sumedhvidwans

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  • #232063
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Mark Webber.

    Sorry to be picky, but shouldn’t the title be “Whom” would you like to do the podium interviews?

    #217777
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    That is strange because in the old EA Sports game, I always end up with a faster average speed at Hockenheim.
    I think both are very similar tracks and there was room for only one. And I am not that against the current Hockenheim. This year gave us an exciting race at the track.

    #214733
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Aah, so many so many.. I will pick my top 10…

    1. Alonso’s drives in Germany and Malaysia
    2. Vettel’s drive in Abu Dhabi.
    3. Pastor winning in Spain and carrying his cousin during the fire.
    4. The 2006-esque Alonso-Kimi-Michael podium at Valencia and Alonso dancing with the Spanish flag and crowds at Valencia
    5. Seeing everyone walk away unhurt after the Spa first lap crash.
    6. Kimi’s team radio in Abu Dhabi and his off-track excursions at Brazil.
    7. Massa’s return to form at the end of the season.
    8. Seeing 2nd to 14th covered nose to tail in the closing stages of the Chinese Grand Prix!
    9. Perez’s first half antics
    10. And finally, an amiable end to the Hamilton-Mclaren partnership at Brazil. Because after Spa and Monza, it looked like they didn’t like each other one bit.

    #214803
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Bad news of 2012. Quite a few..

    1. Prof. Sid Watkins’ Death
    2. de Villota losing her eye.
    3. Romain causing a frightening crash at Spa.
    4. Ferrari breaking the seal on Massa’s gearbox.
    5. Hamilton’s retirements from Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Vettel’s retirement from Valencia.

    #216710
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    25. Karthikeyan – One lucky call in the wet at Malaysia aside, nothing spectacular.
    24. Pedro De la Rosa – Faster than Karthikeyan but that is not saying much. I don’t think F1 will miss either of those drivers or HRT.
    23. Jerome – Had only one outing so hard to put him above the others.

    22. Kovalainen – He impressed in his 2010 and 2011 alongside Trulli. But it seems that the frustration of driving a slow car got to him. Petrov showed him up and we were reminded why Mclaren dropped him in 2009.

    21. Glock – Got outshone by Pic. Had his customary good performance at Singapore but that is pretty much it. He is pretty old as well now I think. Time to go.

    20. Vergne – He cannot qualify well. And this compromises him all race. In the beginning of the season when teams were yet to master the tyres, his extra set due to qualifying 18th proved useful. But towards the end of the season, this was not longer an advantage.

    19. Pic – Better than Glock. Did well in Brazil.

    18. Senna – Till Spa, it looked like Senna was not doing as bad compared to Maldonado when taking into account Maldonado’s mistakes. But then, Pastor cleaned up his act and the difference between the two was painfully obvious. Williams should have finished 5th or 6th in this year’s constructor’s championship. Both Senna and Pastor are at fault. But more so Senna.

    17. Petrov – It looked for a long time that he will be the one giving Caterham that 10th place and he finally did it in the last race! Got faster than Heikki in qualifying as the season went along. 2013 between him and Pic should be fun.

    16. Ricciardo – Out-qualified Vergne easily but didn’t score as many points. Has work to do if he is to step in Mark’s shoes in 2014. But atleast he has the upper hand over his team mate.

    15. Paul Di Resta – Was out-qualified by his team mate in each of the last 6 races and by over a second in the rain affected qualifying of Britain and Germany. Only one highlight in the second half of the season at Singapore. I remember last year when many (including me) praised him for getting up to speed with Sutil very fast in his first season and showing him up. Unfortunately for him, he was on the receiving end this year.

    14. Grosjean – After the first half of the season, I was willing to give him the benefit of doubt and say that ‘the speed is there beneath the crashes’. But the crashes haven’t stopped. Ended up scoring just 20 points to Kimi’s 91 in the second half of the season.

    13. Maldonado – Had to put him above Grosjean as he indeed stopped his crashes. He did brilliantly in few races where mechanical issues brought his downfall – Singapore, Abu Dhabi. Driver to watch for in 2013 – I definitely think so.

    12. Kobayashi – Outshone by his team-mate in the first half of the season. But came back quite well later on. But the Korea race, just after his Suzuka podium probably justified why Sauber have let him go. After three years in F1, he had grabbed his first podium and immediately next race, he drove like a rookie. But still, he deserves a place in F1.

    11. Massa – One of the drivers of the second half of the season. His drive in Singapore being my favorite. Scored 97 points to Fernando’s 114 in the second half. Fernando had two retirements but Felipe was also forced to stay behind him in at atleast three races.

    10. Rosberg – The Merc was not good, no doubt. But still, he was only as fast as a 43 year old. After 6 long seasons in F1, he will probably face his sternest test next year. Remember, he is actually more experienced than Hamilton!

    9. Michael – Scored a very fortunate podium at Valencia but was fast on numerous occasions. Showed his liking for wet weather by out qualifying Rosberg at Britain and Germany and scoring Mercedes’ only points of the final flyaways in Brazil.

    8. Webber – Just like 2010, his performance was being flattered by Vettel’s reliability issues till the first half of the season. Scored just 55 points to Vettel’s 159 in the second half. Had some hard luck with reliability at India and Austin. But still can’t place him above the others.

    7. Perez – His performance in the second half were pretty poor. But he did exceedingly well in the first half to finish 7th in my rankings. If it was a ranking for just second half, he probably would be 17th. Mclaren will be a tough test. Let’s hope he doesn’t become a Kovalainen.

    6. Hulkenburg – Showed consistently good performance in the second half. To think that he could have almost won at Brazil, his favorite track by now, I am sure! Drives very well in the wet!
    A good move to Sauber.

    5. Button – Showed good speed from Germany onwards. But nothing compared to Hamilton. But he is still more intelligent than Hamilton and that allowed him to gain the upper hand over his team mate at Spa and Interlagos.

    4. Kimi – A great win at Abu Dhabi. It probably came a little late though. Showed great speed in his comeback season. Spending the whole race studying Felipe’s rear wing in India was a little sad. But he was not in the same league as the top three.

    3. Alonso – A flawless first half. Without a doubt. But his second half was indifferent. He was amazing at India where he finished 2nd to Felipe’s 6th. But heavily benefited from the Mclarens’ retirements in other races. While Vettel came from last to in the points twice in the last three races, Alonso ended up being slower than Felipe twice in the last three races. It was these performances because of which, he has fallen from 1st to 3rd from the mid-season rankings

    2. Vettel – Took a long long time to finally announce himself in the championship. Singapore was only his 2nd win of the season. But Japan, India and Korea were races that reminded of his 2011 dominance. But what really pulled him above Alonso in the rankings is his performance in Abu Dhabi and Brazil. Yes, he had a fast car, second fastest – after Mclaren – but still, he had to make it count. At Brazil, excelled in the wet conditions very well and showed that he was very hungry for the third WDC. Did very well in Austin to keep the faster Mclaren behind for 40-odd laps as well.

    1. Hamilton – He was second in my rankings after the first half but that was only due to Fernando’s supernatural performances. His second half was probably the best Hamilton has every driven – better than the first half of 2007. Didn’t deserve the unreliability and the slow pit stops. While the championship contenders made mistakes, Hamilton drove serenely. Best driver of 2012 for me.

    Its a strange move to Mercedes. But it seems to have calmed him down and he seems more at peace with everything around him.

    #215809
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Kimi on Michael from the outside of turn 1 through the Senna S! Brilliant professional driving from both.

    An extra point because Michael had overtaken Kimi at the same spot in 2006 from the inside then.

    #215630
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    I agree with The Radical. I think the 2014 silly season will undo a lot of the wrong things that have happened in this year’s silly season. Here are my predictions.
    1) Kamui will come back.
    2) Lewis will be back at Mclaren but may be at the cost of Jenson (as Mclaren will still need Sergio’s cash).
    3) Pastor might move to Mclaren to replace Sergio and Sergio’s cash.
    4) Vettel will move to Ferrari.
    5) One of the Toro Rosso boys or Kimi will move to Red Bull.
    6) The other seat at Red Bull will be filled by either Webber or Jenson with the other person retiring from the sport altogether.
    7)Mercedes will have Rosberg and Sam Bird.

    #215663
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    I want a wet race. As a Ferrari fan, rain is my only hope of Fernando winning.
    But even if Fernando bins it, atleast we will get an exciting race in the wet. Part of the reason 2008 remains so special is because it was a wet race. Come to think of it, which championship deciding race was held in the wet other than 2008?

    #215672
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Team radio. Heat of the moment comment. Means nothing. Case closed.

    #215622
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Great!

    Imagine if Valencia was the last race of the season. Championship standings before the race
    1) Alonso 248 points
    2) Webber 242 points
    3) Vettel 231 points
    4) Hamilton 222 points

    Hamilton is already out of the championship. Alonso qualifies 4th and Webber 2nd, if they finish the race according to the qualifying order, Alonso is champion. More good luck for Alonso as Webber has a bad start and Alonso is up to third. He only needs 5th place to win the championship now (even if Vettel wins).

    And then, disaster strikes! Safety car. Stewards deliberate for ever. Fernando cannot pit in time like the rest of the field behind and ahead of him. He finishes the race in P9. Stewards issue a meager five second penalty to drivers who speeded into the pits jsut before the safety car came out.

    Home hero Alonso (alongwith the whole of Spain) is furious and claims that the whole race and championship was manipulated!

    #215281
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Thanks guys! I am encouraged by your compliments. I will do some in the winter break. Probably old seasons, as that will help my F1 history knowledge.
    But it wont really make sense in some cases. I mean why do Prost and Senna crash into each other in the first race of the season?

    #215276
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    Thanks guys!
    Yes, it is very similar to this year. Vettel of this year is same as Button of 2009. But I am not very sure who is the playing the role that Alonso is playing in 2012. Vettel did a few mistakes in 2009 but Alonso hasn’t done them this season. I think Kimi of 2009 comes closest to the Alonso of 2012.

    #206498
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    1 – Alonso – without doubt, the driver of the season so far. Intelligent, fast, opportunistic. He is having the season every driver dreams of having.

    2 – Hamilton – fast and consistent. Undone by team mistakes quite a number of times so far.

    3 – Vettel – Has lost his qualifying mojo this year but he is still doing very well in races. Overtaking doesn’t seem to be a problem like 2010. Without the alternator failure in Valencia, the penalty at Hockenheim, the cucumber incident at Malaysia, he would have been much higher in the championship.

    4 – Perez – A couple of rookie mistakes here and there but fast for the most part. The most improved driver since last year, definitely.

    5 – Webber – Back to his 2010 form. Doing well on the tracks he traditionally tends to excel at – Monaco, Silverstone. But he has been off-pace in few races for inexplicable reasons (Bahrain, Valencia). Somehow, I see the season slipping away from him in the second half.

    6 – Kimi – A good comeback by the World Champion. But he should have won a race by now. Has seemed tentative in wheel-to-wheel driving ( in Hungary vs Romain was an exception) which has cost him points

    7 – Heikki – Monaco. Where he kept Jenson behind him for God-knows how many laps, and through the pit stops. Has caused a headache to Vergene when it comes to qualifying many a times. This is a driver that Ferrari should get.

    #176031
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    The question asked in the post already assumes that the cost of watching each race is 61 pounds. I am sorry but I don’t agree.

    For the record, I stay in India. I pay close to 12,000 INR (assuming a conversion rate of 80, 150 pounds) per year for all channels.

    When you say that each race is costing you 61 pounds, you are basically saying that you are going to pay for SKY and watch ONLY the race. You are not going to watch any football, any cricket, anything else. I just don’t buy that. It will be an incredibly small percentage of people who pay for SKY and then not watch any of the other sports. Most of the others are going to watch the other sports. Hence, the actual cost for those majority of the guys will be less far lesser than 61 pounds.

    And I ask you all (those claiming 61 pounds) to honestly answer the following question to yourself:

    Provided you register for SKY, are you really not going to watch any other sport? Ever?

    #172446
    sumedhvidwans
    Participant

    1. Vettel – Being given a good car is one thing and making full use of it is a completely different thing. His drives have been commanding. Fault-less in Monaco and Spain while under tremendous pressure, made only a precautionary stop in Turkey and has been better at handling the Pirellis than anyone else.

    2. Alonso – Slow start to the season where he couldn’t manage the starts. The season reached its nadir at Spain where he went from 1st to being lapped! But showed his true class at Turkey, Valencia, Britain and Canada (partly). Ferrari are doing right by backing the Spainiard and giving him the right strategy.

    3. Button – Very consistent. Has surprisingly been bested by Vettel in the tyre management department. But is closer to Hamilton in qualifying this year than last. A very dependable driver to give you points, especially given that Hamilton has only 2 modes this season.

    4. Hamilton – He has only 2 modes this season. Awesome (China, Britain) and Awful (Monaco, Canada). The petulance on the radio is also little too much these days. This is not the behavior expected of a driver who is into his 5th season in a front-running team.

    5. Serio Pereze – A revelation! Has gone up against none other than Kobayashi and done a fantastic job. He is one of the few drivers to have made a one-stopper work successfully. He will be watched closely in the second half by team bosses!

    6. Felipe Massa – Fantastic starts. Has bridged the gap to Alonso in qualifying. And showed in the first three races that if given the right strategy he can do good. But too little, too late. The Ferrari team is now Alonso’s. Last 2 races showed that Ferrari are getting his strategy wrong. He has had more than his share of bad pitstops. Nevertheless, he has done enough to justify being a no.2 driver to Alonso.

    24. Mark Webber – Yes, you read it right. Biggest letdown of the season. Has been beaten by Vettel both on the track and in his mind. Had a great drive in China which was flattered by having more sets of fresh tyres available. He is the sole reason because of which the drivers championship standings are boring to look at. No wonder he is treated as a number two driver, he IS a number two driver!

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)