7 posts tagged “renault”

If there’s a worry in the head of the Williams’ team’s Nico Rosberg, there’s definitely confusion inside Renault’s Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion is still undecided with regards to staying with his current team. The Spaniard is obviously unhappy about his team this season. It’s definitely not a good year for the Renault team and the notion that his team hasn’t been on the podium has made things worse.

Well, let’s just wait and see what happens in Magny-Cours because Alonso has said that racing in France is like racing in Barcelona. I think that’s good news for the Renault team, who’s had found a lot of support in France. The French GP is this week and teams are probably going on their way to Magny-Cours for the preparations on Sunday’s race. Hmmm. You know what I think? I think Grand Prix de France is going to very exciting. Lewis Hamilton is starting in the eleventh position and gives a lot of chances to other drivers for the pole position. Kimi Raikkonen is definitely not giving up as well as his teammate Felipe Massa. And as far as I can see, Robert Kubica isn’t prepared to give up his spot yet and is very determined to get his team the first spot. It’s definitely going to be an exciting Sunday race.

Three of my favorite Formula 1 drivers are on top of the Canadian GP and I’m pretty satisfied with the qualifying results. Hamilton is in pole position, followed by Robert Kubica, and next is Raikkonen. These three representatives from the three elite names in F1 will definitely give their viewers in Montreal a great race. The 70-lap circuit of Montreal and the domination of the ace drivers of McLaren, BMW, and Ferrari, will definitely give the rest of the F1 community a must-see race. If I’m going to rate it from one to ten, ten as the highest, I’ll be giving the upcoming Canadian GP an eight. Here’s my preview on each team regarding their performance during the qualifying race.

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  Lew hamilton in montreal
  McLaren – the team has been very consistent and I love the way Hamilton has carried his team all the way to the top. But despite the Brit’s success, his Finnish teammate Heikki Kovalainen remained pretty quiet and getting the seventh spot on the grid. That’s not really bad for the team, but if Kovalainen remains incompetent the McLaren team will soon say goodbye to the number one spot on the constructor’s standings.
• BMW-Sauber – I know I should be talking about the word consistency when talking about the infamous red team of F1. But as far as my eyes can see, the team who’s been very consistent during the previous races was blue team. Yes, BMW is a consistent team and that’s all because of Kubica. I know I’m a bit overrating the blue team despite Nick Heidfeld in eighth place. But you see, with our eyes glued to McLaren and Ferrari, we have forgotten about BMW and how good and consistent they’ve been. I’m definitely going to watch for these two as soon as the Canadian race begins.
• Ferrari – well, well, well. The domination of the red team has wavered since Raikkonen failed to be inconsistent. His teammate, Felipe Massa, remained competent but I don’t think it would be enough to keep the team among the top teams. If Raikkonen continues to be ineffective, Ferrari will have to start thinking for a solution.
• Renault – I was expecting the Renault team to do well in Montreal mainly because of Fernando Alonso. Alonso has an outstanding record in Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and I know he’ll do well this Sunday.
• Williams – I just don’t know what to say for this team. They’ve literally had their ups and downs and that made the team appear like a wall between the good and the not-so-good teams.
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  Rubens barrichello
  Honda – I don’t expect much from this team. After Rubens Barrichello left Ferrari, which I’m glad he did, he’s been performing poorly. I know both Barrichello and Jenson Button are good drivers but I don’t think their cars are good enough for them.
• Red Bull – Mark Webber has expressed his pleasure for his car but that eventually ended after his car went slightly off the track. This kept him out of the remaining sessions of the qualifying race and the actual race.
• Toyota – the team is literally struggling and I think they cars need a little refurbishing here and there.
• Force India – the team, I think, is satisfied with their place in the race and that’s being mediocre. And I also think they’ve thrown a lot of chances on getting a pole position. Wake up Force India!
• Toro Rosso – this unlucky team just experienced their worst qualifying race ever and I think their going to experience a lot worse in this Sunday’s race.

So, these are my team previews and I think I’ll have to watch out for the Sunday’s race, where I expect the unexpected.

We all get stressed out, whether we’re at home or at work. Sometimes you just feel the need to get out of the usual routine you have and just be careless and free. But that will be impossible especially if you are constantly traveling just like a Formula 1 driver. A F1 driver doesn’t actually have enough time to enjoy life. Well, maybe after the race but if the race is just a week to go; drivers are continuously shaping and gearing up for the next race. For the last season’s Monaco GP champion, Fernando Alonso, the best way to spend a time off is to simply spend time pondering on the things that have improved during the course of the season. Despite the Renault team falling way behind Ferrari and other teams, Alonso is very happy with the way things are going. He even said that his team have progressed, which really showed during the previous races – the Spanish and the Turkish GP. Alonso said that he’s not been himself during the previous races and has learned valuable lessons from those. So, I guess he will be applying all those things on the next races.

Alonso is a great driver but he gets easily caught up with his emotions and loses focus. If he changes the way he drives, he could retain his championship title in the Monaco GP.

The Spanish Grand Prix is three days away, so, what I’m going to feature today is none other than the Fernando Alonso. Alonso is currently a Renault F1 driver and a two-time champion. And for additional trivia about Alonso, he serves UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador. That is really very nice of him.

Fernando Alonso Diaz, who's also named as El Nano, was born on July 29, 1981 in Oviedo that is a capital city in Northern Spain. And now he is about to race at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain – his home. I know he is a great driver because I have seen him race and step on to the podium a lot of times. But all I know about him during that is that he is a Spaniard and that is all. So, now let’s dig deeper about who Fernando Alonso really is.

Jose Luis, Alonoso’s father, had the passion for racing and built a kart made for Lorena, his older sister. But Lorena showed no interest in karting. It was actually the 4-year-old Alonso who showed a great deal of interest to the sport. Karting was the start of Alonso’s racing career. Since he didn’t come from a well-off family, he needed to strive hard just to win every race. The effort eventually paid off and sponsors were coming, which really helped him achieve his early triumphs in karting. And imagine this, from 1993 to 1996 he has already won four championships. His father was always right beside him to give his support. In fact, his father was also his mechanic. For a very short period, Alonso had successful racing career.

But like any other typical racer, Alonso wanted to race in Formula 1. For him F1 was the ultimate auto racing. And in October of 1998, the door to F1 opened and he was given the opportunity to test drive a Minardi F1 car. He definitely impressed Adrian Campos, a former Minardi driver, with his lap times. At such as young age, he was able to match with the lap times of Marc Gene, who is the current test driver of Ferrari.

By 2001, he was the official driver for the Minardi F1 team and made his debut at the Australian GP. He proved himself a great driver by outracing his fellow-Minardi driver Tarso Marques. His noteworthy debut caught the attention of other teams. Among the teams that showed a great deal of interest to the youngster was Sauber. But the team would have to lose Kimi Raikkonen for the Spaniard. But sad to say, it was Felipe Massa that the team decided to take.

In 2002, Alonso came to Renault not as the official driver but as a test driver. And by 2003, Alonso was introduced as the official driver of the team together with Jarno Trulli. At 22, he made history at Sepang by becoming the youngest F1 driver to get pole position. He finished the season in 6^th. Alonso stayed in Renault for four seasons.

Then, came the 2007 season and the announcement was made that Alonso was going to McLaren-Mercedes. The announcement was made on December 19 of 2005, before his contract with Renault expires. But I guess there were just some things that were not really meant to be. And so team McLaren and Alonso parted ways. And now, he’s back as a Renault driver. The team is currently 6^th at the constructor’s table.

El Nano’s racing career is not as unruffled as Raikkonen’s or Hamilton’s, but they sure shared a series of ups and downs on their careers. With the exception of Hamilton of course, which I think didn’t really have a hard time getting into F1. What I think about El Nano is that he is great. But he needs to improve some more to win. Let’s wait and see if he makes a good race at the Spanish GP.

Yes, the qualifying round is over and the final lineup for tomorrow’s race is set. I really thought Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes would battle it out during the qualifying round, I was wrong. McLaren-Mercedes dominated the Albert Park getting pole position. This is the final lineup in tomorrow’s race, the driver’s name and his corresponding team:

1          Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes

2          Robert Kubica - BMW

3          Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes

4          Felipe Massa - Ferrari

5          Nick Heidfeld - BMW

6          Jarno Trulli - Toyota

7          Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota

8          David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault

9          Timo Glock - Toyota

10        Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari

11        Rubens Barrichello - Honda

12        Fernando Alonso - Renault

13        Jenson Button - Honda

14        Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota

15        Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault

16        Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

17        Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Ferrari

18        Sebastien Bourdais - STR-Ferrari

19        Adrian Sutil - Force India-Ferrari

20       Takuma Sato - Super Aguri-Honda

21        Nelsinho Piquet - Renault

22        Anthony Davidson - Super Aguri-Honda

I really thought Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes will battle it out for pole position during the qualifying round. I was wrong. The only Ferrari that I see near the top spot is Felipe Massa. Kimi Raikkonen is nowhere to be found at the top. I am a K Raikkonen fan, so, I was a bit frustrated to see him at the 16^th spot. But like MotoGP, being on the pole position does secure a win. The win would still depend on the driver’s skills and the team’s strategy. So, I really expect Ferrari to kick some butt as soon as the race starts.

This image is the best I got of the Albert Park Circuit. Goodness, I am really excited about the upcoming season of Formula One. At least now I have a lot of things to write in my blog. Okay, back to F1. The Australian Grand Prix is about to start very soon and F1 drivers are definitely gearing up. These are the names of the teams that are about to race to the finish line: Ferrari, BMW, Renault, Williams-Toyota, Red Bull-Renault, Toyota, STR-Ferrari, Honda, Super Aguri-Honda, Force India-Ferrari, and McLaren-Mercedes. All scores are back to zero.

Before the real race, the drivers get to practice on the circuit. To simply get the picture of the whole circuit and be able to master it before the qualifying round which is the day before the race. Sorry, I forgot to mention about the qualifying round, my bad. The qualifying round that I am talking about is the day where the drivers race for pole position. When you have pole position, it only means that you are starting at the front of the pack. There is also the grid position, which the car’s position during the start of the race. This is also determined during the qualifying. The car with the fastest lap gets the first position, and then the second best goes to the second position, and so on. Nice eh!

The phrase “every second counts” is applicable during the qualifying round. This is where the practice pays off. If the driver has done well during the practice, it is likely that he will do great during the qualifying. But anything can happen. I have watched F1 and I have seen engine fails during races and cars not starting before the actual race starts. Anything can happen and you really cannot do anything about the time that time you have lost.

I cannot find a better picture of the Albert Park circuit, but I do remember it. It is the circuit with a long straight. Yes, I remember. The pit stop lane is the one close to the tight corner (#16). Drivers go for pit stops to refuel and change tires. Using the pit stops could make or break a team’s lead. But I can assure you that during pit stops, you will see the strategic skills of the team and its driver.

When I heard that Michael Schumacher has retired, I was actually glad because Formula One is gonna be exciting. I admit, I got bored with Formula One because M Schumacher always wins and none of the opposing teams could take him out even for just a single race. Even his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, is boring. So, I switched to MotoGP, which has actually started and the next race will be in Spain. I am not saying that he’s not good. I am just saying that the race just gets boring every time he wins. It is like doing the same things everyday or like watching Titanic for a hundredth time. With M Schumacher nowhere near the race track, F1 is going to be more exciting.

With the start of the F1 drawing nearer, teams prepare their race cars and their drivers for the practice. And like the NBA, F1 teams change their drivers. These are the following teams racing for the upcoming F1 season:

• Ferrari - Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa
• BMW - Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica
• Renault - Fernando Alonso, Nelsinho Piquets
• Williams-Toyota - Nico Rosberg, Kazuki Nakajima
• Red Bull-Renault - David Coulthard, Mark Webber
• Toyota - Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock
• Toro Rosso - Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Vettel
• Honda - Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello
• Super Aguri - Takuma Sato, Anthony Davidson
• Force India - Adrian Sutil, Giancarlo Fisichella
• McLaren-Mercedes - Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen

You are not probably familiar with Kazuki Nakajima. It is because he’s a newbie in F1 racing who is replacing the retired Williams-Toyota driver Alexander Wurz . If you’ve been watching GP2, which is a type of auto racing, you have probably seen him or known him. Among the GP2-turned-F1-drivers are teammate Nico Rosberg and McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. After finishing his GP2 career in 5^th place, K Nakajima is set to race on one of the most prestigious auto racing in the world.

For aspiring F1 drivers, Kazumi Nakajima is one lucky guy. No, I guess I shouldn’t be saying he’s lucky because he’s really worked hard to get to where he is right now. He’s used to racing but F1 is no ordinary auto racing. He’ll have to try his best to win championships or earn points together with his Williams-Toyota teammate, N Rosberg. Best of luck to Nakajima!