FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE

The German team Mercedes do not have a home GP to show their prowess - 

The economy dictates the geography of business and for Formula One, it is following this world norm. With the costs of hosting a Grand Prix increasing with each year, there are countries that are prepared to shell out these exorbitant amounts of money in order to be a part of this 'global machinery circus'. And from next year, the number of races go beyond 20 for the first time. With Azerbaijan slotted as 'European Grand Prix', Formula One has again demonstrated that it is a sought after brand - but at what cost?

I am all for globalisation of the sport and coming from Asia, I am happy to see many of the races coming where the money is. However, I am also of the opinion that, there must be a balance - preserving the tracks of the yore with modern tracks in emerging countries. There is a German team that's been dominant for the past two years and yet there is no clarity regarding the future of German Grand Prix. In fact, this year, the scheduled German GP was cancelled as authorities did not have enough funding to host the event. Thankfully, there will be a German GP for next year, but who knows whether it will see the light of the day!

The FIA is headquartered in Paris, France and has another office in Geneva, Switzerland. A federal law prevents Switzerland from hosting motor-racing events since the tragic incident of Le Mans 1955. What's stopping France to be one of the annual hosts? France, a place where motorsports was born, where Grand Prix was first coined - it is unfathomable to see France not having a place in the calendar.

Yes, we all get the thing - no money, no place - but is that what the sport is all about? What is the point of hosting races where there is no significant national interest or no clear automobile future? The investors would love to get their returns for what they have contributed - but what is the limit? and FIA, it is happy to be receiving all the money generated from the sport and take interest only in making regulations - and even that they need support from the commercial partners and the teams.

What do I propose? - You want twenty races, or even 21, feel free to include it. However, for old time's sake - have races in Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Monaco and Italy. Out of these six places, only Monaco and Italy have had no problems in hosting the races regularly. Look at tennis, there are many new ATP and WTA venues - but they have preserved the golden quadrilateral of the Grand Slam. Why can't we have a similar one in Formula One?

If you want people to appreciate Formula One in the long run, do not stop at halfway mark of going just to new markets; do make an effort to remain in countries that made this sport popular. 

EXCUSES, EXCUSES - NICO ROSBERG AND HIS EXCUSES, POST RACE!

Rosberg (l) needs to overcome the mental scars inflicted by his teammate Lewis Hamilton(r)
Courtesy - Reuters 

Midway during the recently concluded Chinese Grand Prix, the race leader and the eventual winner Lewis Hamilton started to drive slowly, not at his usual breezing pace which he did until that point. His teammate, Mercedes second driver Nico Rosberg immediately spoke on the team radio, "Lewis is slowing down, can I go faster?". After watching F1 races for close to twenty years, I knew there was no problem with Hamilton's car and in my view it was a deliberate tactic - a kind of mind game if you may call it on Rosberg (my opinion). Not surprisingly, Rosberg, as usual fell into this trap as Sebastian Vettel came close to tail him and was within 1.5s as a result of all this. If Ferrari would have been competitive on the option tyres after the second pit-stop, I am pretty sure Vettel, and even Raikkonen would have been all over Rosberg! And what does that do to your confidence if you happen to be Rosberg?

Mercedes was miles ahead of Ferrari in terms of performance and it was good to see Vettel taking up the challenge to the Mercedes second driver. I re-iterate the fact, that Nico Rosberg is the second driver in the Mercedes set-up, and simply because he has not had an answer or a plan to get past his teammate on the race track. What does Nico Rosberg want? He wants to be a world champion and how does he plan to do that? By coming in second, race after race while his teammate takes the glory? or by making a statement on the track by getting past Lewis Hamilton? At this point, Lewis is clearly having an advantage and that is mainly due to the mental scars within Nico Rosberg. Instead of stating Lewis is slowing down on the team radio, try being a champion and overtake him and let's see what happens! Mercedes as a team can play it safe and they don't care who takes the top step as long as they bring 43 points from each race.

And then after the race, Nico Rosberg speaks out stating, wait, complaining - that Lewis Hamilton held him back by deliberately going slow. Lewis, quick to respond in his usual 'cool' and 'hip' fashion - "That was not deliberate (yeah right, Lewis!) and if Nico had been able to overtake him, he should have done that".

Personally, I would never pay money to watch Nico Rosberg's style of driving. I always get the feeling, he wants to live in the ideal world and everything has to go as per the plan. What kind of a racer you want to be, Nico? Opportunities do not come your way, you gotta make it happen. In this case, whether Lewis deliberately slowed down or not, you were more concerned about your tyres rather than looking for that 'opening' to break the shackles and race...challenge... and possibly go past him. Instead, your endless speeches, one after the other, does not make an iota of sense. In your quest of becoming a world champion, those words are sheer excuses!

Action speaks louder than words - in your case, both are being ineffective, while Hamilton has the last laugh at the conclusion each race, having got better of you on the track and in etching few of the mental scars.

Well, it's a long season ahead and if you (Rosberg) are serious about winning the championship this year, then start conquering your mental fears and overcome them. The problem is not the car, not the strategy, definitely not the team or don't even look at your teammate as an excuse - the problem which is holding you back is within you and I hope you realise it sooner or else you gotta be bidding your title hopes yet again this year. 

HALLMARK OF A PERFECT TEAM IN FORMULA ONE

List of Winners and Runners up from the same F1 team in a season

The F1 season of 2014 has been all about one team so far. The German automobile giant Mercedes on their own have finally made it big after four years of being in the wilderness. Barring the Canadian GP (won by Daniel Ricciardo) the rest of the seven races have been won by either of two Mercedes drivers. This season so-far has shown all the signs that Mercedes will end up gathering more wins unless the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari make tremendous progress.

MARK OF A GREAT TEAM - I believe F1 is a team sport. However, when looked at the history of driver's championships it tends to point out not all winning drivers were the best. Some had the best machinery and a lot of the drivers came through owing to their individual brilliance and of course not to forget the team work behind the scenes. To me, a great team is one - which manages to win the driver's championships, secure the constructor's championship and have your second driver placed second in the driver's championship points tally at the end of the season. Simple evaluation isn't it?

WHAT DOES HISTORY OF F1 TELLS US - In each decade, there were teams that dominated the proceedings irrespective of who drove in them. In other cases, teams hired two of the best drivers available. The first F1 world championship had the winner Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio lined up in one team. The team benefitted overall. The constructor's championships were awarded from 1958 and since then very few teams managed to dominate the scene continuously. The fights were often between drivers from various teams than between team-mates. In some cases, there were clear demarcation as to who's numero uno and the second driver (Ferrari of recent times) and in other cases strong rivalry between the teammates (Senna and Prost). Nevertheless, the latter scenario is not sustainable in the long run and the first case is a weak one if the driver is not efficient and quick.

HOW MANY?

From the inception of world championships in 1950 till the 2013 season, there have been only 18 seasons where teams had both their drivers finish in top two. I have made a snapshot capturing the details of these years.

SUMMARY!

The way it stands at the moment, the season might end up being the 19th such occasion and first for this decade. Red Bull Racing who dominated the championship for the past four years never managed to secure the 2nd place in the drivers championships - though they had the best machinery. Ferrari in its prime (2000-2004) managed to win five constructor's title and driver's championship in a row. Yet, only in 2002 and 2004 we saw Rubens Barrichello finishing second at the end of the season.

It isn't all about team work - drivers get paid huge sums of amount for their talent and this individual skill sets combined with enthusiasm of the team has so far managed to win more championships than compared with teams winning the constructors championship along with top two finishers in the driver's championships. In short - the best car and two of the best drivers doesn't guarantee you success. As long as humans are involved - even what seems perfect combination theoretically it is far-fetched (most times) from being one practically.

That Long Pending Handshake

The two magazines which I picked up from the store 

I must admit, I am concerned at the present state of condition Michael Schumacher is in. Each passing day, we hear news about his recovery or him being in coma; his battles off-the field and several pleas from his family to leave them alone in what is most distressing time for the Schumacher and his extended family.

I was holidaying with my wife at the time of the incident and it has been just two days since we are back to our routine. A lot has been written and said in the media about his health; I am not sure what to read and what to believe. I stopped reading.

We are back to our routine and part of that involves shopping for groceries or as a last minute rush, one buys a thing or two from the local shop next to the train station. I have always been amassed with the collection of magazines they have - reminds me of India and those multi-purpose stalls where magazines of all possible genre adorn the sides of those tiny shops. I could notice about ten magazines in a jiffy; all had Michael Schumacher on its cover. Each magazine had at least 4-5 pages of coverage on his health, family, opinions from several experts, encouraging messages and many more. It was in German and I browsed through all of them before buying these two magazines. 

Looking at them, I was transported back to the time when I started watching F1 and how a certain red car driven by Michael Schumacher got me hooked onto these fast cars of Formula One. I am trying to recollect all the memories that I have and how the idolism of Michael Schumacher made me fall in love with F1 - its history, evolution and just about everything associated with the sport.

A world made up of billions of people - it is interesting to note the kind of impact individuals tend to have on masses. There would be plenty who took to F1 because of Michael and if not seriously, at least the sport has benefitted with his presence for more than two decades. I would like to share some of them.

More than his victories, the two seasons with Ferrari towards the end of his first term in 2005 and 2006 was a lesson in itself - personally. There have been several instances where I was inspired by the way he handled personal and team setbacks in those two years; the manner in which he fought back reducing the deficit of 34 points in 2006 to zero before his engine blew in the penultimate race at Suzuka (for the record, his last engine failure prior to Suzuka 2006 was at French Grand Prix 2000). He lost the championship to Alonso, but went down fighting. Not to forget the way he came back from his leg injury in 1999 - after which he enjoyed the most successful phase of his career. 

By the time I was a corporate, Schumacher had retired and my first race live on track did not feature him. Till date, I have dreamt of that day where I would shake hands with Michael; sitting together at some place discussing Formula One and him having a look at my personal collection of his photographs pasted and others (from different magazines) I collected as a student. What a thrill it is for a fan when that day comes true!

In 2009, Geneva Auto show featured several cars and in that magnificent spread of trendy cars - there were few collections from the world of Formula One. In a corner there was a tiny F1 car (compared to today's standard size) with 7UP advertised all over it. It was the same car in which Michael Schumacher had made his debut with Jordan, back in 1991 at the Belgian Grand Prix - the only time he raced officially in that car. Boy, was I excited! 

Jordan Ford - Schumey's debut F1 car 

When Mercedes announced its intention to participate in the F1 arena as a constructor, Ross Brawn called out for Michael Schumacher. He immediately agreed and returned to the team where he began his racing career in the late 1980's.

In his second term at Mercedes, he put his laurels at stake for the sake of driving. He was contracted for three years and it yielded him no victories. The Chinese Grand Prix win in 2006 remains his last triumph. Did he ruin his legacy? For the sake of numbers, he did; for the joy of doing what he loves - hats off to him. Not many have the guts to pursue what one loves irrespective of what critics have to say. 

Personally, I would have loved to see him drive a competitive car; securing pole positions; shattering the time sheets with fastest laps; spraying champagne all over after winning the race. A lot of us didn't get to see that and I have no qualms about it.

Over the past decade and a half, I have read a lot of books written on him, absorbed a lot of words scribbled by various writers on varying aspects of his life - on and off track. Let's just say, he is no saint - but he is as human as anyone could be. Though heavily talented, he was prone to driving errors, learnt from his mistakes of the past, something we are all inclined to do - improved immensely and became the multiple world champion he is.

When he announced his retirement for the second time and for good this time, I was fortunate to be in India at that time. I did not hesitate once and immediately booked the tickets for the Indian Grand Prix 2012 along with the travel tickets. It was expensive, no doubt! every penny was worth it. After all, this was once in a lifetime experience I didn't want to miss.

At the circuit, all I could see was his car zooming past me during the practice sessions and qualifying; struggling on the race day. Amongst all this, I did manage to spot him sans the helmet and the racing gear, waving his hands - a sort of goodbye to all his fans on the driver's parade. 

Schumey waving at his fans - Driver's parade Indian GP 2012 

Schumacher in action at Indian Grand Prix 2012 

On a road trip last year, I convinced my wife to visit a small town in Germany called Kerpen. It is a small town about 30 km south-west of Cologne. All I wanted to do was experience the town from where the legend of Michael Schumacher began. 

Be it a local café or a Bäckerei - all knew their most favourite son. With our limited knowledge of Deutsch, we somehow managed to located his carting track - a haven for budding drivers. We walked around the circuit, scanned possibly every item in the memorabilia store and did not return empty-handed. 

Collage of Michael Schumacher's Kart Center at Kerpen

This is how close Michael Schumacher has been in my life. I have never met him personally till date and I continue to dream of that day when we finally get to meet. I am not sure of the timeline - but I am optimistically hopeful of this occurrence in the near future. If not more, at least that long pending handshake.

Till that time - I wish him a speedy recovery from the injury!