It is now 1800 hrs ( 6.00 pm). The Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang has just ended. I’ve not seen the write up as yet but I’ve seen the event ‘live‘ a short while ago. The race ended just after 1730 hrs or so.
It was a 1 - 2 finish for the Red Bull team. On the podium was the winner Sebastian Vettel with his team-mate, Mark Webber in second place and Nico Rosberg from Mercedes-Petronas in third.
The event did not have the high drama of the Australian Grand Prix last week in Melbourne when there was a skirmish ( was it a minor pile-up? ) as early as the first turn and some minor crashes along the way.
In this race, Vettel had pulled away right at the first turn from his team-mate who held pole position. By the 8th lap it was Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Suttil, Hamilton in that order. Kobayashi was out of the race at Lap 9, followed by Schumacher at Lap 10.
At lap 13, the positions remained . At this point the Lotus F1 team was not anywhere in the running. They were at positions 17 ( Jarno Trulli) and 20 ( Heikki Kovalinen)
Hamilton tried his best to make his impact. In fact at Lap 33 he recorded the fastest lap at 1.37 secs but remained at 7th place. A consolation for the Lotus F1 team however was when Trulli managed to jump to position 15 at Lap 36.
At that point it was 1708 hrs and it was a very clear sky. They had talked about the rain, but the expected rain did not come. It was a clear day right until the race ended. Apparently, the heat was scorching when the race began. Vettel the winner had mentioned at the post-race briefing that he was profusely sweating. Contrary to what we had expected he said he was praying for rain. ‘It would at least cool things off’.
At the closing moments, at Lap 55, the last but one, sparks and smoke spewed from Fernando Alonso’s car and he was out. It was good fortune for the eventual winners . They chalked up good points without Alonso. Alonso who ended with zero points in this race was the winner in the season-opening Bahrain Prix and 4th in Melbourne.
As for the Lotus F1 team, they met their target of completing the race. It was a switch this time. Trulli who did not complete the previous two races came in position 20 eventually. His team-mate Kovalainen went out of the race at Lap 21.
The unhappy Tony Fernandez twittered some unsavoury remarks during the course of the race, apparently. The CEO, Riad Asmat and and the reserve driver Fairuz Fauzy took it within their strides. ‘We would have to check on the hydraulic systems of the cars before Shanghai, the next stop’ they said.
However, it is not bad for Malaysia, not bad at all. In fact it was good! No, I’m not talking of the Lotus F1 team. I’m talking of the Mercedes-Petronas team. They achieved the 2nd runner-up position. It is a podium position. Isn’t that something?
In fact at the post-race briefing, Rosburg mentioned proudly and clearly that he was ‘happy to achieve a podium finish in Malaysia, the home of Petronas”. Of course, that’s something to be proud of!
Showing posts with label Sepang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sepang. Show all posts
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
F1 Team Lotus
The season opening Bahrain Grand Prix ( of the 2010 FIA Formula One (F1) World Championship) is on tomorrow, March 14th 2010. There are altogether 12 teams of which 3 are new entrants this season (with 24 cars/drivers on the grid)
It is of special interest to Malaysia this year for 2 reasons namely, the real presence of Malaysia in F1 racing with the debut of Malaysia’s very own Team Lotus , and the collaboration of Team Mercedes with Petronas in F1 racing.
This is therefore more than just a participation but the first foray into F1 which was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak only in September last year which is now a reality.
When it was first mooted late last year, many were sceptical. Only the Principal Officer, Datuk Tony Fernandez and the Technical Head, Mike Gascoyne were positively identified together with Naza Motors as joint backers. Then there were a flurry of behind the scenes manoevering to get additional sponsors (especially with the loss of Petronas to Team Mercedes) and to naming the drivers and the management team.
The detractors spewed countless venom, mindful of the enormous financial burden to be carried by Team Lotus. Tony Fernandez ventured on anyway. Lotus at their factory in Norfolk, England came up with a new car (within 6 months) after assembling ‘80,000 components'( a report stated that in all seriousness a 99.9% perfection will still mean 80 component parts are not up to mark)
The testing must be more than perfect. It is awesome! It is no small wonder that an F1 car that made it on the starting grid can still stall at some point in the race owing to a less than perfect testing. It cannot be more perfect than that!
The Lotus T127 rolled out on a T127 chassis supporting a Cosworth 2010 engine. It went through the various precision factory tests and last month was presented on the tracks in Spain for final tests by the designated drivers.
So we have Malaysia’s very own F1 car to be driven by the named drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalinen with Malaysia’s own Fairuz Fauzy as the 3rd and reserve driver.
The Management Team comprised, the CEO, Riad Asmat (son of OP Tan Sri Asmat), Mia Sharizman Ismail as Head of Operations (Asia), Alex Yoong as Head of Driver Development (Asia) and Nino Judge as the Head of Driver Development (Europe).
So what is it in for Malaysia apart from the ‘novelty’ and the hype worked up for our presence on the world’s stage which is a grand PR adventure for prime movers Tony and his team.
For a start Alex Yoong and Judge will co-host a driver’s development programme with the aim of nurturing young drivers for the future. Alex’s father OP Hanipah Yoong went up against all odds singled-handedly in guiding Alex as an F1 driver before. So Alex is very much aware of the difficulties and pitfalls.
On the technical side, a team of young engineers are already in Norfolk working towards building up a core of technically experienced personnel. These would be conveniently absorbed into Proton and Naza Motors in future, I imagine.
With the impending production of the compact EMAS hybrid of Proton recently exhibited at the Geneva Motor Show, it is imperative that we need these engineers in large numbers.
There has to be a concerted effort to trigger off the multiplier effect of human capital development to meet needs of industry. A home grown F1 venture can certainly provide the platform to enhance the numbers.
On the prospects of notching up glory in this debut presence, Tony is being realistic. ‘We hope to finish each race, anything better is a bonus’ he said. He has 19 opportunities to do that as there are 19 races in the 2010 calendar. The 3rd leg in K. Lumpur will be on 4th April.
Apparently, we’ll get to see the real, the actual, the car that is going on the tracks in Bahrain tomorrow at the Pavilion in K. Lumpur when it is put up on show in early April (before its debut on our Sepang Circuit)
This is mainly because there was insufficient time to produce an additional car for exhibition purposes. So be it!
It is of special interest to Malaysia this year for 2 reasons namely, the real presence of Malaysia in F1 racing with the debut of Malaysia’s very own Team Lotus , and the collaboration of Team Mercedes with Petronas in F1 racing.
This is therefore more than just a participation but the first foray into F1 which was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak only in September last year which is now a reality.
When it was first mooted late last year, many were sceptical. Only the Principal Officer, Datuk Tony Fernandez and the Technical Head, Mike Gascoyne were positively identified together with Naza Motors as joint backers. Then there were a flurry of behind the scenes manoevering to get additional sponsors (especially with the loss of Petronas to Team Mercedes) and to naming the drivers and the management team.
The detractors spewed countless venom, mindful of the enormous financial burden to be carried by Team Lotus. Tony Fernandez ventured on anyway. Lotus at their factory in Norfolk, England came up with a new car (within 6 months) after assembling ‘80,000 components'( a report stated that in all seriousness a 99.9% perfection will still mean 80 component parts are not up to mark)
The testing must be more than perfect. It is awesome! It is no small wonder that an F1 car that made it on the starting grid can still stall at some point in the race owing to a less than perfect testing. It cannot be more perfect than that!
The Lotus T127 rolled out on a T127 chassis supporting a Cosworth 2010 engine. It went through the various precision factory tests and last month was presented on the tracks in Spain for final tests by the designated drivers.
So we have Malaysia’s very own F1 car to be driven by the named drivers, Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalinen with Malaysia’s own Fairuz Fauzy as the 3rd and reserve driver.
The Management Team comprised, the CEO, Riad Asmat (son of OP Tan Sri Asmat), Mia Sharizman Ismail as Head of Operations (Asia), Alex Yoong as Head of Driver Development (Asia) and Nino Judge as the Head of Driver Development (Europe).
So what is it in for Malaysia apart from the ‘novelty’ and the hype worked up for our presence on the world’s stage which is a grand PR adventure for prime movers Tony and his team.
For a start Alex Yoong and Judge will co-host a driver’s development programme with the aim of nurturing young drivers for the future. Alex’s father OP Hanipah Yoong went up against all odds singled-handedly in guiding Alex as an F1 driver before. So Alex is very much aware of the difficulties and pitfalls.
On the technical side, a team of young engineers are already in Norfolk working towards building up a core of technically experienced personnel. These would be conveniently absorbed into Proton and Naza Motors in future, I imagine.
With the impending production of the compact EMAS hybrid of Proton recently exhibited at the Geneva Motor Show, it is imperative that we need these engineers in large numbers.
There has to be a concerted effort to trigger off the multiplier effect of human capital development to meet needs of industry. A home grown F1 venture can certainly provide the platform to enhance the numbers.
On the prospects of notching up glory in this debut presence, Tony is being realistic. ‘We hope to finish each race, anything better is a bonus’ he said. He has 19 opportunities to do that as there are 19 races in the 2010 calendar. The 3rd leg in K. Lumpur will be on 4th April.
Apparently, we’ll get to see the real, the actual, the car that is going on the tracks in Bahrain tomorrow at the Pavilion in K. Lumpur when it is put up on show in early April (before its debut on our Sepang Circuit)
This is mainly because there was insufficient time to produce an additional car for exhibition purposes. So be it!
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