I WAS expecting a sixth driver to score victory at the 2012 Monaco GP and that is exactly what Mark Webber did when he won his first race of the 2012 F1 season.
This is the first time ever that we have had six different winners this early in an F1 season and simple math would tell you that there is a possibility that we could have more than 10 winners this season as Hamilton, Schumacher, Raikkonen, Massa and Grosjean are all capable of winning this year. If you’ve not tuned in already, the time is now!
The top 6 finishers at Monaco were separated by only 6 seconds and that is the quality of racing this season. The unpredictability this season has been due to the Pirelli tyres and the only way to keep oneself in contention for the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship is by remaining consistent, even more so when race wins are hard to come by. It is this consistency that has helped the likes of Alonso and Vettel to remain on top of the table despite being able to score only one win each.
Narain Karthikeyan, known to be a street race specialist didn’t disappoint his fans when he crossed the chequered flag in his HRT in 15th place, his best race position finish since his comeback to Formula1. He ran a different tyre strategy as compared to his team-mate Pedro de la Rosa that saw him save an extra set of tyres for the race. While Karthikeyan has zero points in the Drivers’ Championship table, this 15th place finish does place him in 22nd place, ahead of Caterham’s Petrov and de la Rosa.
Sahara Force India drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg finished 7th and 8th respectively to score the team’s second double points finish of the season. Their haul of 10 points is the team’s highest at a GP this season and brings their Constructors’ Championship total to 28 points, 13 points behind their nearest rival Sauber who failed to score in Monaco. Sahara Force India was the only mid-field team to have both cars finish in the points.
The exciting news off-track has been of Formula1’s floatation which was approved last week by the Singapore Stock Exchange, making it the first time that shares of the business would be offered to the public worldwide. For the lesser known, Formula1 is a global business which currently holds 20 races every year around the world and attracts more than 500 million television viewers. The sport which is run by Formula One Management makes its revenues via sanction fees that are paid by race organisers to hold a ‘Grand Prix’ and via TV and sponsorship contracts.
The Financial Times reported that CVC Capital Partners, F1’s majority stakeholders, sold 21.3% of their stake in the sport for $1.6 billion. This reportedly values the sport at a staggering $9.1 billion, with Ringmaster Ecclestone’s 5.3% stake valued at $480 million. It was also reported that the company is willing raise between $2.5 billion to $3 billion via its Initial Public Offering. The groundwork for the IPO is expected to be completed by June 2012, post which ‘Formula1’ will be available for any fan in the world to buy a share of!
However, the main hurdle before the sport would be to sign off the new Concorde Agreement, which defines the sports revenues and its distribution between the teams and the FIA. Mercedes, a key manufacturer in the sport, is still negotiating favourable terms with the management and has yet to agree, whereas, there are also reports that the FIA is seeking a larger share from the sport’s profits before it gives its nod to the proposed Concorde Agreement. Formula1 has always attracted large money from sponsors, advertisers and investors, however, I am keen to know the IPO price that average fans like us would be able to afford and buy a share or two!
And last but not the least, I would like to applaud the performances and results of India’s budding racers Aditya Patel and Sailesh Bolisetti, who have done India proud by scoring victories in their racing categories in Europe. Aditya Patel, an Audi India driver, won the 24 hours of Nurburgring along with team-mates Wolfgang Muller and Oliver Rudolph in the SP 4T category in their Audi TTS. The trio completed 126 laps and finished 12 laps ahead of the second placed team. On the other hand, Bolisetti, driving for Lotus Sport UK, clinched his maiden in the British GT Championship alongwith team-mate Phil Glew. Driving a Lotus Evora GT4, the duo finished 27 seconds ahead of their competition in the race. I hope their spirited performances bring back public interest in Indian Motorsport!
