"We are the champions"

It was more than a race. It was the end of an era for three lesser, yet respected teams in Formula One. Sauber, Minardi and Jordan. They will now join the list, bringing to mind Lotus, Toleman, Cooper, Maseratti, Prost, Jaguar and a dozen other teams that have been silenced for ever from the paddocks ...

Typical of the Swiss, Peter Sauber kept a low profile even while negotiations were going on for the German giant, Bayerische Motoren Werke to take full control of Sauber and enter F1 in its own right. With the race over, Peter must perhaps be thinking of sitting high up in the Swiss alps, smoking his cigars and drinking his whisky, far away from the busy paddocks of Formula One.

For Paul Stoddart, a man whose team name was synonymous in the paddock with "underdog", it was a dream to win a GP. Sadly, that will never happen, not with the team sporting the Minardi banner. "Squadra Toro Rosso" is the name that the little Faenza outfit will now get, with Red Bull deciding to run a second string team, providing a launchpad for its growing list of F1 hopefulls. Minardi might have been the underdogs, but then, coming to think of it, many a race winner including today's winner, Alonso started at Minardi. A look down the pit-lane, and there is a huge question mark of where future talent could make a modest entry, considering today's sponsorship requirements. If not for anything, Paul and his little dream would stay in memory for ever.

As for Eddie and his silverstone outfit, it was game over last year, when Canadian-Russian Alex Shnaider decided that F1 would be his newest venture. Midland F1 would now sport different colors, and drop some baggage on its way, and sadly, that baggage might include Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan. Eddie will always be remembered as a spotter of talents, for after all the indomitable Michael Schumacher raced first in a Jordan on a wet day in Belgian in 1991.

Another lesser known man who would leave the paddocks is one Mr. Pierre Dupasquier, who, after thirty-four years of service to motorsport would retire. Pierre worked with Michelin last.

And away with the odes!

"We are the champions, we are the champions" sang the young Prince over the radio. Back on the pit-wall, Flavio's face resembled one of his caricatures, with the whole gamut of emotions on his face. Alonso took his seventh win of the season, equalling Raikkonen's tally, albiet Renault now get to bag the double, while McLaren would have to go home empty handed, with the phrase "So near, yet so far" on their lips.

It was to be an exiciting day, with the Renault pairs and McLaren duo's being separated by Jensen Button. The rest were there, but this was one day when they wouldn't be mentioned. After all, this is the first time this decade that the Constructor's championship has gone down to the wire. Renault lead McLaren by two points, and everybody including the most innocuous of F1 watchers would remember Ron Dennis's usually calm face resemble a cat that had its cream. Perhaps Ron, one of the most experienced of Paddock campaigners had one up his sleave. Or perhaps the flambuoyant Flavio would deliver, with talks about a set of developments waiting to be unleashed on the unsuspecting Woking folks. All said, it was time for the green lights to flash one last time this season!

Schumacher and Albers crashed out even before the opening lap. As a result, they started off from the pits. Karthikeyan too, pitted on the warm-up lap. Not exactly a dream start for either of the lesser teams, whose last races this would be.
The race started with Fissichella superbly fending off the McLaren duo, hoping that the blue streak in front of him would dissapear into the distance. Sato, whose last race this would be for the BAR-HONDA team jump-started, resulting in a drive through penalty.

A set of blistering laps set Alonso on course for a window stop, with the Spaniard gaining 17 seconds on his team mate, who was still fending off the McLarens. Montoya then ran over a raised drain cover, something that must have made Ron Dennis cry. Perhaps indicative that his hopes of getting the Constructor's trophy were down the same drain! A couple of laps after the safety car pulled out, Montoya pulled over and got out of his McLaren. A sad end for McLaren, it would now have to be fate that would decide the winner. In the meanwhile, Narain Karthikeyan managed to wreck Jordan's 250th and last grand prix, ripping an entire side of the yellow EJ15B.

In the confusion that ensued, Fissichella appeared to have slowed down the peleton that was heading for the paddocks. This would not escape the eyes of the Stewards as they called in Fissichella for a drive through. Meanwhile Raikkonen who had nosed past Fissichella in a well executed pitstop started to get close to Alonso, now sailing well ahead of him. Fissichella emerged fourth, behind Ralf Schumacher.

Inspite of the blistering laps that Raikkonen put in, Alonso would take the flag. This was his seventh win of the season, a season when Renault would take the championships, both of them, back to France!

Ralf came in third, managing to put Toyota on the podium. Fissichella came in fourth, tailed by Klein and Massa. The sole Ferrari that finished was that of Barrichello, with Schumacher not having the usual season-ender that he has. In fact, he was asked to wait for the stewards for the incident that involved Doonboors.

In the end, a fine season, a season that Renault deserved to win, not because they had the fastest car or the best driver, but because they were the most reliable of the teams!

With that, we look forward to the 2006 season, a season when teams will be unable to carry forward any advantage from this season. After all, 2006 will see major changes, including the usage of 2.8 litre V8 engines instead of 3.0 litre V10 engines that are being used.

Adios till 2006!

Raikkonen scintillates at Suzuka.

"The track is my canvas. My car is my pencil,” said Graham Hill. And on a sunny day at Suzuka, Kimi sketched one such performance, sizzling from seventeenth on the grid after a rain marred qualifying lap to become the Numero Uno at Japan. Fissichella, the more fortunate of the Renault runners came in second and Fernando Alonso came in third after starting sixteenth, silencing his critics with what I would term as “balls-out” racing.

Saturday qualifying saw quite some action, with rain during the later part of afternoon. Perhaps it is the Japanese rain gods at work, ensuring that their teams Toyota and Honda were given the front row of the grid. Ralf started on P1 with the Briton, Jensen Button on P2. Fissichella was for once luckier half of Renault, starting in third as opposed to Alonso’s sixteenth. By the time the youngest ever champion came out, it was raining cats and dogs, but the brave Spaniard put on a show that served as a precursor to what one could expect from him during the race. Kimi and Montoya started at No 17 and No 18 respectively. With the met department predicting a sixty percent chance of rains, it was all set to be a spectacular show of pit strategies, tire strategies and scorching speeds.

Come Sunday and Suzuka saw a clear day, with the rain gods failing to deliver. The grid was all set, and Ralf Schumacher led the slowest warm-up lap in decades. The red lights went off and Ralf made a superb start. Coulthard and Fissichella made good starts, with the latter nudging to second spot. But behold, the back of the pack is where all the action is. Schumacher, who started on row seven, made up seven places, with Alonso and Raikkonen hot on his trail, passing the slower cars as if they were back markers. The first lap also saw the demise of Montoya, with Villeneuve, forcing him to go wide. The incident saw a five-lap safety car parade. Clearly, the drivers seemed to struggle with what was definitely a mismatch – a car set up for wet weather tires running on dries, not even intermediates.

Drama on the track saw an over ambitious Alonso cutting the chicane to over take Klein. He let Klein retake his position not once but twice, the order coming from the stewards the second time around. How ever, with the minor incident out of his way, Alonso set off after Schumacher with Raikkonen hot on his trail, watchful and ready should either Michael or Fernando commit a mistake. Such was the Finn’s great driving that in spite of keeping watch of his two greatest opponents he was still able to post fastest laps.

The first set of pit stops confirmed that Ralf was after all on a three-stop strategy. Flavio, the Renault team boss must have sighed a sigh of relief. Perhaps Alonso would not finish in the points, but so would Raikkonen, where as Fiscio would collect a full house, bolstering Renault’s lead in the race to the Constructor’s championship. Fissichella pitted on lap 20, and Alonso, in a breathtakingly spectacular move swept past the ‘king of corners’ Michael Schumacher at 130R, perhaps one of the fastest and most difficult of corners on the Formula One calendar. The Spaniard then sped off into the horizon, hungry to post fastest laps. Meanwhile Raikkonen was being held up by Schumacher, and in the ensuing lap, both of them pitted together, with the German still managing to come out ahead of Raikkonen.

With both Schumacher and Raikkonen emerging ahead of Alonso after the first set of pit stops, it was now the opposite scenario to what happened a few laps before. Raikkonen swept past Schumacher on the grid-straight, leaving Alonso to deal with the ‘macher’s machinations, where as he, Raikkonen, would post fastest laps. Alonso made the most of it, ensuring that Schumacher locked up on a chicane, thus losing momentum. The passing on the grid straight then became a mere formality.

The racing of these three drivers was so captivating that perhaps everyone but the other drivers failed to notice that there were other cars on the track. Webber had a good run with the WilliamsF1, coming out of the pits ahead of Button, in what might be his first podium in a long time. But then, the glowing silver streak behind him would ensure that such an event wouldn’t happen. After all, if you happen to drive a McLaren Mercedes MP4-20 and complete a race, there isn’t much chance that you would land up outside the podium. And if you happen to be Kimi Raikkonen, you would even dare to dream more, perhaps dream of even standing on the top step of the podium.

With Raikkonen managing to come within striking distance of Fissichella after a splash ‘n’ dash pit stop, the game was all set for an exciting finish. Alonso, meanwhile made quick work of Webber, something that might have made the Australian feel like he was in a passenger train and Alonso in a rocket ship. Meanwhile, Fissichella lost momentum, almost tripping on a Minardi. Raikkonen tried to close Fissichella out on the main straight, but Fissichella would have none of it. With just two laps to go, Raikkonen was all over the back of the Renault driver, eventually managing to sweep past him at the first corner. At the paddocks, Flavio Briatore’s face turned red as the Italian stormed down the pit lane. Clearly, this one move could cost his team the Constructor’s championship. Perhaps it was time to put the second Renault under a better driver.

When Raikkonen headed down the pits, Ron Dennis, the McLaren team boss who seldom loiters towards the park ferme area rushed up from the pit-wall, bear hugging his driver, his beloved Kimi Raikkonen. Perhaps this is the only other time apart from Suzuka 988 when I have seen Ron’s face so animated, so happy to receive the Constructor’s trophy. Perhaps the Finn is his next Prost or Senna.

The race even otherwise was a delight, with Webber, Button, Coulthard giving strong performances. Michael and Ralf gathered the remaining points, coming in seventh and eight. The Minardi’s completed their race, with Albers managing to finish in spite of being involved in a dramatic pit-lane fire incident. Narain finished fifteenth, failing to capitalize on a good qualifying lap.

Overall, the race was a sizzler, with Renault and McLaren switching positions on the constructor’s table. Renault now lead by two points, and it remains to be seen if McLaren can hold fort in the last race of the season, due to happen this weekend at Shanghai, China.

Looking forward to the wire a.k.a China!

Rossi rosy for F1

'Vale' alias 'Rossifumi' alias 'Valentinik' alias 'The Doctor' alias Valentino the great Rossi - utter any of these at a Formula One paddock, and it would cause more buzz than you can ever hear from a couple of hundred bee-hives. Valentino Rossi is a MotoGP racer unlike any other. Rossi has won the championship a record seven times, and with two different companies, Honda and Yamaha. His dominance in the sport can be compared to that of Schumacher's conquests during the better part of the last decade. And to add icing to the cake, Valentino Rossi is just 26. Enough information to make the mouths of many a team boss water at the prospect of Rossi driving their mean-machines. Will Rossi make the switch?

Valentino Rossi, son of Graziano Rossi was born in Urbino, Italy, and like any true racer, started young. Rossi started to kart at the young age of five, winning his first regional karting championship at 11 years of age. Even before the next season had started, Valentino started off with the minimoto. Had Vale's dad had more money, the world would have never witnessed a wheeling Valentino thunder past the chequered flag a record sixty-eight times to claim seven glorious championships. The 100cc Italian Karting championships followed by the European series and the Formula British championships would have put Rossi on the Formula One track. But that was not to be and Rossi started off with a Cagiva Mito, earning his bread by being a motorbike racer. The rest is history and Rossi went on to become,well, Rossi!

Talking about Rossi's exploits in the world of Moto GP, any article would not be complete without a mention of Rossi's move from Honda to Yamaha. This, I believe, can be compared to Schumacher's move to Ferrari, a team that could not be called anything but an also ran. Moves that were baptism by fire, moves so severely critizied that any one lesser than a Rossi or a Schumacher would have scuttled down under pressure. The tense 2004 season started off with Rossi drawing first blood at Welkom, South Africa and then going on to overpower Biaggi and Gibernau, eventually sealing off their title hopes with a victory at Phillip Island. Valentino would then rub salt to Honda's wounds with a brilliant win at Valencia, making Honda aware of what they had let go.

Having conquered everything in MotoGP, the brilliant racer from Italy may now contemplate a change. The change could come in the form of Ducati. Rossi could switch to the Italian team in the same lines of the Honda-Yamaha switch. Or his switch could be more dramatic, with Rossi entering the pinnacle of motor sport. Formula 1. And who else to enter the magical world of F1 with but Ferrari, a team that shares its genesis with Formula One itself?

Rossi has now tested with the Scuderia outfit, and each time the tests are complete, Vale leaves Maranello with a trail of reporters, journalist and glazed engineers wondering about the talent that is Rossi. Rossi has done the impossible already, clocking 57.5 at the Fiorano circuit, within a second of German great Schumacher's all time record. But a spate of incidents, triggered by Ross Brawn's comment that Rossi could be testing for Ferrari almost twelve times next year has triggered the alarm bells, both at Yamaha as well as in Rossi's mind. Rossi has now said that F1 is out of the proposition for 2007, a year when many think Rossi would race alongside Raikkonen, the budding Finnish talent.

Rossi, if he successfully makes the transition from two to four wheels and goes on to win the championship would be only the second person to do so. John Sutrees, the legendary British racer is by far the only person to have conquered this monumental feat. Sutrees won the 500cc
motorbike World Championships in 1956,1958,1959 and 1960. He then switched devotions to Formula One, racing first at the Monaco GP of 1960 in a Lotus. He then moved to the Maranello based Scuderia outfit, winning his first F1 championship with 'Team Ferrari'. Needless to say, he is an International Motorsport Hall of famer.

Now Rossi has his options. He could either continue to race with Yamaha or Ducati or Honda - and be known as a biker extrodinaire. But a switch to four wheels would make him legendary. And what if Rossi wins more than one championship? Rossi would be called GOD and nothing else. And given Rossi's temperament, his fights with Roman Max Biaggi, so intense at a point that Rossi's website printed "XXX XXXXXX" instead of "Max Biaggi", F1 would be a lot more interesting that it has been in a decade. And personally, I wouldn't mind Rossi spitting at any of the team bosses because they ordered him to let the other drivers pass!

So would Rossi race in a Formula 1 car? Well, I think, Yes. Rossi will race in Formula 1. Maybe for Ferrari, but also, maybe for Red Bull. After all "Red Bull" is "Toro Rosso" in Italian, and Italy is the Austrian drink giant's biggest market. All they would have to change is the one letter in "Rossi" before they can market their products with caricatures of Rossi embozzed all over their blue and silver cans. Maybe Red Bull would make the sixty million dollars that Schumacher gets at Ferrari sound like peanuts. After all, money is everything in Formula 1. And money combined with challenge is the best mix to lure Rossi.

And then there is another factor. To be honest, I find MotoGP a lot more exciting, with more characters in the pitlane at one time than Formula 1 has seen in decades. And the racing is a lot better, there is more over taking, and there are accidents, sometimes spectacular accidents. MotoGP, for all you know, is more worth for your money than is Formula 1, the cavalcade of hyped-up cars with even more hyped-up drivers like Button. Drivers like Button who have achieved nothing, but being haggled over and paid a fortune. So, what makes Formula 1 more popular? Why does Formula One have more viewership and more money than does MotoGP? Well, the answer is simple - "Bernie". And I would be surprised if Bernie does not play a role in bringing Rossi to F1.




So would Rossi bolt on a couple of extra wheels and race for Ferrari? Time and Bernie will tell...