2007 US GP Winners Losers

Winners

1. Hamilton. Boy! This season is going to be good.
   
   
2. Alonso. He did try everything he could but couldn't get by. Nevertheless, the only difference between 1st and 2nd was qualifying on Sat. Alonso had more fuel and he qualified 2nd. That made all the difference.
3. KR. Some speed at all. It was an interesting strategy by him to go out on the hard compound tyres first up, but he really pulled it in after the second round of pitstops on the softer tyre. Had he managed to be a little closer to Massa in the first stint, we could have have seen him in third.
4. Massa. On the whole a good race.
5. Trulli. Great finish. Considering that Trulli is known for qualifying well and then driving backwards in the race, this result must be a confidence booster.
   
   

Losers

1. Ralf. I don't know if I should say it, but this looks like his last season in F1.
2. Hondas. Always on this list.
   
   

Myopic view of f1, formula1, 2007, US, GP, Winners, Losers

Is Hamilton the next big thing?

Doctorvee has a great post on the Hamilton, Alonso and McLaren.



There's no doubt that the hype surrounding Hamilton is just that - Hype, but I'm not going to be betting against him. In my mind, based on current form, the two contenders to the title are Alonso and Hamilton. What makes it exciting is that they both race for the same team and have access to the same machinery.



1. Hamilton is a rookie. This really is his first year, and for a rookie to be leading the WDC its really amazing.

2. Hamilton's results have been really impressive. We cannot compare his results with Alonso's, Kimi's, or even Senna's for the simple reason that none of them ever got a chance with the best car on the grid in their very first season.

3. Alonso is super talented and a Double World Champion. Its foolish to write of Alonso. He won his championships with Schumacher still racing and that's amazing. Plus, it was on a competitive Ferrari.

4. Ferrari also have a great car, and he has managed to be on the podium 6 races out of 6 this year.



Another interesting thing to note is that only guys who managed to come into a team and assert themselves immediately were Senna and Schumacher. Senna won the world championship in his first year for McLaren. Schumacher did not win the world championship in his first year at Ferrari, but he had 3 amazing wins. However, unlike Schumacher, Senna has Prost as his teammate. Schumacher came to Ferrari as the undisputed No 1 with no team mate entrenched in the team. Senna came to McLaren when Prost had already won 2 championships for McLaren.



So, when we look at Kimi and Alonso in their new teams, its not surprising that they are taking their time to get the best of out of their new cars. If Alonso had still been in Renault, there's no doubt he would have done better than Fisi. Last year Alonso had more that double the points that Fisi had after 6 races (54 to 24). Assuming that the same trend would have continued, Alonso would have had atleast 26 points after 6 races this season in Renault. That would have tied him with Heidfeld on points and possibly 3rd or 4th in the championship.



All in all, Hamilton is good, but I feel he needs time to prove himself. Alonso and Kimi have had poor seasons so far, but not without reason. All this makes it an exciting season to watch.



Myopic view of f1, formula, alonso, hamilton, mclaren

2007 Canadian GP Winners Losers

Winners

1. Lewis. First Win and he can only get better. At first I was not sure if he was just plain lucky or whether Alonso was taking his time to settle in at McLaren. Today's result showed that it is both these things plus real ability. Before the season began, it looked like a Kimi vs. Alonso season, but Lewis has put both of them in the shade. Cool!
2. Sato. He's the man. Overtook a McLaren, a Ferrari!
   
   
3. Heidfeld. The only other guy to have been unaffected by the Safety Cars. Great result
4. Wurz. Nice to see him on the podium.

Losers

1. Alonso. Lost out badly due to the Safety Car rule. I actually think the rule is a bit weird. If a car has run out of fuel, there's no way the driver will avoid pitting. But that's not where Alonso lost it. Its turn 1 that was the problem. However, he was really flying in the 2nd stint, and could have made up quite a few place had the extra safety car periods not come alone.
2. Kimi. 5th is really not acceptable, but he lost it when he had queue up behind Massa in the pits. That cost him atleast a few seconds and boom the rest of the race was ruinned.
3. Massa and Fisi. Considering that Kubica was patiently waiting at the end of the pitlane for the lights to go green, these guys were crazy. They just drove past him and earned themselves black flags. Weird!
4. Usual Honda. Yada yada yada.
   
   

Lucky to be Alive

1. Kubica. This has to be one of the biggest crashes I have seen in the last few years. It looks like he has only a sprained ankle and that's just amazing. He crashing at 180Mph and has just a sprained ankle? Jesus!

Myopic view of f1, formula1, 2007, canada, gp, winners, losers

Thundering down the road

Had an interesting "race" with a Thunderbird today. He was really tearing up the road (a.k.a ripping) and I was on a 15 year old kinetic. Yet bangalore traffic is so bad that me and the kinetic with a top speed of 50 could easily keep up with a 350cc godzilla.



BWAHAHAHAHAHA!



Myopic view of bangalore, traffic