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