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Moving on..
Did I really vote for you?
(Before diving into the issue, I have to come clean. I am going to write about electoral system in India. I am 23 but I have never voted. I could not get my Voter’s ID in time for the last election due to ‘some problems’, but I am going to try and be a responsible citizen and vote the next time I get an opportunity. )
The term electoral reform was being tossed around as the next step during the recent crusade against corruption through Lok Pal bill. In the world’s largest democracy, one doesn’t need to underline the importance of voter empowerment. I have a few issues with the existing system and elections in general, for which I could not find concrete solutions.
First, in democracy, the elected candidate is supposed to represent the majority of the people from his/her constituency. In this case, can there be a winner who collects less than 50% of the total votes cast? He may have majority of votes among the contesting candidates, but does it not mean that more than 50% of the voters (who bothered to show up) do not want him? What is the majority opinion in this case? A glance at election results can highlight my concern. In 2009 General elections, many candidates won after collecting only 25-35% of the total votes. I can only assume that this is the case of finding the least objectionable candidate to fill the seat. But this is what happens when you have ridiculously large number of political parties. Still I do not think that this qualifies as proper representation that people deserve.
Moving on, should there be a provision to recall an underperforming candidate before end of the term? Logically, yes! Practically, how? I found an article about the first recorded existence of this practice in India here. Opponents of this provision will always cry foul, but cynicism is not going to help if we want real reforms. There is no real system in place to assess the performance of any elected representative. What would be the best solution? A civic committee for each constituency? Or a higher level panel? Who decides when to initiate the proceedings? In a country like India, execution of this idea will not at all be easy.
My last issue is with coalitions. While there are many prominent pre-election coalitions, in present situation, even that is not sufficient to form governments. So post-election coalitions are very common. Isn’t this a form of cheating? Agendas of so formed governments may change and that is not what the “majority” voted for. Classic example would be NCP-Sena alliance (with BJP support against Congress of course) in 2007 Pune Municipal Corporation polls. What the hell are the voters supposed to understand from this? Had they known that this was going to happen, I am quite sure that the results would have been different. But still, people of Pune have to endure this mockery till the end of their term or till this circus implodes. In all seriousness, in a multi-party election fought on large number of issues, opinion on combination of two issues may be different than opinion about individual issues. For example, a voter voted for a party because it has promised to invest more on renewable energy sources and reduce the percentage of reservations. But if after the election, it joins hands with a party supporting reservations and ultimately ends up increasing reservations, is it not a clear case of cheating? For this voter, issue of reservation may be more important than clean energy, and he could have voted for someone else to ensure this! So I think that post poll coalitions must be banned and parties should share their affiliation in advance. Realistically in India this would mean Congress+, BJP+ and 3rd front. Again, 3rd front may create a conflict, but this would be the least objectionable solution. Juggling numbers and forming a government one way or the other is not really democratic in my opinion. This brings me back to 2 or 3 party systems, but that is impossible in India.
My chauvinism
This post originates from a recent conversation triggered by an allegedly chauvinistic comment I made on Facebook. A friend posted a video of Englands women’s football team winning. I commented, “Most of the current members of mens team are eligible to play in this team..useless idiots!”. And it began. Another friend claimed that this is offensive to all the girls. My excuse was that it was not meant to offend the girls, but the boys who were being compared to girls. She said that just the fact that guys can get offended by comparison to girls is offending.
Seriously, why should girls be offended by my comment? It is a common (mis?)understanding that guys are better at sports than girls. I am not an athlete myself, but I am talking about majority here. We talk about gender equality, but is it really 100% possible? When it comes to sports? Performance is largely dependent on physique. Women have different bone structure, different muscle development pattern and different hormones than men. So their performance is ‘different’. Why should it be good or bad? It is because we only deal with numbers when it comes to sports. We can work with reason here. So lets try to reason it out.
How many times have you heard phrases like “You throw like a girl” or “Dont cry like a girl!” being tossed around. Very similar to what I said..on Facebook. Where does it come from? From the moment we enter this world (or even before that), we are raised under expectations of a particular gender. Granted that most of these expectations are fulfilled by majority of us, if someone doesn’t, society terms them weird. Why is it not ok for guys to cry in public? Because of the pretense “Guys dont cry!”. Thats why in our society it is not ok for men to be a little effeminate. There are always some traits attached to a gender and any anomaly is attacked. And why is it offensive? Because you are challenging someone’s gender!! Of course its offensive! But that doesnt mean that the other gender is inferior..it means that it is OTHER gender..OTHER traits..OTHER.
But it does become offensive when you demean the other gender, which is not a rare occurrence in our society! The ideology of gender bias is so deep-rooted, that women were being paid less than men at Wimbledon until 2007. Lets not forget about the rest of the women, who face this every single day at work. A very recent case of head of an employers’ association in New Zealand highlights this issue. He linked womens’ performance to menstruation and pregnancy! As outrageous as it may sound, that is how some bosses see their female employees, apparently! This really is offensive and needs to change. But how can it, When you still think menstruation is not acceptable! What is needed here is accepting that other gender is equal in rights and respect it with all its traits.
I read an interesting case the other day. A pre-school in Sweden has accepted ‘Gender-neutral’ policy. Use of he/she is avoided and every kid is treated like an ‘individual’. No guns and cars for boys and dolls for girls. Play with whatever you like! This level of liberal view can only be groomed in innocent little kids. My only worry is that one day these kids will enter our ‘real’ society and it will be a huge shock for them! It will be difficult unless everyone around them is also gender-neutral. All we can do is work in that direction..rest is up to the chauvinists!
Just a matter of choice?
Yesterday, lawmakers in Holland passed a legislation which bans all sorts of religious slaughter of animals. This was backed by animal rights groups, who claim that practice of keeping animals conscious while killing is cruel. Instead, stunning the animals before killing is prescribed. This decision has affected people of Muslim and Jewish faith in the country, who constitute a considerable chunk of the overall population. They claim that their way of killing is more humane and is an irreplaceable part of their culture. They have been given a period of one year to prove their claim, which seems almost impossible. Pro-ban community show video footage of kosher slaughterhouses where inhumane acts were allegedly performed. But the other side has evidences too. Some videos show that due to high “productivity” requirements, animals are not even properly stunned. In reality, who has the right to decide? This is hardly a matter of right or wrong. Would you rather have animals killed after prayers and worshiping or on a conveyor belt at the rate of 1000 units per minute that is the question. We are talking about “KILLING” animals here. And there can be no justification based on “compassion” and “rights” of this activity. If you are too weak to admit that the whole deal is inhumane then forcing your propaganda down the throat of others is just insane. All act is going to achieve is more discontent in an already perturbed society.
This is not an isolated incident. Such ban have been in existence in many countries. Similar to this is the case of ban on burqas in france, citing equal rights among sexes as the reason. Though it seems logical to many, such issues are very delicate and should be handled in that manner. Over the case of history, India has seen many religious practices banned due to their barbarous nature. But most of them were ones where the practices were forced upon individuals against their will.
I am not for or against the ban when it comes to such issues, I think it should be a matter of choice. We live in a society where cultural boundaries are not bound by national boarders. In such an environment, making such laws does more harm than good. People disapproving others’ religious believes is a chronic problem which constitutes most of the major events in the history of the world.
Even in the western so called ‘developed’ world we have seen such clashes. We are quite familiar with debate against Scientology and Mormon church. This issue recently came up during the race for republican hot seat. The level of disapproval is so extreme that people are ready to ignore all the work done by Gov. Mitt Romney. Not even Catholicism is away from controversies with theory of evolution being the bone of contention.
If we try to extend this debate, rights of homosexuals could also be contested under same argument. Some people decide what is right while others have to agree. Granted, the system works most of the times, the few times it doesnt is where the whole thing falls apart. People are slowly getting aware of this reality and steps are being taken to bridge the gaps. State of New York was the latest to join the group to allow same sex marriage. Even an ultra conservative society like India, where Baba Ramdev claimed that homosexuality is a disease and can be “cured” by yoga has opened its door to winds of change.
Hopefully, we will learn to tolerate “the others” in future in more effective manner. But as you can see, its not all that easy!
Common threads
TV writers are blessed with great visions through which they can create humour out of unimaginable scenarios and turn of events. The possibilities are endless as we can see by the range of topics handled over the years. But when you have seen sufficient number of sitcoms and in general.. TV comedies, you tend to find out some common points among them. There is no winning formula as such when it comes to comedy. All sorts of things have been tried and like in case of any other product, each series needs a selling point. So I thought it will be interesting to compare some of these series and their ‘X-Factors’. Of course you cannot compare Cheers to Family Guy! But you can compare Family Guy to American dad and The Simpsons..
Thinking about all of them, you can set some general categories. For example friendship. There are sitcoms with one clear central character while some don’t, Friends for example. Coupling has the same setup, with 6 friends. But while Friends talk about all sort of things, Coupling is all about “Adult” way of life. Thats why Friends had more material obviously and more dimensions. That 70s Show was younger version of both these shows for me. School and college life in the 70s revolving around 6 friends. This show was always fresh. All three shows had brilliant stupid guy characters. While Joey and Jeff had other shades to their characters, Kelso was just stupidity personified .
If I stretch this comparison a bit, How I met your mother could be brought under the same roof. Though it has 1 clear central character, Ted (I mean the show is supposed to be about his wife!) the other characters steal the show quite often. Till the end of 3rd season, I considered Barney to be more awesome than owning a lightsaber. But before I realized his awesomeness, Robin was the hook for me. The title is completely misleading, so if you watch it like a regular sitcom, it is quite good. The creators have done a cruel deed by showing the carrot of mother every now and then. Frasier can be regarded as a very mature version of this show. He was quite older than Ted but still his ultimate aim was to find the right one. The show had more family elements than friendships. The actors and themes were better and more wholesome. This show was a clear case of spin off being more popular than the original show, Cheers. Cheers itself was a brilliant show which speaks volumes about quality of Frasier. Joey tried that too after Friends, but failed miserably. It was good while it lasted though. Boston Legal was equally good after The Practice, although to classify them under comedy would be unfair. Denny Crane and Alan Shore friendship was one of its kind.. comic with a hint of drama.
Ideally, Scrubs deserves a separate category, but ultimately its about JD and his friends…even his onesided friendship with his mentor. JD-Janitor rivalry is the best one I have ever seen. If there is an award for a character based on his impact comapred to screen time. Janitor will win it by a mile. I think Big bang theorydeserves an honourable mention here. Its an entirely different bunch of friends comprising of 3 nerds and an alien species called Sheldon Cooper. The premise itself is very funny and creators have juiced it quite well. The best in league of friendship related comedy according to me is Seinfeld, hands down. The best TV series of all time for me. Four brilliantly scripted characters played by 3 brilliant actors and Jerry Seinfeld (he knew he was a bad actor). It is like a bible actually, only it tells more about what not to do in life. Those of you who have seen Seinfeld will agree, that once a week.. at least.. you come across a situation where you can say “Seinfeld has done an episode on that!” I am planning a seperate post on Seinfeld so moving on..
Switching the gear..next theme. Different Stroke was the first sitcom that I saw. From there to American dad, family has always been a hot property for writers. Dads are mostly stars of the shows, Full House for example. Modern Family has taken this theme to a whole new level by stretching it only as far as..it can happen in 1 family..its possible. But still there are restrictions..which go away completely when you have animated characters. The Simpsons of course is a legend. But its showing signs of aging in recent years. Family Guy is threatening to take its crown. It has a long long way to go though. I would like to see a showdown of some kind between Peter and Homer for the crown. That would be awesome! American dad has been accused of being essentially Family Guy minus Stewie. But thats unfair. Seth Macfarlane tests viewers’ patience far too often in Family Guy by drifting off the topic completely with the phrase “like that time I did xyz”. American dad is more focused and has quirkier characters. I was trying to bring Two and a half men under this category, but I am too scared! That is one messed up family!
Its difficult to pick one in this category, but if I have to, I will go with Arrested development. It has found new topics in a largely “been there seen that” pool of themes. And the sarcasm was apparently too brilliant for masses. Thats why it lasted only 3 seasons, which is a shame! The single camera format adds to the already rich comic base. Most of the shows have 1 weird guy, this show had just 1 normal guy. And yet it worked! The characters are borderline sociopaths. That limit is crossed by characters from Its always sunny in Philadelphia. They are a pure bunch of nutcases who need immediate psychiatric treatment and rehabilitation, such is the level of sociopathy and general lack of care of any sorts. Seinfeld characters shared that to some extent, but not the way Its always sunny.. characters do! Creator of Seinfeld..Larry David has given us one more gem in the form of Curb your enthusiasm. It explains a lot about roots of Seinfeld and again portrays a guy who would torch the whole society…given a choice! Its a self help guide to get into a jam from seemingly normal situations by use of a single tool called mouth without a filter. All 3 single camera format shows..all 3 of them brilliant! Definitely on the must watch list..
The Office both US and UK versions are brilliant examples of mocumentary, also used in Modern Family, a format I have become fond of. US version was blamed for scene to scene copying from UK version but over the years, it developed its own way. Character of Dwight takes the cake. He always thinks that better than the others and tries to prove it all the time. I tried watching Parks and Recreation, but it has too much of Office in it with a hint of Office Office. But I think the format is here to stay for a long time.
To classify the next bunch as British comedies is crude, but thats what they are for me. The ones that i am talking about mainly revolve around dry british sarcasm. Monty Python’s Flying Circus still remains the best sketch show for the same reason. People who like Chandler Bing’s sarcasm should check our Blackadder and Bazil Fawlty from Fawlty Towers. I am quite certain that your definitions will change. Then there is Yes Minister and Yes Prime minister, universally applicable case studies of red tape bureaucracy.
I have kept 1 series for last..and for a reason. Its South Park. How can you classify this series? Its an animated sitcom that has done every single controversial theme in the book with same exuberance from the day Cartman got his anal probe to the latest deal with Tween music. Sometimes they do create mountains of of non-issues, but they always somehow end up giving a message in the end. They extend the themes beyond reality for impact and make fun of everyone and everything. The character of Eric Cartman has potential to start the third world war..single handedly. More to follow of course..
(Wow, this turned out to be a good writing exercise for me. Given that I am writing after 2 years, the post is bound to seem rusty. But I think I have found a theme worth expanding and I hope I get the hang of writing soon. I hereby declare my blog revival attempt compete after this longer than expected post. )
End of F1
Formula 1 has experienced what most of the nations and civilizations have sometime or the other in history. Monopoly and dictatorship always lead to destruction. In case of F1 it is destruction by its own subjects..the teams. Only future knows who will win this battle but its not that hard to predict.
Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone stretched the string too far; the string that held FIA and FOTA together for all these years; the string that relied on mutual trust and understanding. FOTA said enough to their tyranny and we now have F1 without 8 main teams: Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BMW, Brawn GP, Toyota, Red Bull and Toro Rosso.
FOTA has already declared that they will start a rival series with more or less same rules but with better governance. Important thing is they have suggested that in addition to suggestions from teams, opinions of millions of fans will also be taken care of; primarily by reducing ticket prices!!Current drivers are also showing loyalties to their teams rather than FIA so we can hope to see same excitement only under different name.
Now that we know the facts of this situation, this is what I (or any non-retard for that matter) can deduce:
1) F1 WILL face extinction. If Mosley and Ecclestone think that fans like me watch F1, they are wrong. We watch the teams, who cares about the title! We watch for the teams and drivers, not because these two idiots make the rules.
2) FOTA already has the infrastructure and technology in place. All they need is some thinking space, which is not a big deal. The new series will be a hit.
3) Force India will sunk even lower without FOTA support. They will face the immediate challenge of finding a replacement for its Mclaren-Benz engine and transmission. Williams, well I can only wish them luck. It will be intersting to see what Fisichella, Sutil, Rosberg and Nakajima do next season. If they are sane, they will break away from F1.
4) Both FOTA and FIA will find a few more teams to join on the grid. It will be easy for FOTA with huge sponsorships and excellent technology. F1 will find even lamer teams with unknown drivers.
Remember what happened when Schumi retired.. many people stopped watching F1. This is same case only much much grander. For me and millions of fans its a vey easy choice. I don’t know what FIA is thinking but it is definitely getting screwed.
Rule changes for Formula-1 season 2010
A day after FIA let Mclaren off the hook for showing “honesty” in lie-gate scandal, revised rules for 2010 season were announced. FIA has gone into a damage control mode after an outcry over stringent cost cutting norms last year. First and foremost, the budget cap has been increased to 40m £ from earlier limit 30m £.
This limit doesn’t include following costs:
- Marketing and hospitality
- Remuneration for test or race drivers, including any young driver programmes
- Fines or penalties imposed by the FIA
- Engine costs (for 2010 only)
- Any expenditure which the team can demonstrate has no influence on its performance in the Championship
- Dividends (including any tax thereon) paid from profits relating to participation in the Championship
“Any expenditure which the team can demonstrate has no influence on its performance in the Championship??“…that rule is going to be the back door escapeway for all the teams who will be accused of overspending.
FIA: You have exceeded the cap with your latest wind-tunnel testing.
Team: Oh no…that was not for Aero….we were just checking if the stickers are firmly in their places. Got to keep the sponsors happy!
Thats how dumb it can get. For the big teams, it will not be a big deal to show random expenditures on non F1 related products and get away with it. FIA will obviously try to avoid such things by choosing best possible commissioners but ultimately, they are also humans. Its not easy to keep a watch on companies as big as Ferrari and BMW with huge R&D budgets. It will however be difficult for a team like Brawn GP, which has no existance outside F1.
Additionally, there will be 13 teams next season to spice things up a bit. FIA has agreed to provide support to all the new teams.
“Those teams accepting the cap will be able to run constantly adjustable wings, engines with no rev limit, more powerful KERS systems, and – in theory – four-wheel drive. They will also be allowed unlimited out-of-season track testing with no restrictions on the scale and speed of wind tunnel testing.”
The best move by FIA in recent years. Within limts, teams will have full freedom to choose their priorities. This year we have seen 3 way competiotion: Double Decker Diffuser vs KERS vs Both and it is amazing to watch how your priorities affect you on different parts of a circuit. We saw Piquet defend his position from Trulli by cleverly using KERS to match Toyota’s superior aero. With new rules the competition could get more dimensions.
“Tyre blankets will be banned and the ban on other tyre-heating devices will be maintained”
Postponed rule from last year; will have a major impact on race start-ups and out laps after pit stops. Speaking of pitstops, look at the next rule:
“Refuelling during a race will be forbidden in order to save the costs of transporting refuelling equipment and increase the incentive for engine builders to improve fuel economy (to save weight)”
This will severely change the importace of pit stops. All teams can change tyres in less than 5sec. It was the refuelling strategy that made pit stops both interesting and influential. Though timing of pit stop will matter, it won’t play much part in deciding the outcome of race like it does now. A step backwards according to me. We do not want all teams running on same weight for the entire race! Reduces chaces of good overtaking. This overshadows the effect of all the technical freedom.
Overall, FIA has done a good job in creating good will. Perks for minions and freedom for the giants. Should bring them to a same level by next year.
First championship point(s) for Ferrari
Burning hot Sakhir International Circuit proved lucky for Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen scored 3 valuable championship points in Bahrain GP.
Superficially, these points hardly matter for a team like Ferrari in its championship bid (which looks like long lost). But it was a huge morale boost, which the team needed badly. The main issue of reliability apparently seemed solved for one Ferrari, ended Massa’s chance of scoring after 5 laps. Huge questionmark over feasibility of KERS system still lingers over Ferrari pits as a malfunction only made KERS a burden for the rest of the race. It was really painful to see race leader Jenson Button lap past him halfway through the race! In addition to development of rear double decker diffuser, sorting this mess up will be a huge challenge for the team before F1 enters Europe on 10th May, at Spain.
If experts are to be believed, all the teams will be ready with their versions or equivalents of rear double decker diffusers. So it will be interesting to see whether Brawn GP will continue to dominate due to their headstart or not.
Only nailbiting finishes can save IPL now
Though IPL-2 is doing better than any other TV show, even Lalit Modi agrees that TRPs are lower than expected. In addition to that, rain is playing a spoilsport and influencing outcomes. As the tournament is being held in SA, profit margins have declined and thus Lalit Modi had to come up with 7 and half minute “Strategy Break”. No team or fan enjoys such a disturbance. People like me (severely impatient viewers) do not wait to watch Sameer Kocchar and Arun Lal discuss about how fascinating Shilpa Shetty looks in such breaks. Extra Innings has gone extra stupid this year with Gaurav Kapoor, Mandira Bedi and Mayang Chang gracing the screen with their complete ignorance. Chang just wanders around SA to give us random updates, which is ok I guess. Mandira Bedi, who has cranked it up a notch with her annoying hairstyle, has become even dumber. Gaurav Kapoor carries as much nuisance value as in Football Locker Room.
Lalit Modi expects viewers to sit and watch the pre-match talks, discussions in lunch breaks and post match analysis. But the crew selected by Sony makes sure that I do neither. In fact I am so repelled by all this, that I check whether match has started on Cricinfo and directly join in on Live action. Extra Innings is in a complete disarray with poor editing and mediocre knowledge-base. Even Charu Sharma sounds like a better option; the guy atleast knows what to talk about and how to stall.
Thankfully what hasn’t changed is quality of games. Hardly a week into the tournament and we had 4 thrilling finishes. Two matches yesterday were terrific entertainment. First one was Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Superkings. AB de Villers played an awesome inning; first century of the tournament. While chasing CSK were quite comfortable after Hayden’s awesome start but in the end they just blew it. They couldn’t get 40 off 29 when Flintoff and Raina were still playing. Dhoni, Badrinath and Morkel just watched as DD literally stole the victory.
2nd game was even better; Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders. RR put on an amazing show while defending a paltry total of 150. Kamran Khan, 18 yr old kid kept Ganguly’s valuable inning under check. It all went to last ball, 2 needed off 1 ball and Ishant Sharma on strike. KKR took 1 run and we had first ever Super Over in IPL. With 15 needed off 6 balls, Yusuf Pathan played a sensational knock and finished off the total 6-2-6-4. Only more and more close games can save IPL’s popularity.
P.S. – I did not like the concept of super over. Teams took half an hour to bowl 12 balls and it was rather boring. Bowl out was more fun. Cricket pundits believe that it only depended on bowlers’ skill while batsmen had to just sit and watch. But it brought pace to the proceedings and was actually more thrilling. Super over is a bit too predictable. Incidently Lalit Modi also believes that bowl out is the way to go. When KKR needed 6 off 6 he was cheering for a bowl out instead of super over!
Vettel clinches his 2nd win in Shanghai
Raging bull of Brawn GP was stopped by Red Bull drivers, who sealed first victory for the team since its inception. A stylish 1-2 finish in a soaking condition marked the arrival of new championship contenders on the block. Though they have performed consistantly well in both the earlier races a win will certainly boost the confidence levels in the pits. Two Brawn GP cars came 3rd and 4th maintaining their good record this year. First time this year, both the Mclarens finished in point scoring positions ensuring that their development efforts are on track.
Another major blow for Ferrari as the team finished the race without a single championship point. The start was good in a very very wet condition as they managed to climb up to 3rd and 5th position at one stage. But Massa retired halfway with electronic failure. Sans KERS and with ordinary aerodynamics, the car had neither pace nor grip as car after car overtook Kimi who finished 10th. Ferrari is clearly not in its comfort zone anymore and need to take quick action if they hope to salvage something out of this season.
Kubica’s plan to enter the race with KERS for the first time was shattered after a disastrous practice session and as a result his car was out of balance for the rest of weekend. He showed a rare case of recklessness when he took a flight from Trulli’s rear wing only to miraculously jump into pit lane. Poor Trulli had to retire but Kubica manged to continue inspite of heavy damage to front suspension.
Dream of every Indian was shattered once again when Adrian Sutil failed to complete the race at 7th position with only 4 laps remaining. This time there was no Kimi to take him out as was the case in Monaco last year. He crashed into barriers with his own skill and left billions of people heartbroken. The hunt for points continues for Mallya’s Force India. But the picture looks promising as Force India managed to generate good pace in wet conditions.
Moral victory for Formula-1: Double Decker diffusers here to stay
FIA court upheld the decisions made by stewards during both the races and deemed the new Double Decker rear diffusers legal. Though this brings trouble and extra hard days ahead for the rest of the teams, a ban on this innovation would have meant a journey backwards in time (just like Samajwadi Party crying out ban Computers and English during elections) F1 can look ahead to a glorious season ahead with clash between the titans with ‘powerful’ minions. With three unexpected teams having the technological superiority and potential of giants (Ferrari, BMW, et. al) to catch up with them, it can well get to the last centimeter of Abu Dhabi GP this year.
Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams will definitely have an upper hand in Shanghai, it will not be impetuous to say that others will not be far behind in catching up. BMW and Renault have a prototype ready which they expect to test during this weekend. We can expect the same from Ferrari and Mclaren as well. For some teams it will be easier but teams like Force India will be struggling to keep up. It is not all about the money and effort, but there are some more fundamental problems before these 7 teams for this major adaptation. Accommodating this rear double decker diffuser can mean redesigning the chassis and suspension for some teams. With ban on independent testing, it is not going to be a cakewalk. Looks like FIA’s motive of cost cutting will be lost this season, if the teams want a competitive season.
Some F1 pundits are speculating a whitewash with Brawn GP dominating the entire season. Though this still might be a possibility, when it comes to F1, its not as simple as that. Team needs more than a fast car to stay in F1. Its not like an equation in which you enter values and get an answer. The biggest challenge for any team is of course, reliability; in case of both car and driver. Button is a calm composed fellow with a positive racing mentality, but I do not see that in Barrichello. It was evident from both the races. I am willing to put my money on either Rosberg or Trulli for the coming races based on their performance. It is also interesting to note that Red Bull minus the diffuser advantage and KERS were outstanding on the track as was Robert Kubica. All the factors have to combine to give good results. Who knows, maybe the 8 engine per car rule might well turn out to be the decider in the end!
There has been a lot of reshuffling ahead of Chinese GP. First up its Ferrari. Off the track, they have made some serious changes in staff with technical director Aldo Costa sent back to Maranello to lead the efforts on making F60 faster. In another huge step, they have decided to enter Shanghai GP without KERS. Up till now KERS has actually worked as a ‘Curse’ for the champions. It will definitely provide a major boost to team’s reliability if not speed.
Interestingly enough, BMW think that its time to test KERS on their other driver Kubica this weekend. It will be interesting to see how they manage his weight issues. Mclaren and Renault are keen to improve their performance with their diffuser models. Here is a snap from above Shanghai International Circuit. (This picture was probably taken when the track was being built and probably never updated by google earth. With the Chinese you never know!)-
The projected track
The integrity of Formula-1 will again be tested on 29th of April in Paris when Mclaren along with Lewis Hamilton will face the judges of FIA in the alleged fraud controversy. F1 is getting uglier by day with new scandals sprawling every now and then. What Alonso and Kimi said earlier this week might just turn out to be the fact-‘Championship will be decided in court this year’.
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Top Posts
- Did I really vote for you?
- My chauvinism
- Just a matter of choice?
- Common threads
- End of F1
- Rule changes for Formula-1 season 2010
- First championship point(s) for Ferrari
- Only nailbiting finishes can save IPL now
- Vettel clinches his 2nd win in Shanghai
- Moral victory for Formula-1: Double Decker diffusers here to stay
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Moving on.. 