Desicritics Author: Neeraj

Formula 1 2007 Preview: The Malaysian Grand Prix

Neeraj — Fri, 6 Apr 2007 03:26:13 EDT

After a wait of three long weeks, the Formula 1 race weekend is finally here for the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix. Nothing of much interest has happened during these three weeks.

After his victory in the Australian Grand Prix three weeks ago, Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari seem to be in a fix. The problem is with water leakage in the engine of Kimi's car. The snag developed during the last stages of Australian Grand Prix when Kimi was asked to slow down to save the engine. Since each engine has to last two race weekends, Ferrari engineers are not allowed to open the engine and decide whether the problem is really serious or not. Therefore they are not able to take a call whether to compete in the Malaysian Grand Prix with the existing engine or to change it, hence getting a 10 grid position penalty.

The Formula 1 bandwagon arrived in Malaysia last week, when all the teams (except Spyker) had a three day testing session, which extended by 1 day due to rains. The testing showed a mix result with different drivers topping the charts. Which makes it more hard to predict what sort of car deployment we would get to see in Malaysia. Though three weeks is a very right window to bring in any major changes in the cars.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is all set for being the first wet Grand Prix of the season with showers being predicted for the weekend, therefore making the GP more interesting. Just a note, during one of the practice sessions when it was raining, Lewis Hamilton topped the chart. Is it any indication of the race weekend? We'll come to know pretty soon.

And if you thought that a gap of three weeks was just too much to handle, then be prepared for the four weeks gap between Bahrain GP & Spanish GP. I so much miss having races every fortnight.

So, what's the prediction going to be for the Malaysian Grand Prix?

For qualifiers, Felipe Massa takes pole position with Kimi following on second spot and Alonso in third. I also think that Ferrari will change the engine of Kimi's car, therefor he'll be starting from 12th position on the grid, after the 10 grid place penalty.

For the race winner, I'll put my money on Felipe Massa taking the chequered flag.

Enjoy the Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix.

Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix - Raikkonen Takes The Flag

Neeraj — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:29:45 EDT

Kimi Raikkonen takes the chequered flag at the 2007 ING Australian Grand Prix. Reigning champion Fernando Alonso finished second in his McLaren, followed by the rookie [and Fernando's teammate] Lewis Hamilton walking to the podium in his debut race.

If you thought Formula 1 racing was boring, think again. The race can't get any more interesting and spectacular, with David Coulthard deciding to take "Aerial Route" literally on Alex Wurz. With Heikki Kovalainen thinking of Albert Park as Park, in literal sense, and driving his Renault in the grass quite a few times. With Takuma Sato finishing ahead of Jenson Button but behind Reubens Barrichello. With Felipe Massa managing to finish at 6th place after starting from 21st place on the grid [and thus proving my predictions for grid positions wrong]. With Williams managing to finish ahead of both of the Toyota's.

Let's look at what happened in some detail.

Kimi Raikkonen led the race from start to finish in his super fast Ferrari [and we already have a controversy in the making for Ferrari] reminding some people of the days of Michael Schumacher when he ruled the roost. Not that I am worrying about this, since it's just the start of the season and we will see many ups & downs in coming races. For Felipe Massa, the icing-on-the-cake would have been if he had been able to overtake Fisichella at fifth place. But finishing at 6th position from fag-end of the starting grid shows the pace that Ferrari has managed to generate, though I believe he would have managed to finish at 4th or 5th position if he hadn't tailed Barrichello's Honda for a long time.

The two McLarens had a pretty eventful race, To begin with, at the first corner of the first lap Lewis Hamilton managed to salvage second place from his team-mate Fernando Alonso. Then at the last pit-stop, Fernando managed to come out of the pit-lane before Lewis Hamilton. Later extending a comfortable 10 seconds lead over the rookie at the end. Tyre choices during the last pit-stops are what worked well for Fernando & not so well for Lewis [for the curious, Fernando choose soft compound tyres whereas Lewis chose harder compound tyres thus the difference in car performance].

BMW-Sauber had a decent GP. Nick managed to take 3rd place at the first corner of first lap, but he lost it during the first pit-stop, managing to finish at 4th place. Whereas Robert Kubica had to park his BMW in the garage after 36 laps due to some technical glitches.

Renault looked mediocre at best. Fisichella salvaged some pride by holding back Felipe Massa for last 5 laps and thus finishing at 5th position. As for Heikki, he liked the grass more than the asphalt and thus decided to check out how it feels to drive on the grass. He somehow managed to finish at 10th place. Not the start any reigning World Champion team would like to make.

Williams, as per me, won a battle as Rosberg finished at seventh place, ahead of Toyota's Ralf & Trulli. As for Alex Wurz, well, Coulthard had some other plans for him. Plans like move-over-or-i'll-drive-over-your-car. On the other hand, Toyota, what can I say that hasn't been said about them already? Ralf & Trulli finished at 8th & 9th place respectively, thus managing to score 1 point for them. But the biggest blow for them was that Williams, which is using Toyota's engines, managed to finish ahead of them. If this scenario can't propel Toyota to move forward with full force, then god knows what will.

Honda, the "Green Cars", saving the planet, are showing how much they care for earth and increasing global warming, which I believe is a very innovative idea. If only they had been equally innovative in the development of their 2007 car. With Barrichello finishing at 11th position and Jenson coming at 15th position [both 1 lap down], shows how much Honda is lagging behind not only to Ferrari's & McLaren's but also to Toyota's & William's. Super Aguri also had a laugh as Takuma Sato was able to finish ahead of Jenson Button at 12th place and Anthony Davidson finished at 16th place. It shows how much Super Aguri has put into car development compared to last year.

Red Bull also had a very mediocre start of the season. Mark Webber finished 13th [well behind Williams!] and we all know about David Coulthard's aerobatics. Vitantonio Liuzzi's Toro Rosso finished at 14th place whereas Scott Speed's had to park his car in the green zone after front tyre burst. Adrian Sutil finished 17th [last place] in his Spyker.

All in all, the season opener was a good race. It showed how many teams were successful in their winter testing and how many teams had a mountain to climb to reach there. And it showed that it is going to be a very interesting season.

Formula 1 2007 Preview: The Australian Grand Prix

Neeraj — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:45:14 EDT

After five months of anxious anticipation, the day is nearly here for the start of 2007 Formula 1 season. And what a season it is going to be! But first, a small recap of all that has happened in last five months.

The biggest change this year - No Michael Schumacher on the starting grid. Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve will also be absent. Some big names have switched teams - Fernando Alonso's move to McLaren Mercedes and Kimi Raikkonen's move to Ferrari are the most talked about. Mark Webber also moved to Red Bull Racing from Williams.

Then there are a whole lot of rookies who will be racing for some great teams, notably Lewis Hamilton debuting for McLaren Mercedes and Heikki Kovalainen debuting for Renault. Also debuting this year are Anthony Davidson for Super Aguri and Adrian Sutil for Spyker. Alexander Wurz will be driving for Williams after switching from McLaren last year and testing for Williams the whole last season.

On the other hand, Toyota [Ralf Schumacher & Jarno Trulli], Honda Racing [Jenson Button & Reubens Barrichello], BMW-Sauber [Nick Heidfeld & Robert Kubica] & Scuderia Toro Rosso [Vitantonio Liuzzi & Scott Speed] will be retaining their last years lineup.

There will be no Michelin with Bridgestone becoming the sole provider for tyres starting this season. And no Cosworth, since Williams will be getting their engines from Toyota. Scuderia Toro Rosso will be getting Ferrari Engines, where as big brother Red Bull Racing will be using Renault engines. Spyker will be using Ferrari engines.

All the teams have been busy for past two months testing their 2007 contenders. And a whole lot of speculation has been going around. Mainly about whether McLaren can do a turn around from last year's paltry performance with Fernando Alonso & Lewis Hamilton. And whether Kimi Raikkonen can step into the large shoes of Michael Schumacher and help Ferrari regain the constructor’s title this year. And not to forget, who is the better driver between Felipe Massa & Kimi Raikkonen. Then there is a lot of talk about how Renault’s performance has been lagging when compared to the previous two years.

And how can we forget the good old Bernie Ecclestone. After announcing the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to be held from 2009, he is also trying to have a F1 Grand Prix race in night [ongoing talks with Australia & Singapore authorities]. And also that he is going to change the points system for driver’s championship next year.

Then there were rumours' floating around that Michael Schumacher is contemplating buying Scuderia Toro Rosso next year. Also that Ross Braun will be joining hands with Mercedes as team chief next year.

This pretty much sums up what happened in last 5 months. Now there's just one more day to go before the 2007’s first Qualifying session starts for ING Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.

So what’s my prediction for the Australian Grand Prix?

For qualifying, I think Ferrari will occupy the 1st & 3rd spot on the grid, with Alonso’s McLaren taking 2nd spot, followed by Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren. First spot being Felipe Massa with Kimi Raikkonen in third.

For the winner of the Australian Grand Prix, I’ll put my money on Kimi Raikkonen.

Enjoy the first Grand Prix of 2007.