33 posts from March 2008

I’m not into the color red. It’s like the last color on my mind. But I do consider some things that come in red. Among the things that I consider coming in red is the Hyundai Genesis. It does look good in grey and black, but I think it’s a bit more mind-blowing if it’s in red. Hyundai is an excellent car manufacturer. What I really about Hyundai is its uniqueness which shows in their cars. The smooth corners and intricate details of the Genesis’ exterior make it so Hyundai. You probably have no idea what I’m talking about. But just notice the striking details on the exterior of every Hyundai car and you’ll know what I mean.

Let’s go back to the Hyundai Genesis now. It’s a full-size 4-door sedan that has this concept-car-aura on it. Well, it sure features innovations but not on a concept car level. This comes in three engine types: the Tau 4.6L V8, the Lambda 3.8L V6, and the Lambda 3.3L V6. So, anyone who sure has some interest on the Genesis has a choice on which type would best satisfy his or her standards when it comes to performance.

    Tau 4.6L V8 could produce an energy output of about 375 hp.

    Lambda 3.8L V6 has a power output of 306 hp.

    Lambda 3.3L V6 produces about 266 hp.

Whatever engine type you choose, you are sure to achieve only the best possible from the Hyundai Genesis. Its interior has this charismatic appeal to it with a nicely designed dashboard that has the usual features of a car. Just by looking at it from inside out, you’ll know the real meaning of elegance mixed with exceptional performance. It’s okay though if you prefer the grey or other color of the Hyundai Genesis. The red one just makes the Hyundai Genesis more appealing.

Since the Bahrain GP is next week, I decided to take a break from Formula 1. What do I have in store for you? What I have for you right now is the Pontiac Solstice. It’s the latest addition to Pontiac’s premier line of good-looking cars. The Pontiac Solstice comes in two body styles: coupe and convertible. Whatever you choose, you’ll probably get superior performance and good looks possessed by all Pontiac cars. This 2-seater car boasts this distinctive finesse. Well, maybe it’s because of its smooth corners and its superb aerodynamics.

The energy output of a Pontiac Solstice, when turbocharged, could get up to 260 hp. That’s not bad at all. And to prove that the Solstice is truly a remarkable car that has caught the attention of everyone is its staggering demand of 7,000 cars during the 10^th day of its release. Imagine 7,000 cars that cost more than $5,000 being produced. Wow. Some people are truly born lucky and rich to drive a first rate car like the Solstice.

Here’s a trivia about the Pontiac Solstice that’ll make you say, “really?!”

Remember the blockbuster movie Transformers? Of course you do. Who would’ve forgotten about that super cool movie about the Autobots and the Decepticons. I’ve watched that movie and I was awestruck with its effects. I was actually looking for flaws while I was watching, but I just couldn’t find anything. The movie was excellent! Okay, let’s get back to the connection of the Solstice to the movie Transformers. The Solstice is one of the Autobots named Jazz; it’s the one with the hard top. Yes, Autobot Jazz is a Pontiac Solstice. But it’s not like the Solstice is great because it was featured in a movie. Just by knowing that it’s developed by Pontiac makes the Solstice an exceptional car.

I didn’t know who Robert Kubica is until his car crashed during last year’s Canadian GP. I was expecting a guy that is as old as Rubens Barichello. But what I saw was this young guy, who by the way is a Polish, with a smile on his face. Robert Kubica, born in Krakow, Poland, was the first-ever Polish to race on Formula One.  R Kubica is currently driving for the BMW Sauber team which is presently on the second spot in the constructor’s standing and is 8-points ahead of the Ferrari team.

Just like Lewis Hamilton, Kubica developed the love for cars at a very young age and joined the Polish Karting Championship where he won 6 championships. After giving his contribution to the said karting event, he decided to join a higher level of karting events such as the International German Karting Championship, the Monaco Kart Cup, and the Elf Masters.

Before he became the official BMW Sauber driver, he was the team’s test driver. And due to his remarkable driving skills during test drives, the team as well as the team’s manager Mario Theissen was impressed about him. During that time, former BMW driver, Jacques Villeneuve was having headaches which probably caused with the accident he had during the 2006 German GP. The whole team decided that Villenueve was no longer fit to race. Kubica was then chosen to replace Villenueve and start on the 2006 Hungarian GP. However, he was disqualified due to an underweight car. On the Turkish GP, his official second race, another disappointment came to Kubica which got him to finish in the 12^th spot. During the Italian GP, he finished third that made him the first Polish to step into the Formula 1 podium. But that was followed by another disappointing race at the Chinese GP which is the result of a wrong tire choice. His first year in the F1 is just plain bad.

His 2007 career as a F1 driver was better though, earning points for his team. The highlight of his career on the negative aspect was probably the serious accident he had during the Canadian GP. It was good news though that he only got light concussion and a sprained ankle. He only missed one race and came back at the French GP, finishing the race in the 4^th spot.

Aside from Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica I think is going to be a great F1 racer. And if he continues on getting to the podium after every race, he could be the one Hamilton has to watch out for. He’s currently at the 5^th spot and his team is on the 2^nd.

We’ll just have to watch out for him during the Gulf Air Bahrain GP, which are just a few days away. Kubica got the 6^th spot on last season and maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to get a win like what happened at the Sepang circuit. Okay, I’m going to try to “guess” who’s going to win at the Bahrain GP but I won’t tell you for now because I’m going to need the final list of the qualifying race first.

Do you agree about night races? When I think about it, it would be very awesome to watch Formula 1 at night. However, the safety of the drivers is laid on the line. The best way I think to make sure that the drivers are safe is to ensure that there are enough lighting devices to illuminate the entire circuit. But the idea of night races is a nice idea. It’ll increase the excitement of the people watching on the stands. I just wish I’d be able to watch even a single F1 race from the stands. Maybe I can -- in my dreams.

Where did all the McLarens go? Well, there’s one McLaren driver who stood up at the left side of K Raikkonen who’s name isn’t L Hamilton but H Kovalainen. Where’s Hamilton then? He’s at 5^th place which isn’t what everyone, including me, wasn’t expecting from him. Maybe he’s just taking a time out and isn’t that familiar with the Sepang circuit. But he really can’t afford to lose anymore games because the whole Ferrari has started to step up their game and is showing their winning syndrome.

Before L Hamilton came to the McLaren team, there was K Raikkonen. And I’m telling, the entire team was a power house during the Schumacher era. I admired the drive of the entire team despite the domination of Ferrari. And now that the team is experiencing déjà vu, they have to realize that it’s time to step out of the shadow of Ferrari and drive ahead to hopefully win the world championship. Well hey; it’s only the second race of the season. There’s still more to come. They sure have a lot to time to improve their cars and make their drivers outperform every racer. The reality is we didn't perform as strongly as we could have done. Obviously, a number of circumstances prevailed otherwise we could have had a second and third. But as it turned out we under-performed and we know we've got to do a better job at the next race,” said McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh.

The next F1 race would be in Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir, Bahrain. Last season’s top racer was Felipe Massa of the Ferrari team. Hopefully, L Hamilton makes a good start by getting pole position. But that won’t be easy with K Raikkonen driving a Ferrari. I know I go for the Ferrari team but there’s just a part of my head that thinks that the McLaren team has more advantage because of its young and skilled drivers. The only thing that I guess separates McLaren from Ferrari is experience. K Raikkonen as well as F Massa are experienced drivers and team has this hunger for winning. What more can I say? These two teams just have an eminent rivalry.

Pity me. I only got 1 out of 3 from my prediction for the Malaysian GP. I told you I’m no fortune teller. The only thing that I got right was H Kovalainen getting the third place. K Raikkonen got the first place and R Kubica got the second spot. If you’re asking me where L Hamilton is, well, he’s fallen to the 5^th spot. But despite winning the previous GP, the the Ferrari team is still behind the McLaren team for several points. And L Hamilton is 3-points ahead of K Raikkonen, who’s tied with Nick Heidfeld of the BMW team.

The domination of Ferrari at the Sepang circuit proved to the other teams that they’re back and that they’re ready to kick some ass. But of course, their tough rival McLaren isn’t going to fall back because horror brought by the comeback of Ferrari. But you see, anything can happen during the race. And we must realize that the Schumacher era has ended, which makes Formula One more exciting. Well, there’s L Hamilton and he’s great. But maybe, this isn’t the season for him to shine because there’s still one tough obstacle that’s keeping him from winning championships. The name of the guy I’m talking about is the Finnish in the name of K Raikkonen.

Yeah, K Raikkonen had a disastrous start during the Australian GP. And the technical difficulties cursed the entire team from the qualifying race to the actual race. But the all effort of the Ferrari team in Maranello paid off and showed during the dominant race on the Australian GP. I just hope that Ferrari continues to win because they’re the finest team in F1 for me. If you don’t agree with me, it’s okay. We all have different likes anyway, so I respect whatever team you are rooting for in F1. Peace out!

What was very startling during the 2008 Australian Grand Prix was that the 22 race cars were trimmed down to just seven cars. And what’s even more mind-boggling was that there were no red race cars among remaining cars. Where did all Ferraris go? Well, the cars all retired even before the race ended because of engine problems. "The lack of reliability is a real problem for me now," the Finn said. "But I know that back in Maranello the team is working hard to solve our problems. "I'm not worried at all about the performance and the competitiveness of the car. The first race was like it was, but we know that we have a really good car. We have to be constantly competitive during the weekend, because when you have to start from far behind, you get stuck in the traffic, just the way it happened at Melbourne,” said K Raikkonen regarding Ferrari crisis.

As a Ferrari and K Raikkonen fan, I was upset that both cars retired. All I saw was that K Raikkonen going to the pit lane and leaving his car. But I was still thankful for that one point given to K Raikkonen. This one point I think has something to do with R Barrichello’s savoir faire of the race.

Remember, what I said on my previous entry that anything could happen during the race? That can be applied on the crisis that happened on the Ferrari team during the Australian Grand Prix. The team is obviously in a tussle but they will be able to work things out. I salute the people in Maranello for working doubly hard in preparing both Ferrari cars for the Malaysian Grand Prix happening in the Sepang International Circuit.

"Hi. I'm Lewis Hamilton. I won the British Championship and one day I want to be racing your cars," said the 8-year-old Lewis Hamilton to McLaren F1 boss Ron Dennis.

I have not watched Formula One for a year and I have really missed a lot of things, from M Schumacher’s retirement to the dawn of another era. Yeah, I think so. I am not joking, the guy I am talking is probably just a rookie before but as soon as he gets his rhythm on the race, he will definitely be like M Schumacher. I call this era the Lewis Hamilton era. Who is L Hamilton? The full name is Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton and he is a F1 racer that drives for the McLaren-Mercedes team together with teammate Heikki Kovalainen.

L Hamilton was born on January 7, 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. His drive for racing began with just radio-controlled cars. Well, it did seem that racing was already in his blood because with just radio-controlled cars, he’s already won a lot of championships. And mind you, he was competing against adults. When he turned 8 y/o, he started karting. With karting alone, he already won several championships.

After karting, he switched to a larger racing event, Formula Three. And joined the British Formula Renault Winter Series, where he completed the race at the 5^th spot despite him crashing the test car on the third lap. Because of his excellence in racing, he was included at Autosport’s issue of the “Top 50 Drivers of 2005.”

After his career in Formula Three, he set off to GP2 and drove for ART Grand Prix. He then won the 2006 Driver’s Championship and giving his team the second-straight Team Championship. GP2 then led him to where he really belongs, the Formula One.

During that time in F1 world, Juan Pablo Montoya left the McLaren team for NASCAR and K Raikkonen went to Ferrari. There were a lot of rumors regarding who’s going to fill in for the team. And then, it was confirmed that L Hamilton was going to be the team’s driver. The news was announced after the M Schumacher retirement.

So, it was like the end of the Schumacher era and the start of the Hamilton era. And that was proven when he got the 2^nd place overall during the 2007 Formula One season just behind Kimi Raikkonen.

And now that the new season Formula One has begun, L Hamilton proved to be a tough competition especially for the McLaren-turned-Ferrari driver K Raikkonen. Anyway, it is just the start of the season. It is too early to forecast who’s getting the championship. But this I know, L Hamilton is a great racer.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is tomorrow and F Massa is as comfortable as he was last year being on the pole position. But I do not think L Hamilton will make things easier for F Massa for winning the race. I witnessed just how good Hamilton and I think even you would agree with me that he is really very good. It is like watching M Schumacher race in a body of a 23-year-old man. “I had a very good season in 2007, but I start 2008 from a much higher confidence level than I did last year. I have the experience, and I know what to do now,” said L Hamilton. McLaren is very lucky for having a competitive spirit drive one of their cars. Okay, so back to the main topic – the Malaysian GP. The rivalry between the Ferrari and McLaren is sure to be evident tomorrow. If both Ferrari cars will continue to race to the finish line without any tinge of fuel pump or engine problems, hopefully one or two Ferrari driver/s will be up on the podium.

The other concern of the entire Ferrari team would probably be L Hamilton and his McLaren car. It is not like 20 other cars do not pose any problems to the team. It just that, Hamilton poses a lot of concern because he’s just so good at racing. I am not a fortune-teller or someone with supernatural powers but I think the 1^st place would go to L Hamilton, 2^nd place would be K Raikkonen, and 3^rd place would be H Kovalainen.

After all the fuel pump and engine problems, both Ferrari are back which showed during the qualifying sessions for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen earned the top spots for tomorrow’s race. This just proves how determined the whole team had been after the disastrous race at Albert Park. Following the two Ferrari’s are the pair of McLaren-Mercedes, driven by Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton. Hmmm. With the two top teams vying for that championship points, tomorrow’s race is going to be a lot more exciting than the previous race. I really cannot wait to see who is going to be on the podium. Of course, I am rooting for the Ferrari team but the McLaren team sure is a tough competition.

As I was browsing the ever-so-secured official website of the Formula One, I have found out that both the Ferrari and the McLaren teams had made some changes in the aerodynamics of their cars. For the Ferrari, there is the front-axle airflow management that is quite noticeable if you look closely at the car. Just imagine the suspension aiding the aerodynamic features of the car. Whoa! How awesome is that? It is like every inch of the F2008 is intended for racing. Well, it really is anyway. But how can anyone imagine that the front suspension area of the F2008 can be very crucial to the airflow management of the car. Only a sharp and skillful team like Ferrari can do that.

But who says, Ferrari is the only team that makes the most of their cars? There is the McLaren-Mercedes team too that proves to be deserving of the admiration, we, F1 fans give to the Ferrari. Let us all forget about what has happened in the past. The McLaren team paid their dues, which includes the championship. This is a new season; so, let us just give them the chance to redeem themselves, okay? What I was saying before was McLaren too maximizes the use of their cars by designing even the front wing to perfection. Yes, the front wing of both McLaren cars went through thorough revisions to simply optimize the aerodynamic features of the cars.

So, you see F1 cars do not just look like toy-cars-for-the-big-boys but they are the epitome of racing and how it will affect the cars of the future. For teams like Ferrari, McLaren, and so on, F1 is not just any typical auto racing. It sets the standards which can be very useful for the whole automotive industry in the future. So, if you are going to watch the Malaysian Grand Prix tomorrow, here is the complete lineup:

1    Felipe Massa >> Ferrari

2    Kimi Raikkonen >> Ferrari

3    Heikki Kovalainen >> McLaren-Mercedes

4    Lewis Hamilton >> McLaren-Mercedes

5    Jarno Trulli >> Toyota

6    Robert Kubica >> BMW

7    Nick Heidfeld >> BMW

8    Mark Webber >> Red Bull-Renault

9    Fernando Alonso >> Renault

10 Timo Glock >> Toyota

11 Jenson Button >> Honda

12 David Coulthard >> Red Bull-Renault

13 Nelsinho Piquet >> Renault

14 Rubens Barrichello >> Honda

15 Sebastian Vettel >> STR-Ferrari

16 Nico Rosberg >> Williams-Toyota

17 Giancarlo Fisichella >> Force India-Ferrari

18 Kazuki Nakajima >> Williams-Toyota

19 Sebastian Bourdais >> STR-Ferrari

20Takuma Sato >> Super Aguri-Honda

21 Adrian Sutil >> Force India-Ferrari

22 Anthony Davidson >> Super Aguri-Honda