Malaysian Grand Prix

What. A. Race.

I cannot believe that result. Like Shree's Calculus teacher said, "If you've never seen Formula 1, that was the race to watch". I mean, Ferrari, the team with the least reliability and received the most flak for their car managed to get their driver to handle that once-uncontrollable car in the rain onto the podium! Not even just on the podium, but in first place!!

A shout-out to Romain Grosjean, who suffered bad luck yet again as he spun off in the rain and beached his car in the gravel trap.

Fernando Alonso
The man was World Champion in 2005 and 2006 for Renault. He's done 180 races,  28 race wins, 74 podiums, 20 Pole Positions, 19 fastest laps, and over 1,100 career points.

The man can now be considered a genius. Not only did he race in the wet and win, he raced in the F2012 and won. A brave man indeed! No one expected him to finish in the top 5 on Sunday, and definitely win the race. His win came as McLaren... (how should I put it?) ...cocked up their pit stops. Honestly, Button could have easily pulled podium if McLaren hadn't taken those slow stops, strategized during the Red Flag period instead of sipping tea, and felt the need to actually win. Yeah, you heard me, McLaren did not push their race pace at all. Don't tell me they did, 'cause they just didn't. 

This race doesn't just belong to Alonso, however. The next finisher came as a shock to all of us. 

Sergio Perez

Yes. The Mexican man with only his second year in F1 finished 2nd in the race, coming close to 1st place! Last year you may recall that Perez was the driver with the greatest ability to preserve his tires. 

He pitted maybe once, at most twice during any race in 2011. His tire saving skill was also paired with his ability to be fast. Perez was a rookie, like Riccardo, di Resta, d'Ambrosio, and Maldonado, but he was quicker than the others. Perhaps it was his Ferrari Racing Academy experience or his team Sauber, but I know when I started watching F1 in 2011, I thought he was a 2nd or 3rd year because of his pace. 

Now in 2012, his skill (and ridiculously large amount of luck), brought him, at one point, 2.2 seconds behind Alonso! 2.2 SECONDS!! Had he not gone wide at Turn 14 on the 2nd- or 3rd-to-last lap, he probably would've caught Alonso and won his first race. 

I cannot rave about Perez enough. He's the first Mexican on the podium since Pedro Rodriguez in 1971, and he's been rumored to be taking Felipe Massa's spot at Ferrari sometime in the next year or so. I would like to go so far as to relate him Ayrton Senna at the heavily raining 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, Senna's 6th race in Formula 1. James Hunt, 1976 World Champion and BBC commentator, said these words during Senna's magnificent race: 

"Well I think we are watching the arrival of Ayrton Senna, truly outstanding talent, he's catching Prost at something like 3 seconds a lap.... however he's not about to be world champion this year, but he will undoubtedly be world champion in the future if his career continues" 

Senna's race in 1984 was the mark of a genius. 

Lemme apply this to Perez by saying...

"Well I think we are watching the arrival of Sergio Perez, truly outstanding talent, he's behind Alonso at something like 2.2 seconds..... however he's not about to be world champion this year, but he will undoubtedly be world champion in the future if his career continues" 

Sergio's race was also the mark of a genius.

See the relation? Senna finished second that day, yet it being his 6th race, while it was Perez's 21st. That Monaco Grand Prix was spookily similar to Sunday's Malaysian GP in multiple ways.... both experienced heavy downpours, both had Red Flags, both resulted in a rookie (or near-rookie) to come in second by a margin less than 5 seconds, and both could've had the chance to win the race if each lasted a few more laps.

And in third was Lewis Hamilton, who can't have been excited by that as he started in Pole Position. At least he did better than Button, who had an AWFUL race.

This season will not predictable. My bracket suffered losses this weekend, wrong Fastest Lap, wrong podium finishers (except for Hamilton, who I wanted to finish second)... comment with your bracket results so far, whether you're on the blog or FaceBook! Let's see how China goes in two weeks. See you all next time!

AV

Spinning like Records for a Record, and other news....

Hey everyone,
First of all, I'd also like to say happy birthday to Ayrton Senna. We'll never forget you.
Second of all, I'd like to make it clear that our job is to keep you updated with all the latest information in the motoring world. Not to sell ice cream, build skyscrapers, or play bingo. And boy, do I have a lot of info for you readers today..

Motoring Records
So I guess it'd be logical for you to know that A MOTORING RECORD WAS BROKEN. Well, what record you ask? Do you think it's a production record? Most cars produced by a company? Least emissions produced by a car since 1911? In short, no. It's 75 cars doing donuts simultaneously. Not interesting? I beg to differ! I mean, watch this!!

SO COOL. Really. Like, tell to my face that you don't want to see or do that. Tell it to me. Say it. I DARE YOU. I thought so. 

2013 Mercedes SL65 AMG

In other news, the Mercedes SL65 AMG was revealed before its New York Auto Show debut (which we will be covering April 6th-15th). I think it looks really good, it definitely looks better than the outgoing model(s). 

It's more angular, chipped, modern, and looks like something respectable people will drive. Not because of looks, but because of its 6.0 liter V12 that produces 621 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. THAT IS A LOT! 

It's mated to a seven-speed sequential automatic transmission that creates a 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) of 3.9 seconds and a top speed with a blistering 186 mph. With stop/start capacities, weight loss of 374 lbs (~170 kg), its fuel economy jumps up by 17 percent. 

Naturally, it comes with a lot of AMG pizzazz, like an AMG diamond pattern on the sports seats, carbon-fibre and wood trims in the cabin, ambient lighting, and lots of safety technology. Looks interesting, can't wait to read a road test!

Sahara Force India Formula One Team... 

And finally, we come to the poorly state of our dear and close Sahara Force India Formula 1 team. 

Force India was recently ordered to pay a wind-tunnel lab called Aerolab €850,000 ($1,120,555 or 5,74,08,405 Rs) due to copyright infringement of Aerolab's intellectual property regarding the previous Team Lotus F1, now Caterham F1. Legal costs from the High Court "are estimated to be in the region of £4 million [$6.3 million or 324.5 million Rs]" (ESPN F1). This is coming at a bad time for Force India's president Vijay Mallya, as their Kingfisher group isn't doing too well financially. 

You can read the full article from ESPN F1 here: http://en.espnf1.com/forceindia/motorsport/story/73787.html

Malaysian Grand Prix peek

This weekend is the Malaysian Grand Prix, and here's a little look forward. It'll be hot, difficult, and fast. It's on Sunday at 0800 GMT, or 1600 local. Weather looks like it'll be hot, humid, and a major chance of thunderstorms. Looks like it'll be good. 

So I guess this weekend, the F1 drivers will not only have to concentrate on avoiding collisions with other drivers, but avoid the lightening bolts as well! Oh, they'll pull a Red Flag, you say? Well, FIA will do anything it can for money, prolonging races brings in cash, I guess. 

Who knows, for all we know, this weekend, like last week in Australia, is truly up for grabs by many drivers. Looking forward for the results! I have Hamilton in Pole Position, Button with the Fastest Lap, and Button, Hamilton, and Vettel on the podium in that order. 

God, brackets make F1 so much better!! See you all next time! 

AV

Where There's Love, There's Hate

Alright so to round off the day three topics in mind: Ayrton Senna,  Top Gear America, and the F12xx

Ayrton Senna:

Happy Birthday to you (x2)

Happy Birthday Ayrton Senna

Happy Birthday to you!!!

What a guy! Today March 21st is Mr. Ayrton Senna's birthday! Wait, woah, what?!?!? Who is he you ask. Is this a rheotorical question? Am I on candid camera or something, oh haha yeah you got me, cue the punchline drum roll... No? You are being serious? Oh the inhumanity. A small blog much less a wikipedia page on him is but injustice to Ayrton Senna as a person. Titles mean nothing to Mr. Senna. Sure he has 41 Gran-Prix wins, 3 Formula One Championship wins and 610 career points under his name, but to Ayrton racing was life. He was known for his prowess on the race course, fearlessness when taking turns and agressiveness when overtaking opponents; Ayrton was a risk taker and he had mastered the sport of racing.

To learn more technical details about his life check out his wikipedia page for a start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayrton_Senna and make sure to watch his life documentary movie titled Senna! If you truly are a car fan you'll enjoy every minute of it!
                 In further related news Top Gear today had an article informing everyone that Senna's first Formula One car is for sale! If only I had the money myself. Be sure to check out the article: (http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/sennas-first-formula-one-car-for-sale-2012-03-21)

Moving onwards...

American TopGear:

What is this? (yes I realize I ask a lot of rhetorical questions, just shut up and continue reading) but in all reality what the hell is this? An American version of Top Gear. I mean sure I respect American pride but first of all there should only be on Top Gear, the bloody British version! So I was so bored the other day I decided to give this TV show a try. I said why not, I'm bored, I like cars, let me see if this show is any good. 5 minutes in I knew I made a horrible decision. Much like Oedipus Rex, I wanted to stab my eyes out.
     Why?
First of all, horrible acting; they make the Kardashians seem like acceptable TV personalities.
Secondly they're humor is equivalent of a baby crying for milk because it's hungry. How is a baby crying for milk when it's hungry funny? ... My point exactly. Throughout the whole tv show they hardly ever swear (I counted a high number of one instance) and everything that's scripted is boring as ****. Sorry Top Gear America sensored that word out.
Thirdly They wish they could find and come up with boss stunts and challenges to perform.
British Version: have grannies do donuts in cars, drive monster trucks, build rv's out of spare cars.
American Version: shocking yourself while driving.... Yea I'm left speechless and cant think of anything else to write about in relation to that...
Fourth of all, ohhh how this makes my blood boil. So in the show I watched they have this challenge where they go up against old time cowboys on horses in a race to deliver mail. The horses can cut through the terrain but then again they're slow compared to the insanely souped up Mustangs the boys are given. At first you're thinking hell yea here we go. American Muscle, lets tear this show up. And then the race begins and simultaneously, you begin pondering the quickest way to die.

"THEY DRIVE BY THE FREAKING SPEED LIMIT."

Are you firetrucking kidding me!!!! You are on a fudging show full of cars, not only that, they are souped up to the max. Yes max! and yet you go 20 in a 25 mph zone. Ha ha hahaha haha ha ha nervous laughter. I wanted to punch the TV. Well of course you dumbasses lost the race. If this same challenge were run by Jeremy, James and Richard, they would have finished the race, had their cup of tea with some biscuits, conquered some territory (because that's what British people do) and STILL have had time to spare before the cowboys caught up! I refuse to watch anymore of your shows Top Gear America. Please remove the TopGear out of your name. It's a stain on the TopGear Community. And yep I'm looking at you too TopGear Australia.

And last but not least:

F12 Fxx:

So yea we had our initial interpretations of how the Berlinetta was going to look like, then we saw the so called leaked photo, and then we all saw the released pictures from the Geneva Show. In conclusion the F12 Berlinetta, like any wine (which Italy is also known for) is an acquired taste, and personally I've begun to like it a lot. Especially after seeing its statistics and performance. And like most crace cars, eventually there is a Gt version built for ultimate racing.

 There's one for the 458 Italia

A stunning remodeling done for the Gt version of the Mp4-12C because otherwise it just looks and sounds like a fax machine

And so some people already have made some designs as to how the F12 should look like as a Gt version:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the F12xx

Here's the link for the article on this concept (http://www.motorward.com/2012/03/rendering-ferrari-f12xx/)

I think its utterly beautiful. What's your opinion?

I hope you liked this week's blog, be sure to comment below!

Peace out!

-Shree

In My Opinion (3/18/12)

Australia, Brackets, Racing and More....
So there you have it! The first round of the FIA Formula 1 World Champonship is over, and boy, was that an interesting or what? Jenson Button with a superb race after starting in the first row with his teammate Lewis Hamilton in Pole Position. Current GP2 champ Romain Grosjean started in 3rd and Schumacher alongside in 4th. Unusually enough, not only was Red Bull in the THIRD ROW, but Webber qualified faster than Vettel! So it looks like this season will be nothing like the last 2 years that we've seen...

Which will make my new game a lot more interesting. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the IndianCarBoys-sponsored F1 brackets game! Basically, we've every race and you fill in the driver in Pole Position, driver with Fastest Lap, and the top three finishers per race. Considering the first race is over, look back at the results and guess who will have a good season and who won't with your bracket. And there's no point cheating by making the bracket after a race, 'cause this is for fun for you guys, our readers. To print these pictures, right-click on them and open the images in a new tab. Copy and paste them onto a Microsoft Word document or something along those lines and print!

I know I made my own bracket already, and I guessed the finishing order correctly, but not the Pole Position or Fastest Lap (I went for Button and Webber, respectively). So I hope this is something you'll enjoy.


So my opinion of this week is of Ferrari and their performance after winter testing and the first race weekend. In short, not good. In Free Practice 1 (FP1), Alonso came in 4th, 0.800 seconds slower than the first finisher, Button. Massa came in 18th, over 3 seconds slower and beaten by the likes of Lotus, Caterham, Sauber and Force India.

This basically sums up Ferrari's weekend: everything gone wrong.  

In FP2, Alonso was again in 4th, but off the pace by over a second against Schumacher, who led this session. This time, Massa came in a much more respectable 7th, but still nowhere near the speed Ferrari needs. FP3 was a disaster as they came in 16th and 18th, Alonso again leading Massa, but both over 1.5 seconds slower.

Qualifying was also bad, as neither Alonso nor Massa got into Q3, as they came in 12th and 16th, respectively. Results were mixed as Alonso climbed up to 5th, losing to both McLarens and Red Bulls. Massa retired on Lap 46 due to damage from his collision with Bruno Senna around.

So far, not good. Ferrari is really struggling with their grip, especially by their rear wheels. This is one thing I have a mixed opinion on: I love Ferrari and hope they can win some races, hopefully the Driver's and Constructors Championships, but honestly, their pace is really in need of help, because they need to challenge McLaren and Red Bull if they want a chance. It'll be interesting to see how their season will play out.

I hope my bracket will succeed. At least I know it'll be better than the NCAA bracket I never made!
See you all soon!
AV

Formula 1 2012 preview

Hey all,
Due to recent issues (coughcough*schoolwork*cough), Shree will post his In My Opinion post sometime later. But now, I want to focus on the upcoming F1 season, which will be kicking off in Melbourne this Friday.

There have been multiple changes to the teams and drivers since last year, including Renault becoming Lotus F1 and Lotus F1 becoming Caterham.

FYI, Renault F1 was the Benetton Formula One team until 2002, the team where 7-time world champ M. Schumacher won 2 of his championships, and more famously, the team with the racing colors of a parrot. Take a look below...

Noticeable driver changes have taken place all over the grid, including at Williams, Lotus, Sahara Force India, Toro Rosso, Caterham, HRT, and Marussia. 

 The major teams that I think will be competing for the championships are: 

Red Bull Racing RB8

Red Bull's lineup stays the same as reigning double-world champ Sebastian Vettel stays with Mark Webber for yet another year. Although I respect Vettel and Webber, they're success is mainly due to Adrian Newey's excellent engineering crew, who has pulled off miracles over the last two seasons. The moment I saw the RB8,  I thought, "Damn, Newey has done it again!" mainly because, well, just look at the engineering OCDness of the car! 

Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes MP4-27

McLaren's MP4-27 is the only car in 2012 without the stepped nose that is on all the other F1 cars (and don't say Marussia doesn't have a stepped nose, because it has a broken nose; I'll explain later). So, in my mind, this is the prettiest car on the block, and I hope to see that it'll do well. Their drivers haven't changed, but I hear Lewis Hamilton is coming back "a changed and improved man". But let's see how that rivalry with Massa goes, eh? Speaking of Massa... 

Scuderia Ferrari F2012

People have been criticizing the F2012's sharply-stepped nose and unreliability in testing. The fact is though, if Ferrari can hit that right tuning in the next couple of days, especially in Australia for Practice, they'll be very quick. 

Other teams have changed their teams cars as well. Here following are some photos...: 

   Mercedes AMG-Petronas Formula One W03 

Sahara Force India VJM05

Lotus E20

I personally saw the E20 being released and thought it was funny when their site crashed.
Embarrassing.

Williams Formula One FW34

Scuderia Toro Rosso STR7

Sauber C31 

Caterham F1 CT 01 

HRT F112 

Marussia Formula One MR01

I mentioned earlier how this car has a "broken nose". I think it's broken
because it slants down in two different parts! Here's another look. 

Well, this was only a look at the F1 season, I'll give a preview of the Australian Grand Prix sooner than later! 

If Formula One made a brackets system like the NCAA made with March Madness, I'd be all over it... 

See you all soon! 

AV

Geneva Auto Show 2012 -- The Current Lineup

So a lot of you car fans may have heard about the soon-to-start Geneva Motor Show. For those of you who don't know what it is, too bad. Take a guess.

So far, many car companies have announced they will release or preview cars they're going to or starting to build. It's also a place for manufacturers to show off radical and wicked awesome concepts that, sadly, will never see mass production.

This week, as a special treat to all of you, Shree and I will be not only adding posts but updating this post as new cars are revealed. That means check up on this post often, because the rate at which cars are released is alarming.

Some cars that we're reaaaaally excited for and seen pics of (but haven't been seen by the press yet) include...

The stunning F12berlinetta -- Ferrari's replacement for the 599, which will be thoroughly missed.

The ridiculous Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse -- Basically a Veyron SS in roadster form

The mighty Aston Martin V12 Zagato -- Another one of AM's rare and fast cars

The new Ford Transit -- No, wait a minute! I got that wrong!

I mean... The changed-and-improved BMW M6 -- This time with a turbo V8 'stead of a V10

Be sure to check up on this blog post for more information regarding new releases and concepts! 

See you all soon! 

AV 

Update (3/8/12)

So daaaamn, there are so many cars there have been released so far! 

Things that caught my eye include the new RUFs. For those that don't know RUF, they make the craziest and most ridiculous Porsches...ever. 

The Alfa Romeo Disco Concept was also pretty stunning to me. 

The CRAZY AND MENTAL Gumpert Apollo R and Apollo "Enraged". DAMN. How the heck is this road-legal? 

AND WHAT THE HELL. I may be a Ferrari fan boy, but OH DAMN THIS IS A WICKED CAR. An Aventador roadster? Put it into production. Just do it. Or else. 

There are so many more cars that I could list... There's the new Audi A3, an electric Morgan, a new Ford Fiesta ST, Infiniti's mid-engined Emerge-E concept, new M-B SL63, AM's V8 Vantage range, Jaguar Sportbrake... I could just keep on going... There are so many cars. 

If only Tata made cars worthy of being in Geneva (and don't say the Nano). 

In My Opinion (3/2/12)

Well, lookie here! My first "In My Opinon" post. This will be switched off week-by-week between me and Shree.

Going a bit off-topic for a moment, so bear with me people:

So, I've been playing violin for six years now. The place where I go has a nice sized parking lot with a lot of cars on the night I go. A regular Friday will result in about 50 cars in the lot, mostly dreary Hondas, Toyotas, Kias, Suzukis, the regular boring monotonous Japanese boxes. Occasionally you'll catch glimpse of a (horrific) Honda Accord Crosstour or SmartCar (don't even get me started on that piece of...), and you'll wonder, "Who the HELL would be blind enough to even consider those cars???" And so, I leave every Friday, slightly worried about some people and their cars.

Today, however, was different. As I walked out, I noticed we were parked next to a BMW 535i Wagon. Now this got me thinking. Bear with me again.

People who buy BMWs are usually well off. They are also usually people who believe they can rule the world with their German machines and BlueTooth headsets. Now some BMWs represent utter driving brilliance, others.... (coughcoughcoughX3coughcoughX5cough).... don't. The M3, for example, is an amazing car. Period. There's is no denying that the baseline of all automotive excellence is based on BMW's miracle car. BMW makes so many other great cars, but there's no point listing them off, we know them already.

BACK TO 535i!
So, the car in sedan form is good. It's quick, a looker, shiny, and has enough space for your 1.3 children. But the wagon! A wagon is boring! It's for people who've given up on life! But BMW justifies that their wagon is fast and powerful. It probably is. In fact, it IS. With the exception of a few Audis, this might be one of the fastest wagons on Earth. But for Shiva's sake, why?! It may be fast and powerful but IT IS A WAGON.

Now there's the paradox, you see. People in the BMW 5-Series wagon think they're fast, powerful, and unique, but they're in a wagon--the eternal symbol of all that is sensible and slow.

I've been disturbed by this car to the bone. And I quote the ever-so prolific Juliet... "Wherefore art thou BMW 5-Series?  Deny thy maker and refuse thy wagon form!"

Or, at least, that's how I read the Shakespeare's play. Oh well, once a gearhead, always a gearhead...

Signing off for today, see you all next time!
AV

Fiery Fiorano Ferrari

So it's out there the all new Ferrari F620. Scratch that, the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, it came out on the 29th of February, 2012 and oh what an eye catcher it is. Literally! When we first saw the leaked pictures of the 620 two thoughts crossed our mind: 1) Why would anyone ruin the fun and leak pictures days before the release date, and 2) What in the world is that? When we first saw the F620, as it was called back then, a majority of us wondered if we had had too much to drink, or if we were slowly growing a cataract partially deforming our vision of reality. But after taking a couple of minutes, processing what our eyes beheld before us we started to think 'what in the bloody hell was Ferrari thinking?'. Did Ferrari not learn anything from the FF? The 620 was a mixture of Jack Nicholson's smile with a corvette back and eyes like those on the Green Goblin.(Here's an initial leaked image http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ehyc7b4culqjpg/original.jpg)

Yet we can ease our emotions for the most part. Ferrari did the best it could to beautify its... beast, if you may, for our viewing pleasure (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2013-ferrari-f12-berlinetta/) The Berlinetta has classic Ferrari curves and although it still holds the same ghoulish smile, for some reason you start to grow a liking for it. It has some sort of a cynical appeal, as if it will eat anything in its unfortunate path, including its favorite meal, Lamborghinis. The side profile is sleek and clean and the back is alright.Overall I guess it will pass. The F12 Berlinetta surely isn't a Koenigsegg Agera but like Shrek told donkey in the first movie, "That'll do (Ferrari), that'll do". After all there's a little bit of Ferrari in all our hearts so you start to forgive them for their "silly" mistake.

And surely performance makes up for looks. I mean c'mon it's Ferrari could you expect anything less? It has the most horsepower and highest top speed of any production Ferrari ever. Yes that is worthy of repeating a second time. It has the most horsepower and highest top speed of any production Ferrari ever.With a monstrous V12 housed in the front it shares the same 6262cc capacity as the FF but its power output is dramatically increased by approximately 80bhp to an astonishing 730bhp, and it produces 509 torque. We are talking 0-62mph in 3.1 seconds, 0-124mph in 8.5 seconds, and a top speed of 211mph! Despite being housed in the front the F12 Berlinetta is RWD and Ferrari has done a phenomenal job distributing the weight, 46/54 front to rear. And while these are the specs everyone really looks for, if you are more interested in the specs be sure to check out Top Gear's take on the F12 Berlinetta: http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/new-ferrari-f12-revealed-2012-02-29

So overall the F12 Berlinetta is an acquired taste; you eventually start liking it. And after you hear of the specs, you love it. After all it's Ferrari!

See you on the next blog!

-Shree