Monday, July 7, 2008

A Royal Treat for the British Crowd



McLaren's Lewis Hamilton the first British winner at Silverstone since David Coulthard in 2000, was utterly dominant as he lapped all but second-placed Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber and the Honda of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. A brilliant British Grand Prix victory in often treacherous conditions lifted him right back into contention for the world championship.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen had a disappointing race after starting on pole for the first time and came home fifth ahead of Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso.

It was quiet not a good day for the Ferrari team as both the drivers had a lot of slips and turns.
Massa who was sent out in wet tyres couldnt handle the car, taking the award for the most spins (around six) and the dizziest driver by the end. Kimi managed to get hold of his cars after a few laps and managed to surpass Heikki Kovalainen and Alonso to gain the 4th place. The contenders for the world championship points are still on the run as Kimi and Hamilton share 48 points each at the top spot after the British Grand Prix.

Race Results:
1
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 60 1:39:09.440
2 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 60 +68.5 secs
3 Rubens Barrichello Honda 60 +82.2 secs
4
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 59 +1 Lap
5
Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 59 +1 Lap
6
Fernando Alonso Renault 59 +1 Lap
7 Jarno Trulli Toyota 59 +1 Lap
8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 59 +1 Lap
9 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 59 +1 Lap
10 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 59 +1 Lap
11 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap
12 Timo Glock Toyota 59 +1 Lap
13
Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +2 Laps

Monday, June 23, 2008

Glory for Ferrari Fans in Magny-Cours


A splendid show by Ferrari to win the French Grand Prix on Sunday and take the lead in the Formula One championship for the first time. Massa took the chequered flag 17.9 seconds clear of Raikkonen on an overcast and damp afternoon.

Massa currently leads the drivers championship standings with three victories this season also helping Ferrari to clinch on to its Constructors championship.

Kimi who had won last year in Magny-Cours had the pole position, but within few laps the Brazilian managed to surpass Kimi who had a exhaust problem on the 33rd lap and took the first place until the chequred flag.

Race results
1
Felipe Massa Ferrari 70 1:31:50.245
2
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 70 +17.9 secs
3 Jarno Trulli Toyota 70 +28.2 secs
4
Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 70 +28.9 secs
5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 70 +30.5 secs
6 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 70 +40.3 secs
7 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 70 +41.0 secs
8
Fernando Alonso Renault 70 +43.3 secs
9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 70 +51.0 secs
10
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 70 +54.5 secs
11 Timo Glock Toyota 70 +57.7 secs
12 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 70 +58.0 secs
13 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 70 +62.0 secs
14 Rubens Barrichello Honda 69 +1 Lap 20
15 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 69 +1 Lap 15
16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 69 +1 Lap 19
17 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 69 +1 Lap 14
18 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 69 +1 Lap 17
19 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 69 +1 Lap 18

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Bad day for Ferrari.. Hamilton wins in Monaco


A Bad week guys if you are a true ferrari fan. Chaos chaos chaos.... what else can I say about Monaco grand prix. Hamilton despite being 3rd on the starting grid managed to surpass kimi on the start . Massa clinched up to the first place before he slided off at the Ste Devote corner and handing the lead to Kubica for a long stretch before the pitstops. Hamilton walloped the wall hard on the exit while trailing Massa, Ironically, the early pit stop played into Hamilton's hands as others literally slipped up as he managed a comfortable first place.
Adrian Sutil was heartbroken and full of tears, as the German starting 18th for
Force India enjoying the race of his life in fourth place until Kimi misjudged his braking and shunted him out at the tunnel exit with the chequered flag less than 10 minutes away.

Race Results.
1
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 76 2:00:42.742
2 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 76 +3.0 secs
3
Felipe Massa Ferrari 76 +4.8 secs
4 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 76 +19.2 secs
5 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 76 +24.6 secs
6 Rubens Barrichello Honda 76 +28.4 secs
7 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 76 +30.1 secs
8 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 76 +33.1 secs
9
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 76 +33.7 secs
10 Fernando Alonso Renault 75 +1 Lap 7
11 Jenson Button Honda 75 +1 Lap 11
12 Timo Glock Toyota 75 +1 Lap 10
13 Jarno Trulli Toyota 75 +1 Lap 8
14 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 72 +4 Laps

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Turkish Grand Prix - Massa back on track


Massa had a fantastic race on Sunday by winning the Turkish grand prix from pole position for the third year in a row on Sunday after tyre concerns slowed Lewis Hamilton's. Massa's win was champions Ferrari's fourth in a row ,meant that the Turkish Grand Prix, which made its debut in 2005, has still only ever been won by the driver on pole position.

Hamilton had sufficient in hand over Kimi Raikkonen, however, to keep the Finn in third place and to reduce his championship points lead to seven as they sped to the line 3.7s adrift of Massa. Ferrari's world champion Kimi Raikkonen saw his overall lead trimmed to seven points from nine after finishing a close third. The Finn, the only driver to score points in every race this season, now has 35 to Massa and Hamilton's 28.

Race Results
1
Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 1:26:49.451
2
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +3.7 secs
3
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 58 +4.2 secs
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 58 +21.9 secs
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 58 +38.7 secs
6
Fernando Alonso Renault 58 +53.7 secs
7 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 58 +64.2 secs
8 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 58 +71.4 secs
9 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 58 +75.2 secs 1
10 Jarno Trulli Toyota 58 +76.3 secs
11 Jenson Button Honda 57 +1 Lap 13
12 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 2
13 Timo Glock Toyota 57 +1 Lap 15
14 Rubens Barrichello Honda 57 +1 Lap 12
15 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 57 +1 Lap 17
16 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 19


Sunday, April 27, 2008

Ferrari Rocks in Spanish Grand Prix


Kimi and Massa make Ferrari's second successive one-two finish, and third win in a row, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton taking third place to revive his title challenge after a disappointing last race in Bahrain. Raikkonen's 17th grand prix win left the Finn with 29 points, nine clear of closest rival Hamilton, and catapulted Ferrari back in front of BMW.

Raikkonen's championship score increased to 29 points and his lead to nine over Hamilton (20), while Massa jumps up to fourth on 18, one behind Kubica (19). Heikki Kovalainen had a bad day. On the 22nd lap, possibly as a result of something causing the front-left tyre and tharim to separate. It took a while to stabilise the Finn at the accident scene, but he gave a thumbs up as he was taken by stretcher to the medical centre.

Giancarlo Fisichella was unable to resist the charging Heidfeld, so brought his Force India home 10th, ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock, who delayed himself running into the rear of David Coulthard. The Scot's left-rear tyre was cut as a result, so he also dropped back but managed to repass Super Aguri's Takuma Sato before the finish to claim 12th.

The first European race of the season ended with an entirely predictable result, with the Circuit de Catalunya setting a record as the track with the longest run of successive winners from pole position. Raikkonen, the only driver to have won twice so far this season, was the eighth in a row to have triumphed in Barcelona from pole.

Race Results
1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 66 1:38:19.051
2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 66 +3.2 secs
3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 66 +4.1 secs
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 66 +5.6 secs
5 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 66 +35.9 secs
6 Jenson Button Honda 66 +53.0 secs
7 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 66 +58.2 secs
8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 66 +59.4 secs
9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 66 +63.0 secs
10 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 65 +1 Lap
11 Timo Glock Toyota 65 +1 Lap
12 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 65 +1 Lap
13 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 65 +1 Lap

Thursday, April 24, 2008

A Wonderful speech on Managing Failure - APJ Abdul Kalam



Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam : 'A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure'

India Knowledge@Wharton: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India 's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India 's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources - but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 - I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure. That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite - and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today."

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Its Ferrari again in Baharain GP



This Time it is Massa's Turn.

Brazilian Felipe Massa led Ferrari to a one-two victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday with team mate Kimi Raikkonen seizing the championship lead from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Massa really needed this victory, and he barely put a wheel wrong in achieving it. His Ferrari had all the pace it needed, and he could control the race. His only problem was ensuring that there was no repeat of Malaysia. Raikkonen was quick, but not quick enough to challenge his team mate.

Massa's sixth career win brought him his first points of the Formula One season and came at the same Sakhir desert circuit where he fired up his title challenge last year with a pole-to-flag victory.

World champion Raikkonen collected the 50th podium finish of his grand prix career and the Finnish 'Iceman' took over at the top with 19 points, three clear of BMW Sauber's German Nick Heidfeld, after three races.

Race Results:
1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 57 1:31:06.970
2 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 +3.3 secs
3 Robert Kubica BMW 57 +4.9 secs
4 Nick Heidfeld BMW 57 +8.4 secs
5 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 +26.7 secs
6 Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 +41.3 secs
7 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 57 +45.4 secs
8 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 +55.8 secs
9 Timo Glock Toyota 57 +69.5 secs
10 Fernando Alonso Renault 57 +77.1 secs
11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 57 +77.8 secs
12 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap
13 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 56 +1 Lap
14 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 56 +1 Lap
15 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap
16 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 56 +1 Lap
17 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 56 +1 Lap
18 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 56 +1 Lap
19 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 55 +2 Laps