What a come back....

Imola was really one of the best races I have ever seen. Raikkonen finally had something to cheer about with a pole just ahead of to-be-crowned champion Fernando Alonso. Even with the launch of new F-2005, Ferrari seemed to have lost the glory of those old golden days. The car looked good last time but didn't show anything that can compete with in form Renault, Toyota and Mclaren. Ferraris finished in the 6th and 7th rows (mostly) in the second qualifying. All satrted well with Kimi having a good start ahead of Alonso and maintaining the lead for a first few laps. I couldn't believe that everything was so normal and so not unlucky in Kimi's life again. But it was not to be, as the race leader started slowing down and let all the others pass by him. Mclaren said It was a Mechanical failure yet again. After that it was something that we are getting very much used to this season; Alonso leading the race comfortably. When it looked as if Alonso will again be the star of the race, Schumi had some other plans.

Everything seemed so perfect for Schumi suddenly. The car showed that Ferrari challenge is still not over. It had speed, good handling and Bridgestones also worked extremely well with it. Schumi was racing in the third position after half of the distance covered, thanks to some great pit-stops carefully planned by the team. His car looked better than the car in front, Jenson Button's BAR-Honda. Under continuous pressure from Schumi, Jenson made a slight mistake near one of the shikanes and Schumi immediately took the opportunity to move to the second spot. Everything looked dramatic and hard to believe but what followed was a few laps of even more dramatic, skillful, aggressive and determined racing. The last ten laps showed how a perfect race should be. Alonso and Schumi, two great drivers in good cars finally reached the Chequered flag within fraction of seconds of one another.

Schumacher again looked to have a better car of the two with a better speed at the straights and carrying more speed through the corners. He put Alonso under a lot of pressure and managed to get a glimpse of Alonso's nose one or two times when he almost overtook the young veteran. Alonso however, kept his cool and brilliantly controlled the pace of the race by making use of better handling of the Renault. He drove very slowly out of every corner so that Schumi could never come out of any corner with full throtle. The brilliant strategy not only kept him ahead of Schumi but also kept him behind two backmarkers, a few hundread metres away.

All in all, a great race. Really fun to watch. Only thing not good in the race was the absence of Montoya. Who knows he would have made the race even more interesting to watch. I hear that he is probably not racing in the next race also. I wish he makes a good come back as soon as possible.

Renewed Renault

Sundays Sepang GP was another 'Renault dominant Race' as Fernando Alonso made it to the Top of Podium. Ex-Renault driver Jarno Trulli was second driving impressively throughout hinting at the bright future for this year's TF105. Nick Hedfield ensured a BMW-Williams podium place in third position. Ferrari once again failed to impress with Schumacher in 7th position and Baricehllo out of the race.

Renault really seems strong at this moment of time in F1. Looking at the performances till date in the new season, we are forced to think that 'Days of Ferrari dominance are over'. At the same time I think these are the days of Renault dominance. I have little doubt in my mind about Alonso n Renault being on top this year. This car seems to have a very powerful engine as compared to earlier Renault cars with as always great aerodynamics giving it an edge in handling over the other cars( At least this is what I hear from other people and I haven't driven the new car, Hehe).

However, there was one disappointing thing for me so far as this new season is concerned and that is "New Montoya" that we see on the track. No aggression, no bolt overtaking, no amitious rash starts, no heated word-exchanges. This is not the Montoya we've been used to looking at. This is a very sad thing if Montoya has changed his attitude towards driving. He said to a press conference that he has absolutely no problem with him being second driver in the team and that even he thinks that Kimi is a better driver. If Montoya really thinks that way, I think this is the end of a great driver which F1 once had. Perhaps, he is waiting and watching at the start of the new season, getting used to the new rules and his new team( I hope so..). I think even in 2005, he has had better results compared to Kimi and he is as good as any other driver (i am talking about the front-runners) in F1.

Talking of Kimi, he drove a good race and in the process I think he tried a bit too hard ending in a tyre failure. The new Mclaren is not as impressive as it should have been after 'very poor performance not suitable to Mclaren reputation last year'.

All in all a good demanding race. Not a bad result for Montoya. Excellent performance by Alonso and Renault.