Thursday, October 23, 2008

What next Alonso?

Alonso must be the most unlucky driver in the history of F1. Currently he is the best driver on track and he brings in all the technical expertise that Schumi used to do it for Ferrari. Well Renault is no small team and he did win 2 world titles with the team and he beat none other than the Schumi led Ferrari twice. Even Mika never beat Schumi twice as he was challenging Irvine one season after Schumi was injured.

Looking at the options Alonso has for the next season, it is very limited. Ferrari has both drivers contracted till 2010 while BMW seats are open only from 2010. I don’t think Alonso is interested in Toyota while Honda looks like an option. With Brawn and Button, Honda does on paper looks a good prospect, but when you look at their performance over the last few years, they always claim that the next season would be theirs and so far they have failed to inspire and this season they are just above Force India in the championships.

STR could be a surprise option for Alonso as the Adrian Newey designed car with Ferrari engines has proved this season with a good driver (Vettel), the car can give everyone a run for their money and this could be a stop gap solution for Alonso before he could make his dream move to Ferrari or even BMW. Another option for him is to be with Renault as they seem to have improved a lot over the last few races and well they could provide Alonso with a car which could seriously challenge Ferrari, McLaren and BMW the next season.

Also the emergence of baby Schumi (Vettel) and the good performance of Kubica would hurt Alonso’s chances of getting into Ferrari post 2010. But with a huge Spanish sponsor moving from McLaren to Ferrari, well that could be a reason why Ferrari may want him plus a lot depends on how Kimi and Massa performs during the next season. Ideally a dream team of any of Vettel and Kubica/Alonso would make Ferrari invincible for the years to come. As far Alonso, well his best bet is to stay with Renault or just move to STR for a season and just keep racing till Ferrari calls him.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

What Massa Needs?

With the title race going down the wire and with this year’s race is extremely similar to what happened last season, it could turn out to be a nail baiting finish. Massa and Ferrari needs to pull-off a Brazilian job to win the Driver’s Championship. Also Kimi and even Alonso may have an extremely important role to play in the title race.

Hamilton has 94 while Massa has 87 points. This means Massa has to finish first or second in Brazil in order to stand any chance of winning the title. If Massa wins, Hamilton has to come 5th or better and if Massa comes 2nd he needs to come 7th or better. But if Massa comes 3rd, no matter what happens Hamilton could win the title.

In today’s world, with the amount of cameras on track I don’t think Kimi or anyone would take him out of the track, but if Hamilton tries any one of his stunts then well he may end in the pit lane all alone while Massa may win the title. This could be the only chance Massa gets to win the title and let’s all hope history repeats itself.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Entry Point!

Welcome to Cutting the Chicane, my new dedicated blog on Formula One. This blog will discusses everything from race results to slick tyres! Well after few deliberations on what name to use for the blog, the list includes “Over the Curb”, “Pit Stop Mob” and even “The Lollypop Man” but I finally decided to use this name. The only Jacques Villeneuve fan suggested this name to me and currently he is praying that JV comes back to F1!!

Oh yeah, we all know what happens when you cut chicanes, just ask the FIA stewards about it!