AFTER nearly 4 months of waiting, Formula1 cars went racing again at the Albert Park in Melbourne for the 2012 Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2012 season. This race was keenly awaited for two reasons: first, to know the pecking order in the sport and second, to see the turnout of spectators. I shall discuss the second point first because the local government of Melbourne is in two-minds to host the Australian Grand Prix in the future to come and this is purely due to the hefty ‘hosting fee’ charged by Bernie Ecclestone and the FOM. However, for those keen, the race saw a turnout of close to 300,000 spectators over the GP weekend hopefully increasing revenues for the organisers.
Coming to the first point, Mclaren firmly established their spot at the top with a dominating qualifying session where they finished 1-2 and followed it up in the race by finishing 1-3. Red Bull Racing, who were caught slightly off-guard in qualifying, matched the Mclarens for race pace to finish 2-4, Vettel ahead of local hero Webber. Alonso resurrected his Ferrari to 5th, whereas both Mercedes AMG cars failed to finish due to reliability issues. Raikkonen brought his Lotus across the chequered flag in 6th place.
In the coming races, I would expect Mclaren and Red Bull fighting for victory on an equal note and unlike last season. If the Mercedes AMG cars finish races, I think they too would be in the mix at the top. As for Lotus, they have started their recent seasons with a fast car but have been unable to keep up with the pace of car development in-season. A case of budgets than intent! Ferrari are unable to extract pace from their F2012 and are currently 5th fastest on the grid or lower. The team will have to depend on their experience and resources to develop the car mid-season if they want to make the 2012 season worthwhile.
The mid-field action was expected to be tighter and that was the case literally. After a close fought qualifying session between Williams, Sauber, Sahara Force India and Toro Rosso, the Swiss-based Sauber team came out on front in the race. Unlike the previous seasons all teams opened their Constructor’s Championship accounts by scoring points in Australia, with the exception of Williams who missed out on a strong 6th place finish after Maldonado crashed out while chasing Alonso for 5th on the last lap! It is currently very difficult to choose the pecking order in the middle, but I think Sauber have the edge over the other three who are evenly matched yet.
While it was all cheers for British fans as Mclaren and Button stomped to victory, Indian fans would have been disappointed after Narain Karthikeyan failed to qualify and start for his second consecutive Australian Grand Prix. Like 2011, the Hispania Racing Team suffered from massive delays to build their 2012 car. The car was ready in the dying moments of Australian Grand Prix weekend and passed scrutineering at the 11th hour. The team struggled to gather pace and set up due to wet practice sessions on Friday. As a result, both HRT cars were well outside the target 107% laptime in qualifying, leaving their participation in the race in the hands of the FIA Stewards.
The FIA Stewards refused to make an exception for both the HRT drivers which meant that they were disallowed from participating in the race. The cars were nearly 8 seconds off the front runners leading to safety issues on track. In Q1 of qualifying, out of the three driver blocking complaints, two were for the HRT drivers! Leaving the HRT saga aside, I wonder if TATA Motors have got their sponsorship strategy wrong here.
I am a big fan of Narain Karthikeyan, who has been a guiding force and mentor to me, however, have Narain and TATA associated with the wrong team in Formula1? HRT have consistently struggled to build their car on time for the start of the season.
While their car has been fairly reliable, it has lacked pace and the team has been unable to build a fast car for their third straight season.
The TATA Group has several investments in Formula1. TCS are partners with Ferrari and TATA Communications have recently signed up as the ‘Official Communications and Technology Provider’ to Formula1. However, TATA Motors’ association with an always struggling HRT does rub off negatively on their brand image globally.
TATA Motors would do better if they were to invest the estimated value of their association (8 million euros annually) into Indian Motorsport or join the sport as an engine supplier, especially when the new engine regulations come into force in 2014. And if this association is purely to support Narain’s Formula1 pursuits, I would recommend they go shopping to a better team for a racing seat!
Talking of a better team, the Sahara Force India team had a mixed weekend in Australia. While Hulkenberg managed to get into top 10 in qualifying a first lap incident cut short his progress on track. Paul di Resta snatched 10th place from Toro Rosso rookie Vergne on the last corner of the last lap by using the KERS boost. The Indian-owned team has 5th place in sights in the World Constructors’ Championship and they will have a mountain to climb to be able to beat the mid-fielders and challenge the Lotus / Ferrari teams. If pre-season tests are an indicator, Sahara Force India already have a strong and reliable car in the VJM05 and their progress up the field will depend on their in-season car development program.
With the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend less than 5 days away, most eyes will be on Mclaren vs Red Bull vs Mercedes. I shall be keenly following the progress or the lack of it in the HRT garages. Will they qualify?
