Monaco: Full of drama but result all the same

This is a track which has absolutely no overtaking opportunity. All we see most of the time is a train of cars moving round and round 78 times and yet a race at the Principilality is never dull. Monaco never lets its fans down. There might not be any breath-taking overtaking but still it never short of drama. And this time the drama started well before the drivers even lined up for the grid courtesy our number one man and seven times champion Michael Schumacher. A day after the race as I logged on to the F1 websites and I saw people talking only one thing. Hate mails to Schumi, some hailing it a scandal, some calling him a cheat, some saying he should have been thrown out of the race and what not. I was just wondering whether this event was that important to just go on and on with it? Is F1 only about one man? People forgot that we also had a race of 78 laps and for 2/3rd of the race it was edge-of-the-seat stuff all set for a grand stand finish until the all too familiar anti-climax happened. Yes, it happened again. First Webbo and then that reliability bug striking Kimi - once again in Ron Dennis' car. Till that fateful lap 50, it seemed Alonso's Renault had some kind of a glue stuck on its rear which just refused to leave the silver car behind it (All glue behind the blue). Needless to say, the result was a formality after that. Alonso enjoyed a lonely drive to the chequered flag. But such is the beauty of this circuit that even after the winner was all but known, the drama siezed to stop behind him. Schumacher, after being a lap down, putting in some stunning laps and hunting down Barrichelo towards the end for p4 and Trulli's car stalling just when it looked he would break his season duck thus handing over a first podium finish to Red Bull were some of the incidents which just did not let you leave your seat. This race provided some much needed excitement and drama after the big Spanish yawwwwn even though Webbo and Kimi's exits robbed us of a possible wheel-to-wheel classic right down to the wire.

Juan Pablo gave my McLaren team something to smile by taking a safe 2nd place and for old-timers in F1 it could have been no better than to see 'superman' DC giving Red Bull its first podium. And this could be the first of many to follow. Rubens finally got the better of Button and unlike last year did not let Schumi pass through in the final corner. Fisi showed sparks of brilliance but qualifying 9th in Monaco doesn't do anyone any good. So Alonso takes one more step towards a second world championship. A man whose worst performance this year has been three 2nd places will surely sail through the rest of the season especially since the blue cars look to be in a different league altogether.

While I sign off I must say that I love the sight at Monaco when the cars are turning into that Grand Hotel hairpin (see pic) down the slope.

Formula Yawwwwwwn: Alonso cruises in front of home fans

As I ended my article on the Euro GP last weekend, I had mentioned that Fisi up in front might just add some life to the proceedings. Well, he did not get stuck behind JV this time, and he did qualify up in front. But as the red lights went off, all what he could do was just shield the Ferraris for as long as possible while his team-mate vanished into the distance in front of his home crowd. None of us know whether this was team-orders playing or Fisi was actually that much slower than his team-mate. If the latter is true then its most likely Fisi should look for an alternate drive next year if not an alternate profession. Anyways, that is not the subject we are talking about here so let's get on with the topic in hand.

We had the second of the back-to-back races last Sunday and for the 2nd race in succession there were 2 things similar - a home hero cruising home and we the fans, yawning. While Nurburgring did provide some contest, this was an absolute cake-walk, the only notable event of the day being Juan Pablo spinning and inching one more step towards retirement.
At the end of the day it was down to Bridgestone V Michellin which caused the disparity. Fernando Alonso earlier remarked after the Nurburgring defeat that there will be some circuits which favour Michellin and some which favour Bridgestone. An utterly defensive statement after coming 2nd in only 2 races. He also hoped that in the 'Michellin' circuits, there will be more 'Michellin' boys to take points away from Schumacher. Well, he was wrong in that as the McLarens were nowhere and once 'Bridgestone' boy Schumi leap-frogged the other Renault at the pit-stops, the race was a foregone conclusion.
What I can conclude is that now we have a Michellin tyre with a blue Renault car attached to it which is competing with a Bridgstone tyre with a red Ferrari attached. Some days the M wins and on other days the B wins. And yes, there are two highly accomplished drivers who are there in the cockpit to take those tyres round and round for 66 laps.
Thank God this tyre war ends this year and we have one brand of tyres running in 2007. You never know, people may come up with a new thinking that Bridgestone is giving special tyres for Ferrari OR a new excuse could come up that Ferrari is more suited to the Bridgestones.

We head to the 'jewel in the crown' of F1 - Monaco in 2 weeks time. Forget having a good race there and be prepared for a procession. But at least it is expected over there. And there are countless other things to watch. So whatever the situation, heading towards Monaco is always something to look forward to.

Bore-mula One at the Nurburgring

Well, my title might sound a bit harsh as the race was not as bad as the title suggests especially if you are supporting the colour red but still it was a race where nothing much really happened. Everything was so predictable and this inspite of the fact that this race track, unlike Imola has more than one overtaking opprtunity. Right from the beginning anyone having the slightest idea of F1 would have predicted that one of the world champions either in red or blue is going to win. All of us knew Alonso will fly from pole and Schumacher will chase him all the way. And whoever blinks first at the pits will be losing the race. Everything happened exactly that way. Michael won the game at the pits and out he was, a whopping 6+ seconds ahead of Alonso after the final pit-stop. What remained to be seen was after which stop will he be able to leapfrog the Renault. It did not happen first time and surely it happened the second time around. It was a 2-horse race last year as well but at least then we had the notorious Mercedes engine and the Mclaren car which could just stop anywhere, anytime and at any position (along with two bad-luck magnets in Kimi and Juan - being done in either by flat spotted tyres or maniacal backmarkers) . But this year its two equally reliable, fast cars driven by two drivers who just dont make mistakes (and are equally averse to bad-luck). With such a back-drop how better can I describe the situation but Bore-mula one? Most of the other factors remaining constant, its right now down to Bridgestone V Michellin.

And the others?? What about them? They were also considered championship contenders.

McLaren: Kimi tried his best but the car did just did not go fast enough. He pushed Massa at the end to get a face-saving podium finish but even the most ardent Mclaren fan would not have bet on him getting past Massa. Michellin blamed it on the wrong choice of tyres. Could be. But what is the bottomline? It is that Kimi has to look out towards Ross Brawn or Flavio Briatore now. As for Juan, he was all at sea. He pushed hard too. But a horrible start and inability to get past Heidfield was taking him nowhere and he should be lucky that his Mercedes engine finally blew up to save him of furthur 7 laps of misery (and of course a new engine at Barcelona). A 'silver' lining for Kimi however is that he finished a race on German soil after ages (He effectively lost 2 world championships on this very track).

Honda: Mclarens still do have a chance. Just a bit more and they might be well up there with the blue and red cars. But I suppose its time for Honda to pack up and get ready for 2007. Rubeno seems to have found his feet but the Honda car needs to find some pace.

That's it from me. Hoping for a better race in Barca. For that to happen we need Fisi to not screw up in qualifying. Fisi up in front can at least put some life into the proceedings.

Imola throws up another classic....but with roles reversed: Alonso-Schumi - Part II

It was like watching a great film and being greeted to an equally engrossing sequel. We, the fans, saw a great race last year where two great drivers gave it all they could to win and while one tried his best to get past the other, the other showed one of the best defensive drives of all time. The drama unfolded in Imola, San Marino on Sunday. The stage was the same, the lead actors were the same, only the roles were reversed. Last year it was Michael Schumacher who was glued to Fernando Alonso's rear for the last 12 laps of the race, in a faster car desperately trying to find a way past. One year later on Sunday it was exactly the reverse. Michael ahead and in a slower car, the new champion Alonso on his rear view mirrors hunting him down and trying desperately to pass him on a circuit which showed us that overtaking is impossible. Alonso tried every trick in the book just like Michael did last year but Michael remained unruffled. All that experience was put into use and with thousands of 'tifosi' fans cheering there was simply no way that Michael would be forced into a mistake. While Alonso had to hold of Schumacher for 12 laps last year after the final round of stops, Schumacher had to do so for 20 (and also for around 10 laps before the 2nd stop). Someone had to make a mistake that would seal the race once and for all. Michael did not but Alonso did with three laps remaining. He was pushing hard with time running out and sure enough he ran wide leading to a huge roar of applause from the 'Tifosi'. The gap which never went beyond 0.6 secs now went up to 2 point something secs and effectively sealed the race. This was a 2-horse race with all other drivers reduced to also-rans leaving me nothing to write home about. Well, almost. The Honda team did not allow that to happen. They provided us with solid entertainment in the pitlane when the lollypop man momentarily let Button go when the fuel nozzle was still in. It was hillarious to say the least much to the misfortune of Jenson Button who has to wait for another day for that elusive first win. And yes, the final podium was taken by my Mclaren boy Juan.