Hey..
Iam sure many of us will remember with painful feelings of some cricket matches when we woke up at 4:00 AM, stood in the queue at Chepauk, purchased tickets at a high price, rushed in with sweat and hunger, yelling and screaming at the top of our voices - only to finally find India lose pathetically to one of the visiting teams. In that case some of us will atleast satisfy ourselves saying "Atleast we got to see a good cricket match!!"..
Last Sunday, a few of us didnt get to say even that.
The Formula 1 race organized by the FIA was such a let down for all the spectators, TV viewers and Formula 1 fans worldwide. Out of the 10 teams that participated, 7 of them withdrew from the race. Only Ferrari, Minardi and Jordan ended up racing, if you can call that racing. The Michelin tyre company advised its teams not to drive as it would put the drivers at risk if they dont speed down at bend 13 of the track. By doing this Michelin tyres, the FIA, Indy cricuit and the teams have done nothing but antogonize the hardcore racing fans.
The mockery of the race had the Ferrari teams racing against each other as if it were a practice session. Schumacher won the race with Barichello finishing a close second. The other part of the race which was happening 1 or 2 laps down was between the Jordans and Minardis. The powerful Toyota engine pulled Jordan ahead giving them points for the first time this season. The crowd kept on booing down every 10 minutes once and very heavily when the trophies were distributed.
The consoling part for us was to watch our own Narain Karthikeyan finish fourth and gain some points for himself and Jordan. There was a huge desi crowd in the Paddock and elsewhere waving India flags, sporting T Shirts celebrating India's presence in F1 and carrying banners supporting Narain. Every time a yellow Jordan sped by, our folks kept screaming and cheering irrespective of whether it was Montiero or Narain. Our Indian patriotism was so visible where hardcore Ferrari fans from India had tattooed Ferrari flag on one cheek and the India flag on the other !! Bad luck and a messed wheel prevented Narain from actually competing to get to the podium , but he did complete the race and got the points which is very very commendable.
Overall the crowd whose mood was severely upbeat before the start of the race, watched in shock as the drivers pulled back into the pit after the formation. It was almost 2-3 laps before which many realised that the race was indeed going on with just 6 cars on the track !!! Even the fanatic Ferrari fans didnt believe that such an atrocius joke was happening.
Irrespective of this, we did manage to have some good time ourselves watching the race, stamping the stands and booing alongwith the crowd. We went crazy at the Official team merchandise shops where some of the Renault T shirts were being sold for $110 !! . We couldnt successfully buy a India flag though every other country's was available - maybe it will take some more time before we get popular in this. Thanks to all friends (Eswar, Raghavan and others) who made this trip fun and congrats on being part of a historical race ! (Btw, Raghavan was cheering the safety car, a wise decision, in hindsight)
Hopefully Michelin, FIA and the non-participating teams will apologize to us fans for letting us down. Though, on the other side, we would always love to watch Alonso and Kimi live and drive rather than watch them getting into an accident knowingly - any $$$ paid for tickets is not worth seeing these fantastic drivers crash and endanger their lives.
And whatever the case may be, congratulations Narain !!! Go .. go .. go.. vrrrrroooooooom..
Chao...
Iam sure many of us will remember with painful feelings of some cricket matches when we woke up at 4:00 AM, stood in the queue at Chepauk, purchased tickets at a high price, rushed in with sweat and hunger, yelling and screaming at the top of our voices - only to finally find India lose pathetically to one of the visiting teams. In that case some of us will atleast satisfy ourselves saying "Atleast we got to see a good cricket match!!"..
Last Sunday, a few of us didnt get to say even that.
The Formula 1 race organized by the FIA was such a let down for all the spectators, TV viewers and Formula 1 fans worldwide. Out of the 10 teams that participated, 7 of them withdrew from the race. Only Ferrari, Minardi and Jordan ended up racing, if you can call that racing. The Michelin tyre company advised its teams not to drive as it would put the drivers at risk if they dont speed down at bend 13 of the track. By doing this Michelin tyres, the FIA, Indy cricuit and the teams have done nothing but antogonize the hardcore racing fans.
The mockery of the race had the Ferrari teams racing against each other as if it were a practice session. Schumacher won the race with Barichello finishing a close second. The other part of the race which was happening 1 or 2 laps down was between the Jordans and Minardis. The powerful Toyota engine pulled Jordan ahead giving them points for the first time this season. The crowd kept on booing down every 10 minutes once and very heavily when the trophies were distributed.
The consoling part for us was to watch our own Narain Karthikeyan finish fourth and gain some points for himself and Jordan. There was a huge desi crowd in the Paddock and elsewhere waving India flags, sporting T Shirts celebrating India's presence in F1 and carrying banners supporting Narain. Every time a yellow Jordan sped by, our folks kept screaming and cheering irrespective of whether it was Montiero or Narain. Our Indian patriotism was so visible where hardcore Ferrari fans from India had tattooed Ferrari flag on one cheek and the India flag on the other !! Bad luck and a messed wheel prevented Narain from actually competing to get to the podium , but he did complete the race and got the points which is very very commendable.
Overall the crowd whose mood was severely upbeat before the start of the race, watched in shock as the drivers pulled back into the pit after the formation. It was almost 2-3 laps before which many realised that the race was indeed going on with just 6 cars on the track !!! Even the fanatic Ferrari fans didnt believe that such an atrocius joke was happening.
Irrespective of this, we did manage to have some good time ourselves watching the race, stamping the stands and booing alongwith the crowd. We went crazy at the Official team merchandise shops where some of the Renault T shirts were being sold for $110 !! . We couldnt successfully buy a India flag though every other country's was available - maybe it will take some more time before we get popular in this. Thanks to all friends (Eswar, Raghavan and others) who made this trip fun and congrats on being part of a historical race ! (Btw, Raghavan was cheering the safety car, a wise decision, in hindsight)
Hopefully Michelin, FIA and the non-participating teams will apologize to us fans for letting us down. Though, on the other side, we would always love to watch Alonso and Kimi live and drive rather than watch them getting into an accident knowingly - any $$$ paid for tickets is not worth seeing these fantastic drivers crash and endanger their lives.
And whatever the case may be, congratulations Narain !!! Go .. go .. go.. vrrrrroooooooom..
Chao...
11 comments:
Shiva...we were part of F1 history. And thats something.
Was really stunned when 14 cars pulled out during the formation lap. As eshwar said you guys can claim "i was there when it happened". But am really sad that US F1 Fans couldn't witness kimi, alonso, trulli, mont & others race in that wonderful racing track.
Siva,
DC Area Blogger meet announced....Please do the honors
Yes....many others who came there from far and wide felt cheated. Thats sad.
but I guess our love for F1 would drive us back to Indy or Montreal or another circuit next year for sure...
Shiva,
It is good that Narain got among the points but he may have lost his best chance at a podium position. Anyways, according to me, it was a non-event!
BTW, It's been a long time since Indian cricket team lost pathetically at Chepauk. All recent encoounters have been victories or close losses (Pak in 1999) or rained out at crucial stages like the match with Aus last year)
Raman...I beg to differ..It was not a non-event.
Eshwar,
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. And I stand by mine and you can stick to yours. Peace!
Dont worry we will be there next year too...thanks to Michelin...
Too late to comment...so what...Narain should have finished third man! That race is going to be his career changer , in my opinion.
He had upper hand over Tiago till then. He didn't get the podium there. His mentor moved out of the team. He is behind Tiago ever since.
"Though, on the other side, we would always love to watch Alonso and Kimi live and drive rather than watch them getting into an accident knowingly - any $$$ paid for tickets is not worth seeing these fantastic drivers crash and endanger their lives." - OFCOURSE. But this situation should hv never arised. Michelin screwed up (irrespective of the fantastic job they do in other races and other forms of motor sports, including MotoGP). They pushed the envelope too far (both sets of allowed dry weather tyres weren't suitable - hence they can't race...one set being suitable is understandable and has happened many times and mostly kept secret).
Post a Comment