Forza Jules

Motorsport is dangerous, but it is only after incidents such as Jules Bianchi’s life threatening one at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix do the dangers of the sport face us in real. We revel at the technological strides the sport has made in every aspect including safety, and it is the same advances that allows the drivers to push boundaries and defy laws of physics ever so often; sometimes in conditions that probably don’t need them to.

But that’s Formula1. A sport and a business, but not in that order. Reasons related to business of the sport was why the race didn’t start earlier even though the FIA wanted to. Similarly, the ‘show’ of the sport couldn’t be hampered and a car in the barriers shouldn’t affect the overall race result was why the Safety Car wasn’t deployed post Adrian Sutil’s crash. (Read: Formula1 Puts Fans First)

Forza Jules

And then the former F1 doc has rightly questioned if Jules obeyed the flags that were being waved (claimed to be double yellows), but one could wonder if due to the low visibility and diminishing light, were the flags visible at all. A lot of questions, very few answers, but a lot of prayers to see Jules recover well and take things from there.

Back to the sport, Hamilton’s win was much deserved, he is a master of such conditions and was the better driver. Button’s first lap tyre call was splendid and could there be a better way of sending a message to the bosses at Honda?

Apart from that, the Vettel-Alonso-Ferrari-Mclaren curry was spiced up on Saturday by Red Bull Racing after they seemingly caught everyone unawares by announcing Vettel’s departure and his apparent interest in joining Ferrari. This only adds to our previous assumption that the grid in the 2015 Formula1 Season could be the most changed one in recent times.

And last but not the least, the inaugural Russian Grand Prix is up this weekend. While it is a journey into the unknown for almost everyone including Rishi and I, I think the Russian President Vladmir Putin does know what he’s going to be doing this weekend. Your guess is as good as ours!

Do tune in to the latest episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast:

The Inside Line F1 Podcast is now available on various platforms and I would welcome you to choose your platform to listen to the humour that we add to the otherwise serious and complex sport of Formula1. And while our podcast frequency is weekly, come ‘like‘ the Inside Line F1 Podcast on Facebook and on Google+ for far frequent humorous updates from the world of Formula1.

If you are an Apple user, you can subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast on the iTunes Podcast Store or via our RSS feed (for Android/Windows/Blackberry users).

The Inside Line Formula1 Podcast is produced and hosted by Rishi Kapoor and Kunal Shah. Follow us on Twitter and on our SoundcloudSpreakerMixCloud and YouTube channels.

Kunal Shah is an FIA-accredited Formula 1 journalist who has been reporting on Formula 1 for nearly two decades. He worked with the Force India Formula 1 Team for 6 seasons in Marketing, Sponsorship and Commercial roles. As a former single-seater racer, he was responsible for Force India's grassroots talent program, One from a Billion Hunt. Presently, he co-writes a regular Formula 1 column for Firstpost, speaks on Inside Line F1 Podcast & Pits to Podium and produces broadcast/OTT content for NENT Group (Viasport & Viaplay).

Leave a reply:

Site Footer

Shares
Open chat
Let's Talk Formula 1
Hello,
Happy to share my passion for Formula 1 with you. If you have specific queries about the sport, feel free to ping me.

In the meanwhile, I welcome you to subscribe to the Inside Line F1 Podcast for insightful conversations around Formula 1. We release an episode every week.

Regards,
Kunal