Rate These Beasts: The Hot, Sexy and Whatnot Of 2017 Formula One Championship Team Cars

The 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship is neigh! The teams have unveiled their cars for the season in line with 2017 rules and regulations and we await to see whose design conquers motorsports premier event. Melbourne is just under a month away. We weigh in on the cars

To Understand The Future Of F1 In The 21st Century, Follow The Money

Is F1 a one percent(er) sport? A ‘niche’ sport? Admittedly, the drivers’ spacesuits tickle the imagination; the cockpit view immerses the TV viewer; beautiful people at the circuit tantalize; the precision, technological sophistication and coordination of it all make no mistake, is the stuff of dreams.

Sounds all elitist doesn’t it? In redefining this narrative, formula one prides in being the most watched annual sport series in the world: at 500 million of viewers per year, formula one is consumed by a critical mass. 

But it doesn’t feel that way. Mass consumption you say? Somehow that number doesn’t sit well some sixty seven years into existence of auto sports’ bespoke piece.

Formula 1, So Much For Ke Nako

Ke Nako Image: aysoworldcup

“Waka Waka ehe waka waka ehe”  that tune, the soundtrack of the time. The time for Africa it was said. Big things were going to go down, down South. Even bigger things expected of the continent as fortune, rather too optimistically, like a drop of ink in a glass of water diffuse its arrival announced by the din of the Vuvuzelas.

Ke Nako time for Africa. The much awaited time when the land of lions,elephants and giraffes would sit with pride, shake up the corporate world and  with heads held up high cease being the problem and   provide solutions to prevailing global situations. You see, the gloom in the world markets like malaria and Aids had been infectious. Spectating on from its perennial designate position- the sidelines- was Africa.


Lost to the audience catching on the on goings in the Euro zone and Americas was what the big deal was about being unemployed or having no home to rest your weary body. To some, it was just short of an ill placed joke the only amusing thing were the names being floated around Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, funny names for a bank they thought.

The pundits on the tube told us that this gloom, these social problems were born of the global economic meltdown. Problems that in the homes of the spectators were bread and butter issues. Not so though was hosting the world's most watched event, the world war without bombs: The FIFA World Cup. Thus every reason for the 800 million inhabitants of the mother Continent to sing along to Shakira's rendition of the tune they knew of so well 'Waka Waka' after all, it was Ke Nako.

Everything said it was Ke Nako. For once CNN , BBC (just to name names) spoke well of the dark continent. Nonetheless as they say, even good things come to an end. Some premature end this was as way before Barcelona,pardon me,  Spain were crowned champions of the South Africa 19th  edition of the FIFA World Cup, reality had reared it's ugly head disrupting the African hosted party.

The problem was not with the host as 'haters' had gone waxical about in the run up to the event, but with the caterers (multinationals from lands beyond keen to grab the marketing opportunity that big sport graciously offers) as sections of the party goers started to feel discriminated, served scrapings from the bottom of the pot or missing out on rations all together.

Forget the nonesence noise about the Vuvuzelas and the subsequent preemptive bans from European stadia , forget the ticket prices out of reach for the thousands whose homes had to make way for the multi dollar stadiums, think the young ones whose potato chips had to find their way from their grasp into dustbins just because they had been fried by the wrong brand.

All the same all taken in stride in lieu of the symbolism of the time. In South Africa, lay hope and hope is one thing hard to rubbish. Kenya started dreaming of the Olympics in a few decades just to sample some of the high of the moment. At the very least, the return of Formula 1 to South Africa. Such is the sense of family in Africa . Your brother is still your brother even if sibling rivalry best defines the relationship.

When Ghana failed to progress into the semifinals of the world cup in a fashion that typifies the African situation, the disappointment was shared from the cape of good hope all the way to Alexandria. When the 2011/12 Formula 1 calender was released just recently, the glaring miss was a difficult pill to swallow for Formula 1 enthusiasts across the continent. So much for Ke Nako

March 11-Bahrain
March 18-Australia
April 1-Malaysia
April 11-China
April 22-Korea
May 6-Turkey*
May 20-Spain
May 27-Monaco
June10Canada
June17-United States
July1-Valencia,Spain
July 15-GreatBritain
july 29-Germany
August 5-Hungary
September 2-Belgium
September 9-Italy
September 30-Singapore
October 14-Japan
October 28-India
November11-AbuDhabi
November 25-Brazil
* Subject to confirmation

**Coming Soon: Russia
***Hopefully this Africa- Kyalami circuit South Africa? Libya- rebirth of the Tripoli grand prix? Nigeria?

In the media blitz surrounding the African World Cup, a cornered Bernie Ecclestone had this to say:

"When we speak about the Formula 1 World Championship, we are aware that Africa is missing. We had talks a couple of years ago and almost reached a deal but at the moment they are so wound up with the football World Cup - there was not much point in talking."

To me a dismissal rather than a note of hope “...so wound up with the football World Cup- there was not much point talking!”  with all due excuse me Mr Ecclestone. Nonetheless, in a miniscule way you have a point. You see too much talking has always been the problem. Talking in conferences, capacity building workshops and the likes. Maybe it's time for a hush and then some action. Till then for Africa Formula 1 back to the reserved seats in the sidelines as is norm.

Chasing Redbull:: Vettel On Pole in Hungary As Formula One 2010 Season Reaches Halfway Mark

RB6:Image credit: Red Bull Racing, Sourced from SIDEPODCAST F1.com

" We look at the on-board footage and we just laugh, Jensen and I think it's insane how fast they go....our car is the best it has ever been at this circuit. But those guys..I don't know what they are doing because it is incredible the pace they have."

The words of current 2010 formula one driver's championship leader- Lewis Hamilton, perplexed at the dominance the Red bulls have had  in qualifying. Vettel's pole position in Hungary, the race that marks the end of the first half of the 2010 formula one grand prix season, makes it six consecutive times that Red Bull has occupied pole position. Mark Weber, the other half of the 2010 Red Bull driver team, admitted that he only had his team mate to beat for pole position.
Taking second spot on the starting grid, Weber underscored the dominance that the Red Bull team has had with the car that Sebastian Vettel describes as both a wonderful car and a pleasure to drive.Mark Weber ruing his failure to get the better of the inter-team rivalry, aptly summed it up,

|We  knew it was going to be between the both of us and there wasn't the chance for the other other guys to have a crack at us guys today. It was going to be pretty tight between us like it was in Barcelona, so whoever did the quickest lap between us two was going to get pole|

Picks On How the Hungary Race Starting Grid lined Up

POLE: Sebastian Vettel [ Red Bull ]
           Mark Weber [ Red Bull ]
           Fernando Alonso [ Ferrari ]
           Fellipe Massa [ Ferrari ]
           Lewis Hamilton [ Mclaren Mercedes ]
           Nico Rosberg [ Mercedes ]
           Vitlay Petrov [Renault ]
           Robert Kubica [ Renault ]
           Pedro de la Rosa [ BMW Sauber ]
10th:    Nico Rosberg [ Williams ]
           Jensen Button [ Mclaren Mercedes]
           Rubens Barrichello [ Williams ]
           Adrian Sutil [ Force India ]
           Micheal Schumacher [ Mercedes ]

Beyond The race

• Controversy still trails Ferrari following Fernando Alonso's controversial win in Germany where Fellipe Massa slowed down to let his team mate pass for the win. The questions this time is about possible use of banned move-able aerodynamic devices. Mclaren and Mercedes have logged complaints over F10 and RB6 which appear to have front wings that have circumvented this rule. Once again, It is all about down-force.
• Fellipe Massa is back to the track in which he almost lost his life following an accident in which he suffered a skull fracture.
• Despite failing to achieve perfect balance with the MP4-24, Jensen Button is no stranger to climbing up the bean stalk, in his own words " I suppose you can say we have just got to be brave"

        

Valencia, European Grand Prix: Ferrari's Alonso Plots to stop Mclaren's Hat trick with revamped F10

As the estimated Billions are delighting at the display of soccer at the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Business leaders, prominent personalities in the fields of science, art & all that lies in between, gather in Cape Town -South Africa's 'mother city"- for the inaugural Fortune 500/ CNN/ Time Global Forum that seeks to discuss the changing role of Africa & other emerging economies in today's globalized economy.

In Valencia, the air is warmer at this time of the year, perfect conditions to enjoy the third European Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Ad2010 European Grand Prix - Friday
Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia, Spain
25th June 2010.
Jarno Trulli, Lotus T127 Cosworth.
World Copyright: Charles Coates/LAT Photographic
ref: Digital Image _26Y1547 d caption. Image courtesy of Flickr.

The star studded
Spanish team seeks to over come Chile if they are to stand any chance of progressing to the knock out stages of the ongoing 2010 World Cup.

As David Villa, the new recruit in Barcelona's equally impressive, less obnoxious and even  less talked about galatico project, runs through the paces in South Africa, in an attempt to find the perfect balance between athleticism, skill and intelligence- in the hope of redoing the spectacular as he did with his wonder opening goal against Honduras-; Valencia, the city he left prior to the 2010 World Cup kick- off to join Xavi Hernandez & Co. at Barcelona, prepares to welcome back one of its favorite sons Fernando Alonso.


Formula 1 vs World Cup

Parallels can be drawn between Ferrari's double champion, Fernando Alonso's, quest to claim top honors at the European leg of the 2010 F1 championship in Valencia this weekend & Spain's national team "small" matter of qualification into the second round of FIFA 2010 World Cup finals.

European Champions, second in the FIFA world team rankings, headed by the only coach to attain success with the first galaticos project at Barcelona's nemesis Real Madrid and boasting of talent that only a few national teams can attempt to match, Spain's lukewarm jab at the 2010 World Cup has sent the team back into strategy.

Conversely, the Italian team at Ferrari, equally need to up their game following Mclaren's dominance over the two past F1 2010 circuit races in Turkey and Canada.

Maintaining tradition is a tremendous task., to appreciate this, ask Ferrari.

With their dominance as the top constructor in the F1 constructor's championship, double trouble in the form of former champions Fellipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, Ferrari's management in similar fashion to the Del Bosque headed team at the helm of Spain's World Cup team, had to improve on their product.

Fernando Alonso has somehow managed to push the F10, landing a top four finish behind the Maclaren's in both races. Lewis Hamilton leads the driver's championship with 109 points, three ahead of teammate Jenson Button in an order similar to the Mclaren 1-2 finishes at the last two races. Mark Weber's third position, three points behind the reigning F1 drivers champion, belies RedBull's strides this year at least in car design and engineering.


Rear Diffuser

With its low lying exhaust pipes, RedBull has managed to set the pace this year as this layout improves on  aerodynamics as the exhaust fumes & the diffuser combine to provide maximum down force a critical factor in gaining speed.

As is with tradition, the envy of the other team's engineering departments  has metamorphosed into emulation, Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault have all announced plans to unveil their own versions of this technology.
Pundits & F1 engineers have given their estimations on the speed gains of blown diffusers to range at 0.4-0.6 secs gained per lap.


Ferrari F10 Revamp

Speaking in Valencia ahead of the start of the European F1 circuit, Alonso had this to say about the improvements on this year's Ferrari car, named The F10

"We are happy with the job done, we arrive here in Valencia with a good package in our car but we remain very calm about our expectations. We know the other teams were not watching TV in the last few weeks, everyone will bring updates here and hopefully ours is a little bit better than the others."

The Canadian leg of the 2010 circuit brushed off the claims that F1 is a rather dull sport thus explaining the more global appeal of sports like soccer. Tom Cary of The Daily Telegraph couldn't have said it better.

“That is not to say the F1 is without merit as a spectacle. From humble beginnings (Bahrain) this season has got better and better; the racing more exciting, the technical nuances more intriguing, the human drama more compelling. After the race in Canada – where there were an unprecedented 60 overtaking moves thanks to the high Tyre wear and wildly differing strategies – team principals were queuing up to say how brilliant it all was.

Fernando Alonso couldn't agree more citing his impressive performance in a race that brought out the best in strategy, team management & driver capability.

"Tomorrow [Friday] we'll have a better answer, we expect to have some steps in the car top make it a little bit quicker, but as I said before, all the other teams will also bring some new parts here. The most important thing is to confirm that we are as competitive here as we were in Canada. We need to keep improving the car; this is a job we need to keep doing until Abu Dhabi. There is a long way to go." 

In similar vein, in the world of soccer, a common saying quips " that it is not over until the fat lady sings".

Spain have to overcome Chile this Friday evening if Spanish ambitions of winning a World Cup is to be realized. Facing a final before the final, Del Bosque may be tempted to go for a more pragmatic approach with the aim of securing a victory, be it a less desirable one nil victory,  but a victory nonetheless.

The soccer on the pitch will be less of the fluid, orchestra like game we have come to be so accustomed to from the Spanish lads. It will be a match full of tactics and counter tactics, embodied by timely execution of skill and the verve to exploit your opponents weaknesses.

Conversely, though dubbed as one of F1 true racers, Fernando Alonso will seek to break his duck at home and win the European Grand Prix.

Going by his recent form, & driven by nationalistic pride, as he attempts to ascend the Valencia leg up the F1 circuit hierarchy following its mundane showing over the last two years, his win if it happens, may be short of the spectacular.

The high octane display of Canada may lack in this Valencia race but just like in the World Cup, winning is of essence.

To borrow from another saying that has heavily done the rounds in the world of soccer, " In soccer, anything can & does happen ".

I bet after Canada, the same can be said of formula one.
 

Valencia Formula 1 European Grand Prix Quick pointers 

About: A young circuit, it was integrated into the circuit two years ago when Fernando Alonso was World Champion.

Location: Valencia Harbor area.

Track : 57 lap race on a cuircuit 5.419 Kms long with 25 turns. Circuit runs in a clockwise direction.

Record Time: Timo Glock's 2009 1:38.683

Select Driver's comments ahead of race:

Motorsports / Formula 1: World Championship 2010, GP of Europe, 01 Jenson Button (GBR, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes), Image courtesy of Flickr  DJH Morecambe.

"Even though it's a street circuit, it's got quite a different feel to other street tracks like Monte-Carlo or Singapore. For a start, it's quite a bit faster - there are some low-speed corners with some fairly unforgiving walls at the apex, but there are also some high-speed changes of direction and some long straights, so it's quite an interesting place set-up-wise. It's not as if you completely rely on down-force, there's a trade-off, and that should suit our package."

 Jensen Button of Mclaren

History at stake

Lewis Hamilton attempts a hat-trick of number one finishes. Three times he has been in this position, will he be fourth time lucky?

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