Why Scotiabank place is in Kanata

For Sens fans who have always wondered why Scotiabank Place is in Kanata, read this. Its written by Bruce Firestone who was responsible for bringing back the Senators to Ottawa.

Talk about bad timing

Timing can really make or break your efforts. Consider tennis for example, if you don’t hit the ball at the right time you won’t make a good shot. Buying stocks is another case, where timing is crucial. What you do with your life and more importantly WHEN you do it matters a lot !

This brings me to Formula 1, Honda shocked everyone by pulling out of F1 at the end of last season. I don’t blame them considering how pathetic their performances have been (1 win in almost 8 seasons and never finished in top 3 constructors championship). I belive they were finally going in the right direction in 2008 by hiring Ross Brawn who was the mastermind behind Schumacher’s multiple championships at Benetton and Ferrari. Coupled with the recent economic downturn and lack of success they decided to pull the plug on their F1 team. Ross Brawn had no input whatsoever on the 2008 Honda F1 car but they started work early on their 2009 car because of massive rule changes in 2009. Big sweeping rule changes like these have a side effect of bringing more parity among teams.

If I were Honda I would’ve waited at least another year to see what Brawn could do, but I guess they panicked with car sales dropping and sponsors not willing to spend more. This meant the entire team would be out of a job, but Ross Brawn managed to put together an offer for the team and bought it from Honda and partnered with Mercedes for the engines. He probably did not have a hard time finding sponsors because of his past track record and credibility. The team was called Brawn GP.

They had a mere 2 weeks of testing before the start of the season but they were on the pace from the very first test. And now with qualifying done for the Australian GP, Brawn GP has locked the front row of the grid with Button finishing first and Barrichello second. On top of that they were running heavy on fuel and had a massive 0.6 seconds over third place Vettel.

All those Honda executives who took this decision should be kicking each other in the shin right about now.

2009 F1 rule changes

My buddy at work sent me this video, explaining the rule changes for 2009 season. The cars defintely look cleaner but also uglier (looks are subjective) except a few like Ferrari and Williams ..

F1 Spa 2008

Spa-Francorchamps is THE best race on the F1 calendar and boy did it deliver, it has to be one of the best races I’ve seen in a long time .. This track never disappoints and is probably the only track along with Monza not to go under drastic changes unlike the old Nurburgring and Hockenheim due to safety concerns.

Because of its location in the forests and the length of the lap, the weather is very unpredictable. It can be raining at one part of the track and dry at others. This is exactly what happened on raceday. I would love to post some videos here but FIA believes that its detrimental to F1. Here’s a transcript of what happened on sunday.

If you want to see some action check out this GP2 race highlights video.

Formula 1: Malaysian GP

There’s something about watching a race LIVE at 3 A.M. on a early sunday morning, especially when your driver wins .

Kimi dominated this race from the moment the lights turned green. Although he was behind Massa for the first stint, he had more fuel which allowed him to out for an extra lap (his Personal Best) and come out in front of Massa. Reminded me of schumacher who he replaced in 2007. Massa on the other hand spun out and beached it in the gravel trying to keep up with Kimi. James Allen said it best ” … ambition got ahead of adhesion for Massa …”. Second race in a row that Massa has spun out on his own.

It is awesome to watch these cars without TC, great battle in the midfield among Webber-Hamilton-Trulli, Webber-Alonso. Cant wait for the next race in Bahrain

Formula 1: Melbourne GP

What a great start to the season, the ban on Traction Control means more sliding around, mistakes are punished and skills are rewarded. Drivers now just cant floor the throttle coming out of a corner.

Ferrari looked dominant in winter testing but they had a horrible weekend. Kimi had a fuel pickup problem which meant he started 15th, then he got stuck behind barrichello for 20 laps in 8th place. Once past Kimi was up to 3rd right behind Hekki and Lewis because of a Safety Car but then went off the track at T3 trying to overtake Kovalainen. If he wasn’t stuck behind Barrichello for 20 laps it would’ve been a different race. Ferrari has the pace but were unreliable, Kimi stopped with an engine problem and so did Bourdais (Torro Rosso uses Ferrari engines). None of the Ferrari powered cars finished the race.

But it was a better spectacle watching drivers slide around corners. Using tiny little power slides to steer the car with the rear tires. This season looks promising .