Karthikeyan could be back - The F1 silly season has begun

Looks like you are new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I’m not sure on how people dig this stuff up, but someone decided to pick a quote from Mallyas statement from over a year ago and have figured that Karthikeyan could be back.

Force India boss Vijay [...]

Who is Balbir Singh? In search of Schumis ex Guru.

A couple of weeks ago, news broke that Balbir Singh, Michael Schumachers’ ex spiritual guru and physiotherapist was back, after a 3 year break.
As happy as I was to seeing another Indian face in the paddock, I was intrigued by who this man was. The regular readers and friends know that F1 is the [...]

F1 champ visits Mumbai

Formula One defending world champion leader for 2008, Lewis Hamilton of the McLaren racing team visited Mumbai and entertained hundreds of fans by showing his skills off on a kart with a few laps around a Go-Kart track. [Yahoo]

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The Race Guru

F1 legend Schumi is not making a comeback to F1 racing but his “guru” is. [link] (tip Karthik via email)
‘Guru’ Balbir Singh and Fisichellaimg: via F1-live.com
Balbir Singh, physiotherapist and spiritual guru of the erstwhile F1 champion and legend is all set to make a comeback to bigtime F1 racing, after “retiring” in 2005.
Michael Schumacher’s [...]

It ain’t over…

… until the fat lady sings. Or in the case of Formula 1, till they sing the national anthems.
Just over an hour ago, the desi presence in Formula 1, Force India, found this the hard way. Just over 10 minutes to go before the clock ticked to zero (there is a 2 hour limit [...]

A letter to Patel from the Australian GP

Regular readers will notice that this is styled after the “Letter to cousin Pedro” featured on planetf1, what can I say, I am just a big fan of them and Force India. So here is Mallya writing to his friend Patel and hopefully he will find the time to keep writing for the rest of [...]

Jordan says ‘Mallya will make it’

The Yellow Jordan F1 cars changed much of the F1 landscape. Image from bennettsocial
For anyone who has been an F1 fan from before Narain started racing in F1, the name Eddie Jordan will ring a lot of bells. Besides Paul Stoddart, the owner of the erstwhile Minardi F1 team, Eddie is one of [...]

Force India F1 launches VJM01 in Mumbai

Dubbed VJM01 for ViJay Mallya, the Force India livery for 2008 lacked ‘India colors’. As we suspected, Kingfisher found it’s way into the car and so did a lot of Gold. Until I see the car on screen, I cannot comment on how ‘good’ it looks.
Speaking during the launch, Mallya had this to say,

This [...]

Naren Kumar - What you might not know

It’s not everyday that an Indian driver breaks into the world scene. Even if he does, you know little or nothing about him, but Naren seems to have made a few good friends over the years.
Anand Philar, a reporter for Sify, recalls his various meetings with Naren and how the ‘Lanky kid’ got his [...]

Force India shows pace

With the testing leading up to the 2009 season, things most people expected have come true. Feranando’s lack of pace, Hamilton and Alonso exchanging words in the media, Super Aguri being under more pressure and the Scuderia showing everyone who the daddy in F1 really is. but one thing most people did not expect was [...]

Another desi driver breaks into the international scene.

Naren Kumar in the NZ round of the Asia Pacific WRC championship. Image from Mark Heyes
With a robust economy, India is doing more than just buying F1 teams. Right on the heels of Vijay Mallya, The Spice Telecom group is trying to get a piece of Super Aguri and put Narain back in [...]

It’s not over until the fat lady sings - Narain might find himself a seat for 2008. [Update]

[Update] The details have finally emerged, including numbers. It looks like the Spice group from India, that currently sponsors Team India in the A1 GP is the bidder.
The Indian publication Daily News and Analysis (DNA) reports that the Spice consortium proposes a buyout price of just $1, including underwriting the small Japanese team’s $47m [...]

Force India F1 to launch car in Mumbai

With most teams launching their cars in their European HQ’s or on track, Mallya and Force India F1 have decided to launch the car in Mumbai. If I am right, this is probably the first time a car has been Asia (Honda, Super Aguri and Toyota would be the other teams, but I think they [...]

Narain pushes, ends up at the lower end of the grid.

With A1GP visiting Taupo, the circuit where Narain and Team India scored their first points last year, Narain pushed hard, only to end up 19th for the Feature race and 20th for the Sprint race. The weekend has seen a lot of spins and the last corner of the circuit has been changed to provide [...]

Karun reckons he has a shot for 2009

Karun Chandok has suggested that he is in contention for the Force India F1 seat for 2009. Although this news might now be new, what interests me is the fact that Adrian Sutil is on a one year contract extension. Mallya, the newbie, managing to keep the driver in his garage, while big name teams [...]

Racing roundup

A new job, 3000 mile cross country move and getting used to a new time zone have left me disoriented. The good news is that we have not missed much racing news.
Force India F1 have decided to give the second seat to Fisi, who in my opinion and every one else’s opinion is past [...]

Its official, Ford Waves Tata to Jag and LR

Both Ford and Tata announced that they have moved into advanced negotiations on the sale of Jaguar and Land Rover. If that does not tickle your fancy, then try this. Vijay Mallya has split with Toyota F1, Kingfisher will no longer be one of the sponsors of the team, this should give the brand and [...]

Giancarlo Fisichella bags second seat at Force India F1.

According to TimesNow, the Roman, Ex- Renault driver will pilot the Force India car with Adrian Sutil for 2008. Although this is a very logical decision, I would like to see some confirmation from F1 news sources and Vijay Mallya himself.

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Karun Chandok signs with iSport for 2008 GP2 series.

After winning the race at Spa and bagging the award for the most improved driver for 2007 in the GP2 series, Karun Chandok was invited to test for iSport International after the season ended. Like many predicted the tests went well and Karun has signed up with iSport for the 2008 season.

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Narain reiterates his F1 goal

Narain thanks his team from the podium. Image from A1GP.

With Narain driving his wheels off to fetch India its first win in the A1GP, the Indian media is abuzz with news about the Delhi GP and the ‘Fastest Indian’. The significance of this victory is far reaching. The Prime Minister of India, who is [...]

Super Aguri, the next Indian F1 team?

DNA has a well written op-ed about Narain’s win, but what caught me was a paragraph towards the end that mentioned that an Indian conglomerate is looking at buying Super Aguri. For those who have lost touch, Super Aguri is under heavy financial stress and plans on letting go of 30 employees (they have promised [...]

Narain Karthikeyan wins A1GP Feature race in China

Seconds ago, Narain Karthikeyan won the feature race in Zuhai China.
Having secured the best qualifying position ever in the A1 series for Team India, Narain Karthikeyan had something special under his sleeve. So I decided to watch the race online. Do not ask me why, but I caught only the last 15 laps of the [...]

Mallya rocks off track and Schumacher blows on track.

Ralf delivering on the promise he made Image from Force India F1

Vijay Mallya was on hand at the Motorsport Business Forum in Monaco. Although speakers covered topics ranging from engine freeze, politics, the USGP and being environmentally conscious as a sport, the most important was the talk by the new owner, Dr. Vijay Mallya. [...]

Force India will be a dominant force

With Vijay Mallya having deep pockets, Spyker, now renamed Force India are looking to challenge the mid-field. Mark Smith and Ian Hall, co-workers of Mike Gascoyne from the Jordan Era are now in the Spyker pits. The team has also set to start running their wind tunnel 24×7. Results might not be immediate, but expect [...]

Force India planning a shoot-out?

I am a big fan of good buys and more importantly purchases made looking at the big picture. It looks like Vijay Mallya has done just that. Back in August, when rumors first surfaced about Vijay Mallya buying an F1 team, I wrote this

With cost cutting measures being the forefront of F1, the budgets could [...]