McLaren gets Brawned, Ferrari fumbles as Schumi stalls

The 2009 Formula 1 race in Valencia saw the McLarens qualify 1-2! It was a chance for the silver cars to regain some lost pride. However, current point leaders, Brawn GP had other ideas. Having run the cars heavier, the Brawn GP team was able to run their cars much deeper into the race before pitting. Result? McLaren led the race longer, but it was a Brawn driving Barrichello that crossed the finish line first!

Hamilton made it across in 2nd place and Kimi was 3rd. However, even a podium finish for Ferrari could not save them from the shameful humiliation suffered by the tifosi, thanks to a dismal performance by Luca Badoer, who I feel should be renamed Luca BAD-driver! The guy finished LAST – he ran 2nd from LAST for most of the race – all that in a Ferrari! The same car that took a podium finish in the same race! To say that Luca drove bad is an understatement. The guy seemed totally unprepared, he missed breaking points on the circuits, he skid on a perfectly dry track and made a mess out of the Ferrari drive! It would have been better for the red team to have entered a single car in the race…

Oh Shumi! Why did you have to drive the bike? And if you had to drive it, why did you crash? And if you crashed, why didn’t you save your neck? The biking incident has caused the tifosi to drop their heads in shame and strain their necks today! Come back- Its clear that the team needs you!#

Force India finished at a respectable 10th and 12th position!

# Schumi had a bike accident earlier in the year that caused him neck injuries grave enough to prevent him from racing for Ferrari when their other driver, Felipe Massa was injured in a racing accident. A spring from a Brawn GP car driven by Barrichello flew after Barichello crashed. The flying spring hit Massa on his head causing Massa to blank out and crash at high speed. The spring injury will prevent Massa from driving the Ferrari possibly for the rest of the 2009 F1 season. Schumi was to be his replacement, but the pain in his neck prevented from making a sensational comeback in the Valencia race.

Lewis Hamilton Disqualified from Australian GP!!

You know the season is off to a bizarre start when you are closer to the 2nd race, but the results of the 1st race are still being decided!

In a new twist to the already twisted tale of the Australian GP, Hamilton has been Disqualified! Yep!! Disqualified! The saga started when, post race, McLaren raised a complaint about the Toyota of Trulli overtaking under safety car conditions. The race stewards had a meeting and Trulli was found guilty. The result was a 3rd place finish for Hamilton and a 12th place for Trulli and Toyota.

A second inquiry revealed that McLaren and Hamilton had Lied in the 1st inquiry! The radio chatter between the team and driver revealed that McLaren had instructed Lewis to let Trulli pass!

FIA’s statement on the same and the much interesting transcript of the radio chatter can be read here.

The result us a DSQ for Hamilton and a reinstated 3rd place podium for Trulli!

This leaves the winners of 2008 drivers and constructor’s champions without any points in the beginning race of 2009!

At this time, the Brawn GP team deserve all the accolades that are being showered at them. The reason I use the words “At this time” is because a hearing is scheduled for the 14th of April 2009 concerning the interpretation of rules for the “diffuser” by various teams – Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams. With the recent performance by the Brawn and the Toyota team, coupled with the non-performance by McLaren and Ferrari teams, the latter will use this opportunity to try and throw a wrench in the works for the other teams! Because for them, winning seems to be more important than the sport and when a debutant team wins in such a grand fashion, it only rubs salt into the injured egos of the big guns at McLaren and Ferrari. the question remains – In case of an indefinite answer to the rule interpretation, will the FIA uphold the results in the interest of the sport? or will it be money and power swinging the results?

The good thing for now is that the controversial diffuser broke on Barrichello’s car in a 1st corner incident! This proves beyond doubt that the Brawn cars have genuine pace!

A conversation with a friend also brought up an interesting point – According to him, both Button and Barrichello are known to carry bad luck. The fact that the Brawn GP team won inspite of their bad luck, speaks volumes about them! (For me, the biggest carrier of bad luck is Kimi! I personally believe that the only reason he won the 2007 season is because of Luca Di Motezemolllo throwing his weight behind him! Ferrari will be a much better team the moment they chuck Kimi out!!)

The last time a team making its debut had a one-two finish was at the 1954 French Grand Prix led by Juan Manuel Fangio for Mercedes. The Brawn GP team did it while running with a Mercedes engine too. That should be some consolation for McLaren, huh!

After the dramatic start to the season, I cannot wait to see what surprises Malaysia will spring!

Bizzaro begining – 2009 F1 GP season!

The day finally dawned or should I say “Brawn”(ed)!

As is traditional with season openers, the race sprung a lot of surprises! The most delightful came in terms of Brawn GP. This is the Honda team of last year that was taken over by Ex- Ferrari Technical Director Ross Brawn and sponsored by Virgin!

This team came out of the blue and ended up winning the GP in its debut! The impressive thing is that they beat the stalwarts of racing like Ferrari, McLaren and Renault! So much for their legacy!

The biggest disappointment of the race was none other than the prancing horse! Both their cars retired from the race – a rare happening in the illustrious Ferrari legacy that is known (now just a “has been known”) for their bulletproof cars! Wonder if after this result, does Luca de Motezemollo still thinks that all the choices he made in 2007 were good!

The most pitiful event of the race was the collision between BMW’s Robert Kubica and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (running 3rd n 4th at that time). Both had a good chance of scoring high points, but greed for the podium prevailed and all was lost!

The biggest beneficiary of the race was McLaren’s Hamilton. Having started the race from the 18th position following a dismal qualifying session and a gear box penalty, he would have finished the race 6th, but thanks to the crash b/w Vettel and Kubica and an error by Trulli, he finished the race in 3rd! A winning driver needs more than skills in F1 and hamilton is once again proving that luck is on his side along with skills! I think he is the best driver to fill the huge void left by the exodus of Michael Schumacher.

With the next race in Malaysia – on the coming weekend, Ferrari had better pull themselves out from this deep hole that they are stuck in – and they better do it fast! Running the cars light on fuel is not a good way to capture grid positions and certainly no way to win races and championships! If they have forgotten how to do it, here is a reminder – it is thru hard work, determination and team spirit! (remember 2006?) Sulking and spinning the car in frustration is not the way to do it either! (R u reading this Kimi?) Show some class or did you wanna take another dump!

For now, its Brawn GP’s exciting debut that has me pepped up for the 2009 F1 season! Well deserved victory, I’ll say!