Abu Dhabi: Where it all Began- The success story of Red Bull and Vettel

Image Courtesy - Telegraph.co.uk

After clinching his fourth consecutive driver’s world championship, Sebastian Vettel is undoubtedly the king of F1, at least for the moment. There might be couple of drivers currently who are more talented than him; however they will have to wait or come up with something out of the extraordinary to beat him or even come closer to him.

Fernando Alonso came close last year and in 2010 with his Ferrari, reliable but lacked the final punch which was so badly needed to beat Vettel and his Red Bull or whatever the fancy names he calls his car. Mark Webber his team-mate had his best chance to win in 2010 and since then he never looked set to beat Vettel, while Raikkonen excelled in few opportunities where Lotus looked good.

The race now shifts to the Middle Eastern world, Abu Dhabi. A race amidst the twilight on the streets of this Emirate capital welcomes the new world champion albeit a familiar face who previously has won this race twice including the inaugural race in 2009. The last of his two victories is a significant one, the one which wrote the most defining chapter in the legacy of Vettel’s racing career and gave him the momentum to move to another level.

It was the evening of 14^th November 2010; four drivers came into this season finale having a chance, a mathematical one to win the driver’s title. Fernando Alonso with 246 points, Mark Webber with 238 points, Vettel with 231 points and Hamilton with 222 points, which was a record in itself. Never has F1 seen a four-way battle for the top spot. Ferrari and Alonso were confident and so was Mark in Red Bull. It was Vettel’s second year with the Red Bull and was not yet the senior driver of the team while Hamilton had nothing really to lose.

In one of the pre-race press conference, Vettel was asked – “You are leading the race, Webber is in second place, Alonso in third and the race would be finishing. What would be your behaviour Vettel?” The wonder kid from Germany smiled, paused and answered in a calm manner – “I was asked a similar question at the last race. It is just Thursday guys, if we ever get to that situation, we’ll see”

All the title contenders were placed in top five after qualifying. Vettel and Hamilton occupied the front two positions while Alonso and Webber were to start from second and third row respectively.

The race started and by the end of lap one safety car was called to slow the pace while the track marshals removed the wreckage of Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes and Liuzzi’s Force India. The race resumed its normal and usual pace after lap five with the top five being Vettel, Hamilton, Button, Alonso and Webber in that order. Alonso was to win the championship if the race finished in that order. He looked set to do what ‘Raikkonen’ had done in 2007 by winning the championship with Ferrari in his first year.

Drama unfolded on lap 11 when Mark Webber was called on to pits. Why? He was getting stuck behind Alonso and this way he could make up some ground and challenge for the lead or was there some other reason?

Ferrari race strategists keeping a closer eye on Webber were planning to counter this with their own strategy. Alonso was the fastest driver on the circuit before he was called to pit on lap 15. Was the call to pit as a result to keep Webber in check or to replace the degradation of softer tyres on Alonso? Did they have a good look at other drivers on track and their strategies before calling him in? Surely, they would have factored all this considering it was going to be a one-pit stop strategy?

Alonso re-joined the track in 12^th position and ahead of Webber and the pit strategy worked. More importantly, he was behind a long chain of cars that had already pitted and would not be required to pit another time. On lap 24 Vettel pitted and the pit-stop was pitch perfect, reminiscent of Ferrari’s ruthless stop at Suzuka in 2000 which gave Michael the championship.

Vettel came ahead of Kobayashi and Kubica with clear track ahead of him. Hamilton overtook the Sauber and Renault in pursuit of victory while Alonso was stuck behind the other Renault of Petrov. With each lap down, one could see the disappointment in the faces of Ferrari fans, their crew and Andrea Stella in particular, the race engineer for Alonso who was heard constantly delivering motivational messages lap after lap on the radio. It was just one of those days where things could go all wrong and it did for the team from Marenello. Those despairing faces dressed in red appeared even more hopeless and all they could expect was for some retirements at the front.

On the other hand, the team of Red Bull were anxious, knowing Webber’s chance had dwindled and Vettel’s victory would mean nothing unless Alonso finished outside of top five. They waited with fingers crossed.

Vettel crossed the line and won the race by 10 seconds. He was not announced as the World Champion immediately and instead he was asked to hold till they could confirm the finishing order. It was looking good and so Vettel waited patiently while he heard out the messages from his race engineer on the radio. “Hamilton P2, Button P3, there’s another two cars coming on turn 15 and 16, Rosberg P4, Kubica P5 and.......Der Meister”

Tears were all I could sense hearing Vettel react to being the World Champion. Yes, he became the World Champion and it was unbelievable. He led the championship for the first time that season and what a day to have done that.

As the German national anthem played, my mind could only think of that Sunday evening in Japan 10 years before this race. A German by the name of Michael Schumacher was in tears of joy winning his 3^rd driver’s championship and the first of his five with Ferrari. His junior had arrived on the big stage. 

Vettel in his younger days with this hero Michael Schumacher

In 2008, it was Hamilton who had become the youngest World Champion and now the world was to see another youngster claim the throne. Since that day, he has gone on to win three more titles.

On 3^rd November 2013, Vettel will race as a four-time World champion on the Yas Island track. He will be fully aware of the day on this track which gave him the momentum to surge ahead and stamp his authority on the track.

Next year with the rule changes, return of turbo engines and Ferrari having a powerful driver’s line-up, it promises to be an exciting season. Will Vettel be crowned for the five time come Abu Dhabi next year? I don’t know and honestly even Red Bull doesn’t know. What they do know is that it is all theirs to lose. But for now, they will race in Abu Dhabi knowing this is where it all began, the legacy of Vettel and Red Bull in particular. 

Afghanistan - The New Messengers of Sport

The Manuka Oval in the capital city of Australia will be part of a certain country’s history. The seventh match of the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup which will be played on Feb 18^th 2015 features Bangladesh with another Asian team. No, it is not India neither Pakistan nor Srilanka, the three strong pillars of Asian cricket.

Not so long ago, this country was at unrest and it still is due to conflicts of different nature and security being at the top of this. However, when it comes to cricket they have made significant progress and now they are making their debut at the World stage. Welcome to the 50 over World Cup bandwagon ‘Afghanistan’.

They had earlier qualified for T20 World Cup in 2010 and repeated the feat in 2012.This had inspired a lot of youngsters to take up sport in the post Taliban era. I hope this news acts as a catalyst to the population of Afghanistan and more so with the youngsters.

Cricket and its origins in Afghan provinces date back to the time when British rule was prevalent in the mid 19^th century. Unlike India and Pakistan, the legacy of cricket in Afghan regions was short lived and was not until the end of previous millennium, a cricket board had been formed.  While sports having been placed under ‘ban’ while Taliban was ruling, cricket escaped with such ban and was to be the only exception sport.

This act of deliberate omission by Taliban was crucial for the development of sport; it paved the way for the national team to become a member of International Cricket Council (2001) and subsequently with Asian Cricket Council (2003). In twelve years time, they have progressed and sky is the limit for the future.

The fraternity of the sporting world must celebrate what Afghanistan has achieved. To put up a team of individuals of different mindsets is never easy especially when you have to constantly worry about your life. No International matches are currently played in Afghanistan due to ongoing security issues. They have a domestic championship which involves a tournament taken part by little more than twenty provinces. They play their home international matches at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates and bulk of their cricket stadiums in Afghanistan are under construction. The Afghanistan Cricket Board has big plans to build a stadium in every province of the country and hope to see international cricket return to their home territory. They are currently placed 12^th out of 14 teams which would participate in the multi-country tournament.

In a political world which is judged by one’s passport, such heroics from the people of a country will go a long way in changing the image of the country. In the recently published list by Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index (a global ranking of countries based on the freedom of travel of their citizens) Afghanistan was placed at the bottom of the list (93^rd) with a score of 28, meaning the Afghani citizens can travel to only 28 countries without a visa. And now, they will be travelling to Australia and New Zealand to play the signature event of cricket, with a visa of course.

The last paragraph had nothing to do with cricket or sports in general, atleast they are not related directly. However, repeated performances on the sporting world will ensure a youth giving him/her to imbibe the qualities of their heroes and thereby give a chance to them for a much peaceful future. I believe you don’t need great plans to make a sports project work in conflict affected areas; all you need is an opportunity to provide the basic infrastructure to play and life of such players will be automatically taken care. That to me is the power of having Sports in one’s life. It is not about being the best in the world, it is all about making an effort to be the best one can become. Sports are one such medium in life. Today, Afghanistan has become the new messengers of the sports industry.

Catch more on the background of growth of cricket in Afghanistan through this documentary

Evolution with bursts of Revolution - An Indian Sports Story

Revolution and Evolution is a rhyming pair and a complementing couple too. For anything to materialise in life, I believe they must co-exist. A human life follows the pattern of evolution, however without the frequent spurts of revolution now and then, the process of humanisation would have been predictable, certain, very slow and a touch boring.

These ‘bursts of revolution’ change the course of evolution and to a large extent accelerate the process. Failure to adapt to the new conditions can be a master stroke and thereby retaining one’s individuality or be a lack of vision in not staying with the times. I am all ok with the fact of retaining one’s tradition, values, culture which makes globalisation interesting; in fact very intriguing. At the same time, closing the door(s) of improvement in the name of tradition is baffling.

Take India for example and I am amassed at the growth it has had in the past two decades. It is not a stranger anymore on the world map and there are many reasons to it which have been well covered by a lot of writers, opinion makers, creative artists and a lot others around the globe. Not all endorse and understand (a bit) my country in a way I see it, that’s fair enough. I too do not have the same words to feed into their ears. What exists, in spite of these sociological differences is that, there is a mutual admiration society.

And to go further, I take the example of sports - While growing up; I did not know what it meant to be ‘Behind the Scene’ of a sporting event. The events were shown live on television or transmitted via radio commentary or presented graphically and written poetically on the print media. Olympic Sports and its values was zilch to me as there was no uniformity of sports education growing up. I knew about sports because my parents played right until their youth before they were married and continued supplementing with information. What I knew was that, only a fanatic or a close relative/friend of a sports person was involved in the sports industry. Like many of my age that time, I too and previous generations to us played sports with basic rules applying the human ethics and general physical awareness. Sports were just another activity which did not involve studies. So, we all liked it, didn’t we? That was a long time ago or is it?

Now, we are fighting for the Sports Bill, a huge document which is making rounds from a long time in India. It is the Government of India’s initiative with a purpose to streamline the Indian Olympic Association. Its implementation so far has been limited or to say less penetrative. While the Government is spending a lot of money on Olympic Sports, the National Olympic Committee of India is many miles away from Nirvana. I believe unless Sports is of national priority and a long term government policy, it is very difficult to implement a set of rules and regulations. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in my view was established so that it can lobby on behalf of Indian Olympic movement and create a platform where more athletes could concentrate on their activities than dwell on petty politics; instead; let them spread the value of Sports and act as the voice of the ideals that were drawn up by few good men of the yore who drafted the Olympic Charter.

I believe IOA has failed on this aspect and looked for excuses for their repeated failures and still continue to do so. It took Commonwealth Games to bring the ghosts of IOA from the closet. What if India never hosted CWG in 2010? Few businesses would have made less money or more money depending on which side of the spectrum they are; Indian government would have spent the same money elsewhere and the IOA would have continued to be a member of IOC. A lot of the working stuff who did their bit in the Organising Committee and volunteers would have worked in different industries and there would have been less support to the few activists who appeared to have rebelled for a long time with a cause but achieved little to no results.

India is a land of people living under innumerable cultures and of different beliefs. There is a struggle for basic amenities, presence of turbulent neighbours’ since Independence and these are some of the factors that put sports in the lesser priority category. Is housing more important or a play ground? Basic infrastructure or Sporting Infrastructure? Food or dietary supplements? Clothing for Protection or for performance? Education to create a better self or to excel in Sports?

In an ideal world, these problems must never be an alibi for sports organisations that are entrusted to look after this and create a systematic sports culture. Sports for a lot were and are a means to escape studies. It was outlawed as it interfered with many of the growing kid’s education and the practice is still on. Parents, Schools and families seldom give importance to sports. It remains an extra-curricular exercise and not co-curricular subject. It is a candy and not nutrition. Back then, very few Robin Hoods existed in our society and now we have a slow raise in fan following. Again, when we talk of numbers it is easy to justify but when we consider the percentage, the graphics would do the talking.

With all these and many other factors, sports continue to shine with its gloss increasing with time. Field Hockey and then Cricket, probably the only two team sports that were consistently part of and competed at the International level. Individuals came and left, but the effect did not trickle down to others in case of individual sports baring Tennis and to an extent Badminton. Shooting, Boxing, Football and Wrestling has potential. Hockey, after having won eight gold medals by the time LA Games (1984) were about to begin, faded and devolved with time. Failure to adapt and an organisation led by the thoughts that, hockey was in success auto-pilot mode failed to have contingencies in place. To put it bluntly, it crashed. Thirty – three years hence, we are still in the process of restoration and even the small intervals of revolutions failed to take off once it was on the run way. The answer to this delay will be a thesis subject, and of my interest the day I shall take up my doctoral studies. Hockey is not in a transition state at the core, it is merely lacking direction, guidance and management to take it forward. Where is our Messiah hiding?

I would not like to talk much about cricket as it has outgrown everyone’s expectations in the world. I believe India has one of the best infrastructures in the world to play cricket at the moment and the people who are running the game will just have to sort their power struggles. For now, the sport is safe and unless a meteor strikes heavily, the influence and popularity will not fade that easily.

I had to wait 12 years of my life to see an Indian athlete wearing an Olympic medal; Leander Paes at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Individual sports are a luxury and till today, it requires a special effort to go through the hurdles of representing the country. How many athletes would be happy to just participate and not bother under what flag? That is a debatable point, as it is not a ban on competing. It however has repercussions, as the funding from the International Olympic Committee and the International Federations get curtailed and Indian Government can only spare a few hundred millions of rupees for sports. Very few private enterprises with deep pockets are into individual sports. For the size of India, it is not enough. We can be content with whatever we are given, but cannot expect to be world challengers or beaters if this continues.

If Sports Ministry gets involved in running the affairs of Indian Olympic Association, the ban will continue unless the interference is aligned with the Olympic Charter. IOC requires non-governmental intervention while running the National Olympic Committee. Bulk of the money is provided by the Sports Ministry to the athletes and their welfare which comes as minimum requirements and for some in the form of Government jobs. So naturally, the political honchos expect IOA to behave while IOA use the governmental interference clause to live on the edge of being banned. That tight rope was cut last December and the struggle is on to be reinstated back to the Olympic family. The ban on IOA remains and was not changed at the recently concluded IOC General Body meeting.

The only solution for IOA is to mend their ways and for certain egotist individuals to come out of their incumbency. An instance like this is when the democracy of India fails to remove the cynicism of a sports enthusiast. There is hatred, there is anger, a lot of malice, dirty politics, power struggles, incapable of letting it go and other adjectives that matches the aforementioned frequency. The efforts of certain athletes and sports rights activists are of limited use. Are they fighting in what appears a lost battle already? Or are they doing their little bit and need more of the same from others?

Yes and No - the very fact that Indian Sports is under constant discussion makes it interesting for the future; how long are we prepared to fight to make IOA a proper governed body? Do we have the courage, patience and optimism to see it happening? I believe so and this I rely on evolution and the current on-going battle (from the year 2010) to force IOA to mend its way is the revolution that is complementing the evolutionary process of Indian Sports.

For now I let go of my little frustration. I see and hear a lot of kids in India playing different sports, have more playing facilities and resources than I did. They are well informed too on international sports. Things can be much, much better than what it is. Let me be a pragmatist and step back a little and see what’s happening. I see there has been an improvement at the grassroots level, which keeps me in a good mental health and optimistic about Indian Sports and for its future.