Report by Karthik Pai a.k.a. Karkai6
My Little Rant on the 2010 Season so far:
A tweaked Points system, subtle changes in the Technical regulations and loads of brainwork going on behind the closed doors of the FIA… Improving the show called F1 is surely hard work. But then, after all the Hulla-bulla, I’ll tell you who’s going to win the next race. Sebastian Vettel. It surely is not very difficult to predict. Not if you saw the last three races, that is.
Bahrain: Vettel leads half of the race and his car lets him down.
Australia: Vettel leads half the race and his car lets him down.
Malaysia: Vettel leads the whole race and his car stay in one piece. He wins.
There… So much for the prediction! Overtaking too is not at its all-time best… The race in Bahrain cured a lot of people of their sleeplessness. They slept loudly during the race. The race in Melbourne was amazing though, helped of course by the Rain Gods, who decided to have a bit of fun. And Malaysia was a “Hmm… it was ok!” race. So much for the FIA’s plans of throwing in some uncertainty in the finishing order…
The Venue:
Personally, I feel this is one of the better circuits after Turkey Hermann Tilke has designed. The never ending T1, the high speed T7 and T8 and the long T13 are fantastic to watch in the Onboard cam on the Telly. Add to that the heavy braking zones at T6, T11 and T14 will offer inviting overtaking opportunities. The drivers love the Circuit for other reasons though. Its paddock and Pit Garages are rated to be among the best in the Motorsports business, with Air-Conditioning and stuff. What the viewers can take some happiness from, is the fact that this venue has hosted a lot of wet weather races in the past and as you know, wet weather equals more crashes, more slip ups and better on board footage?.
The Teams – Analysis:
Hispania Racing Team:
Unfortunately, my feeling is that Karun Chandok is not getting as much attention as Narain Karthikeyan had got. But his performance in the last race was superb. He beat his team mate Bruno Senna by a lap. And considering that famous surname ‘Senna’, all Karun has to do is stay in front of the famous named teammate to stay in the spotlight. We all can surely hope for better prospects next year then.
Force India:
This is turning out to be one magic year for Vijay Mallya. His RCB team is doing fab, and Force India is on its best ever run. Sutil, till now has a better qualifying pace compared to Luizzi and if he manages to keep his car in one piece(He normally struggles with that aspect!!), a points finish should be a walk in the park, considering Sutil was running as high as sixth last year before spinning out.
The Leaders:
It should easily be a walk in the park for Vettel, provided nothing is wrong with the car. Consider the facts. He got the race year from pole position. He s been in charge of every race this season. There is no reason why he should not win easily. A close second should be Webber, primarily because he’s got the same equipment.
The next best bet should be Ferrari. Malaysia was just a minor hitch because of a wrong qualifying strategy. Otherwise, the results suggest that they are right up there in terms of pace. The interesting thing would be to see which Ferrari land on top of the table at the end. It has been close between Massa and Alonso all along.
Hamilton and Button have not been really on the top when it comes to sheer pace but smart strategy has given them a race win and some good results. But if all the other contenders manage to keep it together till the finish without incidents, a podium finish looks tough.
When Schumacher raced here last in 2006, he had an impressive win in the wet. Conversely, he had a mediocre 2005 when his car was crap. Should be interesting to note how the going is this year.
What You should look out for:
1. Who takes the first corner. The leader at the first corner can easily win the race in China, going by past statistics.
2. The fight between the Ferraris.
3. Adrian Sutil, he will either entertain us with a crash, or help our ego with a brilliant finish.
4. Karun Chandok, because he is Indian.
5. Michael Schumacher, because he is Michael Schumacher.