DRS, KERS, and Smoking Monaco

    Monaco race is less then two weeks away, and it is going to be something. If you think about it, this is going to be equivalent to the first Ayrton Senna's drive in in Monaco in 1984. Monaco track is the least interesting track on the Formula 1 calendar because it is next to impossible to overtake; however, this year it is quite different due to the DRS (Drag Reduction System) and KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System). Now, imagine a driver who gets into one second window of the guy in front and deploys both KERS and DRS in Monaco... with narrow streets, tight corners, and short straights, it is gong to be insane; I have been waiting for it. There are a few drivers who have voiced their safety concerns, which are pretty reasonable, but this is going to be quite a show.
Barrichello Against DRS in Monaco

Vettel Did it Again...

For some of you this might sound familiar and for others maybe also annoying, but Vettel has won the race once again. The scoreboard from second on down is rearranging with every race; however, the first place strongly belongs to Sebastian and he is not going to give it away any time soon, and not without a fight. I am sure that McLaren and Ferrari were very pleased to see Vettel crash during the Friday Practice, but to everyone's surprise it did not matter, Vettel's brilliance is just supreme. Although it would be awesome to see him charge through the midfield and fight other drivers, but the 1st place does look awesome no matter what.
Interview with Vettel after the Turkey win in 2011

Ayrton Senna

Ayrton Senna

Last weekend I had a privilege to watch a movie about the greatest Formula-1 driver of all times, Ayrton Senna. As a big fan of Formula-1 I knew all about Ayrton, and his driving, but the producers made an awesome job in crafting the story and the events in such a way that someone without any knowledge would enjoy and appreciate the beauty of his life and the sport as a whole. This movie is mostly about Sena's career in racing and a little personal life. The movie takes you from the moment when Ayrton was carting and to his death, stopping at important events on the way. The most memorable thing in this movie was a quote by some journalist who said that if Senna's life would have taken some different path, we would probably hear a different story how he had died fighting cancer, or something else; however, in some poetic and unjust way Senna's end in a racing car seemed to be what senna really wished for, and given another chance in life knowing the end of this path he would have not chosen the alternative.

Why Michael?

Michael Schumacher

There is one question in my mind that I can't get rid of... What is Michael Schumacher thinking when he is being overtaken by some new Formula-1 driver, and does he regrets the decision of coming back to Formula-1?
Looking back, fifteen or sixteen years ago, there was about no one who could challenge him; today, however is a different story. This sport is getting very physically demanding as drivers age, and therefore bringing the new stars into it. If you look at the current drivers, all of them but one (Rubens Barrichello) were fans of Michael, and now they can easily challenge him, so why is Michael doing this? Well, I guess this is the spirit of a true racing driver to drive to win and nothing less and still enjoy the game if they loose. Regrettably starting with Alain Prost, most drivers started to become more strategy focused and having less pure driving which we all miss. But Michael did not just want to leave the sport in glory, which he had the most so far, but he is like a true worrier who desires nothing else but dying on the battlefield because that is the ultimate glory. I guess we are never going to know the entire 'why' but it is nice to have true worriers in the racing ranks.

One of The Best Weekends in Formula 1

Wow, is the only word that I could think of to describe the last weekend's race. This race had it all, from a wheel-to-wheel race in Q-2 (I've never seen that in my life) to Webber's podium from the 18th in qualification. Overtake after overtake, and a very influencing strategy that played a tremendous role in the outcome of the race has inflicted a huge pressure on the teams making the race even more dramatic. In my opinion, this race has showed the world the whole beauty of this sport, and gave the fans a tremendous amount of action, just like we had in late 80's and early 90's. It was simply beautiful.

Race Results

Revolutionary Drive from Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia 2011

Interesting interview with Sebastian Vettel
It was sensational, Sebastian Vettel is becoming better and better, and there is nothing and no one to stop him. Last Sunday he has clinched another victory and is almost half of points ahead of his rivals. Although watching Vettel driving was a little boring vis-a-vis the mid-field constant overtaking, Vettel did put on some show of his own.

If you followed closely Sebastian Vettel's radio transmissions you know what I am talking about. When I saw Vettel loosing some tenths of a second to Jenson Button, I started to worry, but when the team asked him on what strategy he is on, the answer and the tone has put at ease. He was regulating the mods on his engine, thinking about the future races, saving it and not worrying that Button is closing up, at the same time being extremely calm and thinking clearly. The maturity level has gone up so much comparing to the previous year, he is now seeing the big picture, which puts him on the same level as Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost (Although we do not want to see another Alain Prost style champion).

Sebastian Vettel is simply unbeatable. There are a lot of critics of such an opinion, especially in Australia (Mark Webber's fans), and they might argue that credit belongs to Adrian Newey (Team Engineer) and Webber is just having a rough time, and is out of luck. Well, they might have a point, but we all know that Vettel out-qualifies Webber almost every race, and qualification is pure driving, without any strategy evolved (95% of the times). Yes, Sebastian Vettel is simply the best.