2010 Malaysian Grand Prix: Mark Webber takes stormy pole
Mark Webber weathered a massive rain storm at Sepang to take his second career pole and making it three in three weekends for Red Bull (full results). The Rain Gods surely love Formula One as after the Bahrain snore fest they have blessed the two races hence with some gracious wet weather. 
The rain made it a nightmarish affair for Ferrari and McLaren who made the wrong choice of staying in for the first ten minutes of Q1 and trusted the weather forecast that predicted a dry session later on. But the rain got worse and they were all caught out. Sebastien Vettel and Webber got in banker laps in time, so did Renault and others but this goof up meant that Q1 had glorious casualties – Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Button did make it to Q2 but his car aquaplaned and then beached on the gravel, ending his qualifying. The Mercedes GP drivers just about escaped the fate of these two teams.
Q2 saw more rain and by the time Q3 came about, track conditions resembled last year’s downpour moments and the session was red-flagged for sometime. But the rain cleared soon enough and all ten came out on full wets except Webber who decided to go on intermediates. The cars had enough time to do three laps each and that worked in his favor for considerable water went off to make his inters the optimum tyres to be on.
Nico Rosberg finished second for Mercedes GP and Michael Schumacher (eighth) will be scratching his head for the wet track ought to have equalized any advantage that his team mate enjoyed the previous two weekends. That Rosberg now leads the seven time champion 3-0 in qualifying makes one wonder. Sebastien Vettel will be starting third and he will be one to watch out for at the start, wet or dry.
The role reversal meant that both Force Indias are in top ten though one expects Tonio Liuzzi to drop out if the ‘backmarkers’ are successful in their charge while Adrian Sutil will be hoping for a change in luck. As it is Kimi Raikkonen isn’t on the grid so he can be happy starting in the wet. Nico Hulkenberg qualified his Williams fifth in what is a major result for the rookie. Also in Q2 were both Toro Rosso cars, the Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock’s Virgin. India’s Karun Chandhok outqualified his team-mate Bruno Senna for the first time this season and that will count as a major boost for him. He has been gaining ever since his wasteful outing in the first race at Bahrain.
It is expected to rain tomorrow, but wet or dry, the race is expected to be a spectacular one. Too much is at stake in terms of championship points and the two Ferraris and McLarens will have the pace whatever be the conditions. Much will depend how they fare at the start – they need not to be tangled in the first couple of winding corners at Sepang and if the middle placed teams can stand up to this oncoming pressure from behind, we are in for a cracker of a Malaysian GP!
2010 Malaysian Grand Prix: Friday Practice
Five days after a spectacular Australian Grand Prix, the engines rumbled again for the Friday practice session at the Sepang circuit for the Malaysian GP. Many questions are expected to be answered this weekend, such as whether Australia was a one-off or can Red Bull be reliable? Will we have another downpour like last year, albeit a little less rain will be in everybody’s good books? And then there are inter-team rivalries already looking to heat up. 
Lewis Hamilton was on top of the timesheets in both sessions on Friday and one can say he will be hungry for a lot more after whatever happened last weekend. Getting his car impounded wasn’t the ideal way to start off things and then the super race he drove not really fetching him the deserved rewards means he will be up for it. Jenson Button was third in the morning session and fourth in the afternoon but will do well to watch out for his team-mate this Sunday.
The McLarens will be expected to run things around their way in Sepang and that is primarily down to the aerodynamic advantage they have got. It is called the F-duct as we have come to know it and on the start-stop straight as well as the back-straight it will give both its British drivers that extra bit of speed. A good reflection was seen at the speed-traps with Hamilton clocking in 303 km/hr, a good six clicks quicker than Vitaly Petrov’s Renault. Sauber are experimenting with their own interpretation of the same, like in Australia, but there is no saying if they will use it in the race.
Nico Rosberg was second in the morning session (full results) while Sebastien Vettel took that spot in the afternoon (full results). Rosberg’s team-mate Michael Schumacher will be hoping to step it up another notch this weekend especially after Mercedes motor sport boss Naubert Haug made some positive noises about him in the midweek. Vettel’s team-mate though had a bit of a problem with his engine and Red Bull’s prime concern this weekend will be to fight off any reliability glitches. The Ferraris spent their day evaluating tyre compounds just like the last two weekends and whilst looking solid, where they are placed in the pace grid will only be known on Saturday – especially with the Mercedes powered cars looking strong today.
For Indian F1 fans, Karun Chandhok finished 0.4 second ahead of his team mate Bruno Senna and that for a first time this season. So all in all a good work out there in what will be another ‘test session’ for the team this weekend.
2010 IPL Diary: The mid-table battles begin!
One-sided matches between two equally placed teams in any tournament can be a rarity. Not so in the Indian Premier League, for here fortunes change in a flash and if it is just not your day, it is just not your day. No one could accept that better than Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Shane Warne as he acknowledged in the post-match presentation that although they had full plans for every move made by Delhi, none of them worked. 
It would be harsh to say none, for they did get David Warner, Virender Sehwag and Paul Collingwood out, and these were the batsmen in form for the hosts. From here on, all you need is a couple more wickets and you would be chasing a sub-100 total when playing Delhi for their middle order is quite well known in the IPL circles for its weakness. Not anymore though it seems. The team think-tank, with Gautam Gambhir at its head, has found a new solution and balance for the team which allows Warner to open and Gambhir himself to anchor the innings later on.
In the last match against Kolkata Knight Riders, this task was performed by Collingwood as Warner blazed his way to a ton. This day was a bit different though as Gambhir first went about resurrecting the innings and then late on Dinesh Karthik peeled off the bowling in inimitable style. Rare are these days for the second-choice Indian stumper but when they do come, it is for every body to see why he was considered to be the best thing happening to Indian cricket before MS Dhoni came along.
That Karthik has grown as a player is sometimes hotly debated but if anything, there was indeed a moment in this game which would suggest that the critics have gotten it wrong. Going for a quick single, the bowler Warne back tracked right onto his way and there was a bit of touch and push moment. For a second one thought it was nothing and indeed it wasn’t. But expect the Australian players to get stuck in nevertheless and we had the Royals’ captain questioning Karthik on national television over an incident which didn’t really matter.
Or so we thought. Karthik unleashed an array of shots straight from the belligerent book, comfortably taking Delhi past 160 and then even above 180. Once that had transpired it was clear to every one who would be the most important Rajasthan batsman to walk in. Gambhir confessed as much in his post-match briefing when he said that they only feared Yusuf Pathan and no one else. Pathan did walk in to bat but only after four wickets had gone down and that is not the ideal way to chase a target when over nine runs an over are required from the start.
Now that the return leg of the tournament is under way, where do the teams go from here? Delhi are looking more fearless by the day and that can happen when all your jigsaw pieces start to fit and you only need to fear one player in the opposition. Quite clearly this might be the time for them to go on a little run and get into the semis. For Rajasthan though the task is a little edgier for they know they can be pulled back easily by any more such mid-table teams. And there are three out there – Deccan Chargers, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings – all boasting atleast more than one player whom the opposition ought to fear.
This article was first published at www.cricketworld.com.
Vettel unconcerned about Red Bull reliability
After two rounds of the 2010 Formula One season, and going into the third race of the season, Sebastien Vettel seems unconcerned by Red Bull’s unreliability so far. Perhaps he should really think it over and realize that this statement might just only be positive PR and nothing more really. For the championship table spells it out as it is and they are seldom lies. 
Sample this: Fernando Alonso heads the Drivers’ championship with 37 points and Vettel is a huge 25 points adrift already. If the spark plug in the Renault engine hadn’t shorted out in Bahrain and the brakes hadn’t failed in Australia, the German would have been sitting on 50 points. Then his statement wouldn’t have made much of a difference, for right now it does.
Considering that spark plug was not in anybody’s control but the brakes failed in Melbourne because the tyres hadn’t been put on properly is a testament to the fact that team Red Bull are feeling the pressures just a wee bit. It can happen when you know that you have arguably the fastest car on track and just need to complete the race to win. But championships are won on reliability and consistency, not making mistakes under pressure.
No one knows this better than Alonso. The year was 2005 when Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren kept exploding just when he would be in sight of victory. But as the Finn would retire, the Spaniard would be right on his heels to pounce on the misfortune. He won races but more importantly collected points throughout the year. Vettel saw that same story last year as well when despite lack of development, Jenson Button wrapped up the championship by sneaking in crucial points in the latter half of the season. All his wins and the buffer of points had come in the first few months of the championship.
What Red Bull and Vettel don’t need at the moment is a tag of chokers; that will only bog them down further knowing that the machinery might give way any moment. They clearly have the car to be ahead of the field on Saturday and if it doesn’t rain on Sundays, as it won’t on most through the year, the norm of one stop strategies should be enough to get them across to the Chequered Flag first. Atleast that should have happened in the first two races but it didn’t. Guess who took advantage: Ferrari and Alonso. Red Bull really wouldn’t want to make it three races in a row!
2010 IPL Diary: Good ten days, Bad ten days
Ten days have passed since Delhi Daredevils last played at the Feroz Shah Kolta. The last home game was against the Chennai Super Kings and the Mongoose ran away with the match that day. Now it was the coming of the Kolkata Knight Riders and although another Australian did run loose, thankfully for the 40,000-odd fans assembled, he was on Delhi’s side.
David Warner gives the appearance of how Popeye would look if he ever came alive to play cricket. Those bulging arms seem to pack a punch, spinach or no, and they were used to good effect on the day as he rode his way to a century (107 off 69 balls). It is always ridiculous when a batsman scores a ton in a game where there are only 120 balls stipulated for the whole side to play, but this innings was incredible at the same time. In the sense that Delhi skipper Gautam Gambhir had shaken off his hamstring injury and Warner would have been looking at a drop if he didn’t fire in this game. Atleast that isn’t going to happen anytime soon!
It rounds off a good week or so for the Daredevils. Ashish Nehra is almost back from injury and Paul Collingwood has joined them as well, lending much needed steel to the side. Daniel Vettori will be on his way soon and this will be a solid base to build on from, having beaten Bangalore Royal Challengers away and now Kolkata. Probably it might be the start of coming afore of the real Delhi team, the one we have known for the past two seasons. For it is a crucial stage of the tournament where all the middle rung teams will look to gain some semblance of momentum and to have a problem of plenty at this stage will be the dream of every captain.
It is happening for Kolkata as well. Chris Gayle, Shane Bond and David Hussey have already come in and Brendon McCullum will be on his flight shortly. However the bigger problem facing them is the patchy form they have displaying, hinged more on a lack of killer intent. Playing safe isn’t a term you would want to associated with a team led by Souarv Ganguly but seeing that the purple-attired team isn’t hitting a patch of the same hue, it makes you wonder if age has finally caught up. From 38 for 3, Delhi were able to set up 177 and win the match means the last ten days have yielded only one win in four games. Shah Rukh Khan wants more than excuses from his players and he rightly says so on Twitter!
Besides the IPL, the Indian team for the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean was announced. The good part is that the selectors have decided to go for experience rather than raw talent. Thus picking players who have all represented India – be it some two years ago, like Piyush Chawla or like revolving doors ala Rohit Sharma. They have even gone for Ravindra Jadeja who is not playing the IPL and is cracking knuckles at home, thanks for want of more money. Poor form, return from injuries, inconsistency and lack of match fitness are columns that can be ticked against the names of all the fifteen selected, and that is the bad news for Indian fans.
This article was first published at www.cricketworld.com.
McLaren, Lewis differ on Australian GP strategy
Contrasting comments are coming in from the McLaren camp over the Australian Grand Prix result. On the one side is Lewis Hamilton who had a superb race starting from eleventh and is understandably disappointed that it didn’t yield any further than sixth. Then there is team boss Martin Whitmarsh who suggests that there was nothing wrong with their strategy of calling in Lewis for a second pit-stop. Both however have atleast one similar opinion – that McLaren should have had a 1-2.
It is interesting to note why Lewis is feeling let down after this race. Here comes along a new team-mate who is by the way also the reigning World Champion. To make matters worse, he is a British driver in a British team and a really nice bloke, liked by many across the pit-lane. McLaren have always harped about equality amongst their drivers and adding up all the above, it means that this season more than any other you have to win over the team on the track. The first win of the season going over to Jenson is but a blow for Lewis.
The contentious issue is whether the pit call was right or not. It is very tough to say whether or not Lewis would have been able to cover the entire race on just one soft sets like Button. For he is not known to be kind on his tyres and the biggest hint was when he radioed to his team whilst following Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari that ‘he had lost performance in his tyres’. That was the second set which he had used very well to close the gap to the Ferraris in third and fourth. Would he have been able to close such a gap later in the race if he was on his first sets?
That is the question which makes the call to pit look right. However the point is he probably wouldn’t have been in that position because when he pitted, he was all over the back of Robert Kubica’s Renault (in second place) and rest assured would have gone past sooner or later. And maybe might have taken a shot at overtaking Jenson as well. That is something even the Pole has admitted. This is where the pit call seems to be wrong.
However where McLaren do stand to be in the right is because they weren’t thinking of favoring one driver but the team. For them it was simple: Jenson wins the race if the first four finish on a one-stop strategy. If they do take second pit-stops, then Lewis was the lead driver on-track with that strategy. And Jenson with his nursing approach would have pitted later with an advantage or probably even not as it eventually turned out, bringing home their first 1-2 finish of the season.
Given that Formula One is so highly staked when it comes to results, that is where it must be hurting most for the Woking-based outfit and not the fact that their child prodigy Lewis Hamilton is blaming them for wrecking the ‘drive of his life’.
2010 Australian Grand Prix: Jenson Button takes thrilling win
World champion Jenson Button took a thrilling win in the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, in what was only his second start in the McLaren. Robert Kubica in the Renault showed that his Friday form wasn’t a flash in the pan as he came in a deserved second ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari in third (full results). The race on a whole was in direct contrast to the first one in Bahrain with plentiful action for everyone watching to savor. 
Button’s win was down to a huge gamble that paid off when he pitted on Lap 7. He hadn’t enjoyed the best of starts and was struggling to match the race pace after every one had started on intermediates after showers in the morning had left the Albert Park circuit a bit wet. It seemed a foolhardy and desperate move at that time – a knee jerk reaction possibly as he had just lost a pace to team-mate Lewis Hamilton who made a fast start from 11th on the grid. But Button made it all work as he nursed his tyres for an astonishing 51 laps to drive his way to an eighth career win.
The two Red Bulls ahead of him at the start were in self-destruct mode today. Sebastien Vettel was in fine form, leading away the field until Lap 26 when down Turn 13, his brakes just gave out on him. Mark Webber made a torrid start losing to Massa and then had moments of madness throughout – he twice barged into Hamilton’s car – quite clearly trying too hard for him home race. The biggest losers on the opening lap though were Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher.
Going into the first corner, Alonso had contact with Button’s McLaren which had the inside line and the impact thrust him into Schumacher’s front wing. Alonso spun to find himself at the back of the grid, from where he drove a fantastic race to finish fourth. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had he not suffered initially for he clearly had the pace to battle out in the front. Schumacher though suffered throughout the race, where he jostled with a Virgin and Toro Rosso, unable to find a way past easily. He got a new front wing on his Mercedes but conditions didn’t permit a tyre change then. He wasn’t really impressed with the lack of overtaking in Bahrain and here he couldn’t find a way past Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso. But then no one said that his comeback would be a walk in the park, pun unintended.
There was a safety car on Lap 2 thanks to Kamuyi Kobayashi losing his third front wing of the weekend and his Sauber also collecting Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams and Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso. But again, it was too early in the race for major tyre changes thanks to the wet track and the cars mostly stayed out on track. Rubens Barrichello and Vitantonio Liuzzi in the Force India collected more points after Bahrain but had relatively quiet races. Schumacher scrapped past Alguesuari and Pedro de la Rosa late in the day to get one point for his troubles. The attrition rate was high though with as many as ten non-finishes. Karun Chandhok however had a good race by Hispania Racing standards as he brought home his car five laps down. Also a useful stint was that of Heikki Kovalainen who finished his second consecutive race.
The star of the race though has to be Lewis Hamilton despite twice getting tagged by Webber twice. After a rather good start, he was pretty decent on the intermediates but started his charge when he stuck on the dry tyres. Since the cars all started on intermediates, they didn’t have to run both compounds and this meant he could attack as much as he wanted. He clipped his front wing when taking in Massa on Lap 22 and a most staggering move off Nico Rosberg on Lap 26, but then pitted on Lap 35 in what was not his call and sort of ruined his race for no one else in front pitted later on. You could argue that Lewis is so hard on his tyres that he couldn’t have continued to be aggressive to see the Chequered Flag as Button nursed his way through. But try telling him that!
Red Bull must be wondering what they need to do to win after taking pole twice in two races. Vettel is now 25 points behind championship leader Alonso already and the team is even further, a huge 52 points in arrears from Ferrari. This just isn’t the return acceptable from arguably the fastest car out on track at the moment.
2010 IPL: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Kings XI Punjab
Manoj Tiwary hit a superb 47-ball 75 to steer Kolkata Knight Riders to a 39-run win over Kings XI Punjab in Match 23 of the IPL 2010 at PCA Stadium in Mohali. Tiwary was ably assisted by his captain Sourav Ganguly who hit a composed half-century to boost Kolkata to 183 which proved beyond the reach of the listless Kings XI Punjab. Tiwary, who got to his second half-century of the tournament in 37 deliveries, blasted two sixes and two fours in the last over bowled by left-arm Irfan Pathan. Kings XI Punjab, in reply, could make 144/6.
Aussie speedster Brett Lee played his first match. But he was hit for three fours in his first over by West Indies captain Chris Gayle. Kings XI Punjab tasted success in the third over when Gayle was dismissed. It was 45/2 with young Hardeep Singh being held at mid-on. Ganguly and Tiwary resurrected Kolkata Knight Riders innings with a 79-run stand for the third wicket. Ganguly completed his half century but was out at the same score, spooning a catch to long off. Leg spinner Piyush Chawla, who has been selected for the World Twenty20 championship, bagged the wicket of Australia hard-hitting batsman David Hussey, who was beaten in the flight to be bowled. Kings XI Punjab looked liked containing the Kolkata Knight Riders for a below 150 target. But Tiwary changed the script with his lusty hitting in the last two overs.
When Kings XI Punjab began the chase, Yuvraj Singh came out to open with Ravi Bopara. But Kiwi Shane Bond struck with the second ball of the innings to claim England opener Ravi Bopara. Yuvraj Singh (24 off 16 balls) struck three fours and one six before he was brilliantly caught by Manoj Tiwary at deep mid-wicket off Ajit Agarkar. The former Indian medium pacer claimed his second wicket and this time David Hussey held a low catch at mid-off to dismiss Manvinder Bisla. Playing in his first match, Agarkar captured two wickets in two overs. Mahela Jayawardene (16) fell to a poor shot to be bowled by his Lanka team mate Angelo Mathews. Skipper Kumar Sangakarra followed his former Lankan skipper, stumped while playing a clumsy pull shot for 30, and Kolkata Knight Riders were on course for victory.
Match report courtesy Adfactors PR.
2010 Australian GP Qualifying: Vettel storms to pole
Sebastien Vettel stormed to his second pole in two race weekends of the 2010 season as he put in a stunning qualifying lap round the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. It was a one-two for Red Bull as Mark Webber made it to the front row for his home grand prix and Bahrain winner Fernando Alonso brought in his Ferrari in third place (full results).
Jenson Button made amends for his Bahrain show and slotted in his McLaren at third, though the team will be highly disappointed with Lewis Hamilton’s shocking inability to get into Q3. The only good thing that could come out of it is that he can opt to start on hard tyres while all in the top ten used softs for their qualifying runs. Talking more of team-mate rivalries, Felipe Massa seemed unable to cope with Alonso’s pace while Michael Schumacher made an improvement from, only 4/100s of a second away from Nico Rosberg but yes still behind.
Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Robert Kubica (Renault) and Adrian Sutil (Force India) completed the top ten and will be in the mix throughout the season presumably. The battle for ‘best of the rest’ it seems will be decided down to whose team-mate plays a better support role. In that sense Vito Liuzzi is the best placed driver as Nico Hulkenberg disappointed while Vitaly Petrov must be downbeat at having not even made Q2.
India’s Karun Chandhok ought to be upbeat that he has had a relatively trouble free weekend so far, barring second Friday practice. At one point he was up to 22nd on the grid only to end up within a tenth of Bruno Senna’s time. Hispania will continue to linger in the back for this race as well unless Virgin’s fuel tanks give out. Twenty-four cars will run on Albert Park for the first time ever and getting past these slow moving back-markers will be a tough job.
Looking ahead to the race, Vettel’s Q3 time was the only sub-1:24 lap so far this weekend and gave ample proof of the Red Bull’s pace here. Even more telling though were Mark Webber’s runs in Q2. He was consistently quicker on prime tyres while Alonso tried hard to catch him on the option tyres. Webber got his quick time then on a run of four laps clearly indicating that prime is the best working tyre here although it will take two to three laps to get it working. That will become a problem towards the end of the twilight race and perhaps that was the reason for Hamilton losing out, not able to work temperatures into his tyres.
Possibility of rain, tyres losing temperature and safety car appearances make for an intriguing race to look forward to.
2010 Australian Grand Prix: Friday Practice
As the second race weekend of the 2010 season began, there was more on-track action in the first practice session alone than witnessed in the entirety of the Bahrain GP weekend. That and the news that wet weather is expected over the weekend makes for a highly anticipated Australian Grand Prix. 
Both the sessions today were highly disrupted. Rain making sure that there was reduced dry running in the second session after Kamui Kobayashi broke his Sauber’s front wing twice to bring about stoppages in the first session of the day. In the morning, Robert Kubica drove his Renault quickest around the Albert Park circuit, with Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes and Jenson Button’s McLaren making the top three (full times). In the afternoon, the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Button made good use of the limited dry running to head the time sheets while Mark Webber was third in the Red Bull (full times).
While Renault’s quick run in the morning was surprising and possibly a low-fuel one, the McLarens have been expected to do well this weekend as the low downforce circuit will suit their cars more than in Bahrain. However it is too early to say if they will be on par with the Red Bulls and the Ferraris. Sebastien Vettel, Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso didn’t really make an outright bid for pace in either session – evaluating tyre wear and grip on the green circuit in the first session while rain hampering any such intentions in the second. Even in Bahrain the Ferraris made their charge only on Saturday and that is something expected of them throughout the season.
Mercedes GP may be the garage where the most intriguing battle might take place. Michael Schumacher could only finish 14th in the morning practice but in the last half hour of the second one, he was putting in some quick laps and even put his car at 3rd before finally finishing up in 4th place, when Rosberg finished 10th. Now the only implication of it all is that the four-time winner here, Schumacher has finally found the sweet spot in his car and a most interesting battle is expected.
As concerns Indian interests, Force India gave Paul di Resta a run in the morning session as Adrian Sutil sat out. All is good with that except that Sutil might have some issues for he missed dry mileage due to rain in the second session. His own set-up work might have been affected but this will only be known for sure much later in the weekend. Meanwhile Karun Chandhok spent the second session in the garage as his car gave out just 200 meters into his first lap. However he had a much fruitful morning practice wherein he even lapped quicker than his team-mate Bruno Senna at one point. At this point though, his primary concern will be racking up mileage.
