Force India, eh..

I am contemplating as to what I should be writing, even before I wrote the first word in here. I've thrown a rule of thumb last week. If you don't want to blog, don't blog. I am not heeding to that rule now and may perhaps be waiting for a disaster to happen at the end of this one ( but nothing happened as I am typing these last words in the braces before publishing this post).

To talk something other than cricket, here is a chance now. I was never one of those guys who is interested in Formula one ( F1 ) and motoGP racing. Infact, I never found F1 exciting until I watched the last race of the season in the weekend, which decided the drivers championship. It was breathtaking. I haven't followed F1 before as closely as I did in the weekend and I doubt if I follow it the next year. But boy, it was an incredible race on Sunday, and the 70 odd laps finished in a jiffy. Three blokes were competing for the Drivers championship and Lewis Hamilton was all destined to take the championship as a rookie driver starting at second pole position, P2. P1 for Massa, P3 for Kimi Raikkonen and P4 for the grumpy Alonso.

The five red lights blinked off and drivers were off to a flying start and in just a matter of seconds, Hamilton was pushed to 4th place and minutes later, was pushed to 18 place after having problems with his car's gear box. And there will be only 22 people contesting a F1 race, making that to 11 pairs and each pair contests as a team, driving one car maker, say a Ferrari or a Toyota, or a BMW. It was shocking to see and I thought Hamilton's car choked when it mattered. So everyone thought it was curtains down for Hamilton, and Kimi driving the Ferrari or Alonso in McLaren-Mercedes could be the drivers champion. Hamilton was lucky to be still racing after a dreadful failure in the gear box. First time I felt, that F1 was a strategic game. You hear that often in the circuit, that a team with the best strategy would claim the title. Had it not been for the 3 pit stop strategy, I bet Hamilton would have won the title. He just needed to finish at 6th position by the end, but destiny had other plans. He finished at 7th position at the end of the race, sharing equal points with his rival team mate Alonso on 109 points. 'Ice Man' Kimi finished off the season at 110 points and was extremely lucky in claiming the title. For sure, Alonso with his peevish attitude and grumpy face will be changing the team before the start of the next season and it is interesting to see, who would partner Hamilton. Never knew motor racing is also a team game. McLaren Mercedes loss is Ferrari's gain, handing both the drivers and constructors championships to Ferrari.

What's more interesting for an Indian spectator is Vijay Mallya was in the nick of things again. One can never keep him quiet, be it the Whisky acquisitons, be it the Kingfisher airlines, or let be the Kingfisher - AirDeccan joint venture. This time the UB group chairman has a added a new feather in his cap, holding a stake in Spyker Ferrari team. It would be rechristened as 'Force India', in the next race. I find the name weird, but it's not me who acquired Spyker Ferrari. He is keen on introducing F1 to Indian soil and has even quoted, F1 can be the next big thing that Indian youngsters could be looking besides cricket. Delhi - Greater Noida is contemplating over a F1 circuit. It should meet global standards for sure. But the magnanimity of the project and the expenditure that goes in developing and maintaining the track, is worth a wait for the public. Assuming that racing hasn't really picked up in India as yet, it really has to been what the bureaucrats are upto. They should be licking their lips as they have a great opportunity to fill in their already overflowing bank accounts or donate a resplendent diamond studded pendant to their promiscuous partner.

And if I am talking about F1 or motoGP, credit goes to my colleague who fed me with the F1 and motoGP stuff, race after race for few weeks. He explained the rules, the strategies and ofcourse I paid interest in understanding the sport and learned most of it through the commentary. I felt it ridiculously boring at times, ( F1 still is, but motoGP is more interesting because you get to see more overtakes there) but I am here talking about the same sport. Things which you may not like first up, will eventually be liked by you over due course of time. Give some time for the dust to settle down before you make yourself a clown.