Countdown to the Indian Grand Prix

So finally they have decided that they will not go ahead with the idea of having a break-away series (by they I mean the F1 teams).

As if we believed that there was ever going to be one! There is just TOO much money on the table!

It was a bluff and I don't know if Bernie bought it.

Atleast that is what I think.

In the last post, I said 13 teams have confirmed entry for the 2010 championship. It is actually 11 which includes the 10 teams currently racing and Prodrive which has also reportedly signed up.

Sorry for the error.

The latest team to join the Formula 1 Circus next year is Prodrive. Prodrive was supposed to join in 2008 but did not. The proposed budget cap has persuaded them to join for the 2010 season. The Chairman David Richards says he expected the budget cap to be even lower.

So we have a new team next year, but will we have all 13 teams?

Yes, we most probably will. McLaren, BMW Sauber, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull Racing, Toro Rosso, Brawn GP and Force India have all signed up for the season. However, the teams have only signed up to the new season on the condition that they are able to operate on the basis of current technical regulations.

The official statement regarding next year's rules will be out on 12th June. There is speculation that the cap would be GBP 80 M in 2010 and 40 M in 2011.

Well, your guess is as good as mine till the 12th.

Between all the hullaballoo that half the teams are making against the £ 40 Million budget cap for the next season, Williams has gone ahead and lodged their entry for next year! The deadline for submission of their entries for all the teams is not until this friday.

Williams is saying that lodging a 2010 entry was merely a formality, as the team is contracted to both the FIA and Formula One Management to participate next season. In their latest letter to the FIA, the teams have requested that the existing 2009 technical rules be retained for next season, while the future framing of the Formula One regulations is considered further.

The team that has been the most vocal in the protest is obviously Ferrari, with their mulitmillion dollar budgets. Stefano Domenicali, the team principal said, “For sure the costs are something that all the teams are fully committed to work on, but as I said before the costs are related to the business of the teams. We know what we can invest, we know what we can do and I think this is something that the teams have to discuss internally and decide on their own what they can afford, to keep the value of Formula One at the standard that we know. It is something that we feel should not be imposed on us by someone else."

Have you heard of something called as 'Recession' Stefano? Seriously, read the papers!

Anyways, who would like to guess what the turn of events are going to be from here on?

Yes, that was the story of the Race today.

As I mentioned in my last post and as has been mentioned by so many more people around the world, Jenson Button has a Schumacheresque quality to him. So it was not a surprise to see him win the 2009 Grand Prix de Monaco. Everyone knows that it is quite impossible to overtake at Monaco and the result proved that. However, there were more changes in the order from the start than there normally is.

Button and Barrichelo finished 1-2 for Brawn and they were followed by both the Ferraris. So the story of the race is that Ferrari is closer than ever in this season to challenge for the top step of the Podium. Raikkonen drove a pretty clean race and if it was not for the start where Barichello overtook him, he would have challenged Button for victory.

The story of the race for me however was the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella. He just about missed out on a point which would meant more than a victory to Force India. Last year Sutil missed out on a point finish after Kimi crashed into him coming out of the Tunnel. But Fisichella drove a very competitive race gaining 4 places after starting 13th.

All in all, it still is not too late for the Ferraris to challenge the Brawns. McLaren doesn't seem to be into it yet. The team I am looking forward to is Force India with more upgrades coming in Turkey and Germany.

This is bound to get interesting!

A few seasons ago, if you missed qualifying, it didn't really matter that much. You anyways knew that Schumi would be at Pole with his team mate in the first two rows and the McLarens giving them company. History is repeating itself this season as well, but this time its the Brit Jenson Button!

However, Monaco has changed the order somewhat. Yes, Jenson Button is still on Pole, BUT, do I see a RED CAR next to him? Yes! It IS a Ferrari and the Scuderia Ferrari at that! Kimi Raikkonen has finally managed to get a Scuderia Ferrari into the front row, splitting the Brawn GP team mates. Whats more, his team mate Massa is not very far behind on the third row. Kimi however was looking good for Pole, and as he said after the qualifying, there is a much bigger difference between starting from first or second place at Monaco. He however HAS to be feeling better already. Chris Dyer, Ferrari's Chief Engineer summed it up by saying, “A great result for the team: two cars in the front three rows is a reward for all the work we’ve done. Kimi drove fantastically well, while Felipe was almost always in traffic, which prevented him from doing better. ............ The team and drivers worked really well in managing the situation and the credit for this result goes to them and everyone back at the factory who worked on preparing for this Grand Prix. ........ we will do our best to bring both cars home on the podium.” (Formula1.com)

At the other end of the grid meanwhile, there was another team rejoicing. Force India had finally managed to get BOTH their cars into Q2. They finally qualified 13th (GF) and 15th (AS) on the grid which is an excellent result for this team from India. I guess it helped that Dr. Mallya was away in South Africa to watch his IPL Franchise, Bangalore Royal Challengers, in the second Semi Final playing Chennai Super Kings. It is a very good result for this team and as Giancarlo Fisichella says, "For tomorrow I want to get to the end of the race and let's see - this is Monaco, you never know what can happen." (Formula1.com)

You want to make a guess?

Welcome to my new blog.

I will try and give my love for Formula 1 an outlet here. Hope some of my imaginary readers come here too. :)