-case” Romain Grosjean of Lotus at P7. So the people who are in danger tomorrow of being shunted out in the opening lap are Massa, Kimi and Alonso.

McLaren’s Jenson Button failed to make it to Q3 as he qualified at P11. McLaren team might be thinking what they have lost, as Jenson Button as well as their recruit for 2013 Sergio Perez at P12 failed to make to the Q3. Also all other teams have both their drivers in Q3 except McLaren and Nico Hulkenberg of Force India made it to the Q3 at the expense of Jenson Button and scored a good P8 ahead of the two Mercedes cars.


Mercedes team would have breathed a sigh of relief as both their drivers made it to Q3. Michael Schumacher had a run earlier and put in a good time and was five thousandths of a second faster than Jenson Button who remained at P11. Nico Rosberg came in a P9 in the Q3 followed by Michael Schumacher at P10. This is after sometime that Rosberg has outqualified Michael in a qualifying.

Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Nico Hulkenberg saved their tyres and elected to only choose a single run in the Q3.

The Formula One Korean Grand Prix 2012 qualifying started on a bad note for Narain Karthikeyan as he failed to start due to a brake problem. He will be able to drive on Sunday on the discretion of the stewards.

Final Qualifying Positions for Korean Grand Prix


1. Mark Webber
2. Sebastian Vettel
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Fernando Alonso
5. Kimi Raikkonen
6. Felipe Massa
7. Romain Gorsjean
8. Nico Hulkenberg
9. Nico Rosberg
10. Michael Schumacher
11. Jenson Button
12. Sergio Perez
13. Kamui Kobayashi
14. Paul di Resta
15. Pastor Maldonado
16. Daniel Ricciardo
17. Jean-Eric Vergne
18. Bruno Senna
19. Vitaly Petrov
20. Heikki Kovalainen
21. Charles Pic
22. Timo Glock
23. Pedro de la Rosa
24. Narain Karthikeyan (no time)




Thursday, October 11, 2012

First Lady Principal of Formula One

Formula One gets its First Woman Team Principal


Monisha Kaltenborn, an Indian by birth, is the first Lady to be a Principal of a Formula One team. In the high technology, motor racing battlefield, assuming the role of principal is not an easy job, especially when the Principal is not just for show.

Monisha Kaltenborn, 41,  has been given one third of the stake by its owner Peter Sauber.

A Sauber team statement said "we decided a long time ago that Monisha would take over from me, but we left the timing open. Now is a good time for both of us, so this is the right moment to pass on the baton. After all, there have been a number of races that I haven't been able to attend - most recently the Japanese Grand Prix, where the team put in an excellent performance."

The statement further added "I am in no doubt that Monisha has all the necessary skills to be an outstanding team principal, and I am equally certain she will ensure that the values underpinning the company live on. That is very important to me."

This is a significant event and the way she has quietly transformed the Sauber team is for all to see, as its young and erratic drivers have been in more podium positions than the Mercedes drivers in this season. Fernando Alonso, recently said about Michael Schumacher's competitiveness by saying that if Michael Schumacher had been driving Sauber's car, then he would have won three races by now. It is sad that Michael Schumacher and Sauber could not agree on a partnership next year else Schumacher would have been wining races for them.

Monisha Kaltenborn being an Indian by birth had first joined Sauber in 2000 and to run their legal department and had weaved her way upto the role of CEO in 2010. She immediately connected with sponsors in India before the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011 and companies like Amul went on to sponsor them for other races as well. She will have a massive impact on Formula 1 in the years to come. All the best Manisha! India is proud of you.






Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Formula One drivers championship standings after Japan

Formula One Drivers Championship standings

The Formula One Championship is now in an interesting stage. The lead of Fernando Alonso in the drivers championship has come down drastically due to his retirements and Sebastian Vettel's back to back wins.

Lewis Hamilton had a bad outing in Japan and his championship hopes appear to be virtually over. Especially since his equations with his team has evaporated culminating in his announcement of his Mercedes deal.

Kimi Raikkonen hasn't won a race in this season and unless he wins the next few races his championship hopes are also over. With the superior pace of Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel would have dreaming of a third consecutive drivers championship title.

Ranking       Driver Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 194
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 190
3 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 157
4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 152
5 Mark Webber Red Bull 134
6 Jenson Button McLaren 131
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 93
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus 82
9 Felipe Massa Ferrari 69
10 Sergio Perez Sauber 66
11 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 50
12 Paul de Resta Force India 44
13 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 43
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 37
15 Pastor Maldonado Williams 33
16 Bruno Senna Williams 25
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 8
18 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 7
19 Timo Glock Marussia 0
20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham 0
21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham 0
22 Jerome D'Ambrosio Lotus 0
23 Charles Pic Marussia 0
24 Narain Karthikeyan HRT 0
25 Pedro de La Rosa HRT 0

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Sebastian Vettel wins F1 Japanese Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel wins the 2012 F1 Japanese Grand Prix


Sebastian Vettel started on pole and won the race which he dominated.


The Suzuka circuit is 5.807 kilometer long and this being the 50th grand prix staged at that circuit, there was no dearth of drama. Sebastian Vettel could stay ahead of the collisions caused by crash prone Roman Grosjean as well as Bruno Senna.

Romain Grosjean hit Mark Webber ruining his race. Mark had to pit for a new nose for his car. Romain Grosjean was handed over a 10 second stop go penalty. This shows that he has not learn’t anything from his ban and it is time FIA takes a strong view of this incident and bans him for a season from Formula One.

Fernando Alonso, the championship leader was also out in the first lap. Intitially it appeared as a puncture and later Ferrari confirmed that a gentle tap from behind by Kimi Raikkonen resulted in a puncture that resulted in Alonso out of the race. Bruno Senna took out Nico Rosberg and was later slapped with a drive through penalty. He is another driver, Williams has to get rid of at the end of the season despite his famous surname attracting sponsorships from Brazil.

Felipe Massa who is in danger of losing his drive at Ferrari this year, made the most of the situation and drove up and finished the race at second position. This was his first podium since Korean Grand Prix in 2010.

Michael Schumacher who started at 23rd position due to his 10 place grid penalty just finished outside the points at 11th position. Daniel Ricciardo gets credit for holding Michael Schumacher off for the 10th position. Michael Schumacher said that "I couldn't get past him because the Toro Rosso was so quick in the straights. That's why we have to say we couldn't have got much more out of it today. Now let's see how things go in Korea."

Narain Karthikeyan retired on Lap 35. Romain Grosjean retired in the last lap.

Sebastian Vettel winning the F1 Japanese Grand Prix changes the championship position.

F1 Japanese Grand Prix Results:


1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari
3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber
4. Jenson Button McLaren
5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren
6. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams
9. Mark Webber Red Bull
10. Daniel Ricciardo Torro Rosso
11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes
12. Paul di Resta Force India
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Torro Rosso
14. Bruno Senna Williams
15. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham
16. Timo Glock Marussia
17. Vitaly Petrov Caterham
18. Pedro de la Rosa HRT

Retired

Romain Grosjean Lotus
Charles Pic Marussia
Narain Karthikeyan HRT
Sergio Perez Sauber
Fernando Alonso Ferrari
Nico Rosberg Mercedes




Friday, October 5, 2012

Vettel scores Pole and Redbull 1-2 in Suzuka


Sebastian Vettel Scores Pole in Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix 


Red Bull scores 1-2 in qualifying with Sebastian Vettel scoring the Pole in 2012 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix qualifying.

Schumacher who has announced his retirement, made everybody gasp for breath when he was on the verge of being the only driver who couldn’t qualify under the 107% rule. He was in hard tires and had perhaps planned two back to back laps. His first lap was compromised as he ran wide and despite slow cars ahead of him, he could squeeze through and score P16 and qualify to Q2.

The following drivers failed to qualify for Q2
Bruno Senna of Williams at 1:33.405,
Heikki Kovalainen of Caterham at 1:34.657
Timo Glock of Marussia at 1:35.213
Pedro de la Rosa of HRT 1:35.385
Charles Pic of Marussia 1:35.429
Vitaly Petrov of Caterham 1:35.432
Narain Karthikeyan of HRT 1:36.734

It was a great result for Pedro de la Rosa of HRT who outqualified Charles Pic of Marussia and Vitaly Petrov of Caterham.

Mercedes was not fast enough. Michael Schumacher waited till the last moment to hit the track. However, at 1:32.469 he could score the 13th position, faster than his much younger team mate Nico Rosberg who scored P15 with a time of 1:32.625. Michael Schumacher however has a penalty of 10 grid slots for the accident in Singapore.

Felipe Massa who was threatening to out pace his much fancied rival Fernando Alonso, could only score the P11 position at 1:32.293. Paul di Resta at 1:32.327 is at P12. Pastor Maldonado of Williams again outscored his team mate Bruno Senna. Maldonado set a time of 1:32.512. Daniel Ricciardo scored 1:32.954 for a P16 position ahead of his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne who set a time of 1:33.368

At the top of the table, it was an intensely fought session, with the RedBulls locking up the front row. Sebastian Vettel at 1:30.839 scored the Pole while his team mate Mark Webber at 1:31.090 came in second. Jenson Button of McLaren scored 1:31.290 outscored his team mate Lewis Hamilton who is going to Mercedes at the end of the season. However, Jenson Button will drop down 5 positions due to a gearbox change. The local hero Kamui Kobayashi at 1:31.700 scored the P4 position for Sauber and will be elevated to P3 due to Jenson Button’s penalty.
Romain Grosjean at 1:31.898 scored P5, Sergio Perez at 1:32.022 scored P6. Fernando Alonso at 1:32.114 was P7, Kimi Raikkonen at 1:32.208 was P8, Hamilton at 1:32.327 was P9. Nico Hulkenberg didn’t choose to set a time and was P10.

Many questions to answer. Will Michael Schumacher overcome his 10 place grid penalty and score good points as Suzuka is a drivers circuit?

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Michael Schumacher retires from Formula One

Michael Schumacher retires from Formula One racing


Michael schumacher - The God of Formula One - has announced his retirement.  In a shocking move earlier his Mercedes team had announced Lewis Hamilton in his place. http://arjunaubacha.blogspot.in/2012/09/mercedes-shows-door-to-michael.html

Now Michael Schumacher has decided not to drive for any other team and retire from the sport for the second and final time. In 2006 Michael Schumacher had retired when he was driving for Ferrari. Ferrari had announced signing of Kimi Raikkonen as his replacement. It was widely believed that instead of forcing Felipe Massa out of the team, Michael Schumacher gracefully retired. However, his ambitions were burning and when Felipe Massa suffered the accident and Ferrari approached Michael Schumacher, the racing fires within him was stoked. He then came and drove for Mercedes team. With the Mercedes team now showing him the door, he had options of going to Sauber. However, he declined to drive for them and has retired.

Michael Schumacher was very competitive and from his demeanor one could see the fires burning. However, without a drive in Mercedes, he has now decided to call it quits from F1.

Though Michael Schumacher said that I still feel that I am capable of competing against the best but the time sometimes comes to say goodbye and this time it might be forever. And he added for good measure "During the past month I was not sure if I still had the motivation and energy which is necessary to go on. It is not my style to go on if I am not 100 percent with it but with today's decision I feel relieved."

7 Word Titles, 91 Race Victories and 155 podiums. Michael Schumacher still remains the most successful driver ever. At 43 years of age, he still burns bright, as a testament to his super human abilities. However, at 43 years, even The God of Formula One is mortal and has decided to bow away. While appreciating all he has done, Michael Schumacher's retirement from Formula One has broken our heart that we will not see him driving any more after this year.