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!

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.

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…

BTW, my predictions was almost perfect… The only error was that I could not predict Kimi in the equation a mistake for sure . Happy I got the rest perfectly…

The race was won and lost with the backmarkers actually… It was only a matter of few laps and like the Renault engineer said on the radio “These are the race winning laps…” The understatement of the century .

I hv to give it to Michael he drove probably the best race in recent memory and the fight after the 2nd round of pitstops was simply beautiful. There were some amazing overtakings on the track started by the first overtaking of the season Alonso getting past Massa which was ingenious.

I cant wait for the rest of the season

The fastest lap of the session went to Alonso with a marvellous 2nd qualification lap that was uncontested till the end… The pole lap was over 3 tenths of a second slower than the current world champ.

Predictions:
One look at the lap times in the 2 qualification segments and the main qualification show that the Renaults and Honda are faster than the Ferrari… Difference in fuel loads might be the cause behind the final result but Alonso and Fisi in their respective interviews after qualification said it was a error and tyre prob form their side.

If the times are to be gone by I expect the Renaults to stay longer on track before the first pitstop. Expect the Ferraris to make 15 laps and then pit… Renaults will be around 20-25th lap. Stratergy wise if MSc gets a great start and pulls away he has a good chance of retaining the lead till the end… but considering the initial part of the 3rd qualification I doubt that would happen…

The first corner… I expect MSc and Button to be in a better place as they are on the cleaner side of the track… Renault launch control will be a big thing and if they are as good as it was in 2004, Alonso will prob be p1 before lap 1(which I doubt).

Stratergy for Alonso: Well stick with MSC… not give him a lead of over 2-3 secs for the first 10 laps or so… Then put in some amazing laps before pitting and try and get out ahead of the Scarlet cars… Its a tough stratergy but it tried and tested…

The final qualification result is available here

Final result prediction:
Alonso, MSc and Button (I am hoping more than betting here )

Wow it feels good to be posting about F1 again, My last post in this category was a long time back. So what is all this preview about… well this season I plan to cover most of the fantastic F1 season… Will give my predictions before every race… I even plan to create a blog with Anant and Musavir about F1 which is just going to be fun

Back to F1 now… Here are some of the major dev before the season started:
1) Alonso signs up with Mc Laren for 2007
2) Brand new Qualification system
3) New Tyre rules
4) New teams
5) And just 18 tracks (last year had 19)

Winter Testing

Renault, Mc Laren, Honda and Ferrari were the pick of the teams during testing… They were so dominant that it seems that the first 8 spots on the grid are going to be well taken. Among the 4, Renault and Honda were the most impactful… Kimi in a recent interview said:

“I don’t think we are exactly where we want to be but we are in a much better position than we were a month ago, I think we have been quick sometimes, but Renault and Honda might be quicker than us. It really depends if we get everything sorted out, in which case we might be able to fight for wins. But we will just do the best that we can and see where we end up.”

The Ferrari camp is also not promising victory initially but they have looked impressive at times… In form of times Kimi has been the fastest but winter testing is not about speed its about reliability (as Renault proved last year) and getting ur tyres right(If ur a Ferrari fan u will know ). Bahrain will be the spot to watch out for coz it will finally bring all the pre season dance to the end and get down to serious racing…

Predictions
This is very premature but I will still like to make a few…

Drivers World Championship:
My money is on Alonso… ya im his fan and thats what i want but considering all the pre season action and the quality of a driver he is plus “defending is what he is great at” and he is defending the world chamionship this time.

The probability for the Driver championship (first person higly probable last person least)
Fernando Alonso
Micheal Schumacher
Kimi Raikonnen / Jenson Button

Its not that I hate Kimi but its just that he aint prepared to be a world champ yet… he will definately one day become one. In ability he is probably superior to Alonso most of the times but with all round performance(attack, defence and stalemate) Alonso is far better and thats what made MSc a multiple world champ.

Constructosr World Championship:
Mc Laren is my pick and i hope im wrong coz I love Renault and want them to successfully defend it. Honda is the proverbial Dark Horse… This season is the most open season in recent memory so I wont be betting much on which team wins…

Wow it feels good to be posting about F1 again, My last post in this category was a long time back. So what is all this preview about… well this season I plan to cover most of the fantastic F1 season… Will give my predictions before every race… I even plan to create a blog with Anant and Musavir about F1 which is just going to be fun

Back to F1 now… Here are some of the major dev before the season started:
1) Alonso signs up with Mc Laren for 2007
2) Brand new Qualification system
3) New Tyre rules
4) New teams
5) And just 18 tracks (last year had 19)

Winter Testing
Renault, Mc Laren, Honda and Ferrari were the pick of the teams during testing… They were so dominant that it seems that the first 8 spots on the grid are going to be well taken. Among the 4, Renault and Honda were the most impactful… Kimi in a recent interview said:

“I don’t think we are exactly where we want to be but we are in a much better position than we were a month ago, I think we have been quick sometimes, but Renault and Honda might be quicker than us. It really depends if we get everything sorted out, in which case we might be able to fight for wins. But we will just do the best that we can and see where we end up.”

The Ferrari camp is also not promising victory initially but they have looked impressive at times… In form of times Kimi has been the fastest but winter testing is not about speed its about reliability (as Renault proved last year) and getting ur tyres right(If ur a Ferrari fan u will know ). Bahrain will be the spot to watch out for coz it will finally bring all the pre season dance to the end and get down to serious racing…

Predictions
This is very premature but I will still like to make a few…

Drivers World Championship:
My money is on Alonso… ya im his fan and thats what i want but considering all the pre season action and the quality of a driver he is plus “defending is what he is great at” and he is defending the world chamionship this time.

The probability for the Constructor championship

Mc Laren
Renault/ Ferrari
Honda
Red Bull

Feel free to drop by ur picks for the two championships in the comments

Michael Schumacher according to a german daily made a comment saying that if Ferrari do not provide him a race competitive or winning car he is very likely to retire at the end of the season.

This comment like all F1 related comments published in german newpapers must be treated with specuation as its not certian if the statement was actually made (There has been an history of comments being made(or reported as being made) and then denied).

In other F1 news R26 will make its debut this week at Jerez. I cant wait to get a glimpse of the power of the R26. If its anything like its predecessor it will definately be a part of history. R25 shocked the F1 community by winning the first 4 races of the season and helping crown the youngest world champ.

Alonso has shocked the F1 world by announcing that he has officially signed up for Mc Laren. The Youngest World Champ in History will drive the black and silver car in 2007.

The intresting question is now who will partner the Spaniard in 2007. Rumors surrounding Kimi’s move to Ferrari has just gotten stronger. But a quote by Ron Dennis (at the Bottom) shows him inclining for a Fernando and Kimi team. I would love that coz once and for all that would settle the question of who is the better driver.

The following Statement was released by Alonso:

“As everybody will now be aware, I have taken the decision to leave Renault after the 2006 season. I achieved my lifetime ambition with Renault this year, and for my career, I felt that it was time for a new challenge. That will be to try and win with another team.

“At this point in time, though, I am concentrating on 2006. Renault brought me into Formula 1, brought me my first title, and I will be working to repeat that success next year. The signs so far are very positive on every level. I am confident the chassis will be quick, and the engine team are doing a fantastic job on the new V8. I am looking forward to a very successful 2006 season.”

Ron Dennis’ Statements:

“We are in discussions with our current drivers’ Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya regarding the 2007 season. Both Juan Pablo and Kimi are extremely talented, professional and competitive Formula One drivers and they have and will continue to concentrate on our joint challenge for the Championships.”

After the podium the RenaultF1 team was still not satisfied and hence brought the Championship winning engine into the garage. The hooked it up to run and then dimmed the lights and let the engine roar at the fingertips of the mechanics. They were joined by Mc Laren, BAR, Red Bull and other teams who peeped in to get a glimpse of the action.

As a mark of respect and to give their fans an opportunity, the Renault F1 Team’s official website has the audio clip of the engine roaring. Listen here

As Alonso crossed the finish line at the Chinese Grand Prix, The Renault F1 team became the Constructor World Champions of 2005. The first time the team has won as a complete team not just as a Engine supplier.

This season has been special for me. I can remember a conversation I had with a friend in 2003. When I told my friend that I was Renault fan all he asked me was “Why? Isnt there some team that can win you like?”. Well dude this one is for you :

For me 2005 season has been the best ever… I have totally enjoyed every single race and for the first time have watched every race either on tv or on the net. I never thought Alonso and Renault would be champs, In the start of the season I would have loved Renault to come second and Alonso to finish third but its always turned out better ?.

It’s the first time in the 21st century that someone other than Micheal Schumacher and Ferrari won in F1.

Fittingly the final race with a V10 in F1 was won by the team that brought this technology into the sport. As a mark of respect Alonso pressed on the gas at the end of the race… his and Renault’s salute to the end of an era.

This blog entry is my salute to the 2005 Constructors Champions Renault F1 team and the 2005 World Champion Fernando Alonso.

Here is the song the Alonso was singing for the World Champions.(Read it its aptly chosen for this moment):

I’ve paid my dues -
Time after time -
I’ve done my sentence
But committed no crime -
And bad mistakes
I’ve made a few
I’ve had my share of sand kicked in my face -
But I’ve come through

We are the champions - my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
’cause we are the champions - of the world -

I’ve taken my bows
And my curtain calls -
You brought me fame and fortuen and everything that goes with it -
I thank you all -

But it’s been no bed of roses
No pleasure cruise -
I consider it a challenge before the whole human race -
And I ain’t gonna lose -

We are the champions - my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting - till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
’cause we are the champions - of the world –

-QUEEN

Alonso drove an immaculate race to crown the Renault F1 team the 2005 Constructors Champs in the Chinese Grand Prix. His unbelieveable pace at the start of the race catapulted the Spaniard to his 7th victory of the season. Kimi came in 2nd followed by Ralf who crossed the line fractions of seconds before Gincarlo Fisichella. The Italian was given a drive through penalty towards the end of the race costing him a podium position.

The race started without much commotion as the 2 Mc Larens gobbeled up the BAR of Button. Takuma Sato was given a drive through penalty for his jumpstart and that took away all chances of the Japenese driver’s chances in the race. The only notable thing in the start was the spectacular pace of Alonso, going over 1 second a lap faster than Fisi in second. The race was shaping up the way the Spaniard won the French GP.

Every one expected the Renaults to be lightly fuled but the blue cars just kept flying without any sign of a pitstop. Montoya’s Mc Laren hit a drain cover and this caused him to pit to change the tyre. Montoya pitted again this time for fule proving he was light on fule to get that 3rd row starting position. The Safety car was called out after debries remained on the track and there was a huge rush to the pit lane.

Renault’s stratergy came out open and it was flawless. Alonso pitted and came out ahead of Fisi and Kimi. Kimi took a longer pitstop than Fisi, a move that helped him jump frog the Italian to the finish line.

The restart was good as Alonso again stepped up the pace. He was flying again and extended a huge lead within a few laps. Narain’s Jordan crashed out throwing debry all over the track. Safety car was called back on again and Everyone pitted again. This time the pitstops were to fule to the finish.

The long pitstop earlier meant that Kimi found a way to get ahead of Fisi. This gain stuck till the end of the race. Fisi had blocked the pit enterance the same way as Kimi had done in Spa but this time there was punishment. Fisi was handed a drive thru penalty ending his podium chances. Ralf drove a calm and collected race choosing not to pit during the second Safety car period. This decision was perfect and helped him to the podium position.

The cheers and celebration followed when the Blue and Yellow car crossed the finish line. Congrats to the Renault F1 Team the Constructor World Champs 2005.

Then there were problems in Mc Laren town(whats new right)… Montoya lost control and crashed out forcing a safety car.

The race just kept getting better… soon Alonso over took Klien and since he had gone on the grass and straight lined a chicane he let Klien thru. Almost immediately the World Champ took back the place with a gritty move. He slowly climbed upto Micheal’s back and was just about to do a move when the FIA ordered him to return the place to Klien. Sadly it happened after about 3 laps and Alonso lost over 7 seconds while letting Klien thru and then taking the place back… This was the difference for the world champ ending up 3rd instead of winning.

At this time Kimi was behind Alonso by over 5 seconds coupled with the 7 seconds it made a huge difference. Alonso came back in a way a only a true champ can he overtook the ex-world champ, Micheal Schumacher twice and in magnificent fashion to total upto 14 overtakes by the end of the race.

Kimi drove a race of grit and determination. His consistency took him within an arms reach of Fisi and finally overtook him to win with only one lap remaining.

This race proved to me that Fernando is the next Micheal Schumacher. I have been following Alonso since 2003 and personally felt he was still learning and will prob be a champ in 2008 or so when Schumi retires. But his unbelieveable agression and inch perfect driving can be only compared to the “God” of F1 himself.

The fact that Alonso overtook Micheal twice and in convincing fashion only shows how much better driver he is to Kimi… Kimi struggeled with Micheal Schumacher and could only get a pass after the Ferrari stuttered under heavy fule load.

I just cant wait for China… with just 2 points over Mc Laren, Renault know they have to get both their boys home like they did today to win the coverted Constructors chamionship. All I have to say is “Go Go Go Renault…”