I write this post as the latest game in the series ‘F1 2011’ is launched and yes it includes the new Buddh International circuit at Noida. Its coded by codemasters and is marketed by Zapak in India.

The game has a number of new gameplay options, one of which is the much awaited co-op mode, you and your friend compete as formula one racing partners for a team. I have just got my review copy and cant wait to play it out. If you are looking for features, they are all listed here. You can also view the release trailer here, the graphics look simply awesome ! Am awaiting my Xbox copy to really see the HD graphics

The game is available on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

F1 2011™ is the sequel to the BAFTA winning FORMULA ONE™ videogame from Codemasters®, the developer and publisher of award-winning racing games. Developed under Codemasters’ exclusive worldwide agreement with Formula One   World Championship Limited, F1 2011 will come complete with all the official drivers, teams and circuits featuring in the 2011 FIA FORMULA ONE World Championship™. Zapak Games, the licensing & merchandising arm of Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd. will distribute the title in India.

Developed using Codemasters’ EGO Game Technology Platform F1 2011 will deliver an unrivalled FORMULA ONE experience that puts players into the heart of the world’s most exciting sport, powered by cutting edge graphics, advanced physics systems and integrated network play.

· Go Compete!  F1 2011 builds extensively on the multiplayer options from F1 2010. Split-screen racing is included for the first time in a high-definition FORMULA ONE title. Competitive online racing is extended with 16 players going head-to-head in GRAND PRIX™ with up to 8 AI drivers added to simulate the full grid of 24 drivers. An innovative new co-op Championship enables two players to lead their favourite FORMULA ONE team to Driver and Constructor glory across the course of a FORMULA ONE season. These enhancements are complimented by additional quick fire modes including Time Attack.

· New Circuits for 2011. Two stunning new additions to the race calendar extend the number of circuits to feature in F1 2011 to 19. Players will be able to debut ahead of the drivers on the Buddh International Circuit, the home of the first FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF INDIA and players will be able to test themselves on the iconic Nürburging circuit for the first time in High Definition, as this legendary track returns for the 2011 season.

· Be the driver, live the life.  From the paddock to the track, F1 2011 takes players closer to the experience of being a FORMULA ONE driver than ever before. A new Parc Ferme area, an expanded and revamped Paddock, new Pit Lane, celebration and reaction cinematics and an enhanced media interaction system fully immerse players in the glamour, pressure and excitement of being a FORMULA ONE driver. Players progress from rookie to FIA FORMULA ONE DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPION in an extensive career mode where gamers fight to become priority driver and shape the development of the car by performing well in races and earning performance upgrades.

· All the cars, all the stars. Fully licensed, F1 2011 features all the drivers set to contest the 2011 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button. All 2011 teams are represented including Ferrari, Red Rull Racing, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Lotus Renault GP in their iconic black and gold livery.

· KERS, DRS and more! F1 2011 includes all the new rule changes set to make this year’s season the most exciting yet. F1 2011 debuts DRS (Drag Reduction System) – the new system which enables drivers to adjust the rear wing on the car to give a boost of up to 10km. KERS also returns, giving players an extra 80BHP for up to 6.67 seconds, enabling drivers to blast past rivals. Combined, these systems encourage close wheel-to-wheel racing with new options for both defence and attack. This season’s new Pirelli tyres are faithfully simulated in the game, and if players push their car too hard they may experience a range of authentic new damage failures.

· Full Day / Night Racing. The 2011 FORMULA 1 ETHIAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX comes alive with a full day/ night transition which recreates the special atmosphere at this unique track. Every one of the existing circuits from the 2010 roster has been given a complete visual overhaul. New atmospheric effects, including dynamic clouds, compliment a weather system which features an advanced rain model that affects on-track grip.  Powered by the EGO Game Technology Platforms, F1 2011 pushes forward the graphical standard of what can be achieved in a racing game.

· The world’s greatest cars, the most exciting racing. Building on the heritage of producing award-winning racing games for over a decade, Codemasters is uniquely placed to realise the spectacle and exhilaration of racing 200MPH+ FORMULA ONE cars for all fans. F1 2011 can be tuned for players from a wide range of skill levels, from the casual gamer to the hardcore simulation enthusiast and those in between, with a range of differing skill levels. A huge range of vehicle variables can be tuned to suit each player’s unique driving style, or drivers can entrust their Race Engineer to set their car up and head straight onto the track. F1 2011 will support a comprehensive range of racing wheels for the ultimate racing experience.

· Unprecedented authenticity. Codemasters has used its unprecedented access to the world of FORMULA ONE to connect the development team directly with FORMULA ONE teams and tyre manufacturers. Extensive consultancy has taken place with a range of FORMULA ONE professionals, including race engineers, mechanics and drivers. This has been combined with real world data including CAD and on-board telemetry to deliver a race experience complete with authentic handling, accurate circuits and precisely modelled racing cars.

· EGO powered FORMULA ONE. F1 2011 is being developed on the EGO Game Technology platform, evolved from the award winning EGO engine. Enabling Codemasters development talent to share tools and technology across Studios and Central Technology teams, the EGO Game Technology Platform empowers Codemasters game designers to realise their creative visions across multiple platforms featuring cutting edge graphics, powerful AI, advanced physics systems and integrated network play.

Lewis Hamilton was on an unconventional three stop strategy and in the end that seemed to have made the difference with his McLaren outclassing the Red Bull of Vettel. The fresher tyres ensured he was able to overtake the Red Bull. It was nice to see strategy again playing a part in the races after the Red Bulls have truly shown technological dominance on the racetrack (Interpretation of Rules again ?, someone please enlighten !). Sebastien Vettel has already won the 1st 2 formula one races and does seem to be on-track for a successful title defense.

Mark Webber was third and Jenson Button took the 4th place. Mercedes GP’s Nico Rosberg outclassed Michael Schumacher once again and was 5th while the veteran German could manage only 8th. Questions are again being asked about the German’s comeback decision and whether it was a disastrous decision to make. Personally I am proud of him, it takes courage to put your legacy on the line like he has

Sorry for the short and intermittent updates, too much work these day ! But like all things , this too shall pass !

To start winning all you have to do is head on over to the website and register yourself. After registering you will be asked to choose the top ten drivers and that’s it.

If you score high then you get to take home the prizes. I am playing too

Contest Ends 15-November-2010 !

Register for the Race To Finish contest here

Thanks to them we will also be holding a giveaway for some cool Vodafone McLaren Mercedes sometime in the future. Stay Tuned for that !

Nico Rosberg of the Mercedes GP team was third in the practive session while teammate and veteran Michael Schumacher who is looking to redeem himself at the Chinese Grand Prix was fourth. Sebastien Vettel for the Red Bull team was the fifth fastest during the session.

The biggest news of the circuit during the session was Sebastien Buemi’s crash in which both of his wheels seemed to fly off as he braked. The suspension on his car seemed to have broken and in some of the photos one can see extensive damage to tyres done on his car. Buemi thankfully escaped unhurt and was seen gesticulating to his team engineers. Scuderia Torro Rosso later gave a clarifying statement about the crash that read :

“Sebastien Buemi’s incident in FP1 was caused by the failure of the front-right upright “

Ferrari was ok in the practice but reliability woes hit them again. Fernando Alonso suffered an engine failure with smoke and fire coming out of the rear of his Ferrari 2010 challenger. At the hairpin of turn 6 Fernando Alonso’s car suffered this breakdown. Ferrari are going through their engines very fast with a limited number of engines allowed in the season and later on might have to deal with extra engine penalties.

Felipe Massa thankfully did not suffer an engine failure and was 10th fastest. Force India continued their good run with Adrian Sutil finishing the session 9th fastest ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. Force India also had some beautiful photos of the track (and their sponsors in the side profile ) :

The Indian Grand Prix which is scheduled to be organised from the 2011 season is very much on track if the officials involved with the track, its construction and operation are to be believed. The Indian Grand Prix circuit which is coming up in Noida near New Delhi in the NCR region has been marred by hiccups with the sports ministry refusing to recognise formula one as a sport and refusing to sanction tax breaks and incentives for the same. The company incharge of the track and the race isnt worried though. The Jaypee Group, one of the leading conglomerates of India is the company entrusted with organising formula one in India for the next ten years.

Mark Hughes who is the former boss of operations at the Bahrain Grand Prix is the man incharge of the Indian formula one circuit. He is very optimistic about the Indian Grand Prix race in 2011. Addressing a section of the media, he was quoted as saying :

“We fully expect the race to go ahead next October,” vice president of JPSK Sports, a Jaypee Group subsidiary, Mark Hughes said.

“The circuit is part of a sports city being constructed 35 kilometres outside the Indian capital on a 2,800 acre site with areas set aside for the Formula One track and a 100,000-seater international cricket stadium,” Hughes added.

“Jaypee Group head Jaiprakash Gaur is passionate about sport and he has a dream to develop Indian youngsters with talent and prospects to progress,” Hughes added. “The sports hub is part of that dream.”

“We expect to complete construction by July 2011 and once the FIA has given its approval we can finalise training for marshals, track officials and medical staff in time for an October race.”

He also revealed details about the track and that formula one teams were sent simulations of the Indian Grand Prix track and asked for their inputs to the same.

“We sent the details to all the teams and they programmed the information into their simulators and gave us feedback on where we could make improvements and add overtaking opportunity points.”

P.S. The logo above is not the Official logo, its a fan logo designed by us.

Apologies for no photo of the winning driver, apparently Red Bull’s media department is not approving our application to use their photos for editorial purposes.

Red Bull really did give Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber wings with the duo grabbing a 1-2 at the 2010 formula one Malaysian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg was third for the Mercedes GP formula one team (erstwhile Brawn GP) while his teammate Michael Schumacher was unlucky yet again as a nut came off his car’s wheel and he was forced to retire. Before that Michael Schumacher in a strong start had made up 2 places.

Sebastien Vettel proved that if you are good enough and if you drive good enough, victory will come and luck factor will diminish. After 2 unlucky races, Malaysia proved to be third time lucky.

Lewis Hamilton was another the start performer of the day though, the Briton made his way up from 20th on the grid to sixth place. His teammate Jenson Button was 8th at the finish line.

Meanwhile Spaniard and Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso called the Malaysian Grand Prix the toughest race of his life. He suffered a gearbox problem and apparently no clutch in the race.

“Right from the start things went wrong. On the formation lap, my gearbox broke, and I had no clutch during the race,” Fernando Alonso said.

“So I had to brake in a weird way. I had to first gear down and then push the throttle hard so it would engage the gear for that corner.

“So it was probably the hardest race of my whole life in terms of driving, because I had to improvise for every corner.

Final Classification of the Malaysian Grand Prix 2010

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts

1 5 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 56 1:33:48.412 3 25

2 6 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 56 +4.8 secs 1 18

3 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 56 +13.5 secs 2 15

4 11 Robert Kubica Renault 56 +18.5 secs 6 12

5 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 56 +21.0 secs 4 10

6 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +23.4 secs 20 8

7 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 56 +27.0 secs 21 6

8 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 56 +37.9 secs 17 4

9 17 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 56 +70.6 secs 14 2

10 10 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 56 +73.3 secs 5 1

11 16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 56 +78.9 secs 13

12 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 7

13 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 54 +2 Laps 19

14 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 53 +3 Laps 24

15 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53 +3 Laps 22

16 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 52 +4 Laps 23

17 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 51 +5 Laps 18

Ret 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 46 +10 Laps 15

Ret 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 32 +24 Laps 11

Ret 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 12 +44 Laps 10

Ret 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 9 +47 Laps 8

Ret 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 8 +48 Laps 9

Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2 +54 Laps 16

DNS 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 0 +56 Laps 12

Michael Schumacher must be feeling like a mere mortal these days, his recent performances at Bahrain and Australia were anything but the legendary stuff he is remembered for. When he decided to return to the track in 2010, it was a super bold move. It was his bet on his legacy. How many people are confident enough to put their legacy on the line. Before this season, Michael had the distinction of being called the best formula one driver by most sources. However all that could change if the 2 recent performances are anything to go by. In both the races Michael has been out-shadowed and out-driven by his teammate Nico Rosberg. A lot of that can be attributed to the fact that Michael Schumacher is out of practice but it still doesn’t change the fact he is being beaten by one of the youngest drivers on the grid.

However he is not the kind of sportsperson to be disheartened by small defeats, he sounded very upbeat on his official website. A partial excerpt of his post is given below :

“I know that might sound awkward but I take a lot of good aspects from the race weekend in Melbourne. Of course that does not show at first sight but looking into our weekend more deeply, I find we did improve quite well and have a good reason to be quite satisfied – just not from the pure result obviously.

But analyzing Qualifying I think both Nico and me could have been ranked 2 to 3 positions better. I had a too conservative set up in the end which was too much concentrated towards the race, plus I had a tear-off strip stuck in my front wing which too cost me some time. And going into the race from those better positions would have meant fighting for the podium.”

Lets hope his optimism is rewarded

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

Mercedes GP revealed their new challenger on 25th January 2010. Stupid me thought that a new media ID was needed to access the site, turns out the BrawnGp era ID works on the media site, so we have the new photos of their challenger and ofcourse of Michael Schumacher who looks 30 and not 41 and also Nico Rosberg who looks 16

First a look at the all German lineup of the team, and also the young and old combo which is being adopted by a lot of teams. Michael Schumacher ofcourse got the say in getting the number allotted for his car. He has the odd-numbered number 3 car which he wanted. Rosberg gets the number 4 car.

Both drivers as well as Ross Brawn were excited about the launch. Schumacher looks set to end his career in the Mercedes GP team as is apparent by his comments.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER:
“Finally the 2010 Formula One season is firing up! I have to say that I am totally committed to this new challenge. This season feels like a re-start for me and I am so motivated. We have a very exciting combination at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS. We have a World Champion team in every sense of the word and I cannot wait to get into the car for the first time in Valencia. I am convinced that MERCEDES GP PETRONAS will be in a very good position to fight for the championships this season and I will definitely give it a go. Driving for Mercedes-Benz again is like the closing of a circle for me as I started my racing driver career with the three-pointed star on my helmet. This is another reason why I cannot wait for the competition to get underway.”

NICO ROSBERG:
“You can really feel the successful motorsport history of Mercedes-Benz here at the Museum in Stuttgart and to be part of the new Silver Arrows team and that racing heritage makes me feel extremely proud and motivated. Since joining the team in November, I have spent a lot of time at the factory in Brackley, at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth and here in Stuttgart, which has given me the opportunity to settle in and get to know everyone. I have seen how hard the team is working on the new car and I really can’t wait for the opportunity to drive it for the first time in Valencia next week. I am looking forward to working with everyone at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS and will give it my all to reward their fantastic efforts with good on-track results this season.”

ROSS BRAWN, TEAM PRINCIPAL, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS:
“It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today for the official presentation of the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula One Team. With your first look around the Museum, you realise the fantastic racing heritage of Mercedes-Benz and we hope to be able to contribute to those successes going forward. Our team have been working extremely hard throughout last year and over the winter on the development of the MGP W01 and everyone at the team is looking forward to the start of testing in Valencia next week. We have two excellent drivers in Nico and Michael, who will form one of the most exciting and one of the best partnerships on the grid, and with the support of Mercedes-Benz, Aabar, our new title partner PETRONAS and all of our team partners, everyone is looking forward to the 2010 Formula One season with anticipation.”

Now a look at the new silver arrows, a very standard chassis with a curved carbon fibre nose as is the tradition with the Mercedes team. The major team sponsor is Petronas which is also a name sponsor. We will come to know about the car performance only when the team gets down to business