Friday, July 25, 2008

F1 Miscellany

Last weekend's F1 race saw Hamilton pull ahead of Raikkonen and Massa in the Championship race. Since I want Raikkonen to win again, I hope that Ferrari ensures that in team strategy Raikkonen gets preference over Massa. The way Hamilton overtook Massa, I think the championship will be decided between Hamilton and Raikkonen. Besides the 2 of them, I believe only Alonso is in the same calibre and unfortunately his car is not upto the mark.

Force India has decided to focus on next year. I found it hard to root for the Indian team - not sure if it is nature of F1 or my negativity with regard to Mallya's handling of RCB issues. I only briefly checked on how they were doing in each race. Their best chance was at Monaco with Sutil in 4th place when we was hit by Kimi. It did draw some sympathy/support from me. What do you think of their prospects in the coming years and will they be able to garner Indian support and loyalty?

Mallya says India on track for Indian GP in 2010. What do you think? Isn't there a lot to be done? They are only getting a sanction for the track right now. Not sure how many years earlier Singapore started its preparation, but it will be exciting if India is able to host a GP. Is there a sufficient market in India for F1?

Speaking of Singapore, how do they manage to come up with such novelites? An anti-clockwise circuit (only the 2nd one?) , the first night race in F1 and a street circuit like Monaco. I cannot wait to see the nuances of the circuit or what interesting issues drivers may face...

On another Indian front, Karun Chandhok won the GP2 in Germany last week. I have not watched him. How good is he? Do you fancy his chances in F1?

BTW, did you know that Hamilton karted in Mumbai. Let me know if someone comes to Chennai...

7 comments:

a fan said...

There are quite a few F1 fans in India and i am sure the delhi elite community will take attending F1 as yet another party event!
Regarding loyalty for indian team, i never felt like even supporting Narain karthikeyan when schumi was on track :)
Infact,when i attended my only F1 race in US, quite a large Indian crowd was there to support him...but these people are not real F1 fans..so i am not sure how long this loyalty will continue!

a fan said...

Regarding support for Kimi, i think the Ferrari team is kind of confused as which driver should be considered as a lead one...because both Massa and Kimi seem to be competing well this year.

RS said...

@a fan - how was the experience of watching an F1? Worth a trip to Delhi if it comes to India?

On Ferrari - my thought is that they should not be confused - Kimi is a better driver than Massa and if they have 2 leaders, they will lose to Hamilton like he and Alonso did last year with their infighting.

a fan said...

well, i watched one of the most controversial races :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_United_States_Grand_Prix

It was an extremely different and wonderful experience...it's worth watching mainly for the F1 atmosphere and the sound of racing cars...also there were prancing horse flags all over the place...there were around 20-30 ferrari cars on display outside...there were quite a few people who had travelled all over the world for all the race locations and few who had targeted the races in North and South America...

Infact,from the race perspective, we will not be able to watch the complete circuit as in TV...so even there, we would be watching in the giant screen most of the time, that too without the Steve slater's commentary :)...But, if you get a seat in the stage opposite to the podium, which most probably will be near the start position of the race, it's worth it.

Also, one thing which i missed out is visiting the team pits on friday. Here, the visitors will get a chance to meet with even the race drivers of the team...

So, all in all, it's worth all the dollars, according to me :) :)

But one concern about delhi is, most of the stuff will be completely indianized with all the celebs and politicians getting the best seats in the circuit and i am not sure even about the friday visit to pitstop...

So my suggestion would be, don't go for the first year.Based on feedbacks, try for second year in India.

a fan said...

Yes,Kimi is a better driver...but the problem with him is his "Iceman" attitude..atleast i don't like it.
F1 involves as much team effort as individual effort. I am not sure whether he can get the best from his team with such an "Iceman" attitude...
that too when there is a speculation that he might retire after 2009!

http://www.espnstar.com/motorsport/news/detail/item91288/Raikkonen-hard-to-work-out/

RS said...

Of course if F1 comes to Delhi, it will depend on the ticket prices as well - if it is targeted at the elite, will have to keep away...

On Raikkonen - I have not heard about callousness towards fans till I saw your link -- if thst is the case, it is taking his don't care attitude too far.

BTW, I always supported the underdog against Schumi :-( - found his racing attitude/aggression (not sure if that is the right word in this context) overwhelming.

RS said...

Good to hear your experience about watching it. I hope if F1 comes to India it will be similar.