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The
Fast and the Furious...
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CHAMPAGNE ANYONE? The
race is over and it's time to uncork the bubbly |
Meanwhile, Alonso
isn’t getting ready to spray championship champagne,
saying that he won’t assume anything until the title is
officially his. Should Alonso, 24, take the 2005 title, he
will break a 33-year-old mark set by Brazilian Emerson
Fittipaldi, who was 25 when he became world champion in
1972. He would also be the one to break the
Ferrari-Schumacher stranglehold on the championship.
But unseating Schumacher won’t be a walk in the park.
The German started driving in his first kart race at five
and since his debut in 1991, F1 and Schumacher have become
virtually synonymous. |
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A truth universally acknowledged among
Grand Prix drivers is that part of the Formula One game is
to be in the right car at the right time. Gambling on
pit-lane hierarchy amid ever-evolving technological
advances and rule-book challenges often involves an
element of risk. Careers have been ruined by bad choices.
Others—Alain Prost—have been embellished by shrewd
assessment of which team will offer the best equipment and
designer-savvy environment for world championship
prospects. |
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Karthikeyan
is lobbying the Indian govt to back proposals for
an Indian Grand Prix |
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Of the drivers on the move for 2006, Rubens Barrichello—who
will leave Ferrari for BAR-Honda—has executed the
neatest turn. He has left the team who seem unable to
catch up with Renault and McLaren for a team of immense
ambition and momentum, where he, as a proven race-winner,
will have at least equal standing with his new team-mate.
No longer will he have to play along with the freak
"brake problems" that tend to afflict his
Ferrari (to allow team leader Michael Schumacher to finish
ahead). |
|
2005
F1 Season |
|
DATE |
TRACKS |
LAPS |
|
2005-03-06 |
Melbourne |
58 |
|
2005-03-20 |
Sepang |
56 |
|
2005-04-03 |
Bahrain |
57 |
|
2005-04-24 |
Imola |
62 |
|
2005-05-08 |
Catalunya |
66 |
|
2005-05-22 |
Monte Carlo |
78 |
|
2005-05-29 |
Nurburgring |
60 |
|
2005-06-12 |
Montreal |
70 |
|
2005-06-19 |
Indianapolis |
73 |
|
2005-07-03 |
Magny-Cours |
70 |
|
2005-07-10 |
Silverstone |
60 |
|
2005-07-24 |
Hockenheim |
67 |
|
2005-07-31 |
Hungaroring |
70 |
|
2005-08-21 |
Istanbul |
NA |
|
2005-09-04 |
Monza |
53 |
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2005-09-11 |
Spa-Francorchamps |
44 |
|
2005-09-25 |
Interlagos |
71 |
|
2005-10-09 |
Suzuka |
53 |
|
2005-10-16 |
Shanghai |
56 |
|
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| India too has been bitten by
the F1 bug. Ever since Narain Karthikeyan broke into the
circuit by bagging a seat with the Jordan team, there has
been a massive interest in the sport. During the
Australian Grand Prix, millions of Indians switched on
their TVs at dawn to catch Karthikeyan in action. And
though the Indian speedster hasn’t exactly set the
tracks on fire, the interest remains. Karthikeyan is also
lobbying the government to back an Indian GP. He is keen
to secure his future in Formula One beyond the 2005
season.
"I’m trying to sell the idea of an Indian Grand
Prix to the government," Karthikeyan said. "To
make it happen, we first need to build an infrastrucutre
capable of hosting a Grand Prix."
New venues such as China ended up spending millions of
dollars building necessary roads and other infrastructure
around new circuits. If F1 is come to India, the formula
has to be just right. |
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September 2005
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