I am very excited about the race, so excited that I planned to start the blog again. Sorry guys, I was away for 4 races now, it was a transition from India to US and few other things that kept me away from blog.

First night race every in the history of Formula 1, this prospect is enough to excite any F1 lover. To clarify few things, none of the rules have been modified for the night race. There were some questions, will there be headlight on cars and few other details, answer to all of them is no. The circuit will be illuminated by 1600 light projectors so it will be almost like simulating daylight (first pictures from the track confirm that too). Only concern as of now has been raised by Alonso regarding the bumps on Turn 10, those bumps are big enough to damage the car and render is unusable. FIA is looking into in and will be able to come up with a solution. (Some rumors about water spilling on the track at the main stretch are there too, but no confirmation yet).

Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India F1 VJM01. Formula One World Championship, Rd 15, Singapore Grand Prix, Practice, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Friday 26 September 2008

McLaren was fastest in first practice and I guess that will remain the trend for the weekend, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, Mclaren has got very good straight line speed and that is an advantage on this track, even though its a street circuit, there are enough straight stretches to take advantage of that. Secondly, because of the aggressive driving style of Hamilton, that will suit him perfectly for such narrow circuit. It would be very hard to overtake (except turn 1), so we can expect Monaco like situation. Qualifying will be the key as that will have complete impact on race result, some drivers might even choose to adopt a 3 stop strategy to gain advantage in qualifying.

Only worry as of now seems to be rains, that would be disaster for Ferrari. Massa who is trailing behind one point for the Championship is not a great driver in wet conditions and the gap might widen if it rains. I personally do not want rain too, as this is first time drivers would be adjusting to different light settings and different time zone, they should not be put under extra pressure because of rains. If this is a success, we might have few more night races coming up. (Bernie has already hinted for Japanese night race).

The most important change this season is the way Q3 has been shifted from fuel-burning session to normal session, and that change has brought life into qualifying. If Massa and Kimi were flying in Ferraris it was Hamilton was not far behind, but a small mistake and he was out qualified by Heiki. Alonso was the best of the pack; his car was not even comparable to the Ferraris but with the discipline and perfect driving he found a place in Q3. I should say the more of Alonso action I see; I develop more admiration for his driving. Trulli was another hero with nice and clean driving qualifying at P5. Disappointment was Nico Rosberg’s performance, with last week’s result I was expecting much more.

Now we have to see how Alonso performs in the race tomorrow, if it’s a wet race I will put my money on Alonso for a podium. At the top it would be race between Ferrari and McLaren, it would be nice to see how Kimi and Hamilton who were outperformed by underdogs (Massa and Heiki) try to get back number one slot. Another thing to watch would be how Hamilton does from P4, his starts from anywhere other than front row have never been successful.

See you live tomorrow at @F1.

First race of the season is almost there, Friday practice is over and Kimi Raikkonen is leading the time sheet. Looks pretty good for Ferrari, it seems we are going to have tough battle between Ferrari and McLaren. Surprisingly Mark Webber has edged out Alonso for fifth place, what are Red Bull guys running on! It’s nice to see Fisi on 12^th position with FIF1, but it could be because Williams didn’t do a proper run and BMW had some problems too.

My predictions for the race Kimi winner and there would be fight for second place between Hamilton and Massa, Alonso would secure some place in 4-6 and I hope FIF1 beats Super Aguri and compete with Honda and Toyota.

Albert Park here we come!

Complete result of first Friday practice

While checking out which one would be the most interesting combination that will create the deadlock for f1 championship this year I found this:

If Alonso finishes 2^nd and Hamilton Finishes 5^th Alonso and Hamilton will have same points as well as same 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th place finishes. So title will be decide by more 5^th places, and Lewis Hamilton will win because he just got one extra 5^th place

A nice blog on All possible scenario and who is favorite to win

This is a F1 weekend and not a normal one as it’s in the TIFOSI homeland. As soon as someone mentions Monza, we think of Parabolica and Variante Ascari, one of the best corners in F1 calendar. This is the circuit everyone likes. A circuit on which card drive on full throttle for 78% of the time, needs a very low downforce setting to give maximum speed and thus hampering the grip. Last year Schumi had announced his retirement just after winning the race.

Ferrari-McLaren spy scandal is back in news with new evidences coming into picture. McLaren is fined for using untested gearbox in last race. McLaren was fined before that race for a wrong team strategy. McLaren was under scrutiny for ‘team orders’ after Monaco. What is going on with McLaren, are they really throwing away everything to win the world championship? or FIA and media is against McLaren and they fine for whatever they do?

Link from Jose : Alonso sucked in McLaren spy row.

• Re-CHARGED (charged who??) drivers after 3 weeks break. Recharged drivers, bored fans.
• Did Ferrari gain reliability in the break?
• Is Massa ready to put pressure back on Hamilton and Kimi?
• With almost all the drivers fixed for 2008, will someone relax a bit?

• Ferrari and Kimi favorite
• No testing by any team at Nurburgring, Bridgestone has very less data to select which tyre compound to be used.
• High downforce circuit.
• Hamilton suffering with flu, last race he made his first mistake, will he be back to normal or will we have another mistake?
• Winkelhock will debut for Spyker
• Four drivers home race : Quick Nick, Roseburg, Sutil and Winkelhock ( 4 is max)
• Most probably a wet race
• With scandalous clouds over McLaren, will it have any impact on team?

My Fav : Kimi…..GO KIMI!!!

• Fastest circuit on calendar
• Ferrari in form, McLaren promised to be competitive
• Hamilton’s first home race. McLaren’s home race too.
• Ferrari-McLaren scandal has shadowed Hamilton’s performance, but Bernie has said even if McLaren are found guilty Hamilton won’t loose points.
• Alonso wants to fight back, Kimi wants to prove stability and Massa wants to get back in winning(P1) form.
• RBR racing cars would have photos of around 30,000 people who contributed to the charity ‘Faces for Charity’

Trivia : some interesting photos on RBR cars : England cricketer Freddie Flintoff, footballer Nigel Reo-Coker, Virgin radio DJ Christian O’Connell. Mark Webber’s donkeys, David Coulthard’s parents and even a few ultrasound images of as yet unborn F1 fans!

update : ( in reply to ‘Did u read that McLaren’s constructors points can be taken off if proven..’)

Yes, that is the top news. But I think it would be very hard to prove if some technology was used.
In favor of McLaren :

1. By now McLaren would have removed all the ‘stolen’ components/technology.
2. FIA just checks the car till it leaves Park Ferme, so if nothing was noticed in previous races it would be hard to prove with video and statical evidenced.
3. If there is a doubt, the benefit will definitely go to McLaren.
4. If same components as Ferrari were used McLaren, then why Ferrari and McLaren did not have comparable speed??

Things that will go against McLaren :

1. If there is some component whose development cycle is not available with McLaren. It can be proven to be stolen based on ‘circumstantial evidences’

F1 is back after a two weeks break and back to Europe also. Ferrari’s were supposed to dominate in America but results were totally different. Hope Ferrari will bounce back and we see Kimi on the top. Contest between teammates was main attraction in US Grand Prix and hope this continues.

There is 60 chance of rain on Sunday and I am hoping for the first wet race of the season. A wet farewell to Magny-Cours would be great. It reminds me of the last race at Spa. It was a wet incident packed race, where Sato took Schmi out, Narain overtook Coulthard over the grass and maintained the lead. He was close to get into points tally (competitive race) for the first time. We don’t know where would be next year’s French Grand Prix but there are speculations (and hints from Bernie Ecclestone too) that we might have race in Disney Land, Paris.

This time I would be cheering for Honda team too as my name is going to be present on Jenson Button’s cars. It would be engraved on the front wing.If I get a chance to take a microscope near to the car I can read it. I got image from Honda team specifying where exactly my name would be ( more details at My Earth Dream )