SEBASTIAN Vettel won a fast paced Italian Grand Prix after clinching his 10th pole of the season in qualifying on Saturday. The victory saw Vettel increase his Driver’s Championship lead to 112 points over second placed driver Fernando Alonso, who in-turn bumped Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber to third place in the Championship. As it stands, Vettel’s lead is nearly unassailable and mathematically could see him wrap up the Driver’s Championship title at the next race in Singapore.
In the battle of the F1 teams, Force India, India’s only F1 team, moved up to 6th place in the Constructor’s Championship with Paul di Resta’s 8th position finish. The Vijay Mallya-owned team is one point clear of Sauber with 36 points and is nearly half of Renault, which is placed 5th with 70 points. If Force India’s past form is anything to go by, they could potentially be in a position to overtake Renault in the Constructor’s Championship by the end of the season. Force India has scored 26 points in the last 6 races as opposed to Renault’s 10. This will be an intense battle to watch.
The team’s Italian GP result would be a mixed bag for their fans. Paul di Resta finished an intense race in 8th after battling with Renault’s Bruno Senna and Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari in the closing stages of the race, whereas Adrian Sutil had to retire after hydraulic problems. The team’s performance has been improving in the second half of the season and their fans are eagerly anticipating a double points finish.
Karun Chandhok drove in Friday’s Free Practice 1 session for Team Lotus Racing. He ended the session in 20th place and 6 tenths down on team-mate Heikki Kovalainen. However, Karun’s hopes of converting his testing role for Team Lotus into a race driver’s seat for 2012 took a big hit after the team extended Italian F1 veteran Jarno’s Trulli’s contract for yet another season.
Moving closer to the action at home, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix inspection went off well last week and FIA’s delegate Charlie Whiting was impressed with the progress made. However, the certificate to host the race will be handed over to the organizers only a week prior to the event; which also means that if you’ve bought tickets to the race, you will know of its confirmation only a week prior. Last year’s Korean Grand Prix was given its certificate about 10 days prior to the date of the race.
The other big movement for the Indian Grand Prix is the confirmation of Hero Motors association with Narain Karthikeyan. The automobile components manufacturer has entered into a one-race association with Narain and his team Hispania Racing. This association was announced a week after Narain confirmed he would be participating in the Indian Grand Prix.
The one-off association is believed to be funding Narain’s drive for the Indian Grand Prix and is estimated to be in the region of $ 150,000 to $ 200,000.
The other Indian companies that have confirmed their association with the Indian Grand Prix are Mercedes Benz (official automobile partner) and Mahindra & Mahindra, who will deliver support vehicles for intervention and support during the GP weekend. Tag Heuer is already affiliated with the GP and have launched limited edition Indian Grand Prix watches.
What is still not confirmed is Karun Chandhok’s participation in the Indian Grand Prix for Team Lotus Racing. However, I would expect an announcement from both the driver and the team to come soon. My gut tells me that this will be at the back of yet another one-race sponsorship. Let us wait and watch.
The author is a former racer who blogs on www.kunalsf1blog.com as well as www.isport.in
