Countdown to the Indian Grand Prix

An excellent qualifying session ended with Hamilton on pole followed by Sutil. Sutil had a brilliant Q3 but was let down by a small wobble at Lesmo resulting Hamilton beating him by 0.2 seconds. The Ferrari of Kimi was behind them on row 2. So the Force India IS better than the Ferrari :)

On the two drivers on new cars, Liuzzi managed an impressive 7th place but Fisi could only get 14.

Here is how they all line up for tomorrow:

1. Hamilton (KERS)
2. Sutil
3. Kimi (KERS)
4. Heikki (KERS)
5. Rubens
6. Button
7. Liuzzi
8. Alonso (KERS)
9. Vettel
10. Webber
11. Trulli
12. Grosjean (KERS)
13. Kubica
14. Fisichella
15. Heidfeld
16. Glock
17. Nakajima
18. Rosberg
19. Beumi
20. Algesuari

An exciting race ahead with the KERS powered cars predicted to gain 15 metres right at the start. Sutil better watch out!

Loading mentions Retweet

In a move that was expected to take place for more than a week now, GF has finally moved to Ferrari for the rest of the 2009 season. He will replace Luca Badoer who had one of the most disappointing stint in F1 ever.

GF thanked Force India boss Dr. Vijay Mallya for letting him go and allowing him to drive for Ferrari for the rest of the season. Mallya said he had made the decision to release his driver for the good of Fisichella and of Formula One racing, and not in exchange for any financial settlement. He also hinted that the 36-year-old’s Ferrari deal extends beyond 2009, suggesting a possible testing role for the Roman next season. Wow Dr. Mallya! Very generous indeed. He added that a competitive Italian driver in a Ferrari for Monza is a positive story for Formula One, which can only help raise the sport's profile in these difficult times.

If only everyone was this altruistic and level headed! But this is a masterstroke by the Indian boss. There was nothing that anyone could do to stop GF from moving to Ferrari and the smartest thing to do was the make the most of the situation. For sure GF has helped Force India in more ways than we can imagine. But for this exact reason it would be so hard to part ways with him and see him in a rival car. The best thing he did was to not charge any settlement fee.

Force India is truly Indian!

The next question would be, who would drive the now vacant car number 21? My guess would be Vitantonio Liuzzi who is the test driver. Well, my guess is as good as yours.

Loading mentions Retweet

So I finally manage to post about something that the whole world knows and is talking about.

It was a great weekend at the best race track in tha calendar and the result was more in my favor than I could ask for. Not only did Kimi win the race in the Ferrari, but Fisichella in his Force India managed a second place without much sweat. In fact he was good for the win too if Kimi didnt have the KERS to keep him ahead.

I dont want to say much about the race and the result. Everyone already knows about it and has read reams of newsprint regarding it. All I want to say is: Thank You Dr. Mallya!

Loading mentions Retweet

Nobody can believe it! GF is on pole position for the Belgium GP!

This pole is the result of an extremely quick car which was evident throughout the qualifying session. He was quickest in Q1 which is not a fuel dependent run and also 4th quickest in Q2 before taking pole in the dying seconds of Q3.

I hope all of you will be watching Force India take what can be their first podium finish. I really want them to win, but considering that this is the first time they have done so well, I am counting out the nerves and butterflies they would have built up in the past 24 hours.

I am with the Force! Are you?

Loading mentions Retweet

Finally, we have a FI in the Q3. Adrian Sutil drove a cautious and lucky lap to be the third fastest in Q2.

I say he was lucky because the mountain weather at Nurburgring is really not helping anyone with the rain playing hide and seek.

Adrian Sutil picked the perfect window between two rain spells and stormed a lap on slicks which turned out to be third fastest.

Once the qualifying is over, I will update you on the full results. Hope it goes all well for the FI!

Loading mentions Retweet

Yes, that was the story of the Race today.

As I mentioned in my last post and as has been mentioned by so many more people around the world, Jenson Button has a Schumacheresque quality to him. So it was not a surprise to see him win the 2009 Grand Prix de Monaco. Everyone knows that it is quite impossible to overtake at Monaco and the result proved that. However, there were more changes in the order from the start than there normally is.

Button and Barrichelo finished 1-2 for Brawn and they were followed by both the Ferraris. So the story of the race is that Ferrari is closer than ever in this season to challenge for the top step of the Podium. Raikkonen drove a pretty clean race and if it was not for the start where Barichello overtook him, he would have challenged Button for victory.

The story of the race for me however was the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella. He just about missed out on a point which would meant more than a victory to Force India. Last year Sutil missed out on a point finish after Kimi crashed into him coming out of the Tunnel. But Fisichella drove a very competitive race gaining 4 places after starting 13th.

All in all, it still is not too late for the Ferraris to challenge the Brawns. McLaren doesn't seem to be into it yet. The team I am looking forward to is Force India with more upgrades coming in Turkey and Germany.

This is bound to get interesting!

Loading mentions Retweet

A few seasons ago, if you missed qualifying, it didn't really matter that much. You anyways knew that Schumi would be at Pole with his team mate in the first two rows and the McLarens giving them company. History is repeating itself this season as well, but this time its the Brit Jenson Button!

However, Monaco has changed the order somewhat. Yes, Jenson Button is still on Pole, BUT, do I see a RED CAR next to him? Yes! It IS a Ferrari and the Scuderia Ferrari at that! Kimi Raikkonen has finally managed to get a Scuderia Ferrari into the front row, splitting the Brawn GP team mates. Whats more, his team mate Massa is not very far behind on the third row. Kimi however was looking good for Pole, and as he said after the qualifying, there is a much bigger difference between starting from first or second place at Monaco. He however HAS to be feeling better already. Chris Dyer, Ferrari's Chief Engineer summed it up by saying, “A great result for the team: two cars in the front three rows is a reward for all the work we’ve done. Kimi drove fantastically well, while Felipe was almost always in traffic, which prevented him from doing better. ............ The team and drivers worked really well in managing the situation and the credit for this result goes to them and everyone back at the factory who worked on preparing for this Grand Prix. ........ we will do our best to bring both cars home on the podium.” (Formula1.com)

At the other end of the grid meanwhile, there was another team rejoicing. Force India had finally managed to get BOTH their cars into Q2. They finally qualified 13th (GF) and 15th (AS) on the grid which is an excellent result for this team from India. I guess it helped that Dr. Mallya was away in South Africa to watch his IPL Franchise, Bangalore Royal Challengers, in the second Semi Final playing Chennai Super Kings. It is a very good result for this team and as Giancarlo Fisichella says, "For tomorrow I want to get to the end of the race and let's see - this is Monaco, you never know what can happen." (Formula1.com)

You want to make a guess?

Loading mentions Retweet