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Showing posts from 2014

One from a Billion - Arjun Maini

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[ PS: This interview was conducted ages back. But something better than nothing after a 2 month hiatus, right? ] “ Who is the next Formula One driver from India ?” is a question people ask me very frequently.  The next formula one driver from India is this guy who has won the Super 6 Championship, who’s driven a Formula BMW race and has won plenty of kart races and a JK Tyre National Karting Championship, Rotax Karting Championship and also holds the title of “One in a Billion” - a karting championship conducted by Sahara Force India F1 team. And with over 80 podiums and 20 career wins (and still counting), I am not the only one who believes Arjun Maini will be the prodigy from India who will secure a drive in Formula One in the coming years.  Already having participated in the BRDC F4 championship 2014 with Lanan Racing, Arjun has earned the title of vice-champion with 480 points, only 3 points behind 2014 F4 Champion George Russell. He is truly the RACER that India is

Forza Jules Bianchi!

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Suzuka hosted Formula One's most dangerous race of recent times. It was only fair to call it an act of sheer will and lot of stupidity to host a grand prix during a typhoon. However exciting, the grand prix only had to end abruptly with a life threatening crash of Jules Bianchi.  Below is the most recent announcement from the FiA regarding his crash:  Given any day, any time and any option, I would choose motorsports to be the ultimate sport. Though its widely assumed that its machine more than the man himself, but I beg to differ. Motorsports is risky, no matter which age we're in and how sophisticated all our advancements are.  Formula One is the ultimate test of the capability of a sportsman/sportswoman, it is one of the many categories of motorsport where the most passionate and committed athletes in the world decide to see what they're made up of. Footballers, cricketers, basketballers may be brilliant in their own way, but racers belong

For petrolheads

So why the IB?  My ultimate goal is to be in Formula one. And my IB diploma will speak greater when I apply to universities to ultimately be in formula one. Its not just the “study study study” regime, it’s more of the “study, research, know and not learn” regime. As IB say it themselves, it’s a “holistic development” that a student undergoes, being in this programme. It’s a challenge, it’s a grind and it’s a huge jump for me, but Im here to push the limits.  Even though I’m in this new school and its an exciting atmosphere, it feels almost being back to square one where no one knows heads or tails about Formula One (I found that offensive) And so I set out on a “venture” spending countless hours explaining what racing and F1 are. Yes, it was a venture. Because the questions thrown at me were.. interesting and put a roadblock to my thinking.  “Wait.. go karting is F1 right?”  “Aren’t they like fitted with jet engines? Why don't they fly because of speed-breakers

I'm as dysfunctional and irregular as a 2014 Red Bull drivetrain and power systems.. oh and also as rare as the Renault engine not causing troubles

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First of all, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for leaving this blog idle. Secondly, I have a darn good reason for it! *drum roll*  I am officially an IB student.  As an IB student, I wouldn’t like to, but have to say, that life is very hard. For those who don’t know what those two random letters put together are, IB stands for the "International Baccalaureate". It’s a system of education (you can call it that) and it is a highly rigorous 2 year diploma programme. And if you want me to rate it on a scale of 10, I’d rate it 11 (No sarcasm, I promise)  So what if I’m an IB student? I could have posted something about the spicy Hamilton-Rosberg controversy or.. about how all of Australia is in smiles because of Ricciardo or how could I forget! or  about how brilliant Valtteri Bottas can get, right? Wrong.  I quote the internet here- “IB students do not have a life”. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this:   Or this..  Or actually..

British GP Qualifying: Rosberg takes pole!

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I just found the best way of posting qualifying results! Thanks live timing. 

Making history!

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For the first time in 22 years, Formula One will be seeing a woman take the wheel during an official practice session. Williams' test driver, Susie Wolff will replace Valtteri Bottas during FP1 and will be running the same programme as her teammate Felipe Massa. Susie Wolff (Stoddart earlier), just like all the others started out karting. She won the 24hr Middle East Karting championship and the Scottish Juniot Intercontinental "A" title in 1997. In the following years she was awarded ' Woman kart racing driver of the year ' four consecutive times and then named top female kart driver in the world in 2000. In 2001, she moved onto single seater championships. Her breakthrough came in 2003 when she finished the Formula Renault UK championship in 9th position with her first podium in the series. In recognition of her efforts, she was nominated for the prestigious BRDC McLaren Autosport's ' Young driver of the year award ' and was selected as

Austrian GP review part 2 (STR, Lotus, Marussia, Caterham, Sauber)

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Scuderia Toro Rosso: Both Toro Rosso drivers Jean-Eric Vergne and rookie Daniil Kvyat have totally managed only 12 points this season. Their best result was so far has been in Australia in which they hauled half of the points they have today! JeV has finished just 3 out of the 8 races and Kvyat finishing 5 totally. Austria was yet another disastrous weekend where both the drivers did not finish the race due to failures, however they showed good pace during qualifying. Starting the grand prix from 7th (Daniil Kvyat) and 15th (JeV) Toro Rosso's expected a strong race. But brake issues and the loss of balance caught Jean-Eric and his teammate out. "I have struggled with the brakes from the beginning of the race. It's difficult to drive the car with such a considerable rear locking" Vergne was post race. "Problems happen, it's a shame that they occurred here but the new aero package is working well and we have a good car to face the next Gran

Austrian Grand Prix through the lens

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Lets start with a controversy! The above picture was from a deleted tweet by the Mercedes team. Yes, they ruled the track and yeah.. they might've been a bit drunk after the celebrations when they made this. But whoa! ease off Mercedes. That wasn't the right thing to do. Austrian legends: Gerhard Berger and Niki Lauda princess takes a selfie with the amazing crowds of Austria! How's the mood in the world champions' garage? This picture sums up pretty much all their frustrations. We've missed Mark Webber, haven't we? (I have most certainly not). Here's a fact you didn't know: Sebastian Vettel has retired every race that Mark Webber has been to! That is: 3 (Australia, Monaco, Austria) Kimi Raikkonen on track. Can't have enough of the view behind! It's almost like we're racing at the Nordschleife! Here's Niki Lauda playing Daniel Brühl. Wait.. what? RUSH got their casting spot on. That is a total of 7 w

Austrian Grand prix: Quite the pomp after a 11 year hiatus! (Mercedes, RBR, Ferrari, SFI and Williams)

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The last time before this year the Austrian grand prix took place was way back in 2003. The grand prix was one to remember with something exciting happening each lap. Michael Schumacher who started on pole lead the race until the mid 20 laps after which he had to pit because of the rain which had started to drizzle. The pitstop however failed to go as per plan for when they refuelled his car, a wild fire started after the nozzle caught fire by a spark. After all extinguishing and controlling, Schumacher was sent out again after a 20 second pitstop to join third behind Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen. The thrill of the race however was only after the pitstops when a mix of strategies saw Webber who started from the pitlane finish in the points, Jenson Button who at a point was following 3rd, finish 8th and a sizzling battle for second place between Raikkonen and Rubens Barichello. Staring the grand prix with 2 aborted race-starts and 4 laps under safety car, the 69 laps were the

On messenger with Arya Gandhi

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"How do I start racing in Formula One?" It's a naive, but a very valid question for someone who aspires to be in the pinnacle of motorsport. Well, the answer to that is Karting! The first and most basic step that everyone in today's motorsport field has spent at least 7 years in.  Mumbai boy Arya Gandhi is an Indian karting prodigy of Rayo Racing who started racing at the age of 11. Just like everybody, his first run in a go-kart was "just for fun" before he found out he went quicker every lap afterward. At 12, he had a go at racing professionally in the national series, and since then, his racing record has only grown to be more impressive!  In a nutshell- He has been karting for 5 years  Won the National JK Tyre Rotax Max Kart Open - 2011  Over the racing seasons, he has achieved 4 podiums  He has been crowned AKOC 2011 champion in the micro max category He made the big shift to Formula Cars in 2014, currently in Formula 4 while he cont

Canadian Grand Prix in pictures

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Rosberg, Vettel, Hamilton and Bottas all lined up as they go around 1/3rd of the track before the safety cars had to pull out.  Kimi Raikkonen avoiding the famous wall of champions Daniel Ricciardo, winner of the Canadian Grand Prix isn't much of a champagne lover. However, he doesn't mind getting soaked in it every now and then. Sebastian Vettel congratulating Daniel Ricciardo (right) on his first formula one victory  What happens when a formula one car slides sideways right in front of you while you're doing 250kph? Yes, it was a close miss for Sebastian Vettel when Felipe Massa flew in front of him after involving in a crash with Perez. (I am with the FIA on penalising Perez). Both drivers are safe and fine.  Jenson Button's car is torn apart and worked on by his engineers.  Guess the track walk paid off for Jev! He finally finished in the points in Canada! 

Canadian Grand Prix review: A bullish way!

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The Canadian grand prix was the perfect palette of colors. The picture was given a splash of fiery red off-track battle between 2 teammates and moved onto a peaceful blue towards the end celebrating a 105th winner in 64 years. And created the masterpiece that 2014 was looking for since March!  The Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton drama resumed in Canada after both of them fell out at the Monaco Grand Prix. Hamilton was keen to beat him at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a track which has favored him several times in the last couple of years. However, Rosberg's and Hamilton's equally quick start off line meant the leader would be decided only after turn 1. However, being squeezed too much into turn one put Hamilton off line and into the grass, yielding his 2nd place to Sebastian Vettel who'd qualified P3 behind the Mercedes duo. A first lap drama which involved both the Marussias brought out the first safety car period of the race. Later, Max Chilton was handed