Rediscover Formula One

The German Red Bull F1 driver Sebastien Vettel edged Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso to grab the first pole of the 2010 season. Seven time formula one world champion Michael Schumacher who is returning to the track after a sabbatical was seventh in the qualifying with his team-mate Nice Rosberg doing better at 5th place. Vettel’s team-mate was 6th.

Ferrari were the team with most consistent performance in practice and qualifying alike, it seems that this season they might very well be the team to beat, but its still to early to tell.

Newcomer teams like Lotus F1 and HRT F1 (Campos Meta) struggled to make their mark. Some of their times were beyond 2 minutes with Indian rookie Karun Chandhok bringing up the rear for the grid in his HRT F1 car.

Sorry for no qualifying review, but tomorrow, I have an interview with the one of the best schools in India and I wish to get in

One may remember the blonde (nothing except hair colour intended, I swear)  Finn Heikki Kovalainen crashing his Renault car at the Sakhir circuit in 2007 during testing at Bahrain.

It seems history had to repeat itself with the Finn crashing his Lotus Cosworth T127 at the Jerez testing and throwing the Lotus testing schedule out of gear as the car could not be repaired.

Mike Gascoyne wasn’t very angry though, he decided to play down the incident and his comments were full of euphemisms, see and observe the official comments from the Lotus website :

Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne reasons to be positive.

“Unfortunately a small off and a lack of spare parts curtailed the amount of laps we were able to do today, but fortunately we’ve got spare parts arriving this evening. Up to that point we’d got on top of some reliability issues from the previous day and the car was running very smoothly. Although we have lost some track time, the changing conditions made it very difficult, so we haven’t lost too much and we’ll be ready to continue with Heikki in the morning.”

Heikki Kovalainen added his thoughts, saying:

“My initial feeling from the car is good – it fundamentally feels right. I’m disappointed the day came to an early end, but feel good about the team and I’m looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”

Whatever be the reasons, we hope that the Lotus team resumes soon and keeps its reputation

The Lotus formula one team today unveiled its 2010 challenger , draped in yellow and green the ride was unveiled at London’s Royal Horticultural Museum (Though nothing Horticultural about it , except the colour ) the Lotus F1 team has experienced drivers Jarno Trulli and Heiki Kovalainen driving for them this season and Mike Gascoyne is heading the team as CTO.

Does anyone know the reason for the Outer Green Stripes on the tyres of various teams ? I have seen inner Green grooves, or am I forgetting something from last season.

Are the Green Stripes on the cars’ tyres are for the Make Cars Green initiative ?

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Watch Heikki Kovalainen as he reveals the gameplan used at last week’s Belgian Grand Prix which saw him take 6th place after starting from 15th place on the grid.

He talks about the Spa track and the race there. Pretty interesting video.

Toyota had their rear wings marked illegal by F1 Stewards due to too much flexibility

Who in their right minds would have bet their money on Brawn GP, a team which until a few weeks ago didnt exist, the erstwhile Honda team whose fate was uncertain after a disastrous season and on Jenson Button who has often been called just another British driver and has been thoroughly overshadowed by McLaren’s own Brit Lewis Hamilton.

Wee this Saturday at Melbourne was not the place to make informed guesses and preditctions, because things didnt go as expected. The McLarens and the Ferraris werent the forces to be reckoned with, but it was the Brawn GP car of Jenson Button which took the pole position. And as if that wasnt enough, forgotten Brazillian driver and Jenson Button’s teammate at Brawn GP Rubens Barrichello was 2nd and will accompany Button in the front row.

Sebastien Vettel was a cool third in his Red Bull Racing car. While Robert Kubica (whom i had considered a favorite) was only 4th fastest. The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Raikkonen were 7th and 9th respectively. The McLarens were even more pathetic in 15th and 16th place with world champion Lewis Hamilton 16th.

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