Its so good to have another Asian race, so you wake up, have coffee and there is qualifying on TV for you. And on the television you see Chinese girls with tattoos of ‘I love Kimi Raikkonen’ alongwith a weird rendition of the Finnish flag on their cheeks.

Qualifying Session 2

As the boring Q1 finishes, Narain Karthikeyan is last as usual but within 107% of qualification time so he gets to start again. Its now Q2 and 16 cars are out on track, Romain Grosjean is sitting inside since he used the prime tyres in the 1st session. Alonso is struggling, Ferrari is even slower than the Saubers at this point. Talking of Romain Grosjean, no one has told me who issued him a driver’s license ? Maybe he got his FIA superlicense here in India through some agent.

Nico Rosberg goes fastest and Michael Schumacher is second fastest in what could be his last Chinese Grand Prix as per the 3 year contract he is supposed to have signed with the Mercedes GP F1 team. The Mercedes GP team with Schumi were the fastest during Friday practice , they really seem to have got their setup right this time. A welcome change from mistake after mistake

As the session comes to an end, Felipe Massa is 10th fastest, and every other car is clocking 11th fastest, Massa is living dangerously. And Perez with a P3 time pushes Massa to 11th place. So no qualifying session 3 for Massa, Fernando Alonso is the only Ferrari in top 10 at 10th place. Sebastien Vettel is 11th fastest and he wont be in the 3rd leg of qualifying. Massa is only 12th fastest. Very poor results for both Vettel and Massa. Vettel would be heartbroken especially when Mark Webber is P1 after Q2. Maybe its karma for calling Narain Karthikeyan a cucumber.

Qualifying Session 3

Nico Rosberg is the 1st car out on track, you may think it’s a bad move, but the track is getting cooler, so it could be smart of the Mercedes GP team as cooler track means slower lap times. Rosberg sets a 1:35.1 lap time. That’s pretty awesome I tell you. Michael Schumacher is a full half second slower and Lewis Hamilton now splits the 2 Mercedes.

The Red Bull struggle continues, Webber only manages a P5 on his 1st hot lap with only 5 cars on the track.

And as the session comes to an end Rosberg is still  P1 , Lewis Hamilton is P2 and Michael Schumacher is P3. First ever pole position for Nico Rosberg in 110 races as Michael congratulates him after disembarking from his car. Lewis Hamilton will only start 7th though due to a gearbox change.

And did I mention I like this new Star Sports raceday host, she keeps rooting for Michael Schumacher. Here are the final timings from the qualifying and a smashing portrait of the man of the moment : Nico Rosberg

We had recently reported about Vettel’s outburst against Narain Karthikeyan calling him a cucumber after they had an accident during last week’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. Due to the collision Sebastien Vettel was able to secure only 11th place in the race.

Narain called Vettel’s outburst unprofessional, an opinion which most of us share.

“For a world champion to say things like that is really shameful,” Karthikeyan told the Hindustan Times which is an Indian Daily.

“It is really unprofessional.”

“For a driver who has achieved so much to take out his frustrations on me just because he is having a difficult year is really sad. One does not expect a professional sportsman to be such a cry baby.”

Narain Karthikeyan was not very happy about the stewards decision to handle him a  drive through penalty. He hinted that Vettel had influenced their decision and he was not given a chance to defend himself.

“The race stewards didn’t care about what I had to say because Mr Vettel told them God knows what when he went and talked to them,” he said.

Sebastien Vettel’s race was ruined by a collision with Narain Karthikeyan towards the end of the race when he suffered a rear tyre puncture causing him to pit and later on the collision also caused other problems to his car, overheating brakes etc.

If you read our live blog (last post), you would see that he also didn’t have radio contact with his team towards the end of his race, his team was frantically asking him to retire, which he didn’t, at first we thought it was only due to his grit to finish the race, but as it turns out it was due to him losing radio contact with his team.

“Most crucially we lost radio communication and that makes it very difficult in these conditions to know what’s going on. Nonetheless, we did our maximum today and got up to fourth.

To then lose the race how I did is very frustrating. Some people (Narain Karthikeyan) need to look more where they are going.

He also added to another media source

As in real life, there are a few cucumbers on the road.”  (Referring to Narain Karthikeyan)

Cucumber of course meaning idiot over here. I know Indian drivers can be bad on roads , trust me I have seen 100s of them, but calling Narain a cucumber stems of a little arrogance, watch it there Sebastien, don’t want to go the Lewis Hamilton way there . Have a look at the video below where he curses Karthikeyan after the incident, that’s just the index finger though, no middle finger there. Watch it before FIA takes it off Youtube.

Team Principal Christian Horner thankfully was more reserved in his comments :

“The incident with Narain Karthikeyan caused damage to the rear brake duct, which went into thermal runaway,” Horner said.

“We wanted to stop the car before the end from a safety point of view, but Seb couldn’t hear us because of the loss of the radio and continued.

“Thankfully his car got to the end without failing, but the incident cost Sebastian at least a fourth place finish today.”

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.

The seemingly haphazard and biased decision has drawn flak from the Red Bull team and supporters, however FIA race director Charlie Whiting dismissed that the decision reeked of any bias. Countering claims he said that its not for the FIA to see if 1 team would be more affected than others in a rule change.

    “What we are doing is stopping people breaking the existing rules,” Charlie Whiting said.     

    “It’s not for us to say whether a certain team would be more penalized than others. It just depends how extreme they are going. But I have certainly seen evidence of maps on a number of teams which are extremely extreme.     

    “It’s not confined to one team, I can assure you,”      

    “It’s a bit like the mass damper where its use when it was first introduced by one team was fairly benign when it came to aerodynamics. But the more it got developed, the more extreme the designs were.”     

    “These things escalate to the point where something has to be done.”     

Christian Horner of Redbull was however adamant in his criticism :

“It is slightly confusing with the technical directive that it was not addressed at the end of the year going into next year,” He said.

“Why has it been done midseason?”

Mike Gascoyne of the Lotus team was worried about the costs associated with such a decision :

“We have all spent a lot of money developing something,” Gascoyne said.

“We are always pushing to get an advantage and will obviously implement it if it is within the rules. It is just frustrating it is done in the middle of the season without consultation.”

Ross Brawn of Mercedes however was all for the decision and justified that it was for the good of the sport :

“The protagonists behind raising this issue were threatening to protest the cars and that was the difficulty they had,” Ross Brawn explained.

“If they hadn’t have taken action, then it sounds like some teams were going to protest the situation to get clarity through the stewards and that wouldn’t be very good for Formula One. We want to avoid that at all costs because … it would probably end up in the appeal courts again and that’s no good.”

FIA has been known to pass judgments on various technical issues mid-season. So why are the teams making such a big deal about it this time ? Is it because some teams are seeing their monopoly ending ? Only time will tell if this would rein in the rampaging Red Bulls !

The World Motor Sport council voted to get the Bahrain Grand Prix re-instated in a move that was praised by Bahrain’s prince but met with sharp criticism elsewhere.

The Bahrain Grand Prix now pushes the Inaugural Indian Grand Prix to the end of the season. The Indian Grand Prix will now be held in December andd Bahrain Grand Prix takes the 30th October slot.

The Bahrain Crown prince praised the move :

“Having the race back in Bahrain has, indeed, significantly unified the people of Bahrain in this period,” Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa said

“Their love for their country and caring for its interest has motivated them in supporting efforts to bring the race back to Bahrain this year,” he added.

This is ofcourse in stark contrast to what the rest of the world feels. We had recently reported on the democracy protests in Bahrain, what we didn’t report (as we aren’t a political blog) was how the protests were crushed and citizens detained in the kingdom state. Its no wonder that the decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix has people up in anger all over the Internet.

Former FIA president Max Mosely was vocal of his criticism and hoped that the decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix would be reversed. In a piece for the Daily Telegraph, he wrote :

“Surely the line has to be drawn when a sporting event is not mere entertainment in a less-than-perfect country, but is being used by an oppressive regime to camouflage its actions” Max Mosley wrote.

“If a sport accepts this role, it becomes a tool of government. If Formula 1 allows itself to be used in this way in Bahrain, it will share the regime’s guilt as surely as if it went out and helped brutalize unarmed protesters.”

“Having carried out these horrific acts, the Bahrain government wants to clean up its image. That’s where the grand prix comes in. By running the race they hope to show the world the troubles were just a small, temporary difficulty and everything is now back to normal.

“By agreeing to race there, Formula 1 becomes complicit in what has happened. It becomes one of the Bahrain government’s instruments of repression. The decision to hold the race is a mistake which will not be forgotten and, if not reversed, will eventually cost Formula 1 dear.”

Red Bull driver Mark Webber was also critical and till now one of the only f1 drivers who seems to have come out openly against the decision, He wrote on his website :

“In my personal opinion, the sport should have taken a much firmer stance earlier this year rather than constantly delaying its decision in the hope of being able to reschedule it in 2011.

“It would have sent a very clear message about F1′s position on something as fundamental as human rights and how it deals with moral issues.”

“Like it or not, F1 and sport in general isn’t above having a social responsibility and conscience. I hope F1 is able to return to Bahrain eventually but now isn’t the right time.

“As a competitor I do not feel at all comfortable going there to compete in an event when, despite reassurances to the contrary, it seems inevitable that it will cause more tension for the people of that country.

“I don’t understand why my sport wishes to place itself in a position to be a catalyst for that.”

For better or for worse, formula one is motivated by money,  of course we overlook that 30% of the McLaren formula one team is owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

However its (commercial interests) working in the other way also, countless petitions have been started to pressurize Red Bull and other consumer dependent companies to pull out of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

FOTA is another key player in this mess, however FOTA’s current president is from the McLaren team who are owned partially by Kingdom of Bahrain, so expectations are low from them.

At this point, it does not seem like we have seen the last of this matter. Its likely to snowball into something huge in the coming days.

Photo : Soman, under CC Attribution/Share Alike 2.5

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 !

November 14th is celebrated as Children’s Day in India in memory of Jawaharlal Nehru who was the 1st PM of India, what an apt day for Formula One to get its toungest even formula one champion. Sebastien Vettel drove an almost perfect race to clinch the F1 title beating closest rival Fernando Alonso by just 4 points. Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag at the Yas Marina circuit to win the Abu Dhabi grand prix ahead of all his championship rivals.

The situation that Sebastian Vettel was in was similar to what Kimi Raikkonen was in a few years ago when he had pipped Lewis Hamilton to take the crown despite having the odds stacked against him. After the race Vettel acknowledged that the same was in the back of his head.

One also has to spare a thought for the Spaniard Fernando Alonso who fought valiantly in his Ferrari but couldn’t match the straight line speed of the Renaults in the end. He slipped and slid all over the track but still couldn’t pass the Russian Vikaly Petrov’s Renault.

Fernando Alonso wasn’t the only person to be heartbroken by the result, Vettel also dealt a blow to his teammate Mark Webber’s plans of celebrating his maiden F1 title. Webber finished the race behind Alonso in 8th place and the championship behind Alonso with 242 points losing out on the title by 14 points in the end.

Lewis Hamilton too wasn’t spared by Sebastian Vettel who smashed his record of being the youngest ever formula one champion at the age of 23.

Concluding, We would like to write that this young champion has heart and this surely isn’t the last we hear of him  . This surely was a fitting end for the season.

In other news AT&T Williams F1 have confirmed Rubens Barrichello for 2011. More on that later.

Red Bull’s Sebastien Vettel has won the battle for the pole position this Saturday at the Yas Marina Circuit to start ahead of the pack during the final formula one race of the 2010 season , the Abu Dhabi grand prix. He will start ahead of Lewis Hamilton (who is also in contention, but almost out of the race).

Fernando Alonso the man most favoured to win the championship will start in third place from the second row. He will be joined by Briton Jenson Button.

Mark Webber , the other major contender for the formula one crown starts from fifth place severely denting his chances tomorrow, but these Red Bull cars have got some real speed, so counting them out would be foolish.

So lets get set for the super race tomorrow !

Image courtesy : Yas Marina Circuit Media Center

Red Bull may have clinched the constructor’s championship at the race in Bahrain but the race for the driver’s title is still hot, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso heads into the final race of the season with a 8 point lead. Red Bull’s Mark Webber trails Alonso’s 246 with 238 points closely followed by teammate Sebastien Vettel on 231 points and Lewis Hamilton with his 222 points is a distant fourth but is still in contention for the championship.

Now to move onto the math :

The following is what each person gets in the final race :

Fernando Alonso – 246

Now let us imagine that Mark Webber comes 1st , even then Alonso can clinch the championship by coming second. So essentially for Alonso its all about taking that second place and he gets the driver’s championship. But the Spaniard’s job would be made tuff by the roaring Red Bull of Sebastien Vettel who would be aiming for the championship himself.

He would want Alonso to be at best in 6th place and himself to win the race to get the crown. This also brings in the question of team orders. The Red Bull team brushed aside concerns with team principal Horner saying that the drivers will know whats best for the team.

‘We will back both drivers equally. I am sure they will do whatever is right for the team, I have zero doubt about that. There will be no team orders, and I don’t think there are any difficult decisions to be made,’ said Red Bull team principal Horner.

‘If they find themselves in a situation where one, because he can’t win, needs to help the other then I can only imagine that they will do that. It will have to be a driver decision.’

Don’t know about you but sounds like tacit agreement on team orders to me, of course Red Bull will deny that.

The chances for Lewis Hamilton are very bleak, I don’t really think he will get the championship.

Whatever be the case , the final race at Abu Dhabi promises to be a thriller and you all should go to a sports bar to watch it