They initially had the car under wraps and made us wait for like an hour before unveiling the work of art.

The first thing that hits you is “Its huge!!!” It was longer than an luxury car and incredibly low!

Got a chance to stand near the front wing and frankly that is one of the most impressive parts of a formula one car (if you ask me). I just went on clicking

Every part of the car was really beautiful… It was an amazing experience just standing next to it

But then there is a brilliant quote from Locke(from the tv series Lost)

To find what you are desperately searching for, sometimes all you have to do is stop searching for it…

Guess where I found it… Thousands of Kilometers away from home, on the other end of the country! To be specific in a small shop in Shimla…

What is brilliant is that its exactly what I wanted… No compromises anywhere(considering I was ready to do some this was a nice thing ).

Ps: The cap is the “2005 Renault F1 Team - Fernando Alonso(No. 5) Cap”… That was the season of his maiden F1 Championship!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?

Where do I start!!! (I will skip all the small ones ) Quit my job(first ever job so yeah it was the first time I did that) and started my very own startup with my friends , Bungee jumped! , Read a couple of books I have been waiting for years to read and Wrote something important to me

2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Yep I did and will do again

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope but think a few friends might become mommies next year

4. Did anyone close to you die?
-

5. What countries did you visit?
nope but hope to this year

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Lot more traveling(It died down towards the end of 2007), maybe being a bit more social(relationships?), lot more sports

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory?
28th June 23:45 pm(give or take 2 minutes)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Drone keeping in mind my future… The Sculptor’s Statue keeping in mind my past

9. What was your biggest failure?
Failure… hmmm I believe in “What does not kill you only makes you stronger…” so cant term anything a ‘failure’ but yes have had a few tough lessons

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
The regular cold, throat infection and viral fever

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Bike and my Laptop!!!! There is one more planned purchase before Jan 1st (will talk about that later)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Indian Cricket team in the T20 World Cup!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Nope, nothing to fit this category

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bike and Laptop

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Start of the F1 championship (bit of a melodrama this year) Waiting for my Bike and laptop to be delivered and most definitely the Final of the T20 world championships!

16. What song/album will always remind you of 2007?
Saawariya… The closest thing to a good musical

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. Happier or sadder?
Sadder actually but I know its just the calm before the storm.

ii. Thinner or fatter?
The same… still underweight

iii. Richer or poorer?
Probably poorer Well I did buy a couple of large gifts for myself

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
More reading and writing… My personal journal was very neglected this year and I wrote just one story this year and wrote 2 plays(short ones)

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Obsessing over irrelevant incidents… Its something I just need to get out of my system

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Spent it at Work… But I will be making up for it big time in a few months time

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Well I believed I did… am too confused to be sure Fall out of love yep once

22. How many one night stands in this last year?
None

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Psych, totally am in love with the lightness of the show I continued watching all my favorite shows from previous years though.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
lol nope… become fonder of a few ppl though

25. What was the best book you read?
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
That I can listen to Kishore Kumar and Mohd. Rafi all day and everyday!!!

27. What did you want and get?
Opportunities

28. What did you want and not get?
A Surprise. Its been a long time since someone did something/bought something for me that truly surprised me.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Ooh tough one… Johnny Gaddaar & Rocky Balboa

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
23 and I ran around all day!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A cup of coffee with *****

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Lol, well it was ‘Just Haas’

33. What kept you sane?
Theater and writing

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?
SRK I think, was very impressed with the way he handled things around him. Vijay Mallya too(for Force India ofcourse)

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Karnataka’s politics… thought it was like a bad play

36. Who did you miss?
All my friends that decided to live on the other side of the globe

37. Who was the best new person you met?
If you have read *every* post I made in the last month or so… then you already know

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
“Most often than not we have no idea what we actually want and what is good for us”

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Here we are - we’ve just begun
And after all this time - our time has come
Ya here we are - still goin’ strong
Right here in the place where we belong

- Here I Am by Bryan Adams

Feel free to put your predictions in the comments…

Btw F1Jam has a new look for the season… We have a whole bunch of ideas left to surprise you with so if you have not subscribed to the Rss Feed or the Email Updates… do it now! (Warning: For people who prefer delayed viewing of the race… We are known to give reviews of Qualification & Race moments after it finishes so might want to avoid looking at our site until you are done watching the race )

This year I will be supporting Fernando Alonso & Renault (yes, just like last year & the year before that & the year before that & the year before that ) Added on to my favourites is ofcourse Renault’s new Rookie Heikki Kovalainen…

PS: If you are not playing GridBids yet, I would suggest you give it a shot… You better hurry coz the time limit for chosing your drivers for Australia is almost over

Thank you Swe for the second best gift I have ever received… Couldnt hv expected it from anyone else… but the person who gave the best ever one too

H: So you watch F1?
Me: For a while now…
H: Whome do you support?
Me: Fernando Alonso and Renault.
H: Why? Cant you choose someone who can win?
Me:

I believe the time has come to answer that question…

Back in 2003 at the Malaysian Grand Prix a certain Spaniard took Pole, fought hard and finished on the podium. There was something I saw in him… I find it hard to explain even now but there was that aura of righteousness around him and I knew I would back this guy… Few months later he became the youngest race winner in the history of F1(Hungary 2003), everyone marvelled his amazing pace and hailed him as the next World Champion.

Renault… What do I say about this French team? I fell in love with it thanks to Alonso. As I learnt about its past and the ideals of the team… I began to love them. Renault has always stood and fought for the small teams in F1, entering F1 taking over the side from Benneton(which at the time was only 5th or 6th best) Renault began its steep climb to the top.

In the first few years 2001-2004 Renault was literally laughed at by the top teams in F1. They were called names like ‘track cleaners’(used for the teams that drive on a dirty track to get more track time… The top teams wait for the lower teams to clean the track to use it at its optimum) and were even told things like ‘you act like a low team you will never become one of the top’, Renault smiled back.

In an age where everyone spent big bucks Renault had one of the smallest budget in Formula One. The team had only about 1/5th or 1/6th the strength(in no. of personnel) of teams like Ferrari and Mc Laren right until 2005… but the love for the sport was as much as the top teams. Over time despite the best efforts of other teams and Renault, teams like Minardi and Jordan crumbled without enough funds… The rule changes which Ferrari fans say was done to stop Michael Schumacher’s 5 straight World Championships(which is partially true) was done so that poor teams have a fighting chance in this sport. Renault fought for them and I salute their efforts.

Then came the season of 2004… Ferrari were untouchable, Michael won 13 of the 18 possible races… but in the dim light on the rest of the grid there was movement… A team, a driver had decided to step up to the ring… They needed the best preparation anyone in F1 had ever done, Mid way through 2004 they were already working on the ‘R25′ A name which will be forever tattooed on every Alonso and Renault fan’s mind.

2004 in ways was the best season by Fernando Alonso(In my opinion it was far better than 2005). Alonso had a car which was no where close to the best, yet he drove to 3 podiums and some of the best driving I had ever seen in F1. People have always wondered where Alonso’s maturity in the car comes…. Look at the season of ‘04, That was the year the boy became the man… 2005 was when the man became World Champion.

‘Winter testing’ was special in 2004-2005. Renault was the only team doing it and it payed off handsomely. Renault started the season a class above the rest… Suddenly the ‘Track Cleaners’ were the best on the Paddock. Finally Alonso had a car that complimented his abilities and now literally nobody could stop him. Kimi came close but Renault had won the championship before the contenders had even stepped up.

What was Alonso’s best races? Two races… Japanese Grand Prix 2001 where he finished 11th and Hungary 2006 where he retired. His fights with Michael will be remember forever but his genius to be truly understood we have to look aback at those races. In 2001 driving a Minardi, Alonso in his last race for the team produced such a performance that Paul Stoddard remarked ‘This guy will be a World Champion one day.’ Alonso was putting in faster lap after lap despite chasing nobody for track position. Paul later said something in the lines of ‘He already had a contract with Renault, he was not doing it to impress someone… he was just that good’. About Hungaroring 2006, If you missed it tell me I have a personal copy of the race

But truly I am not an Alonso fan thanks to the wins… Its more the ideals he and Renault have preached… Its important to win but far more important to win honorably. Terms like Hard Work and Honesty have changed their meaning in my dictionary after following this team. The team has taught me to respect others victories and to keep fighting, to not give up hope when the world is against you and to believe in and walk the right path.

People might say this is just a sport and that is just a team but for me its far more. The last time I felt so much for a player it was Goran Ivanisivic and his quest for Wimbeldon but that seems so different when compared to the underdog team’s climb to the top.

Many people call Alonso arrogant speaker, they mock his celebrations and his comments but that is only because they cannot find a single fault in what he does on track. As far as Arrogance goes I have yet to see an example of it… most ppl who put the blame on him simply ignore the requests to bring up evidence. The celebrations are quiet funny but that is what Alonso is… He does not think himself to be great… he is just a boy doing what he loves best… I sure hope the boy inside of him never gets sidelined.

Now for the answer to the question which was asked to me back in 2003 (will tell him the next time I meet him)

H: Why? Cant you choose someone who can win?
Me: Coz I did not choose a Winner… I chose a Champion

I have always wanted to own a model of a Formula One car and ever since Sep 2005 I have known that it has to be the R25*. After reading premkudva’s post I realized that it was easily at reach and that I was running out of time(The R26 scale models came to the market just days after I ordered ).

The car is simply gorgeous and more beautiful than i ever imagined… It has that amazing new car smell(the scent just blew me away). The curvature on the wings are just sleek and everything form the wheels to the helmet is just so life like…

I called up a friend of mine as soon as I saw the model and this was how the conversation went:

Me: Hey, got it. It was delivered in the afternoon…
Her: Cool how does it look?
Me: Its beautiful… Its huge. I mean… its like 6-7 inches in length…
Her: Bet you havent said that to a girl before
Me: (laughing hysterically)

Its without a doubt the best gift I bought myself

* Sep 2005 is when Fernando Alonso became the Youngest Formula One World Champion. The R25 went on to win Renault the Constructors World Championships few weeks later.

I was a die hard fan of Michael until 2003 when a certain Spaniard’s drive in Malaysia stole my heart(that is a story for another day).

Michael was the only name in Formula One that I knew of back then… My first race was the one in which Mika retired in the last lap gifting Michael the victory. The next few years saw my love for the sport shoot right up. I cheered for the Scarlet cars and watched as no competition came close. Until the end of 2002 I toasted every Schumi victory and every Ferrari success. Then came the grandprix of Austria 2002… Team orders and after that for the first time a team I supported lost respect in my eyes. It was a downward spiral from then on…

On this day where I saw emotion in the eyes of every Ferrari fan I encountered I dont want to throw dirt on a World Champion or point out his flaws. He was a brilliant driver who would do anything to win… Maybe its what the sport demanded of him. He is still a great human being and my respect for him as a person is a million times what it will be for him as a professional.

There was a time I considered him a god… I dont anymore(I even laugh at myself sometimes thinking how naive I was to think that). He is and probably will forever be the most successful driver in F1… I hope no driver ever has as much success as him(not even Alonso) coz its bad for the sport.

A Toast to Michael Schumacher… One of the best drivers I hv had a pleasure of watching and supporting. Thanks for those happy moments you gave me and the Tifosi

As for Kimi I am happy you will finally get a car that will finish races and I look forward for a brilliant Kimi-Alonso era.

All I did was say “God Bless you …”, Its a common expression I use when somebody impresses me… but this was race ending for the poor drivers. It started with Fisichella he drove brilliantly to catch Michael and I say “God bless you Fisi”, two laps later he crashes out (after) overtaking Michael. Then it was Kimi, who was driving perfectly and was building a good lead(I was hoping for him to win) and so I yelled out the praise… sure enough a few laps later he crashes into a Red Bull.

Then it was Alonso, this one hurt a lot coz I wanted him to win I cant believe his wheel came off! Then I realized what I was doing and for the fun of it said “God Bless you Michael” (considering he was going to gain a lot of points over Alonso) and guess what he retired with 2 laps to go! Damn, the whole thing was spooky.

I think it was purely co-incidental that the above happened but what the heck I might as well hv some fun with it *evil grin*

PS: For those who missed the race… It was the best race ever, Read the race review if you want

Ever since I started writing in F1Jam I hv hardly mentioned Formula One in my blog… Well this news needs a special mention

I guess after Alonso became World Champ things for Renault started going in the right direction. I mean there was a 1/3rd increase in sales of Renault cars in Spain and the sport of F1 in Spain found a new God to Worship. Not to mention a whole new segment of Renault fans joining us good ole . I was wondering if anything like the Tifosi will be formed… Well it has. It has been around for a while now and frankly not yet be noticed… It is called “Alonsomania” and its on a high in Spain.

The craze is spreading… One Alonsomaniac right here

PS: Im talking about the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix. If you are a F1 fan… I hope you got to watch it

UPDATE: Special thanks to Swetha who commentated for me when the power at my place went out…

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PS: I will no longer(mostly not) be posting any more entries related to F1 on this blog… All those enties will be posted in f1jam.com