Formula 1 racing has been my obsession for the last 10 yrs or so and I have enjoyed every bit of it. As the starsports coverage improves with each season, its getting to be more fun now than ever. Plus the local dimbulbs seem to have caught on and more and more pubs are being forced to show racing during the weekends, which works out great for blokes like me, and not so much for those jokers who watch cricket (for example).
For those who dont know much about the sport; Formula 1 racing is the fastest and most glamourous racing event on the planet today. And not without reason. The amount of money, brains and technology that goes into one race out stripps any other sport. Its a sport that is dominated by precision, timing, reliability, blood, guts and glory. It is the cutting edge technology and the fearlessness of the drivers that makes the sport so dynamic. Victory is dependant not just on the driver, but the car, the tyres, the track temperatures, the weather, the wind, the efficiency of the pit crew and most importantly on the strategy. Each and every department of racing has so much detail and intensity, that once you understand and follow the nitty-gritties of it, you will never enjoy anything more.
Points are awarded for the first 8 (first 6 till 2002)of the 20 cars that start the race. Points are also awarded for the constructor of the car, and a battle for the constructors championship is an altogether different and equally fierce battle. The cars run through 2 qualifying session (as opposed to 1 till 2002). Friday qualification decides the order for saturdays qualification which will decide who starts where on the grid. Cars are to be set up for the race during the saturday qualification, which includes the tyres and the amount of fuel. Once done, this cannot be touched after saturdays qualification. tyres are of 3 basic types- dry weather, semi-wet and wet weather tyres. and there are a horde of rules governing each of them.
The 2003 season, in sharp contrast to the 2002 season, has been thrilling and promises to be a real humdinger all the way till suzuka on OCT 12. 2002 was dominated by Ferrari in a way no other team ever has, and one is forced to believe that the car was the dominant factor more than any particular driver. To add to this, bridgestone were ruling the roost and Michelin were struggling to get their tyres to hold the track. This caused the season to be one of the most boring seasons (if not the most boring) in the last 10 yrs. Things have taken a turn since then and Michelin have gotten their act together (though amidst some controversy) and more importantly McLaren and Williams have overshadowed Ferrari through most of the season, simply by putting a better car on the track than the wildly exaggerated and over-hyped Ferrari of M. Schumacher. JPM (montoya) and Kimi are giving schumacher a run for his money and if things go by the form and prediction book, Suzuka will be a cracker of a race. The season however has been marred by some unwanted controversy. Ferrari and Bridgestone went ahead with a case of sour grapes and tried to pull some strings to do as much damage to their opposition by crying ’cheat’ at Michelin. The way its been going for the last 3 mnths, it defintely seemed like Ferrari trying to salvage their pride and doing everything thing in their power to overthrow its competitors who I must say were comfortably thumping the Italian giants all over the track and in every department. This has not gone down well with fans and it has cost Ferrari a lot in terms of their credibility as good sports.
Nevertheless, with 2 races left, all racing fans are in for a treat starting friday sept 26th. For the good of the sport, it would be nice to see a new champion, probably JPM or Kimi but really, when people are out there giving their best, and risking their lives each time they get on the track, we should really be saying- May the best man win! cheers to that!!!