tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34528688070750365382024-03-08T22:29:10.647+05:30Alfons Jose F1Insight, opinions , statistics and "Real Analysis" on Formula One.alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-69655643642467528372016-05-18T14:37:00.001+05:302016-05-18T14:46:03.143+05:30
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-87150597974521561842012-10-31T21:29:00.000+05:302013-09-26T18:37:54.111+05:30Post Race Analysis: 2012 Airtel Indian Grand Prix <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FdR7oH_VX4M/UJE-b0v9c5I/AAAAAAAAASo/pXOJ2VXm0vo/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FdR7oH_VX4M/UJE-b0v9c5I/AAAAAAAAASo/pXOJ2VXm0vo/s640/14.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">The second year of the Indian Grand Prix saw many changes to the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida. With better facilities near the grand stands , better media rooms and more importantly no stray dogs running around while the cars got on to the track. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I chose my seats at the Classic West Stand having sat the Classic East 2 for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. The West Stand overlooked the penultimate corner of the circuit (turn 15) and gave breath-taking views of drivers finding the limits and trying different lines on Friday practice ; the thoroughbred nature of a Formula One car at turns 10 ,11 and at the fast chicane of 13 and 14 during qualifying and many overtaking maneuvers at the end of the DRS zone at turn 4 during the race.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xo4AsLfQwfs/UJE-u9RLYnI/AAAAAAAAASw/Ty7EFD9Nub4/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xo4AsLfQwfs/UJE-u9RLYnI/AAAAAAAAASw/Ty7EFD9Nub4/s400/4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fans from all around the world came to enjoy this unique circuit.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XxkvghYMMnU/UJE_QACPylI/AAAAAAAAATA/bn1aAZ_FkhU/s1600/98.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XxkvghYMMnU/UJE_QACPylI/AAAAAAAAATA/bn1aAZ_FkhU/s400/98.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> A Renault supporter from 05,06?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msTy1I235c0/UJFAYdmoBXI/AAAAAAAAATM/i6CpKXyZG6s/s1600/99.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msTy1I235c0/UJFAYdmoBXI/AAAAAAAAATM/i6CpKXyZG6s/s640/99.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sebastian Vettel fans all the way from Dresden!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">During my loitering around and exploring the various merchandising areas of the circuit between sessions , I did manage to covertly sneak into the Main Grandstand area for FP2 only to be thoroughly disappointed and bored with the lack of action those seats offer. Personal preference probably, but I've always said that Formula One cars are a thing of beauty and elegance in the corners, not so much on the straights.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Around the circuit the usual chaos did loom. Starting with numerous guards and officials whistling maniacally as you entered the circuit, supposedly with the intent of "guiding" you , giving you a feeling of being caged in a zoo. Tight security checks are justified in India , but some instances were just outright ostentatious. I was initially denied entry to the stand as I carried a flag due it having a plastic stick which was a "security concern", despite buying it from one of the merchandising shops at the circuit itself. It took some frantic convincing and arguing for the track officials to see through their lunacy , an unsettling experience to say the least.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Furthermore ,you were only allowed to exit and re-enter your stand once which was absolutely ridiculous on Friday and Saturday considering that were ample time between sessions and that the main F1 village which had most of fan events going on, could only be accessed by exiting your zone in the first place.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">At the main grandstand, I encountered a person in his late 70's trying desperately hard to convince a security personal to allow him to carry water to his seat. He begged and tried to reason with the guard that he would have to traverse three flights of stairs every time he was thirsty and all this ,despite paying 30,000 Rupees for the "comfort" a watching a race at the prime location. Overly persnickety,utterly bothersome and an absolute disregard for comfort, if they do indeed plan to keep the attendance figures up in the coming years they severely need to brush things up in terms of crowd satisfaction and general hospitality.To end up disgruntling a die hard fan like myself, someone who pledges to the passion of the sport and overlooks these teething issues it'll be hard for them to keep the casual first comer hooked.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TO0Y4xqEwUQ/UJE-2QAeB2I/AAAAAAAAAS4/6g9HdjvKPmo/s1600/9+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TO0Y4xqEwUQ/UJE-2QAeB2I/AAAAAAAAAS4/6g9HdjvKPmo/s320/9+%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Despite being at the back of the grid, HRT did win many hearts.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">But to give credit where it is due, the track itself was fantastic.No longer was it a sand dune off the racing line, the surrounding areas had plush green grass and the marshals and volunteers were did an fantastic job. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Ultimately, considering that the Indian Grand Prix is probably the only race on the calendar not backed by the host nation's government and an entirely private venture , </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">the Jaypee Group has to be appreciated in taking this huge risk and getting the sport for us fans to enjoy in India. Whatever people say, this WILL contribute to the rise of motor sport in the country. With a population of over a billion people, the odds surely favor finding a Formula One super star here in this country.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xro8i_ARj2E/UJE68rjI3kI/AAAAAAAAASQ/4a7jiD0NUBQ/s1600/17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xro8i_ARj2E/UJE68rjI3kI/AAAAAAAAASQ/4a7jiD0NUBQ/s640/17.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Red Bull's were on another level in all sessions as Force India looked to impress at their home circuit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fZd-qThDUQU/UJE40baFYaI/AAAAAAAAARw/-VaFoUCCjfo/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fZd-qThDUQU/UJE40baFYaI/AAAAAAAAARw/-VaFoUCCjfo/s640/15.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fans from all over turned up in good numbers on Sunday</td></tr>
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<b>Race Analysis:</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r4lYQSS52YQ/UJE5zRqY3eI/AAAAAAAAASA/mvU-m-aU_6s/s1600/40.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r4lYQSS52YQ/UJE5zRqY3eI/AAAAAAAAASA/mvU-m-aU_6s/s640/40.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kimi probably telling Heikki how large his vodka shot was last night</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Coming into the race , Fernando Alonso had relinquished his championship lead to Sebastian Vettel for the first time since his win at Valencia. It does seem a long time ago and just goes to show how quickly things can change in Formula One. In that context this season is not over yet, despite the current Red Bull blitz.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">As the lights went off on Sunday , for a change Mark Webber got a better start than him team-mate,but Seb neatly chopped across enough for Mark to get on the defensive and brake earlier into Turn 1. Hamilton got his self confessed usual bad start which his team-mate Button took full advantage, but the 2008 champion wasn't going to give up that easy and dived down the inside into turn 3 ensuring a 1 km drag race down the back straight. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">But cunningly observing the duel between the two British McLaren drivers was a cerebral Spaniard , who gained a massive tow and overtook them both into turn 4. Another 3 car battle ensured between the former World Champions , showing utmost respect and class in fighting wheel to wheel. Setting a perfect example for the rest of the field. Button eventually won and got past Alonso but the relentless Asturian got the third place from him within a couple of laps. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">At the head of the field, Sebastian drove his perfect race , not bothered by the usual plume of back markers he had to overtake including the luckless Michael Schumacher who suffered a puncture going into Turn 1. The crowd saddened by this legend of Formula One being overtaken. Vettel looked immaculate,never losing focus into any braking zone , never locking a wheel or going off line. Perfection. He was miles ahead of his team-mate who being caught by the charging Alonso who was driving in stark contrast to his championship rival.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ni9TcP4eYk0/UJE6IPTxPjI/AAAAAAAAASI/DMLVa2oj548/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ni9TcP4eYk0/UJE6IPTxPjI/AAAAAAAAASI/DMLVa2oj548/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lewis Hamilton hounding Mark Webber for third place.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Fernando was on the edge, that Ferrari looked as if it would fly off the circuit any moment. He was kicking dust on the inside kerb of turn 13 chicane. At t</span>urn 15 , he was throwing the car in and balancing it on the yaw , making corrections mid corner every single lap. His downshifts accurate ever single time , you could easily make out he had grabbed the car by the scruff of the throat and was giving it everything he had.<br />
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The fans went mad ! Ferdi enticed even the F1 virgins in the crowd who had readily given their allegiance towards the great Schumacher or the champion/past race winner Vettel . They all gasped as they noticed the over steer moments. This was what people had paid for , the "added" experience of watching a race live. This is what many miss whilst watching a race on TV. You could actually feel the aggression,the intensity of the Ferrari driver and stand back and truly agree with him that he indeed produced 60 qualifying laps.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzDGz3Hjlts/UJE5a76Hx8I/AAAAAAAAAR4/Zw_aG9uZLR8/s1600/20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CzDGz3Hjlts/UJE5a76Hx8I/AAAAAAAAAR4/Zw_aG9uZLR8/s640/20.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fans enthralled by the relentless Alonso</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">There was a nice touch at the end ,at the presentation ceremony when Martin Brundle questioned Sebastian on his new record which equaled Senna's. As he answered, the crowd impatiently chanted "Alonso,Alonso,Alonso". The Main Grand-stand reverberating with his name even before Vettel could finish his point, distracting and annoying the German a bit. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />And when Brundle turned to the driver of the day, the Buddh International Circuit erupted. Brundle had to stand back as the crowd went frantic cheering and thanking him for his never-say-die attitude. The TV cameras for a brief moment catching Christian Horner's expression as he looked with bemusement at the response. That for me sealed the deal that Formula One in India is here to stay....</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.liveyoursport.com/">www.liveyoursport.com</a> </span><br />
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-33015430263666415052012-10-18T12:47:00.000+05:302013-09-26T18:40:32.173+05:30A Spectator's Guide to the Indian Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In just under 10 days ,the Buddh International Circuit will host the second edition of the Indian Grand Prix.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Amidst initial concerns and a few initial teething problems during FP1 the entire race weekend of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix was fantastic and a great pride for any die hard Indian Formula 1 fan like myself .To have a Grand Prix track let alone a Formula One weekend in a country where motorsport and Formula One does not have the same appeal and following as compared to cricket or soccer, was unimaginable even 5 years ago. Hopefully this track and the massive initiative by the Jaypee group in this venture will contribute to the rise of motorsport in this country. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So for everyone out there who is looking forward to the Grand Prix weekend and aren't quite sure which stand to choose for the best possible viewing experience , I've reviewed each viewing area at the BIC.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Buddh International Circuit:</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://indiawires.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/f1track.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="393" src="http://indiawires.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/f1track.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With a total length of 5.137 km, The BIC just as any other modern Formula Circuit was designed by Herman Tilke who has received criticism from fans and many Formula One people for his tracks being too boring. With a lack of overtaking opportunities and being very stop and squirt, where the characteristics of the car contribute more than driver skill. However, with the BIC he did things differently with the circuit design being forwarded to the teams in order to improve overtaking opportunities as well as being a proper drivers circuit. If ever there was a Formula One <i>"Super-Circuit"</i> designed by the people who <i>really know</i>, this is the closest we can get.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Main GrandStand :</span></b><br />
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<a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/28/article-0-0E91F37F00000578-832_468x286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/28/article-0-0E91F37F00000578-832_468x286.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The circuit features one of the longest pit lanes of any track in the season. The top teams Red Bull , McLaren and Ferrari have their garages and mechanics assembled on the entry of the pit-lane which is opposite the Tier Right of the Main Grandstand . However you will lose out of being near the pole position spot on the starting grid. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Although the most action on track in terms of watching an F1 car while the race or a practice session is on will be just cars whizzing past you at over 300 kmph and braking into Turn 1. You do have the opportunity to see what the drivers and mechanics are upto and get a glimpse of how the teams adjust and tweak the setup of their cars. This is the only spot from where you can see the drivers out of the cockpit , discussing data and other technical bits with their race engineers. </span><br />
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<a href="http://cdn.holidaysia.com/f1-indian-grand-prix-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cdn.holidaysia.com/f1-indian-grand-prix-3.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">North Zone Stands :</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The North Zone stands cover turns 1,2 and 3. Right after negotiating the first corner of the lap, drivers will have to climb 14 metres going through the left hand kink of Turn 2 leading on the top of a crest resulting in a blind apex for Turn 3. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/26/article-2053726-0E8AF81200000578-806_634x346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/10/26/article-2053726-0E8AF81200000578-806_634x346.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The exit of blind apex of Turn 3.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The track has been considerably widened here to encourage drivers taking different racing lines whilst battling for position leading on to the main straight. The North Zone stands offer great views of this section of the track .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In terms of car dynamics probably the best place in this zone would be the Classic North Stand as it faces the exit of Turn 3. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">East Zone: </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The main straight dips down slightly before rising slightly again before the hardest braking zone of the entire track at Turn 4 , a blind apex right hander taken at </span>100 kmph<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This will also be where a majority of the overtaking during the race will take place as the DRS zone is set to be here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The track then again drops down as another mini straight beckons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sector two is the bit the drivers really enjoy the most , this sector comprises of mostly 5th gear corners with drivers needing a good balance between the front and the rear of the car.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The complex of Turns 5,6,7 is probably my favorite part of the track and one of the best sequence of corners in the world , with many off track incidents seen during the weekend here. The Classic East Stand is one of the best places to see what a cornering thoroughbred a Formula One car is . </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2LsWnVMUnXE/UH8O3P6SEcI/AAAAAAAAARc/4UCwhA-l4dA/s1600/PA282180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2LsWnVMUnXE/UH8O3P6SEcI/AAAAAAAAARc/4UCwhA-l4dA/s640/PA282180.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Fernando kicking up some dust through turn 6</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Drivers desperately try using their skill to hook the car into the entry of Turn 5 which immediately leads into Turn 6 and a quick right hander of turn 7. The old adage of compromising corner entry speed to maximise corner exit speed is probably never better accentuated anywhere else on the whole F1 calendar. Sit here and you'll never have a dull moment all throughout the weekend.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">South Zone:</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
The south zone stands face the fastest section of the track with almost every corner in this section taken in 5th gear over 200 kmph.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
Drivers negotiate another quick chicane of Turn 8 and 9 taken at 220 kmph . The "Massa"-kerbs loom here. Try and be overly generous in your kerb use in your entry for turn 8 and you'll end up like Felipe Massa last year with a broken front suspension.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://trackreviewers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Buddh-International-Circuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://trackreviewers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Buddh-International-Circuit.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Exit of Turn 12</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">
Then comes the iconic Turns 10,11 and 12 . It's similar to the multi-apex turn 8 at Istanbul but with a tighter radius of 215 degrees and hence cannot be taken flat out which adds to the challenge.The Star stand in the South Zone offers a great view of this high speed section where you can notice the different racing lines different drivers take ,their steering inputs and also hear the throttle input mid corner. Another great place to watch a Formula One car and it's </span>immense<span style="font-family: inherit;"> downforce generating capabilities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
Drivers exit turn 12 at over 250 kmph with another quick chicane, turns 13 and 14 awaiting them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">West Zone:</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At first look , it seems that this zone of the circuit only has the last two corners for viewing pleasure ; however due to the unique construction of the Buddh International Circuit , turns 5-15 are enclosed in an amphitheater </span>of<span style="font-family: inherit;"> sorts.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
The Classic West Stand 1 , offers a great vantage point for viewing cars exiting turns 13 and 14 at 200 kmph , where ever so often the back-end steps out in a dramatic fashion as well as offering a good view of cars incoming from the exit of turn 4 and braking into turn 5. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
The penultimate corner Turn 14 , features another blind apex and multiple racing lines can taken through this corner. Last year saw many drivers struggled to find their braking points into this corner and ran wide before deciding between a trip to the pitlane or going for another lap with Turn 15 being the final left hander before you gain traction and cross the start finish line.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Getting to the track: </b></span><br />
<br />
The race organisers do have a shuttle bus facility from the nearest metro station. Unfortunately that's a distance of over 40 km and will take a lot of time getting from there to the circuit. The best way is to avail the parking facilities and drive down . Traffic will be a major issue on the race day , not so much on Friday and Saturday though. If you're coming from central Delhi , it is advisable to leave at least 3-4 hours before the start of the race.<br />
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<br />
<b>Preview to the Indian Grand Prix :</b><br />
<br />
With Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel back to their dominant ways and having now taken the lead from Fernando Alonso in the championship, 2012 season is all set for a nail biting finish. Unlike last year when both the championships had been decided before coming into the race , the 2012 Indian Grand Prix will play a vital role in who will become World Champion this year.<br />
<br />
Ferrari look to bring updates to this race in order to match the qualifying pace of the Red Bulls.The Friday and Saturday Practice sessions will be a real joy for those of you out there who enjoy the technical aspects of the sport.With cars dabbed with flo-viz paint , new wings/winglets and who knows some other new device.<br />
<br />
For all Kimi Raikkonen supporters and I know there are plenty of Kimi fans in India , it'll be his first visit to India . Never a fan of "learning" a circuit through a simulator , Kimi himself professes that he has a natural gift of learning new circuits quickly. It'll be treat watching Kimi (who we all know is probably the most naturally talented driver out there) learn his way around this great drivers' circuit. The Lotus team will be trying to fine tune their new Coanda effect exhausts , although I don't see them being massively competitive this weekend.<br />
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Qualifying will be key , however as 2012 has proved anything can happen in the race. Tyres again will play a important factor and if it's hot on race day , strategy will be key for the win.<br />
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The home team Force India will be hoping for a repeat of the brilliance showed by Nico Hulkenberg in Korea and try and outscore Sauber in the constructors championship whilst the home hero Narain Karthikeyan will be wishing for a trouble free weekend as well.<br />
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-11487581840001810782012-09-28T19:15:00.003+05:302012-09-28T21:34:43.858+05:30Silly Season ends? No wait..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well , it has finally been confirmed Lewis Hamilton is off to Mercedes AMG Petronas replacing Michael Schumacher. The last Formula One Super Star who had made a big switch was Fernando Alonso from Renault to Ferrari , but back then the move was hardly a surprise and was famously known as the "worst kept secret in Formula One".<br />
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This move however although antecedent with many rumours hinting it , does seem surprising even after its official confirmation. It questions the main motive of Hamilton leaving McLaren , a team who have given him the fastest car of the pack circa Hockenheim and in terms of pure performance has been beaten by only the Adrain Newey designed Red Bull Racing in the last two years.<br />
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Some say he switched as a result of the change in the engine regulations for 2014 , but this doesn't seem logical. Mercedes supply their engines to Mclaren and surely no matter what I do not not think that 2014 will be an engine dominated season considering that aerodynamics still play such a vital role in the sport.<br />
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Caterham can be seen as a good example of this, having changed from Cosworth to Renualt this year , they still are quite weak to challenge Torro Rosso and are currently even behind Marussia in the championship.<br />
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For sure engines will play some part in the outcome of the championship but this is definitely no big decision such as Senna leaving McLaren in 93 as a result of the inferior Peugeot engines and going to the much powerful Renault powered Williams. The engines remain the same for him and I would anyday bet on McLaren having a stronger Aero-package for 2014 since the aerodynamic regulations as of now are expected to remain as it is.<br />
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And even if this was the case and that he predicts as such; why move in 2013 and not 2014 ?<br />
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With the current pace of Mercedes abysmal and them effectively going backwards in terms of development despite bringing a new Coanda-effect exhaust at the last Grand Prix in Singapore. With no major rule change going in the next season except for the FIA effectively nullifying any advantage Mercedes had and banning the Double DRS system , 2013 predictably will be another disappointing year for Mercedes.<br />
<br />
In stark contrast you have McLaren who arrived in Australia with the fastest car of the lot , and currently are the performance benchmark. Without any major change in regulations , Formula One tends to have the same teams head the level of performance relative to the previous year , since most cars are an evolution of the its predecessor. Ever since 2010, its been a three way battle between Red Bull , McLaren and Ferrari. A championship for Lewis this season albeit possible is hard to achieve , however 2013 would have definitely seen Lewis Hamilton as World Champion had he stayed on in McLaren.<br />
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Despite what everyone was hinting at ,Mercedes was quick to dismiss that Nico Rosberg will act as the number two driver to Hamilton, <a href="http://bit.ly/V58h3b">assuring him of equal status</a>. Rosberg might struggle at times to keep pace especially in qualifying but in no way will be a Felipe Massa to Fernando Alonso. Neither will any development favor the British driver , considering his team-mate is after all racing for Deutschland in a Silver Arrows ! Hence any indications of him being the team leader for Mercedes AMG Petronas are all KAPUT.<br />
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Great expectations are placed on Hamilton with critics forecasting analogies such as Hamilton reinvigorating Mercedes the same way Schumacher did at Ferrari and what Fernando Alonso is currently doing. I doubt it, his leadership and development skills have been in question in his 6 years at McLaren but despite what may come Hamilton will be quick but will Mercedes be ?<br />
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Hamilton's vacant seat has been taken by Sergio Perez , at just 22 years of age this is the perfect opportunity for him to develop into a multi-race winner and who knows fight for the championship. Another driver who will be fighting at the front come 2013.<br />
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Analogies between him and Kimi Raikkonen can be drawn up with both moving from Sauber to McLaren and both being relatively young whilst doing so. At McLaren, Perez has Button to partner , not such a threat as compared to Fernando Alonso had he stayed on and ultimately made his move from the Ferrari Driver Academy to a race seat at Maranello. The "giant killer" of the current season has had heaps of praises for his many great drives this season and I expect him to be strong and probably even win before Button does next season.<br />
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A Ferrari Academy driver being stolen by the "<em style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14.545454025268555px;">garagistes</em>" McLaren surely would have disgruntled the Tifosi but would Ferrari really have given Perez away with such ease ? Or was he simply not in their agenda ; telling signs of a Vettel to Ferrari move in 2014 ? With the silly season at its fever pitch , its anyone's guess.<br />
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-35682505843406764452012-09-02T20:15:00.000+05:302013-09-26T18:40:42.799+05:30Post Race Analysis: 2012 Belgium Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Four weeks of no Formula One ended finally with a comeback to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. A tough start to the weekend with a Belgian monsoon affecting running on both Friday practice sessions meant a lot to be done on regarding setup and tyre strategies for qualifying ,albeit weather permitting. Saturday saw bright sunshine which continued throughout qualifying and the race on Sunday ; an anomaly at Spa-Francorchamps.<br />
<br />
<div>
Jenson Button drove a very well "balanced" lap to put himself by a good margin on pole with Sebastian Vettel shockingly missing out from Q3, he would require 2 fingers to signal his grid position. Kamui Kobayashi drove superbly to put his Sauber on the front row of the grid as well with Pastor Maldonado delivering another surprising performance. Enthralling pace by Button ,especially considering he out-qualified Hamilton by 8 tenths ! Lewis has never been outpaced by any team-mate by such a margin in his Formula One career. He was absolutely devastated. </div>
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He later ever so publicly rued this on having a different rear wing as compared to Jenson for the session . To add more insult , he later tweeted the team's telemetry analysis highlighting how he lost time on the straights. A little immature in my opinion. The telemetry had details such as ride height , speed carried through corners etc . Essentially a report card of both car's performance which in the hands of rival teams can effectively reveal their "Formula" of speed. Quite brash and immature in my opinion .</div>
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Race day on Sunday saw quite a few drivers moving back in the grid due to gearbox penalties received. As four weeks of utter boredom and distraught for Formula One fans finally ended , the 5 red lights illuminated and we were set for an action packed Belgian Grand Prix. </div>
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And CRASH ! </div>
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<br />
Romain Grosjean got it ever so wrong , weaving right in order to get the inside line of La Source squeezing Hamilton twice . Lewis had no where to go , the Lotus and McLaren collided with each other resulting in an absolute carnage of carbon fiber . Fernando Alonso and Pastor Maldonado meanwhile had both made good starts and were riling up an attack on the fore-runners down the Kemmel Straight but alas he picked up in the chaos and came ever so close to being decapitated. Essentially a sitting duck in the crash , it almost seemed jinxed that he would not equal Michael Schumacher's record of 24 races in the points. Really gutted for him and all his fans. The aftermath of the crash saw Lewis Hamilton absolutely livid with Grosjean and for </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
As Jenson Button stormed at the front to build a conformable lead at the front , leaving a trial of a plethora of overtaking moves down the field The biggest winner after the first couple of laps was Mr. 300 Grand Prix's , although his pace eventually died down during the course of the race. Mercedes are a slow car , there is no doubting that . There was promise in the early part of the season with their Double DRS which was supposed to bear fruit in low downforce circuits such as Spa but to no avail . They are miles off the pace and have no excuse for such abysmal performances. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
The Driver of the day would a tough decision between Sebastian Vettel who started 11th and the race winner Jenson Button . Vettel was superb with his overtaking moves round the outside of the bus stop chicane , I suppose its one of those corners where there is a lot of grip on the outside off the traditional racing line , similar to the outside of Turn 1 at Suzuka. Vettel was Alonso-esque in maximizing the potential points after Alonso's failure . He benefited with a one-stop strategy and never put a foot wrong in the race. </div>
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<div>
<br />
The King of Spa had a very disappointing race, never getting his tyres on. He was matching Vettel in his final stint even tough he was on considerable fresher tyres.</div>
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<div>
Interesting race for the Championship however as Fernando's lead has been cut down to 24 points . Vettel is now the straight contender in the fight . Even though McLaren has made it back to back victories , both their drivers have never capitalized as a whole when their car's performance has a par above the rest. This is something which they really need to do in order to overthrow Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship ; its a straight fight between them with Lotus and Ferrari fighting for the 3rd and 4th positions.</div>
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Looking forward in a week's time for the home of Ferrari and Italian motorsport , Monza baby !<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The championship so far</i></td></tr>
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-88616925300617584342012-09-01T16:16:00.000+05:302012-09-01T16:39:56.382+05:30A Flying "Safety" Lap of Spa-Francorchamps <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A video of F1 Medical Delegate Gary Hartstein at Spa-Francorchamps , clearly the G forces were getting to him.
The sound of that "industrial" engine in the Mercedes SLS AMG hurtling through the Ardennes is just a symphony. Never really realised how steep the entry to Rivage was and how long Pouhon actually is.<br />
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-40773341543905144912012-09-01T11:16:00.000+05:302013-09-26T18:38:09.954+05:30Telemetry Analysis of Lewis Hamilton<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I must admit as an Formula One fan , the science and hard data of the sport entices me as much the noise , beauty and blistering speed. The harmony between the science and the passion is what makes me love it more anything else. To see numbers coming to life on the track as pure speed takes my breath away.<br />
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All credit to McLaren to enunciate this in no better way than to share some good hard data on Spa, Silverstone and Monaco of no other than Lewis Hamilton.<br />
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
What is telemetry?</h4>
<br />
Telemetry is basically the system by which engineers in the garage or control center of a team can monitor the various elements of the car during a race or test session. Sensors on the car are used to detect Speed, G -forces , Engine RPM , Usage of the brakes and throttle , Gear Shifts , Steering input , temperature gauges , suspension and wheel displacement etc.<br />
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All these elements are usually plotted on a graph against the lap-time which makes it easy to read for the team and the drivers. The software used for creating this graphical analysis is Advanced Telemetry Linked Acquisition System or ATLAS . Due to all teams using the FIA mandated McLaren Engine Control unit as a means to standardize data gathering and to avoid teams masking the use of banned devices such as traction control and two way telemetry(where the changes on the car can be made while it is racing on the track) , the use of ATLAS has been standardized as well.<br />
<br />
Telemetry between team-mates is compared at times ; especially where a slower driver is losing time. It also plays a vital role in the setup of the car , hence gaining such data from any team is a real treat. The systems working on the car for the purpose of telemetry have become so advanced that a team can predict a lap time based on it. The FIA can adjure telemetry on any driver in the case of a collision or accident to rule out driver error. Telemetry data was used to implicate Renault in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Formula_One_crash_controversy">Crash-Gate saga of 2008 at the Singapore Grand Prix</a>.<br />
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The graph usually has time increasing as a component on the X axis. The data shared by McLaren has the following traces which increase with the Y - axis :<br />
<br />
<b>Purple</b> <b>(Top)</b><br />
Shows us the Engine RPM.<br />
<br />
<b>Red (Stepped)</b><br />
The stepped binary graph-like trace show the gear the car is travelling in. A down step means a downshift , an up-step means an upshift. Formula One cars have a 7 speed gearbox .<br />
Its interesting to note the small fluctuations which are caused by the gearshifts when the RPM drops ever so slightly.<br />
<b>Blue</b><br />
Traces the steering input of the driver , this is probably the most interesting bit if we have to compare driving styles between drivers . Driver coaches usually use this to discuss unwanted spikes and corrections to improve a drivers skill behind the wheel. McLaren have declared the data belongs to Lewis. It'll be interesting to notice the subtle corrections and habits in his driving style.<br />
Up = Right. Down = Left.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Red(linear)</b><br />
Throttle Input of the driver is measure here. Full throttle is achieved when the trace reaches the uppermost flat line . This is another key aspect of deciphering a driver's driving style.<br />
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<br />
<b>Black</b><br />
Car Speed, very interesting to note the mid-corner speed . This would have been useful to compare different styles as well since some drivers who tend to be on the smoother side usually carry lesser speed into the corner and focus on a better exit speed while others focus on a higher mid-corner speed losing a bit on the exit.<br />
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<br />
<b>Purple(Bottom)</b><br />
The bottom purple line indicates the brake input.<br />
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<b><br /></b>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Eau Rouge(Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps) </h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mclaren.com/_includes/images/slir/w767-h432/_includes/uploads/5605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.mclaren.com/_includes/images/slir/w767-h432/_includes/uploads/5605.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Racing Line picked up by the telemetry through Eau Rouge.<br />
The Purple line indicates the position of the car and the black lines show us the confines of the track.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mclaren.com/_includes/images/slir/w767-h512//_includes/uploads/5603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="http://www.mclaren.com/_includes/images/slir/w767-h512//_includes/uploads/5603.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eau Rouge : Seems easy.<br />
<i>"How hard can it be ?"</i></td></tr>
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The data starts on the entry to Eau Rouge , Lewis here shifts to 7th gear(Bump in the Top Red line) . Usually a driver would use 6th to get more torque up the hill and then change to 7th as he exits but this can change due to a variety of factors such as wind speed or even saving the tyres and engine. As he shifts up there is no drop in speed ( a seamless shift , testament to modern F1 cars), the revs drop a bit.<br />
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A quick look at the racing line taken here by Lewis shows us perfection , he has minimized the time taken and maximized the speed , ensuring a good exit speed as well. He's taken a large chunk of the inside kerb was taken by steering left , Hamilton does this to straighten the car as much as possible for the next corner within the limits of the track so as to use lesser steering angle. Any speed unnecessarily lost here due to an excess lateral load on the tires or excess scrub will obviously hurt the top speed attained at the end of the following straight . This is how tenths are gained. He's hit the inside apex of Eau Rouge and is steady with his approach through the right hand kink and smoothly kisses the exit apex of Radillion. All this while he is flat out as indicated by the bottom red line in other graph.<br />
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His speed and RPM does drop a little every though he in on full throttle you may ask. This is due to the sheer steepness of Eau Rouge , even though its easy flat it does take some revs off.<br />
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Did I mention that this telemetry would probably be of a length of only 2 seconds and he's doing all this while being succumbed to 5G !<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Massenet and Casino (Circuit de Monaco)</h3>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KH3THBy3zMQ/UEGdTN80YVI/AAAAAAAAAP4/yMz-j0KDDjQ/s1600/5601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KH3THBy3zMQ/UEGdTN80YVI/AAAAAAAAAP4/yMz-j0KDDjQ/s1600/5601.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Racing line through Massenet and Casino. </td></tr>
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</h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GHHKXhv-Zx4/UEEY7CKSxmI/AAAAAAAAAPg/8_3BP_n-I0k/s1600/5602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GHHKXhv-Zx4/UEEY7CKSxmI/AAAAAAAAAPg/8_3BP_n-I0k/s1600/5602.jpg" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Negotiating the most "on the limit" corners of Formula One.</td></tr>
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Things get a little crazy here. On the approach to the quick left hander , Massenet he shifts up till 7th gear , gaining speed and on full throttle. We can then notice his breaking as the first green circle from your left ; Lewis leaves the throttle , dabs on the breaks the speeds plummet ( that's a drop of around 100 kmph in 1 second) , he downshifts to 4th, he now is easing off the breaks gradually , feeling the grip on the car till he has the confidence to get back on the power again. He is very steady with his throttle increase (mark of a skilled driver).<br />
<br />
We then notice inside the Golden Circle a significant anomaly to Lewis's smooth throttle input, a valley of sorts. If we correlate this with the blue line highlighted inside the golden circle we can deduce that he might have been a micro-second of a correction. The steering angle suddenly goes static even though he was going to turn right.<br />
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The speed increases slightly until Lewis is on the breaks again for the entry of Casino , steering now on quite some lock as he turns right.<br />
Another anomaly is the sudden rise in revs as he exits Casino ( Red Circle) , this was caused by a bump at the exit of Casino , correlating with the steering trace we see a another nice oversteer-moment.<br />
<br />
Two things really astonish me here .<br />
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Firstly, I've highlighted his throttle and brake inputs in the green circle. There is absolutely no lag in getting off the throttle and getting on the breaks , seems easier said than done since we're talking microseconds here. He's losing no time in reducing speed as he comes off the throttle, making even inch count on the track.<br />
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Secondly, look at the apexes he hits through Massenet and Casino. We're talking about Monaco here, there area no run off areas. He's brushing the barriers here at 240 kph , lap after lap . A momentary loss of concentration here and there is no coming back.<br />
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Becketts (Silverstone)</h3>
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This is where crowds usually come to see a Formula One car in full force . The high speed complex of Maggots and Becketts at Silverstone is another favorite of drivers. These corners are taken at 280-300 kph. This is where downforce really makes a ton of a difference.</div>
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McLaren claim that<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Soho Gothic W01 Light', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lewis’s approach is to send the car in as fast as he can, then deal with it later. If he’s got the grip, he’s away; if he hasn’t, he’s got the talent to deal with it. It’s a win-win situation for him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 22.984848022460938px;">That's typical Lewis Hamilton for you and </span><span style="line-height: 22.969696044921875px;">that's</span><span style="line-height: 22.984848022460938px;"> what makes him a great racing driver. To be able to take those risks and those speeds ,being subjected to 5G lap after lap is just sheer brilliance.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Through Maggots , then Becketts and the exit through Chapel onto the Hangar Straight</td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 22.984848022460938px;">As he enters Maggots reaching a peak speed of 295 kph , he has a "mini" lift with which he drops about 20 kph itself with that showing just how much downforce these cars carry. He's full throttle for the next mini left hander and then for Becketts he lifts of completely and just feathers the brakes , he does to counter the lateral loads on the car,stabilizing it to avoid any nasty surprises. He's communicating with the car , telling it to prepare itself for the next fast right hander as he comes off the throttle once again and then quickly </span><span style="line-height: 22.969696044921875px;">straightens</span><span style="line-height: 22.984848022460938px;"> the car up quickly, shifts up through the gears to 7th and steadily reaches full throttle. Again here he tries not to scrub off any speed which may affect his top speed at the end of the Hangar straight which follows consequently. </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.liveyoursport.com/">www.liveyoursport.com</a><br />
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-4968998920371521372012-08-28T00:51:00.001+05:302012-08-28T13:14:32.176+05:30Round 12 :Preview: Belgium Grand Prix <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Summer break is drawing to a close and Formula One fans all over the world who were anxiously waiting and getting awfully bored during these 4 weeks were met with great news this week as everyone's beloved Spa-Francorchamps circuit host to the Belgium Grand Prix has been promised on the calender for the next 3 years ! With rumors of Spa alternating with the Nurburgring due to its recent financial troubles or Magny Cours in a bid to reinstate the French Grand Prix ,fans were quite worried about the future prospects of this great race circuit.<br />
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<b><i>The Track: </i></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Old Spa vs the New Spa</td></tr>
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Its no secret that Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is a favorite of many great champions,drivers , teams and of course us fans. The pre-Pirelli and DRS years , this circuit would be one circuit where we all could look forward to some overtaking , its unique combination of corners ,straights , kinks , hairpins all just perfectly laid-out in the middle of the Ardennes just seems like racing-paradise.<br />
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Even the laconic Fin Kimi Rakkonen states :</div>
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<i>"You can’t get the same kind of a feeling anywhere else. It’s great to race with a modern racing car at a proper circuit that has such a great tradition.</i><i>Spa offers very challenging high-speed corners and you need to get the right set-up for the car. </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.600000381469727px; line-height: 18.81333351135254px;"><i>I bet every driver likes Spa. For me it is the greatest racing circuit in the world. It is my favourite place. I’ve liked it since my first ever visit there in 2000 with Formula Renault.”</i></span></blockquote>
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The initial Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was a 14.1 km long stretch , meandering through the Ardennes. The modern and heavily revised 7 km circuit still features some of the old great corners such as Eau Rouge and Blanchimont but the daddy of all corners (as Jackie Stewart described it) , the Masta Kink no longer is a part of it.<br />
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As you exited the town of Malmedy , you were greeted with the 2.4 km Masta Straight where Formula One cars would easily reach a top speed of over 300 kph , another 2 km straight followed both separated only by the Masta Kink. It was crucial to get a good exit speed out of the high-speed left right chicane for a good lap time. The Kink as old circuits characterists were , was situated between two farm houses. These very barns provided shelter to Jackie Stewart when he crashed heavily here into a telephone post while negotiating the Masta Kink. He waited unconscious for over 2 hours for medical aid with Graham Hill stopping mid-way during the race to cut him from his car loose with some spanners. The Masta Kink was the most feared corner of all time.<br />
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No mention of Spa being a great drivers circuit is without the mention of Eau Rouge. Named after a river with a red tinge which flows underneath the corner. The current Eau Rouge has been heavily modified on grounds of safety which made it easy flat for modern Formula One cars but with G-Forces of upto 5G and a great overtaking move up ahead at the Kemmel straight it is one of the greatest corners in the racing calender today. In fact, Eau Rouge is so steep that a couple of years ago , a mini van failed to climb it.<br />
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The old Eau Rouge was way more steep and angled , and this was indeed another one of those feared and revered corners require skill and bravery in the cars of yesteryear's.<br />
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However, its not just Eau Rouge or the Kemmel Straight which gives drivers a rush whilst putting a lap , its just the way the corners flow .<br />
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<b><i>A Flying Lap</i></b><br />
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Starting from the short pit straight, braking into the cramped up La Source (which offers great action during the start), ever so gently feeling the traction and deploying KERS at full power and straightening up the car for Eau Rouge, taking a huge chuck of the inside kerb and making sure you get a clean exit from Radillion,<br />
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Gathering speed on the Kemmel Straight , reminiscing scences of Hakkinen's great overtaking move here on Schumacher into the right hander Les Combes , making sure you get you're braking right and not carry extra-speed since you flow into Malmedy.<br />
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Braking downhill into the tricky hairpin , Rivage which is tough to negotiate in the wet, hugging the inside kerb as long as you can till the front of the car slides out going right again preparing for a mini straight from turn 9 , getting ready for another of F1's great corners Pouhon. A double apex slightly downhill left hander : Entry Speed - 290 kph ! Exit speed 300kph !<br />
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Braking again for the slightly off camber right-left 170kph Fagnes chicane or as the as Belgium's call it fittingly Tiff-Taff . Again making sure you don't chew off more than you can bite. Getting a good exit out of turn 14 which will determine your top speed into Blanchimont , the drivers finger just waiting for the car to settle in a straight line to deploy the KERS and DRS on a hot lap.<br />
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Negotiating the Curve Paul Frere and heading towards another great corner - Blanchimont. A left hander taken at over 300 kph and then braking hard into the bus stop chicane another great overtaking zone where you can ever so easily loose every bit of your effort of the previous sectors and heading down to the pit straight again.<br />
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No stop and squirt , no mickey mouse corners , no stupid slow chicane's , no ludicrously narrow braking zones. Circuit de-Francorchamps rewards passion , speed , bravery.....It is just perfection.<br />
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Raikkonen recorded his last Formula One victory here in 2009 , and has a total of 4 victories here; fighting greats such a Schumacher, Alonso and Hamilton on the track , producing some great overtaking moves and just being Kimi during the weekend. Its one of those weekends where you can bet that the Fin is definitely giving his best. No questions about his motivation here for sure. With Lotus on good form, Kimi showing us that he hasn't lost a bit of his talent and skill , it would seem just poetic if he wins.<br />
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But who can count out the other Lotus ? The other Dark horse can dampen it ever so much for Kimi . If Grosjean wins at Spa, beating the King of Spa himself in a similar car and achieving Lotus' first victory this season would really not go well for all Raikkonen fans.<br />
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With the ever so dynamic weather of the Ardennes , Spa ever so often throws in surprise showers during the ever so gripping moments of the grand prix and with a certain driver nicknamed the Regenmeister celebrating his 300th Grand Prix on his favorite race track , a track where he has already achieved so many milestones in the past including clinching his 7th World Championshipin 2004. A Schumacher victory here seems quite unlikely unless the weather throws us a surprise. Definitely rooting for a Michael Schumacher victory here.<br />
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Alonso has never won at Spa and will be hoping for another stunning drive to attain that elusive victory here.<br />
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With the summer break and a lot of expected updates including the Double DRS on the Lotus, a McLaren resurgence and Ferrari bringing updates to boost their top speed as well ; Formula One is back to its usual predictable business of being unpredictable...</div>
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alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-55188624410531748772012-07-30T15:10:00.003+05:302012-07-30T15:10:31.118+05:30Post Race Analysis : 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>"Just like old times, Kimi..."</i><br />
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A brilliant drive from Lewis Hamilton saw McLaren find the pace it had at the start of the season , with Lewis Hamilton being lightning quick in all practice sessions and delivering in qualifying to put his car on pole position.<br />
<br />Although in Q1 and Q2 we saw signs that the Kimi Raikkonen had found his element and would challenge Hamilton for pole , sadly the flying fin disappointed in Q3 and ended up in 5th , his team-mate however showed that the Lotus had good pace and qualified on P2.With Lotus finally delivering a strong qualifying result , McLaren had a tough Sunday to look forward to.<br />
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The torque restriction drama had many pundits think Red Bull would struggle to find one lap pace and even more so with tyre degradation during the race , but Sebastian Vettel proved otherwise and looked on course to challenge Hamilton's time for pole position until an uncharacteristic mistake in the final sector.<br />
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Championship leader Fernando Alonso , echoed his team's regular claims that the Ferrari was still not fast enough in a dry session and by his standards a lowly qualified 6th.<br />
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Sunday, saw track temperatures soar in the mid 40's with fears of rain being eradicated as the sun shone brightly over the old-school style Hungaroring.<br />
<br />Would Hamilton dominate the race ? Would Lotus finally win ? Will Grosjean make it till turn 2 ? Speculations , questions , drama at its tipping point when the cars assembled after the formation lap......<br />
And AN ABORTED START !<br />
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Bummer..<br />
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As Schumacher's car was pushed into the pit-lane the grid took another formation lap and we finally had the 5 red lights illuminate.<br />
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Hamilton made a great start, Vettel and Grosjean fought into turn 1 and as they did Button sneakily overtook Vettel .<br />
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Mark Webber had made a great start to 8th from 11th and Felipe Massa went backwards.<br />
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The race seemed processional during the first two stints with the hard to overtake nature of the track being showcased nicely. Hamilton was storming in front, closely chased by Grosjean while Vettel crucially lost a lot of time behind Button and again the two time world champion was losing his cool and being visibly frustrated with his engineer.<br />
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The only fascinating point of the race was at the final stint when Raikkonen came out of the pits , outbraked his team-mate into turn 1 , going wheel to wheel on the exit and consolidating second place. He was now in the hunt to chase down race leader Lewis Hamilton , but again the Hungaroring would prove to be hard for someone to overtake despite DRS and KERS.<br />
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The ice-man just couldn't put on the power quick enough to match Hamilton into the braking zone for Turn 1 and had to settle for second yet again with Lewis Hamilton taking victory number 2 of the season .<br />
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The spark is certainly there , Raikkonen and Lotus are quick , they just need a bit more and victory will be theirs . Who would bet against a victory at next month's Belgium Grand Prix for the King of Spa ?<br />
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Hamilton's victory meant the closed down the gap to Alonso, yet still is quite a far way back.<br />
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Alonso despite finishing 5th , has now the biggest lead in the championship ever.<br />
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A month off from F1 seems long but the next double header will be a cracker with Spa and then Monza ! </div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-58249988476548200022012-07-26T14:08:00.001+05:302012-07-26T14:08:14.760+05:30Round 11 : Preview to the Hungarian Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Lotus F1 Team has gathered a reputation for being overly generous in sharing information about their cars. We as fans love the detail in the descriptions which no other team dare to reveal.<br />
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<a href="http://www.lotusf1team.com/Brilliance-in-Budapest-The.html?lang=fr">Here's a look at the needs and setups for the Hungaroring courtesy Lotus F1: </a></div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-14237428561762863072012-07-24T14:08:00.001+05:302012-07-25T14:23:53.574+05:30Championship So Far: Round 10<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-24304249127204024292012-07-24T01:01:00.005+05:302012-07-25T14:20:29.226+05:30Post Race Analysis:2012 German Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i style="background-color: #eeeeee;">"Spaniard in an Italian car , designed by a Greek winning the German Grand Prix"</i></h3>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A weekend similar to the one we had a fort night ago at Silverstone - a predominately wet practice sessions , teams scratching their heads about dry setups and tyre wear , a wet qualifying although luckily not red flagged and a familiar man on pole position proving again this season he is the man to beat when the going gets tough. A man who delivered not one but two pole position laps......Fernando Alonso. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Four hours before the race and things were spiced up a bit a suspected technical infringement by the FIA , although the FIA cleared Red Bull , they did however mention that Red Bull have indeed breached one of the regulations however the FIA claimed no action could be taking due to the ambiguity of the rules.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although Red Bull were accused of cheating since this is not the first time they've been involved with an infringement, I see this as another aspect of F1 . The engineers and teams constantly thrive to find loop holes in the rules and seek performance and that's their job. If it all went right , then just as Brawn GP in 2009 with their double-diffuser they would be called clever and brilliant. I think this makes things interesting and given F1 this added dimension off the track which makes it even more enjoyable. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">"</span><i style="color: #333333; line-height: 21.600000381469727px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">There's no clause in the regulations that refers to the spirit of the regulations"</i>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After an year off , Hockenheim saw two familiar faces on the starting row of the grid on Sunday although roles reversed. </span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the front runners lined their cars on the grid after the formation lap , the clever Spaniard angled his car to the right , pointing it to the apex of Turn One, giving signs to the home-race-hero that he still remembered how he was squeezed out two years by him giving way for Massa to inherit the lead , his intentions obviously to unsettle the German ,make him ever so cautious and who know's botch the start ? </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When it comes to mind games , there is no one who can play it better than the cunning Spaniard.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As Karthikeyan took his place to complete the grid of 24 , the marshall waved the green flag giving an all clear. As the five red light illuminated, little did we know we that Hockenheim would provide us with great battles all throughout the grid for 67 laps.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was go , go , go....</span><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and it was familiar sight of a scarlet car , the <span style="color: #222222; line-height: 12.800000190734863px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Cavallino Rampante </span>living up to the name getting away cleanly and zooming off into the distance undisputed into turn one. Following him were two Germans , a master in a silver arrows threatening his young protege' in a charging bull. The young two time champion racing wheel to wheel into turn 2 at the very same track almost two decades ago where he watched his first formula one race , all to get a glimpse of the man who was threatening to take his second position. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The battle only lasted for the next 4 corners with Schumacher getting close enough in the breaking zone on the outside , trying to get a good traction out of the hairpin of turn 6 to be able to undercut his rival into the next hander. He was on the inside for it , but got squeezed by him and couldn't put his nose in front , the young protege clearly showing he's learnt a trick or two from idolizing his hero.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Further down the field the other Ferrari lost its front wing , Hamilton dropped back and Button made places at the start and yet another race where Romain Grosjean was involved in an incident before the end of the first sector.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The two race leaders looked to pull away from the others. We were set for a scenario we last witnessed only at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix, something which fans longed for this season. A straight fight between two double world champions - Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, matching each other for pace . Setting similar lap times , Vettel ever so slowly crawling back into the DRS zone , Alonso maintaining the pace . This was one of those moments where you clearly saw what everyone goes on about Fernando Alonso , his mind-set , his calculations into every lap , his sheer ability to think under pressure. It was very evident as he entered the stadium complex (Sud Kurve) that we could see the Alonso of the Renualt days with an aggressive , strong turn-in , right on the ragged edge getting a good exit onto the start finish straight , nailing turn one and then boosting with 50% of KERS into the Parabolika This enabled him to get a good enough gap and nullify the DRS his opponents had.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vettel was trailing but never got near , Alonso it seemed wasn't slightly tensed , you could almost sense the Asturian controlling this race , toying with his rivals , confident in his ability. His opponent getting frustrated , mind games galore ! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then, came the Joker to have spoil the party in a chromed and updated McLaren. The pace was there ,although Hamilton was a lap down, he had pitted for fresh tyres and with his give-it-all attitude thought to have some fun. He could see the upgrades on the car were working , he was faster than Vettel , a pass would give him and his team confidence in the car ,and with Button not trailing far behind now , it would send a message to Red Bull. McLaren is back...they have the pace to quite literally challenge the front runners.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vettel frantically waved his hand and later after the race called Hamilton stupid for the maneuver. Hamilton's response was simple and precise "Guess, it shows his maturity".</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I feel almost wrong criticizing a double world champion but he really should have just let Hamilton pass him the moment he felt the Brit breathing down his neck. The McLaren was fast, faster than him and Alonso , being on fresher tyres yet Vettel defended. If he did allow the McLaren to pass him easily in the DRS zone he would not have lost time battling him in the braking zone for Turn 8. With Vettel fending off Hamilton , the McLaren driver soon wore out his tyres and his pace dropped , comparable to that of Vettel . This meant that after Hamilton overtook Vettel , he did not have the tyres and the pace to overtake Alonso, Hamilton's pace settled behind the leader and Alonso was able to build a sizable gap to Vettel again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alonso's post race comments claimed that he was never wary of Hamilton overtaking him only that the McLaren driver never actually really got the chance and if he indeed did , Alonso would have let him breeze past in the DRS and not lost time waving his hands or outbraking him off the racing line.</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> "</b><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">For me, yes, I didn't feel any risk to be honest. I knew that if Lewis was close enough and using the DRS and trying to overtake, going for it, I had a problem to leave the space and I knew that he was not in the race, so we didn't want to risk anything. For me, it was a good position to have Hamilton between me and Sebastian because we were approaching the pit stop time and having Hamilton there meant that Hamilton was around a second behind you and Sebastian was another second or 1.5s behind Lewis, so this 2.5s to Sebastian was very good, approaching the pit stop time so I tried to keep Lewis behind."</span></span></i><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">Overall , despite Hamilton not finishing on his 100th Grand Prix ; McLaren have a lot to look forward too. Some people may argue that if Hamilton was fighting for the win he probably would have achieved more than Button but I highly doubt it . We saw the old shades of Button that day, its interesting to note that Button truly out qualified Hamilton the first time this season (except for Spain ofcourse) and that too in conditions where Button has been struggling and where Hamilton is an artist. Button drove a superb race , making up places at the start , overtaking Schumacher and was spurred on by his race engineer that his pace was really good and that he can win the race despite being in 3rd position at that time and 2 seconds behind Vettel. McLaren orchestrated the under-cut beautifully, the pit crew immaculate in achieving the fastest pit-stop in Formula One history - 2.6 seconds and crucially a full second faster than the Red Bull mechanics were able to achieve with Vettel. That coupled with his flying outlap , managed to get him in front of the German home hero. The crowd gasped....</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">Vettel though was shattered, he was fighting for the lead with Alonso a lap ago , desperately trying to win his home grand prix and break his July jinx and now he was in 3rd with Button closing the gap to Alonso and building a gap to him. He was under -pressure , overdriving the car into Turn 1 , the Sach Kurve , the Mercedes complex , he was all over the place.We got reminded that he's still young , maybe not an old head on a young body ? But then Button's tyres lost it , Vettel had a chance with the Germans jeering for him , all he had to do was wait it out , wait for Button to fall of the cliff and second place would be his,easy. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">Vettel cracked again, Button was clearly on the inside into turn 6 and the over zealous two time world champion lost his composure and overtook the McLaren miles off track on the kerb.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">Alonso, grinning , coasted to the finish line.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">It was victory number 30 of his career for Alonso , one behind Nigel Mansell on the all time list. His race craft supreme , and right now without a doubt the most complete driver on the grid, the best even? </span></span></span><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">His race craft unprecedented , better than Schumacher might I add echoing the words of Ferrari employee Andrea Stella. His consistency and pace unquestioned as Stefano Dominicali said "Fernando gave us 67 laps of qualifying" .</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">This wasn't the first time Alonso received such comments from his team boss. In 2001 , his first Formula One season with Minardi ,</span></span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> he finished eleventh at the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix —five places outside the points but ahead of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz-Harald_Frentzen" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Heinz-Harald Frentzen">Heinz-Harald Frentzen</a><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">'s </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prost_Grand_Prix" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Prost Grand Prix">Prost</a><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_American_Racing" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="British American Racing">BAR</a><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Panis" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Olivier Panis">Olivier Panis</a><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">, the two </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrows" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Arrows">Arrows</a><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> and his team-mate </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Yoong" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-decoration: none;" title="Alex Yoong">Alex Yoong</a><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">.</span><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Four years later, his team boss from the Minardi days, Paul Stoddart, described his race as "53 laps of qualifying". </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />And to top it all off , Ferrari printed out his radio message 5 laps from the end when his race engineer was getting worried about tyre wear. The words simply amaze me </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rough Translation :<i>"I know it is not 'easy, but try to stay calm. Here 's its all right"</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #222222; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A post race penalty demoted Vettel to fifth for his overtaking prowess, in a race where second place was his if he waited and where more crucially he would have made up points to his team-mate Webber. The Australian had a disappointing race, he was never at speed with the rest of the front runners and seemed to struggle. It was one of the Mark Webber performances which really make me doubt whether he will be world champion. Sometimes, like Button , he just doesn't have the pace in a car which is without a doubt currently the fastest on the grid. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">Sure , the Ferrari is fast and has massively improved. But currently , the Red Bull still is extremely strong in the mid-slow speed corners , McLaren are back too , in terms of pace they are ahead of Ferrari but then again they seem to still haven't understood the tyres and struggle. Everyone is expecting Lotus to win atleast one race, a Spa victory for a certain Finn would be poetic. And who's going to bet against it ? Especially with Lotus trying a Super DRS ; I don't think we can call that "prototype" a double DRS since it doesn't stall the front wing and only gives a Boost in reducing drag to the rear wing . But since they didn't race it , we still don't have a good idea to what it really can achieve or for that matter how effective is it ?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #eeeeee; line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">Sauber had a fantastic race, with Kobayashi finishing 4th ahead of Vettel and Perez finishing 6th in an inspiring drive from the back of the field. <br /><br />Mercedes have lost their way and unluckily I think its when Schumacher has finally got back in his game. You could sense the old-timer's hunger as he relentlessly attacked Vettel for P2 into the first couple of corners knowing full well his car was not competitive. I really hope they bring a sizable update and we see victory number 93. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overall, a great race again . Not entirely similar to the other races this year , I would say a little reminiscent of the old Bridgestone era since the final stint wasn't based on strategy and was a pure dog fight till the end. With guile , tactics and technique all in the equation , the 2012 season has thrown us another delight. As many feared seeing Vettel's pace in Valencia that Red Bull are back at it, disappointment looms for their fans. Alonso is on a roll and McLaren look bloody quick on a weekend where they really could not fully test their upgrades.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luckily, this time we don't have to wait too long. Hungary beckons this weekend. </span></div>
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</div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-72364780938105467542012-07-18T11:38:00.000+05:302012-07-25T14:22:05.023+05:30Preview: 2012 German Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A couple days left for the 2012 German Grand Prix. The mid point to the 2012 Formula One Season still sees no clear favorite driver , no dominating car , no over-powering innovation and each race telling a different story about the pecking order . </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The season started with McLaren dominating the opening race , with Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel looking vulnerable due to the "restrictions" imposed on exhaust-blowing diffusers ( I say restrictions , since the ban hasn't been completely enforced as teams are still harnessing the gases to gain rear-downforce) and Ferrari in the shambles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things as they are , seem at a contrast to the beginning of the season. Red Bull people say have the strongest package, followed by Ferrari and Lotus , McLaren have dropped back and are being given tough competition from Mercedes, Sauber,Williams and Force India.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />They have rumours of a huge update on the McLaren this weekend which will boost they're chances of victory and regain their form but with things as they are in the current season simply putting on oodles of downforce on any car doesn't seem to get the results. The tyres here play more of a significant role , sometimes more downforce leads to the tyres getting overheated and not lasting and hence that downforce is not "seen" in lap time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Understanding the tyres seems crucial to the winning championship this year(understatement of the year award)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lotus too have claimed to bring a significant big package on their. As far as I recall , its probably their first BIG upgrade.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teams do put on small bits and pieces on every Friday of a race weekend, but the big upgrades are what the engineers ultimately anticipate. They usually involve a substantial design change, or a new concept which according to their wind tunnel and CFD tests would be around a gain of .2 to .3 of a second worth of lap time. Seems small ? That's F1 , an increment of that much would easily put someone like Lotus on the front row of the the grid in qualifying , something which the team is longing for since it has tremendous race pace and easily looks after its tyres and this might lead to one of their drivers on the top step of the podium. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Red Bull and Ferrari hope to keep their momentum , with both teams bringing the perpetual "small bits" of upgrades.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Hokenheimring_(2in1).png/536px-Hokenheimring_(2in1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Hokenheimring_(2in1).png/536px-Hokenheimring_(2in1).png" width="285" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The old Ring compared to the new Ring after changes in 2002.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Due to its alternating nature, this year we have the Hockenheimring hosting the German Grand Prix. Although the circuit was initially known for its long straights and slow speed chicanes before changes were made by a certain Herman Tilke in 2002 ; The "old" F1 cars would easily achieve speeds upto 350 km/h with their V10 engines screaming at unrestricted RPMs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The last time Formula One raced here , it was Ferrari's last 1-2 with Fernando Alonso claiming victory .The race wasn't quite so action packed, with the sturdy Bridgestone tyres not enhancing wheel to wheel racing and out-of-the-box strategies , except for a particular incident of one driver being "faster than" his teammate(Sshh) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>Technical Requirements for the Hockenheim Ring :</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Aerodynamics:</b><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Like the latest generation of Hermann Tilke-designed tracks, Hockenheim is characterised by long straights followed by slow corners and hairpins, like all Tilke circuits its designed with overtaking in mind but never in practice. The tyres , DRS and KERS will definitely make things easier this time around but I hope the FIA gets the DRS zone just right like in Valencia. With such a long back straight, a good top-speed is essential to fend off competitors in the race and for a good qualifying lap , this might suit the Double-DRS/SuperDRS/RFA(nitty gritties of nomenclature) of the Mercedes team who'll be hoping for a good showing at their Home Grand Prix. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">In contrast this mig </span><span style="line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">unfavorable</span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> for Ferrari, although their engine isn't as down on Horse Power as the Renault is compared to the Mercedes Engines ; Ferrari has made no secret about its car being slightly on the high drag side. I except most of their updates this weekend to find a solution in that are. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The High Top Speed this has to be balanced with the grip needed in the medium and low-speed parts of the lap. This will definitely be something the Red Bull and Lotus will compromise on, due to their nicely packaged Renault engine. </span></span><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Brakes:</b><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The circuit is one of the hardest tests of the year on brakes, being similar to the demands of Bahrain. Braking stability is vital, especially into the hairpin at Turn Six, where it is easy have a lock-up and flat spot you tyre leaving you at a disadvantage for the remaining of the race. The teams therefore play close attention to finding the optimum braking and cooling solutions, which was one of the priorities at the pre-Grand Prix test.</span><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Suspension:</b><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The long straights and low-speed corner mix of Hockenheim requires contrasting suspension set-ups. Mechanically, teams are able to run the cars quite soft as there are no significant high speed changes of direction on the circuit. Front to rear, teams run a forward mechanical bias ie: a stiffer front end, in order to get good traction out of the slow and medium speed corners and keep the rear stable under braking. </span><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Tyres:</b><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">Pirelli will bring their Soft and Medium compound tyres for their debut at Hockenheim. Tyre wear is expected to be a little higher than usual majorly due to the traction zones and heavy braking required at this circuit. With early predictions on the weather to be sunny and hot, we might have a mixed bag of tyre-</span><span style="line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">strategies to look forward to and might favor Lotus and Sauber in the race. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></span><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><b style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Engine:</b><br style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><span style="color: #222222; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">The engine requirements at Hockenheim are not as demanding as in the past, but, with 63 per cent of the lap spent on full throttle, it's still a challenging workout and about average for the season. With a lack of high-speed corners, the main demands come from the long back straight. Good torque is essential and so the engine needs to work well at low revs to help the cars get a good exit out of the low-speed corners. The potential for high temperatures in Hockenheim also means the team must pay attention to cooling to avoid overheating, but the latest generation of V8 engines are capable of running at peak revs in high temperatures.</span>
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</div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-23214154697805673512012-07-11T00:24:00.000+05:302012-07-25T14:25:45.483+05:30Championship so far : Round 9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-78736328839801476902012-07-10T17:43:00.000+05:302012-07-25T14:22:33.932+05:30Post Race Analysis : 2012 British Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Free Practice and Qualifying: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />It was a pretty horrible start to the weekend , with rain minimizing running in Free Practice 1 . I really cannot understand why the FIA do not increase the number of wet and intermediate tyres available during a weekend, its absolutely frustrating from a spectators perspective to go out there in the rain , travelling through the traffic only to reach and see drivers like Fernando Alonso not set a lap time. Mind you , I don't blame any driver for taking a conservative approach on this , I believe they all have been severely handicapped and although this might through in an element of surprise in terms of setup for the teams during the weekend , it comes at the huge cost of putting off the fans. This is truly one of those instances where people say NASCAR and Indy have the better of F1 ! The Americans have a way of making everything a spectator sport and simple steps to eliminate such nonsensical rules just give F1 a bad image. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luckily the fans saw some running in FP2 and a dry FP3 was met with Fernando Alonso setting the fastest time. Was this signs of things to come in qualifying and the race ? Dissecting the fuel levels and lap times, it was quite evident the Ferrari was strong at this circuit which favored high speed grip and balance something which Adrian Newey cars were previously feared for.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Qualifying in Q1 was met with trecharous weather and a rather surprising elimination of Jenson Button, despite his recent poor form , I'm sure that was still a shocker for him and his team.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Q2 started with both Ferrari drivers gambling on Intermediate tires while others choose Wet and boy did that almost ruin things for them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Later on , a big moment for Alonso as he exited Chapel onto the Hangar straight ( luckily the race director had his onboard camera on at that exact moment ).Surely he's going to collide into that wall , I feared and as I held my breath and waited for the sound of a big thud, Alonso skillfully came on the breaks to slow down the car, his hands vigorously turning on full opposite lock the moment he lost the rear ,the car dancing sideways with locked front tires he gently left the breaks allowing the car to roll back and masterfully caught the second tank slapper as if it was business as usual. Apparently the whole press room erupted in applause the moment he did that. It was one of those instances which separates the men from the boys. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Massa at the same corner , unfortunately wasn't so "smooth"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With tons of standing water on the track and the low ride height characteristics of modern F1 cars , a red flag was inevitable. Conditions were un-drivable . This was a life line for Ferrari as both their cars were in the relegation zone.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the <span style="background-color: white;">90 minute rain red flag and with both Ferari's eventually making it to Q3. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The final moments of Q3 was an intense battle between the two championship leaders Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Due to nature of the intermediate tires and the light rain , qualifying was more action packed as each driver set out to put 5-6 consecutive qualifying lap , reminiscent of the old Bridgestone/Michelin era when the qualifying format was different and drivers tended to do continuous runs rather than go out and do a banker lap and then come back in to change tyres and do another.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />At one moment it seemed that Alonso was on a different level as he set a blistering lap time which was 1 second faster than anyone else on track ! Mark Webber eventually bettered that time with 3 minutes to go and went even faster. As the chequered flag unfurled , came Alonso going just .047 faster than Webber. The first pole position for Alonso since the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix the 21st of his career equaling Lewis Hamilton's tally. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />The Race: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Much to everyone's surprise , we had a sunny and dry Silverstone on Sunday afternoon. And even more surprising was that the only driver apart from Lewis Hamilton to start on the Pirelli P-zero Hard tyres was pole man Fernando Alonso. Worrying sights ? or did Ferrari have a trick up their sleeve. The start was frantic as Alonso chopped off Webber who didn't keep up to his name of being bad off the line , Felipe Massa had a blistering start as he overtook Vettel . Kimi Raikkonen made some good places as well but was pushed wide into turn 4 over the kerb , lost momentum and lost the place to Vettel . He so easily could have been in 4th. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Alonos headed the field , Webber almost matching him initially, trying to use the best of his soft tires to keep in touch . Soon the softs faded away and he began lagging behind , not too far though as he pitted for the Hards on Lap 14 and Alonso pits a lap later ! I was extremely surprised by this as Lewis Hamilton continued on for 5 more laps on the same set of tires. This lost Alonso some time overtaking Hamilton for the lead , he lost 1.3 seconds in that lap alone compared to his previous lap time. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Further behind , Romain Grosjean was setting purple sectors after purple sectors after pitting early due to a collision. He was showing the pace of the Lotus .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race progressed and it seemed like a win for Alonso , something like his Renault days. A pole to flag victory with ruthless consistency! But wait, Webber aka AussieGrit was never behind.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Aussie pressured Ferrari into stopping early with 14 laps to go for the final mandatory stint on the softs. The race logically seemed in the bag for Alonso with the Star Sports commentator Steve Slater starting with his praises for Alonso , he was perplexed by how Alonso managed to get out in front of Mark Webber despite being having a lead below 25 seconds (the time taken through the pit lane) . He accredited this to "a blindingly fast in-lap by the Spaniard" , this clearly wasn't the case as he lost some pace on his dying tires before pitting and the simple reason why Mr. Slater's calculations were in disarray was because he did not take into consideration the time gained by the pit entrance as drivers skip the penultimate chicane after Stowe corner. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Soon the praises stopped as much to everyone's surprise Mark Webber closed in, he took chunks of time out of the Asturian's lead and eventually passed him on the outside into Brooklands with the help of DRS for his second victory this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Webber later commented that he could see Alonso had a balance issue and later on we all were informed that he did not have front end grip , quite opposite to the initial pre-season testing problems the Ferrari faced . </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So a stellar drive from Webber at the front , Grosjean in the midfield and not to mention Felipe Massa who scored his season best 5th place in a strong showing . He was consistently on the pace and even pulled off some good overtaking maneuvers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What made Alonso loose ? Ferrari was clearly not strong in the race on its softs, although as I mentioned earlier dry running in Free Practice 3 showed otherwise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I suspect the weather played a part in two ways. Ferrari probably thought of rain during the race and thought that if they could hold Alonso on the Hard Tires as long as possible , he would not have to pit for tires early and hence had one less pitstop if the rain arrived around lap 14. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second way the weather played a part was during the lap 15 laps when conditions suddenly became overcast and the track temperature lowered by 5 degrees. Sensitive to change in temperature , this hurt Alonso when he pitted as he could not bring enough heat into his tyres to get them in the problem working temperature. This was similar to Button's woes in the recent races when he cannot seem to get the tyres heated up initially and hence "destroys" those sets , in essence the tyres go bad and deliver poor performance as laps go by. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Webber luckily pitted much earlier on lap 33 , when conditions were still sunny. He was hounding Alonso and had sufficiently warmed his hard tyres and they were working like a charm. Another thing to note was that , in qualifying and in the race , AussieGrit destroyed Vettel. He was clearly the much stronger driver during the weekend and rightfully deserved victory.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a Ferrari fan this was a rather disappointing race . As a Formula 1 fan , this just intensifies the championship with just one race to go to the mid point of this season. </span><br />
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /></div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-54848393532405302152012-07-10T12:32:00.002+05:302012-07-10T12:32:35.294+05:30General Classification:Round 9 2012 British Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Alonso still leads with a healthy margin and Webber has closed down the gap to Raikkonen to 8 seconds. Button and Rosberg are steadily lagging behind. </span></div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-6113577963345930112012-07-05T00:04:00.000+05:302012-07-05T00:07:09.814+05:30General Classification in Formula One<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">The </span><b style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">general classification</b><span style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> (or the </span><b style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">GC</b><span style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;">) in </span>bicycle racing<span style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-</span>stage<span style="line-height: 19.09090805053711px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"> bicycle races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest time when all the stage results are added together.</span>
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<span style="line-height: 18.88888931274414px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is method of determining who gets to wear the prestigious Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France and ultimately "win" the Tour de France. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.88888931274414px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I always thought it would be fascinating if the same classification would be applied to Formula 1 , taking each "stage" as individual grand prix and taking the overall time as the sum of the time taken for a driver to finish every stage. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A couple of things before we start : </span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">A major problem I faced while trying to determine the General Classification method in Formula One was when a driver crashed or retired and did not finish is the lack sufficient data as to what was the exact time in terms of race distance did the driver complete before retiring during a grand prix. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">I tried to overcome this method using the lap time of the driver who subsequently finished the race in the position of the retiring driver driver on the last lap of grand prix and multiplied it with the number of laps the driver did not finish. Thereby determining </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">the time the driver lost out from the winner in that particular grand prix.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For example :</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">In the European Grand Prix where Sebastian Vettel retired on Lap 33 and the driver who subsequently finished the race in the race position Vettel retired in was Alonso. So , I multiplied Alonso' lap time in the final lap by the number of Laps Vettel did not finish = 57-33 = 24. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18.88888931274414px;">Alonso's final lap time was suppose X seconds , we then multiply 24*X = Y seconds. Hence Vettel finished Y seconds behind the leader in the particular stage(race).</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although this isnt the best way to overcome the problem , lack of sufficient data led me to do this. And in essence after looking at the results we really can see that this assumption can be taken safely.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Its pretty obvious that in this method of classification , consistency would be key as finishing each race would put you right at the top of pack in terms of overall leader.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, another different dimension this method of classification opens up is the fact that time is everything , so whilst finishing second or third in a grand prix under the present scoring system would mean that you would have had a deficit of 7 and 10 points respectively; however if a driver finishes close to his championship contender he wouldn't loose out on much. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For example : if we take the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix where the top six all finished withing a second of the leader, even 6th place Felipe Massa would have had a brilliant result in that sense .</span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Data :</span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The numbers with respect to each driver is the overall deficit with the wearer of the yellow jersey(the overall leader , in the General Classification method the leader being the driver with the least completion time of all the stages till that stage).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />For instance , Button won the season opening Australian Grand Prix and hence has a deficit of zero.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After the second round , adding up the total race times of each driver we see that Hamilton who placed third in the Malaysian Grand Prix leads and Alonso is now just 2.899 seconds from him. </span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Graph:</span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conclusions:</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Consistency and strong finishes have</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> given Fernando Alonso a twenty point lead in the current scoring format and not surprisingly he's also the leader in the general classification method with a lead of 57.157 seconds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What is surprising is that in second place with the least deficit to the leader Alonso is Kimi Raikkonen , who is now 34 point behind Alonso and sixth in the championship. Only three drivers have finished all laps raced in this season till date : Alonso, Raikkonen and Rosberg. <span style="background-color: white;">This puts Raikkonen in a strong position in the overall classification ,however it necessarily does not do the same for Rosberg.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">We can see that he lost a lot of time to leaders due to poor finishes in the Malaysian, Spanish and European Grand Prix. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> Funnily enough the graph levels in Monaco as Alonso finished .6 behind him and he finished .43 seconds in front of Rosberg in Canada.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although Mark Webber has not had a retirement yet, he did finish 1 lap down at the Spanish Grand Prix leading to a big spike from round 4 to round 5 but strong consistent finishes have put him third in the General Classification method.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although Hamilton started strongly and was the leader till the Chinese Grand Prix , but due to bad bit stops in Bahrain and starting from the back of grid in Spain made him loose a lot of time with respect to Alonso.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The biggest loser ,in this form of classification would be any driver who retires early in the race. Although Sebastian Vettel was second till the Canadian Grand Prix , due to his early retirement in Valencia, his graph substantially shoots up . Such a huge spike that I could not accommodate his deficit in the graph without the other deficits being too <span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;">minuscule to notice. The same can be noticed for Button too and Romain Grosjean can be expected to be languishing with the Caterhams due to his many early retirements. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><br />Apart from just looking at numbers, if this method was indeed at some point adopted by the FIA for a Formula One Championship it would definitely open new avenues in racing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Simply consolidating a position whether it may be the lead driver in a grand prix or someone down the grid is not sufficient to win the championship. With the current Pirelli tires, which need to caressed and looked after this would indeed bring forward more pit stops as every driver would constantly be on the limit of his car and go as fast as possible. Although this is always the aim in racing , drivers and team do take advantage of tactics such as an undercut to gain track position. With this method even if a driver ends up coming second he can still be close in the championship if he finished within a second of the leader.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was evident at this year's Spanish Grand Prix , where Kimi Raikkonen pitted and put on an extra set of softs and ended up closing the gap to Alonso to .7 seconds when he crossed the chequered flag. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">This would please those who criticized the Pirelli tires for not being like the Bridgestone era tires where drivers would be told to put in 20-30 qualifying laps in a race due to the durability of the tires and the ease with which the drivers got the tires in the working temperature .</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">Even for someone who would let's say would be somewhere in position six with an uneventful race where he finds himself quite a bit in front of the driver in position 7 and quite a bit behind the driver in position 5 ( as Nico Rosberg found himself quite a few times in the 2010 Formula One Season ) , he simply would not sit calm and look after his car or engine for the next races , he would be harried by the driver behind him and he obviously would be harrying his nearest championship contender. </span></div>
</div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-79111446087548904652012-07-03T16:35:00.004+05:302012-07-03T16:35:52.152+05:30Motorsports' Ugly Head Rises Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When things go wrong in motorsport, they usually go horribly wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today, we had two incidents which again remind us about the dangers of motor racing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">Maria de Villota , test driver for Marussia Formula 1 has sustained "life threatening injuries" while conducting straight line aerodynamic tests at Duxford airfield. Although in season testing is banned in Formula 1 , teams are allowed to carry several straight line aerodynamic tests privately. Teams do this primarily to reduce drag and sometimes give their test drivers a feel for a Formula 1 car. De Villota , who has yet to acquire a FIA Super Licence which enables a driver to race in Formula 1 , she was however primarily hired by the Marussia F1 Team to promote women drivers in Formula. </span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In India, we mourned the death<span style="line-height: 20px;"> of </span><a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Jatinder-Shukla" style="line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">J</a>atinder Shukla<span style="line-height: 20px;">, who passed away on Sunday after an incident in the 3rd Jammu & Kashmir Mughal Rally.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Both these incidents will have a profound effect on the idea of women in Formula 1 and motor sport in general across India.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I wish Maria a speedy recovery and hope that we see her in a grand prix weekend soon ! </span></div>
</div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-75008409095143386462012-06-25T14:24:00.001+05:302013-09-26T18:40:53.587+05:30The Art of Driving Part I: Caressing the car<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i>Consistency vs outright speed ? Stewart vs Fittipaldi ? Senna
vs Prost? Schumacher vs Hakkinen ? Alonso vs Raikkonen?</i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Driving styles and techniques differentiate from driver to
driver and although this has come into the spotlight frequently times nowadays thanks
to onboard cameras, telemetry and the new media. While we all are familiar with
how important taking care of your tires in Formula One is this season in order
to achieve a good result , we fail to notice and appreciate another key aspect
of driving : Caressing the car, taking care of not just the tires but also the suspension
, engine , brakes etc. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>“To finish first, one must first finish”</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over the last decade reliability problems in Formula Cars
have been few and far between as compared to the earlier eras. Reliability
really came into the spotlight for success during the dominant Ferrari years of
Schumacher. I don’t think we will ever see those levels of reliability ever with
a cap of 8 engines and 5 gearboxes one can use during a season even though
these limits were introduced cut costs and hence making reliability and
longevity of engines more vital than ever. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But can reliability be attributed to a driver? The way he
drivers the car? The way he manages the
resources of his car even though being on the limit? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all know Senna was fast, lightning fast in fact. His key attribute
was driving on the limit , on the knife edge of grip. Every onboard video you
watch you can see him constantly fighting the car , making minute corrections
at every corner . He was also famously known for his constant tapping of the throttle
mid-corner or whilst coming out of a corner. Many attribute this as him being a
“human –traction-control device”, but did this come a cost? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During the 1989 season he had 6 retirements: One electrical failure,
one differential failure, two collisions, one engine failure and another
incident where he spun off due to gear selection problems and stalled his
engine. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eibIT1cDU-c/T-gkxGO7hBI/AAAAAAAAAJU/LGslCVTQNgk/s1600/5507825889_8a56ab343d_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="414" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eibIT1cDU-c/T-gkxGO7hBI/AAAAAAAAAJU/LGslCVTQNgk/s640/5507825889_8a56ab343d_z.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Senna returning back to the pits after his engine failure. 1989 Canadian Grand Prix.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prost on the other had had only two retirements, the first
one of the season marked in the history books due to his collision with Senna
at the final chicane at the penultimate race at Suzuka and the other at final
race of season. Having already clinched the world championship, he withdrew
from the race due to atrocious weather and deemed the race unsafe. A race in which ultimately Senna retired as
well , colliding while trying to lap Martin Brundle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An interesting fact is that in the 6 races Senna retired,
Prost managed to achieve four wins and a second place. In all gaining a total
of 42 points over Senna (<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;">Championship
points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis</span> ). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Smooth driving style?
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, what does a smooth driving style really mean?I shall try and explain this without getting too technical but rather keeping in mind the "feel factor" while driving. Much of this is applicable while driving your everyday road car as well. </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">·
</span><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">Steering
and throttle:</b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;"> A smooth driver will
with precision and subtlety guide the car and mechanically tell it what it’s
going to go through next, mind you it’s not as easy as gradual throttle or
steering inputs. Gradually telling the car what its being subjected to next in terms of physics helps in using momentum , abruptly turning into a corner will make no use of momentum as a lateral force into corner rather lateral forces end up acting against the direction of the tuning of the car.It’s all about making the corners shorter, making the car know
that a corner is coming in and angling it to the apex before the turning point.
Making sure mid-corner that tire scrub and the angle of attack as well the
lateral load on the suspension is as less as possible. </span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Although cutting the corner by going hard over the kerbs is ultimately faster over one lap , in a race distance constantly doing this might damage your suspension and end your race. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/3zQK_BF-0Jg/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3zQK_BF-0Jg&fs=1&source=uds" />
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<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3zQK_BF-0Jg&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">·
</span><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">Breaking:</b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">
Kimi Raikkonen once said that the most important part of driving a formula one
car is judging breaking for a corner. Smooth driving is not as easy as always
getting the breaking point for a corner right every single time, it’s more about
how your foot comes on the break and how it goes off it . It’s also important
to note the rate of which you turn into the corner as well and come off the
break. Ideally, race engineers and driving coaches promote breaking in a
straight line and then coming of the breaks entirely before turning into the
corner however “experimentally” it seems that a slight amount of “trail
breaking” is ultimately the most common technique with many onboard cameras
showing us that drivers still do this. However, last amounts of trail breaking
cause lockups and break failures.</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">·
</span><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">Gear
Shifts: </b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;">The current breed of formula one cars have a semi-automatic
sequential gearbox what this does it change gears with the help of paddles and
although the transmission has two clutches , changing gears in a F1 car does
require the driver to disengage the clutch before selecting another gear. </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">As of the 2009</span><span class="apple-converted-space" style="background-color: white; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"> </span>race season, all teams are using
seamless shift transmissions, which allow almost instantaneous changing of
gears with minimum loss of drive. Shift times for Formula One cars are in the
region of 0.05 seconds.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> However, around 2
decades ago , The longevity of an engine and transmission in the race was
entirely down to the driver as they used the same method of shifting, every
road car with a manual gearbox uses. Shifting was done via a stick and the
clutch would be disengaged every time to do so, missing a gear or having a bad
shift meant putting extra load into the transmission which could lead to a failure , or extra load on the engine or delivering extra amounts of torque to rear wheels. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In all I've just skimmed through the details of smooth driving , telemetry and onboard laps on youtube will show much more interesting and notable information.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Currently in F1 , its no rarity to find drivers who adopt this smooth style. In fact, nowadays almost every driver on the grid is of the highest degree of professionalism ,skill and fitness that they all have adopted to changes in their driving style. A good example of this is when Michael Schumacher was one of the first drivers to smoothly and progressively come on the throttle rather than what was the conventional method in those days , the Senna-esque style of tapping the throttle vigorously. Now , every driver uses Schumacher's technique of "smoothness".<br /><br />Another technique Schumacher promoted was left-foot breaking . And till last year , all drivers had adopted that technique as well , except for Reubens Barrichello. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although the main advantage of left foot breaking was to be able to be on the throttle and break at the same moment. (in karting terms "double-peddling") This technique did allow drivers to control their left foot to come on and off the breaks gradually and not stomp on it with their right foot coming off the throttle in a hurried state and then hastily coming off the breaks to get on the throttle again. </span><br />
<a href="http://www.liveyoursport.com/">www.liveyoursport.com</a><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3452868807075036538.post-27594183409247810292012-06-24T23:04:00.000+05:302012-06-25T02:43:31.439+05:30First Post : 2012 European Grand Prix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My first blog post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The 2012 European Grand Prix Review :</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A thrilling grand prix on a track which historically
hasnt ever produced a good race. The previous grand prix's at the Valencia
Street Circuit were all processional with hardly any excitement at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The man of the moment...Fernando Alonso stormed
through the field starting at 11<sup>th</sup> on the grid to 1<sup>st</sup> , becoming
the first double winner in the 2012 Formula One season. He did this by pulling
off some great overtaking maneuvers throughout the race.The most important one
was going round the outside of Romain Grosjean in the Lotus into turn 1 after
the Safety Car came in. His race being exactly what as his Engineer described
his driving style back in the Renault days “Fernando in the car is like a
controlled nuclear explosion”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although Grosjean would retire a couple of laps later
with an alternator problem , this was strategically important since it gave
Alonso clear air, crucial this year in looking after your tires. Would Grosjean
have overtaken Alonso later on the race if he had not retired ? We would never
know , In my opinion he wouldn’t have. The DRS was very well judged by the FIA
this time around giving only an advantage for someone who was hugely quicker
than his opponent in front of him. This was usually the case when tire degradation
came into play. As all the front four pitted for fresh Hard Tires on the same
lap( when the Safety Car came in ) , tire conditions were to play with. Using
the Hamilton – Raikkonen battle as a reference point , it did seem that the
Lotus was clearly looking after its tires better towards the end of the race
but Alonso did not let his tires fall off the cliff and I think Hamilton was
pushing too hard towards the end (locking up in the final hairpin and missing
the apex on 2 consecutive laps before his tires hit the wall ). With clear air
in front of him and good pace ( he did build up a 1.3 seconds lead before
Grosjean retired ) I don’t think Grosjean could have done it. As all things in
motor-racing, we will never know. F1 is just if spelt backwards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overtaking move of the race: <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grosjean on Hamilton for the second place on lap 10.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This was those few moments where the DRS showed what
it in reality was supposed to do . We usually associate it with a car trailing
within a second behind flying past the car in front but this time the FIA got
it just perfect. Letting the following car to use the DRS to get side-by-side
going into the breaking point and then allowing driver skill and precision to finish
the move. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Moment of the race:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Clearly the safety car. This cut –
short Vettel’s lead at the front and allowed everyone in the top 5 except for
Ricciardo to pit for new tires. Vettel later blamed the safety car for his
alternator failure . Surprisingly it was the same failure as Grosjean , both
using Renault engines. They’ll be a lot of worried faces back at Enstone .
Vital points for both teams were squandered with what nowadays seems like an
anomaly in Formula One, an mechanical problem .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Key Strategy of the Race: </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">This race didn’t have as big a strategy involvement
as the Canadian Grand Prix however , looking at the race data we can conclude
that as a result of Alonso missing out on Q3 and having an extra set of Softs
which he used after his 1<sup>st</sup> stint he managed to pass a lot of other
drivers who switched to the Harder tires after their first stint. This enabled
him to get into fourth place right behind Hamilton, closing the gap at .6
seconds a lap before the safety car. As a result he was able to pass Hamilton after McLaren again
had a horrendous pitstop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Looking forward :<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">Having a 23 points margin to Hamilton
and 26 to Vettel , Alonso’ nearest championship contender is Mark Webber. In
the following races, Red Bull look strong after their revised their tunnel
underneath the exhaust. Without sounding too technical the <span style="background-color: white;">team basically changed the tunnel that
goes underneath the exhaust ramp, making the inlet much larger than it was. Aerodynamic
tests on track had shown that the tunnel was not acting as the team expected
because airflow through the tunnel was much less than anticipated as a result
there wasn’t a good steady flow of air to the diffuser which created problems
with the balance of the car. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">McLaren
will be strong at Silverstone too , announcing that they would bring updates as
well. The usually cooler temperatures of Silverstone might be advantageous for
Mercedes GP as well , I’m hoping for a Schumacher win .<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>The Championship So Far : </b></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhEVAWy-Igc/T-d_0-ru_zI/AAAAAAAAAI0/5dBt-UdfoLU/s1600/Round8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="386" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QhEVAWy-Igc/T-d_0-ru_zI/AAAAAAAAAI0/5dBt-UdfoLU/s640/Round8.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Random Stats :</b></span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">This is Fernando Alonso's 20th consecutive race in which he has finished in the points.</span></li>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">The last time Sebastian Vettel retired due to an engine fault was the 2010 Korean Grand Prix and again the driver waiting to pounce for the win was Fernando Alonso</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The last time a driver won his home race was 4 years ago when Felipe Massa won the Brazilian Grand Prix. </span></li>
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</div>alfonsjosehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03458091483057257368noreply@blogger.com0