Australian GP – Race Preview

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted March 14, 2008 at 3:29 am

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 12th 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

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Force India Debut at Barcelona

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted February 25, 2008 at 11:19 am
Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India F1 VJM01 Formula One Testing,
Day One, Barcelona, Spain, 25 February 2008
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Force India Livery – First Pics

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted February 7, 2008 at 4:57 pm

Force India Livery – First Pics

These are the legal pictures of FIF1 as I got permission to use the media center. Thanks FIF1 team.

Surprise sponsor was ICICI and all the rumors about Reliance Industries and ONGC to be sponsors were proven wrong.

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Force India F1 to launch new livery today

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted at 4:41 am

Force India F1 to launch new livery today, it can be seen live online on www.forceindiaf1.com at 1900 HRS IST. It’s a disappointment not to have any Indian Driver, but surly we will be cheering got F1F1. There are rumors of Michael Schumacher and Bernie Ecclestone to be present for the event. There is also curiosity also the Indian brands that will be sponsoring FIF1, finally we will find out the who all other than Mr. Mallya believe that F1 can be used as brand ambassador.

I will try live blogging today if the show is aired on TV.

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Fisichella to race Force India in 2008 : Times Now

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted January 4, 2008 at 5:14 pm

Fisichella to race Force India in 2008, is reported by ‘Times Now’. Reason for Fisi’s inclusion is ‘the experience’ he will bring to FIF1. I am not sure this is correct report or not as Mallya has already specified 11 Jan for the announcement.

Few days back there was a “news” report suggesting TATA planning to buy out Super Aguri and it will give Narain a chance to race.

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Happy New Year; First News

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted January 1, 2008 at 8:35 am

Happy New Year to all the readers!

First news of the year if from Kingfisher Airlines, they have ended the contract with Toyota Motorsport GmbH one year early. This definitely is a good sign for Force India F1 as most probably the sponsorship will move to FIF1.

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Schumacher turns taxi driver to catch his flight

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted December 12, 2007 at 4:41 am

If taxi driver would have been a youtube fan it would have been a delight for all of us :)

Which car was it? BMW or Mercedes ;-) ???

Update : Our TIFOSI correspondent just found out the car details and it is Opel Vivaro.

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Season Preview: Alonso Back in Business

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted December 11, 2007 at 8:13 am
Alonso is back in Renault, and that’s the best thing that could have happened to him. Yesterday’s poll on formula1.com: Will Fernando Alonso win a Grand Prix with Renault in 2008, is not proper.

Fernando Alonso is not liked by a majority of formula1 fans because of two reasons:

  • 2005-06: He was the one who denied Michael Schumacher world championship in 2005 and 2006. It was not acceptable to TFOSIs that someone other than Schumi can win the world championship, and all the blame went to FIA for changing rules(tyre), and Ferrari not performing well and other factors, there were a few who could appreciate Alonso’s driving and his abilities.
  • 2007: there is no need to elaborate on this, ’07 was not his season, and he got tough competition from his teammate and was not supported properly by team. Still, it would have not gone wrong if he would not have acted like a cry-baby. Considering the situation, when Hamilton was playing with the press and challenging on the track, he could not control himself commenting or few situations and was portrayed finally as villain in F1. Main role in this goes to McLaren too, team was involved in biggest spy-scandal of all times, and they wanted the media attention to be diverted and Alonso helped them in that. Every driver faces this kind of situation somewhere or other in his life, but once he is on winning streak, people will forget about bad times.

Now bad times are over, Alonso is back in team where he is supported fully, he is ‘promised’ number one status, exit clause and highest salary amongst fellow drivers. Number one status in any team is must for the success, teams which portray themselves as ‘equal status’ are lying (sometimes to themselves too). Any fan who has seen F1 for one-two seasons will know that without number one status, always situation becomes complex.

2008 will be a different season for two reasons

  • Traction Control: there would be no TC and driving skills will matter more than ever. This would be more of driver’s test than for the cars. How drivers can maintain the balance of car throughout the race, how they can save their tires and brakes etc. Definitely it will bring more fun and uncertainty for fans, but a challenge for teams. Racing teams who can cope with this well will succeed, and top teams if they fail to misread some important stuff can go to the back.
  • Budget Cuts: Severe restriction on budgets will be enforced in 2008 which include testing limitations, wind tunnel restrictions, more aerodynamic constraints etc. These restrictions will definitely reduce the gaps between top and bottom, but maximum benefit would be for teams like Williams who will start challenging top order.

McLaren’s car is under scanner, and I am sure there would be issues with the car. Whatever new model will be out will not be as competitive as the current one.

I am not saying Renault and Alonso would bounce back to be world champions, but we cannot rule them out, there are so many factors in picture and Renault will definitely will have advantage in some.

We will see few new drivers, Timo Glock, Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Bourdais and Nelson Piquet Jr, who knows they also might start challenging their senior partners. Definitely no one can have dream start like Hamilton, but would be interesting specially without TC everyone will have same challenges.

Definitely TIFOSIs would be more satisfied with Kimi winning the championship by defeating Alonso rather than any other driver.

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Schumacher, Fisichella and Montagny to test for Force India

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted November 29, 2007 at 3:11 am

It seems Force India is planning a three way shoot out for driver’s seat for 2008, but the most interesting part is Fisichella and Schumacher who should be fighting for better teams are interested in Force India seat. If Mr. Mallya is planning to give chance to Fisi and Ralf, why can’t he try it out with Narain and Karun Chandhok, they are good drivers and deserve a chance.

Other testers would be Roldan Rodriguez, Giedo van der Garde, Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi…WOW! When was the last time we see so many drivers attached to one team, it’s their first season (not even the start of season) and are causing so much noise in team selection, hope they perform better too. Oops, I missed FIF1 already has a driver, Adrian Sutil, if he is planning to continue.

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Where should Alonso go?

  • Written by veetrag
  • Posted November 22, 2007 at 5:02 am

After leaving McLaren for almost a month, Alonso is yet to decide where he wants to go? Main problems he is facing are

  • Renault is under scrutiny for a (yet another) spy scandal and might get hefty punishments similar to McLaren.
  • Renault wants him to stay longer than one year, and he does not plan that ( he still believes that he can move to Ferrari next year)
  • He does not want to join a team like Toyota which can give him enough money but not a good car. Red Bull also has the same issues.
  • BMW/Williams are good option but their driver line-up is ready.

My Idea

Alonso should join Force India F1, I am not saying because I am Indian, but there is a plan. Let’s say Alonso joins FIF1, he can bring with him some good sponsors which can revamp the current bad funding to slightly improved situations. Then he starts the season with a car from back of the grid, but with his technical inputs, flawless driving he can take the car to middle-pack (competing with Toyota, Honda, Red Bull) by mid season, and by end of the season FIF1 might start challenging Williams.

Alonso will have double advantage doing this, He can gain his reputation as the (one of) best drivers in pack today with his shear brilliant driving and by the end of season people will forget about his cry-baby/jealous attitude. Second, Alonso will not be getting any competition from second driver whoever he might be (Rodriguez, Karthikeyan, Luizzi or Chandhok).

Take the worst team and by end of year make it really competitive, what a year it would be, he will make more fans than ever. Yeah it is a risk, but what is easy in formula1. He would be first person is formula one to be a hero without winning a single race.

Alonso’s options discussed :Renault, BMW, Red Bull, Williams, Toyota

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