Belgian Grand Prix Preview

After a three-week break, F1 circus is gearing up for the second half of the season, likewise, many of us are looking forward to see the best of the F1 season.  The 12th race of the F1 season will kick off this weekend at a historical & a scenic, Spa- Francorchamps.

The circuit is one of the most challenging & longest circuit on the F1 Calendar, located in the Ardennes Mountains. Overall it's a seven kilometres in length, running 44 laps,  have got flat-out corners & fast straights; the average speed is 230km/h.

Pirelli confirmed  its P Zero white medium tyres as primes and the P Zero Yellow soft as an options.

"With the softer option liable to be the preferred choice in qualifying due to a significant time gap. This is because of the length of the lap, meaning also that strategy is a very big factor in Spa: there is more time to be won and lost by being on the right tyre at the right time than at many other venues. It’s the sort of race where, under the right circumstances, it’s absolutely possible to go from last to first – and that always makes for a very exciting grand prix. Often it can be raining on one part of the circuit but completely dry at another part, meaning that the versatility of cars, tyres and drivers is tested to the limit as well." says Paul Hembery

 The weather is always unpredictable with heavy rainstorms and it's believed that, in the history of the Belgium GP, it has rained for 20 years in a row. And so there is always the rain threat during the race, which raises the chances of a safety car period.

Moreover, the Spa- Francorchamps circuit is all time favourite of most of the drivers on the F1 grid. The unique ups & downs reflects the track so well with it's iconic features and the history involved makes it a drivers delight.

William's Fellipe Massa "I love Spa, it's one of my favourite tracks because of the long straights and high speed corners, and it's a track we all look forward to racing at. The long straights should suit our car and we can kick the second half of the season off with some success."

 What all to look at for the second-half of the season: 1> The aerodynamic developments on the cars. 2> Teams orders. 3> The battle between the top half of the table for championship points and positions.

Above all, I reckon the Spa race will be one the interesting race to watch out. Sebastian Vettel had won the race last year, Who do you think will win the race this year? Will we see another team order between Lewis & Nico as they is only a gap of 11 points in their Drivers' standings? Have your say.

Mugello test - driver line up 2012

Redbull Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Mark Webber Wednesday (2-05-2012)-  Mark Webber/Sebastian Vettel Thursday (3-05-2012)-  Sebastian Vettel	McLaren Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) -  Oliver Turvey/Gary Paffett Wednesday (2-05-2012)-  Gary Paffett Thursday (3-05-2012)-  Oliver Turvey	Ferrari Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Fernando Alonso Wednesday (2-05-2012)- Felipe Massa Thursday (3-05-2012)-  Fernando Alonso
Mercedes Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Nico Rosberg/Michael Schumacher Wednesday (2-05-2012)-  Michael Schumacher Thursday (3-05-2012)-  Nico Rosberg	Lotus Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Jerome D’Ambrosio Wednesday (2-05-2012)- Kimi Raikkonen Thursday (3-05-2012)- Romain Grosjean	Force India Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) -  Jules Bianchi Wednesday (2-05-2012)- Paul di Resta Thursday (3-05-2012)- Nico Hulkenberg
Sauber Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Kamui Kobayashi Wednesday (2-05-2012)- Kamui Kobayashi Thursday (3-05-2012)- Sergio Perez	Toro Rosso Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Jean-Eric Vergne Wednesday (2-05-2012)-  Jean-Eric Vergne/Daniel Ricciardo Thursday (3-05-2012)-  Daniel Ricciardo	Williams Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) -  Valtteri Bottas Wednesday (2-05-2012)- Pastor Maldonado Thursday (3-05-2012)- Bruno Senna
Caterham Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) -  Rodolfo Gonzalez Wednesday (2-05-2012)- Vitaly Petrov Thursday (3-05-2012)- Heikki Kovalainen	HRT Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) – n/a Wednesday (2-05-2012)- n/a Thursday (3-05-2012)- n/a	Marussia Tuesday ( 1-05-2012) - Charles Pic Wednesday (2-05-2012)-  Charles Pic/Timo Glock Thursday (3-05-2012)-  Timo Glock

2012 Australian Grand Prix Preview

Many of us were waiting for the Formula One season to kick off and so this week for the first time in the history of Formula One, we will see 6 world champions on the grid with their massive 18’000hp.

Welcome to my blog of Formula One and I hope you all will have an amazing time this season. I bet if you will not ;)

As the first round of Formula One approaches to the Albert Park, many of the F1 teams and their respective crew members have started their way to Melbourne. The circuit itself is in the centre of the city around a lake. It is considered that the circuit is one of the first – rate circuit with the best facilities.

With the twelve days of pre –season testing, looks like all the teams are geared up for this season. HRT car failed to do more laps during the testing whereas only last week Marussia’s car successfully passed its mandatory crash tests.

I reckon Ferrari’s are still struggling to know their F2012. McLaren and Lotus car looked smoother. But yes we have to see this Saturday how these car do well in the competition level.

Red bull looks stronger but the question comes here is that: Will Red bull dominate this year too with the Newey’s design?

Sebastian Vettel: "Testing has been busy over the last few weeks and I think we have made a decent step with the car. You never really know where you are until we get to Melbourne and even then you don't really see what everyone has got until qualifying - so I'm looking forward to getting started.”

The track is clockwise with few blind corner, 90- degree corners, 58 laps, 16 turns and with two DRS activation Zone.

Pirelli, the official tyre supplier of the Formula One had announced last month that for the first race, all the teams will be supplied with the soft and the medium compound tyres.

Hence, to sum up, I would say that this GP has to be the action packed.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Preview

After the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, the 18th race of the season will start from tomorrow at the Yas Marina circuit. Not many of us are waiting to get this season to an end.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix had its first race in the year 2009. The circuit was designed by none other Hermann Tilke. He has designed various other Formula One racing track across the world.

Yas Marina circuit has not been favorite circuit of many drivers but it’s surrounded of high spending hotels, golf courses and the Ferrari World theme park. It has 21 Turns, 55 laps and is 5.554 Kilometers long. It’s an anti- clockwise circuit. Pirelli have confirmed to go for its P Zero white Medium tyre as the prime and the P zero yellow soft as an option.

The track has very less overtaking opportunity; but has a huge grandstand at the Hairpin onto the main straight which offers spectators a nice view of overtaking point on the circuit.

Turn 8 is one of the hardest where at the cars slow down to about 50mph. Hence FIA race director is optimistic about the overtaking opportunity this year as there will be two independent DRS zones. One will between Turn 7 and 8 (F1 second longest straight), following the second onto the kinked straight towards the turn 11.

“The race came in for a bit of criticism last year because the cars found it very difficult to overtake. But there are two DRS zones this year, with two activation points, and they should make a significant difference in that respect” says Charlie Whiting.

Redbull’s Sebestain Vettel had won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009. Last year he had clinched the World Champion title at Yas Marina Circuit whereas this year he has already won a youngest Second World Champion title and I am very sure Vettel will win the GP this year too. So far, since the Circuit has inaugurated, Vettel has only won the race twice.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton had a three grid penalty at the Indian Grand Prix for ignoring the yellow flags during the practice session. He is going through a hard phase this year. But he still hopes for an optimistic race results.

“I have some fantastic memories of the Yas Marina Circuit. I started from pole position there in 2009, and I led the race until I was forced to stop because of a brake issue. Last year, I finished second and set the fastest lap, so we head there looking to convert all that potential into a race win.” says Hamilton.

Jenson Button is aiming to win races. I reckon he might seal the second place or you think he will beat Vettel?

"We saw at the last grand prix that even though we didn't have the ultimate speed to catch and pass Sebastian, we made him work hard for the win. The championship may not be at stake any more but we're still aiming to win races and put on a tremendous show." says Button.

As like many drivers wants to get on to the podium. The real battle between Vettel, Button, Alonso and Webber will start from tomorrow. Only two more races to go and the battle will continue for next year.

Ferrari chief Stefano Domenicali "In the remaining two races, we want to try and get on the podium and try all we can to get Fernando to second place in the drivers' classification. We will fight hard, as much as we can, for that goal."

We might see another battle between Hamliton and Massa at the Yas Marina Circuit. First we saw in Monaco, Silverstone, Singapore, Japan and then in India.

Force India’s Adrain Sutil shown good result (P9) at the Inaugural IndianGP and rookie Paul Di Resta finished at P13. Adrain managed to score two point s at the team’s home GP. However, Adrian is looking forward to earn some more point s at the Yas Marina circuit.

“It was a difficult race for us last year, but I think this year it should be much better. There are long straights and hairpins, and it’s a track where low-speed corner performance counts. That should suit our car so I think we’ll be okay’. Says Sutil

So let see how interesting the race will be at the Yas Marina circuit. Do you think due to less of high- speed corners, F1 second longest straight, two DRS zone will be a good package for the teams?

Hamilton: No reason to leave McLaren

There are many speculations going about Lewis that he might switch over to his rival team Redbull for the year 2013, as the Driver’s deal with the McLaren is suppose to be end in year 2012.

According to the Autosport, Lewis was seen with the Red bull’s team Principal Christian Horner at the Circuit in the Red Bull hospitality area for 15 minutes in a private at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday.

On Tuesday, during the event at the Watkins Glen circuit in upstate New York. The 2008 Formula One World Champion was interviewed, where he replied to media that “I will have no reason to leave McLaren so long as they can give him a winning car". “I don’t see why you would particularly want to move when you have the most competitive car,”

Further more he added that he has lot to achieve in Formula One itself. He will never stop racing too.

However recently there have been many controversies about his attitude and his aggressive driving. The British superstar who won in year 2008 has fail to won the championship since 2 years. Do you think that the reason is because of the car which is not been as fast as Red bull’s car or his aggressive driving because of not wining any championship after the year 2008.

Well, I don’t reckon that the reason should be a car. He has a competitive car that is capable of winning races. Adding to his achievements, he won in China whereas his team mate Jenson Button won in Montreal. But the concern is that his car is not as fast as Red Bull this season. Vettel winning 5 times out of 7 races this year is somewhat to think about that if it at all affecting Lewis driving and the pressure towards winning the race.

In one of the leading newspapers “The Telegraph” Hamilton Said "I grew up wanting to be Formula One world champion

“I've definitely not achieved all that I want to. I'll definitely be spending as much time there until I do achieve what I've always wanted to do. In terms of where I am, I'm again just very fortunate to be a part of McLaren

"It's one of the best teams there, again with great history. We have a car that is capable of winning, as my team-mate showed at the weekend. We are the only other team that has won Grands Prix this year."

McLaren’s Lewis is a driver who is always ready to take a risk where he doesn’t keep intention to hurt someone else during the race. His keep the true passion for his driving. The only reason I could think is, he is frustrated about not winning the races which is leading him to drive aggressively and commenting silly jokes on Stewards and the drivers which leads his impression as a frustrated driver.

However he is very optimistic that his car can still win the races this year.

So do you reckon that he can win at the Valencia Grand Prix which is in two weeks from now??

Lewis: Vettel's gone he's on his way, they're very hard for us to catch at this rate

The Redbull' Sebastian Vettel won his sixth pole in seven races. He had a crash on Friday morning into the wall near the turn 13 and 14. Many of the legendary drivers had a crash earlier in the same wall and so the wall is named as the ‘wall of Champions’, where Vettel’s added his name to the same list at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Although he suffered from the crash in the firs practice, the Red bull’s team did a fantastic job where Vettlel’s set the fastest time lap of 1minute 13.014 seconds. Whereas his team mate Mark Webber was fourth fastest in the Q3.

Ferraris did a brilliant job through the weekend. Alonso set the second fastest time lap in Q3 and his team mate Massa was third fastest on the grid.

We saw Lewis Hamilton who got penalised in the Monaco Grand Prix was struggling to beat his rivals in the Qualifying. He was fifth fastest on the grid and Jenson Seventh.

"We are just very slow this weekend," he said.”It appears the other guys have maybe made a step forward. I pushed beyond the limit on my lap because I knew we weren't as competitive as the guys in front. We're not in the worst position but we'd like to be higher up

"I don't think I've ever driven the car so hard; I was on such a ragged edge. I think I even touched the wall at one stage. I got everything I could from it, with also trying to use the tow of another car because we're so slow on the straight. We're 10km/h, maybe 12, slower on the straight so losing a couple of 10ths on the back straight.

"I just want to finish tomorrow and hopefully get some points. Vettel's gone he's on his way, they're very hard for us to catch at this rate. I don't know when we have anything coming but I really hope sometime soon we'll have something positive come to the car." says Lewis.

Perez will not race in Canada

Perez will not be racing today at the Canadian Grand Prix due to the injury he had in the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks back.

However he was very optimistic on Wednesday that he would be able to race at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. He had to go through the medical test on Thursday which was set by the FIA.

Although he did clear out the test on Thursday but was ill on Friday’s first practice. Further more he added “"Of course I wanted to drive and I had no doubt I was alright but apparently this is unfortunately not the case,"

"I am deeply disappointed. I spoke to the team after the session and told them that I'm not a 100% fit. I only want to drive when I'm 100% well. I need some more time to recover".

Hope he gets well soon and we see him racing at European Grand Prix!!!

Bahrain Grand prix is finally cancelled

After a long awaited decision from FIA, Bahrain Grand Prix will not take place this year. The race which was due to be host as a season opener of the Formula One season was cancelled due to civil unrest in the Gulf kingdom since February.

On Last week FIA announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix will take place of the Indian Grand Prix which was due to be host in October whereas Indian Grand Prix was reschedule for the December slot.

But again this Friday the organisers of the Bahrain Grnad Prix declared that the race will not take place due to the unstable situation in Bahrain.

"Whilst Bahrain would have been delighted to see the grand prix progress on October 30th... it has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision"

"We want our role in Formula 1 to continue to be as positive and constructive as it has always been, therefore, in the best interest of the sport, we will not pursue the rescheduling of a race this season." says Bahrain circuit chairman Zayed Alzayani.

As we saw few drivers had given their concern for the Bahrain Grand Prix and so not many drivers or teams were optimistic about competing their at the gulf kingdom.

Moreover adding on to this there was an online signatories demand to boycott the race which was filled by more then a million.

However, Bahrain Grand Prix is schedule for the 2012 as a season opener and Indian Grand prix has been back to its October slot as it was decided by the FIA early this year.

Will Indian GP be hosted in October?

Indian Grand Prix which was initially schedule for 28.29.30 October but later it was moved by the FIA to the December slot to accommodate Bahrain Grand Prix.

Due to the unrest in the city of Gulf since February, the Bahrain GP which was due to held on 13 March was cancelled. Whereas on Friday, FIA again reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix to the F1 calendar for the month of December. But the current situation in the Bahrain is still not stable, which is worrying all the F1 teams and the drivers.

Max Mosley, the former head of world motorsport thinks that the Bahrain Grand Prix will not take place and so the Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone “the Gulf state is not as stable as the FIA suggests and he is trying to overturn the reinstatement of the race”.

However, the Indian Grand Prix organisers are optimistic that the Buddh Circuit will be ready on time and no matter if the Indian Grand Prix will be held in October or December. Further more, Vicky Chandhok, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) stated that the circuit will be ready by end of October which was originally planned and the preparation are in the full force to host the first ever race in India without any changes in the construction Plan.

The uncertainty towards hosting the race is still not clear. This is leading to confusion not only to the organisers but also the officials, teams and the fans too.

Will F1 teams boycott Bahrain GP?

After all the controversies, Bahrain GP is back on the F1 calendar. Whereas inaugural Indian Grand Prix will now be the Season Finale i.e. 9th, 10th & 11th December, 2011

The Bahrain Grand prix was earlier scheduled for 13 March as a season opener, but was cancelled due to civil unrest in the Gulf kingdom since February. This lead to declaration by the King of Bahrain as a “State of emergency”.

However, there are still many peculations that the situation in Bahrain is not under control and not safe to host the race.

F1 teams & the human rights campaigners have criticized that hosting a race in Bahrain will not be safe.While FIA president Jean Todt believes that the “the FIA is happy that Bahrain is now safe enough to hold the race - having sent Spanish motorsport federation Chief Carlos Gracia there for a recent fact-finding mission”.

Moreover, the Campaign director Alex Wilks criticised saying to the BBC “Claims that calm has been restored and life is back to normal in Bahrain are completely untrue”. He also added saying that the police are still using sound grenades, rubber bullets and tear gas to injure the local public.

Redbull’ driver Mark Webber was the first driver to declare publicly that "Even though a decision has been made, I'll be highly surprised if the Bahrain Grand Prix goes ahead this year”.

F1 Supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes that the Situation at Bahrain is not stable and so he will called for a new vote to cancel the Bahrain grand prix and reschedule the date to December rather the on 30October.

"Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go," "If they are not, then we don't go and there are no problems."We can change this 30 October date by having a vote, by fax if necessary." says Bernie.

Max Mosley, the former head of world motorsport speaks to the BBC Radio 5 live today where he says that he doubts if Bahrain GP will  take place and further more he added that if it takes place then the Formula 1 will suffer the enormous damage.

The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) which signifies all the teams expect Hispania, will decide with the FIA about the Bahrain Grand Prix. Many F1 teams and drivers will decide till the Canadian grand prix will take place, whether the Bahrain Grand Prix should go ahead or would be unsafe to race.

Motorsport's governing body, the FIA, may change F1 Calendar again by the next week or by the end of this month if all the teams vote to cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix for 30october.

Lewis Hamilton: In all honesty I will never stop racing the way I do. It's the way I do it

The eventful Monaco Grand Prix was a disappointed weekend for Lewis. As he faces 2 drive through penalties for overtaking Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and later collisions with Williams Pastor Maldonado.

After the race in one of the interview, frustrating Lewis burst out appalling comments on the stewards and his rivals.“Massa held me up in qualifying, I got the penalty. He turned in to me [during the race], I got the penalty. These drivers are ridiculous. It's stupid." Says Lewis.

Being to the steward 5 times out of 6 races, Lewis describes FIA stewards as a frickin' joke. The reason when asked, Lewis describes "Maybe it's because I'm black. That's what Ali G says”. However this leads him to see steward again for the apologies which he did and to their fans on the social site Twitter.

"Hey guys. I wanted to apologise 4 last weekends performance & also my comments after, I never meant to offend no1," he wrote. "I would also like to say thank u 2 everyone on here, 4 their positive messages & also 2 the angry messages. I can respect them both.

"2 Massa & Maldonado, with the greatest respect I apologise if I offended u. Both of u r fantastic drivers who I regard highly. 2 my fans lost & my fans won, I wish u nothing but love & happiness. God Bless u. onwards & upwards, Montreal next. Lewis."

Further more, he added that his intention is not to stop racing the way he does, but if the situation comes where he has to drive for fourth or fifth place and just cruise around then he might would not stay around for that and might stop racing. "I am here to race and win. If I have to lose that passion then it blows all racing." “In all honesty I will never stop racing the way I do. It's the way I do it," said Hamilton.

"At the end of the day, this is motorsport and we are supposed to see racing. Not many people overtake in Monaco, and I tried to do that. Unfortunately, collisions caused me to have some penalties. I will recover from this weekend, [hopefully with] a win in Canada. It is a big gap [to pace-setter Sebastian Vettel in the world championship standings], but anything can happen."

We will see Lewis in few days time at the Canadian GP where he seems to be positive that he can win the race at the Canadian GP.