India's Bid

I've always been astonished by India. Here is a country of startling contrast. On one hand India has never lacked ambition, having a large armed forces including aircraft carriers and nuclear weapons. India's exploits in information technology are known throughout the world. And when China sent men into orbit, India announced plans to send men to the moon.

And yet, there is widespread poverty amongst the people and sadly these include a huge population of street children in and around its cities. I do not know the exact figures but the population of street children number in the hundreds of thousands. Just Google it and you'll find out. I've only been to India once as a child, and it was an experience I do not remember. But colleagues and friends of mine who have visited the subcontinent tell sad tales about the homeless. One friend of mine said he could hardly bear to look out the car every time he was driven around.

And yet we now have India trying incredibly hard to organise high profile sporting events such as the Olympic Games (a bid that thankfully failed) and of course, Formula 1 Grand Prix. GrandPrix.com has this story about the current plans for a street circuit in Delhi. Herman Tilke has already been spotted in the city. And now it emerges that the investment for the grand prix will be as high as USD 100 million, after suitably compensating Mr B. Ecclestone and friends.

Wouldn't it have been better perhaps to have found some wiser means of investing that money to help the plight of the poor and homeless? Street children are being abused physically and mentally. Am I alone in thinking that the many millions is urgently needed elsewhere?

Its one thing to do grand prix in oil rich countries (and even this is questionably sometimes) but surely the Formula One Group must have limits to its avaricious drive for bottomless government money. Surely these people must have a sense of ethics about them, right?

2007 Australian Grand Prix

The Steeles of the recently revived F1Talk feared a Ferrari domination this year. They may be right. The way Kimi Raikkonen quite serenely won the Australian Grand Prix is an ominous sign for the other contenders. Serene is perhaps the right word for this race because nothing much really happened. Unless you're English and are absolutely over the moon with Lewis Hamilton's debut.

As in qualifying yesterday, I would have liked to see how Kimi stands against Filipe Massa during a race. Yesterday the Brazilian experienced gearbox and engine troubles. Today, he was following a completely different strategy having to come from right at the back. Yes, Kimi managed to lap him during the course of the race. And that must have been a psychological blow to him. But it would have been interesting to see how Massa would have run under a normal race strategy.

Do I sound like I'm behind Filipe? Well, actually no. For I still think Kimi will beat him over the course of the year. I just hope though that Ferrari will let the both of them duel it out together come what may.

The other team that had any hope of matching the Ferraris were McLaren. But lets face it, Kimi was really toying with them today. Setting that 1m 25.235s fastest lap was just rubbing it into Ron Dennis' face. He didn't need to go anywhere near that lap time and he was still simply pulling away from the two McLarens.

Alonso or Hamilton? For pure speed I think there's very, very little to choose between them. They are both equally as fast. My word, this could be quite a driving partnership for Ron. They've both got long careers ahead of them. One is a double world champion, the other can match the former. One slip, and its easily one or the other. There is very little margin if today's performance is anything to go by. Still, Alonso's strategy was the better one. Yes, Sato got in the way but even if he didn't I estimate Alonso would still have come out ahead of Hamilton at the end.

The ITV commentators were over the moon with Hamilton but lets put things into perspective. The 2005 GP2 champion, Nico Rosberg also had a great debut in the first race last year. Somehow it seems the GP2 championship does prepare a driver quite well for the challenges of Formula 1. And why not? The GP2 cars do have some massive performance all without traction control and other driver aids. But the challenge for Lewis now is to sustain this performance and not fade away like Nico did last year. Although one could say that Williams did not give Nico a great car to show off his talents.

Can McLaren catch up? Well, if you look at their qualy performance particularly on low fuel they do have some pace. Its when the fuel goes in and the races progresses that they seem to lose out to Ferrari. I think McLaren will need to work very hard to get the best out of those Bridgestone tyres if they are to have a chance. On some of the tighter circuits however, I think McLaren have an excellent chance of besting Maranello. The Ferrari you see has a longer wheel base. Great on circuits where aero performance is all important. Not so great in some of the slower bits. Still I think for McLaren, optimizing the aero with the Bridgy tyres is the key. As for driving talent, the do not lack any.

The BMWs much touted long distance pace could eventually was not enough to sustain a challenge to the front runners. But nevertheless, they have vastly improved and I believe they will improve still further as the season progresses and they have a better understanding of the new Japanese rubber.

And I was somewhat disappointed that the Super Aguris could not beat the works Hondas during the race. But Sato beating Jenson was a nice thing to see. Nico Rosberg did well I thought beating both the works Toyotas to seventh ahead of "I'm one of the top three" Ralf Schumacher. The fact that the Toyota engined cars have had a years greater experience on Bridgestone rubber is perhaps one of the reasons why the Hondas simply could not get on terms with their deadly rivals.

Again, if there is to be a Ferrari domination of 2007 I hope the two teammates will put up a good show for the rest of us. Kimi did a supreme job of the race today bar the odd mistake whilst fooling around. It'll boost his confidence and standing with the team and I'm sure he's going to get even better still in the car.

Melbourne Qualy Notes

Despite a clear victory for Ferrari in the winter, qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix confirms what many have suspected. Its going to be close.

Ferrari

I would have liked to have seen Filipe Massa complete his flyer for the second part of qualifying. I would like to have seen how he would perform when its game time. Alas, his Ferrari would let him down. I suspect though that when the chips are down, Kimi Raikkonen still has that edge on him. But for sheer value for money, Massa seems like a rock bottom bargain. Massa paycheck being USD 8 million a year compared to Kimi's reported USD 51 million.

McLaren

In bloody good form I think. Alonso it seems has transitioned very well at Woking and showing the young pup just who carries the world title. Nevertheless, I am impressed by Lewis Hamilton for his very mature debut. Alonso is a dependable driver and you can bet that he is in with a very great chance in tomorrow's race.

BMW

The dark horse. Has been quick all winter and nice to see them translate that to big game performance. People have been impressed by their long run performance during testing and this should make these guys quite a dangerous proposition this weekend.

Super Aguri

The story of the weekend if you ask me. Both Sato and Davidson were considered surplus to the factory Honda team's requirements. And see here, they are both ahead of the works team. Superb! When it was first announced that from 2008, teams would be able to purchase chassis, this was the sort of situation that I had hoped would happen. Think RBM vs Schnitzer or Joest Racing vs Porsche or Team Green vs Ganassi. Its great to watch.

Now this won't happen every year or as this very season progresses I suspect. If we look back into the past, I think this is similar to the case of the McLaren MP4/17D of 2003. A year old design suitably updated turned good. But the difference is the MP4/17D had the whole winter. The new Super Aguri had its first run during the practice session.

But given Super Aguri's performance today, you can bet that Frank Williams and Spyker would have been on the phone to the solicitors even before qualifying had ended.

Oh and Clive? Its ahem... Sato not Davidson. But still I think Ant is doing a great job.

Renault

Rubbish. Losing Alonso is obviously hitting the Enstone based team really hard. Has been so all winter and so it is today. Say that Alonso is half a second quicker than Fisi on average, and Alonso is still driving the Renault. That would only put him fifth on the grid today and about a second away from Raikkonen's Ferrari. The car is suffering because it now runs on Japanese rubber. This is good if only to shut that perma tanned thrash talking gigolo up. He's been mouthing off during the winter against his former driver and his former driver's new team. Well, eat shit Flav.

Given that the engine freeze has started this year, the only way Renault will catch up is through aero and mechanical development. Well, if Flav and the FIA had their way, there would even be an aero freeze in the future. All very nice if your team is on top but if you want to catch up you're shafted. Well, the Renault is no longer on top and you can bet that Flav will not be so vociferous in his support for Mosley's madness.

Toyota and Williams

I'm a bit surprised by these guys. All weekend the Williams have looked quicker. But on low fuel qualifying they've proven quicker. Just what is up? We'd need to see what happens during the race but I suspect it should be a lot closer between Toyota and Williams. However, the factory team making it into the top 10 is totally unexpected. Lets see if they last the race.

Honda

Drop the cynical corporate paint job and call Aguri Suzuki. And start acting like a racing team again rather than simply another corporate department.

Red Bull

Inconclusive but I'm hoping Adrian Newey's design will come good as the year progresses. Still not as quick as the works Renaults but its close.