Achtung F1!

                Not withstanding the colossal loss to its reputation after the infamous Dieselgate scandal, Audi (the luxury brand of Volkswagen) has (reportedly) decided to foray into the world of Formula 1 to redeem its lost respect. Taking the challenge head on, Audi is expected to partner Sauber as their engine supplier in 2022, so it'll still be a few years before we can see an Audi powered F1 car barrelling down the start finish straights on tracks across the world. Representatives from Audi's R&D team are expected to attend the upcoming meeting in Paris about the future of Formula 1 engine development and regulations.

               Talks about the VW group joining the group of elite car manufacturers and launching their own F1 team have done the rounds every now and then. But this is the first time we would see a concrete step being taken in that direction with Audi getting a first hand download of what engines would be like at the end of the next major upgrade in regulations.

               Targeting the 2022 roll out of engine regulations makes sense from a development point of view since that gives Audi the two most important commodities for engine development, time and a level playing field since all manufacturers will need to start devoting part of their development towards the 2022 regulations. The third thing they would need (and they have plenty of that already) is money. The Germans have always been known to be extremely precise with their machinery and an F1 track would be the perfect place to verify that. 

               2022 is still a long way away and a lot could change between now and then, but the prospect of new manufacturers entering Formula 1 has always raised the occasionally dwindling interest in the sport. Audi is a brand with the level of popularity matched only by the top two teams currently on the grid. All one can say is that Audi, welcome to the party (should you decide to join) and to those who are already part of the sport, Achtung!

We have waited for it, and it was legendary!

The 2017 Formula One season kicked off for the first time without the reigning world champion being a part of the driver line up since 1994 when Alain Prost, much like Nico Rosberg, retired right after winning the world championship. Coming from a financially independent (read: filthy rich) background and from a family with a decorated history in the field of Motorsport (Nico's dad had won a few races in his days as well and also owned a Formula 3 Euro Series racing team) Nico didn't really need to do much to prove to the world that racing was in his blood. A hard fought season with the then world champion and teammate Lewis Hamilton, the championship going right down to the last race and the F1 pundits indulging in all kinds of permutations and combinations to tell the less aware what each driver needed to do to secure the championship. Nico had beaten Lewis fair and square in the same car within the same team.

Cut to 2017, a new season is there to be won. Though the fights between Lewis and Nico were entertaining as ever in 2016 and 2015 (Lewis was WC in 2015), viewers were beginning to notice the lack of challenge rest of the teams were posing to Mercedes. Free practice started with Mercedes on top and the Ferraris being the best of the rest, however, Vettel managed to trump the Mercedes' in the final free practice session. The silver arrows (Lewis in particular) continued to be fastest in qualifying taking pole position but Vettel was right next to him on the front row. Drama started on the very first formation lap of the year with Nico Hulkenberg missing his spot on the starting grid making all drivers go around once again before the start.

Lack of fireworks at turn 1 was another unusual offering of the Australian GP, none of the 20 cars touching, no one even lost a front wing, let alone take someone out of the race entirely, though that happened a little later when Erisson and Magnussen get into a tangle of their own. Lewis got off to a quicker start with Vettel looking rather sluggish just about managing to keep Bottas from getting ahead. However, even after the dust had settled Vettel did not allow Lewis to pull out a big lead after the start, he was always within 2 seconds of Lewis. Lewis took the undercut trying to prevent the overcut from the Ferraris and pitted first. He admitted after the race that he simply didn't have the grip in his ultra softs to carry on. Vettel still good on his mediums ran with the window of opportunity and put in a few fast ones in the bank and came out ahead of Lewis after his own first pit stop. Lewis coming out in the middle of traffic after his own pit stop also contributed to the fact, but it was clear that Vettel's Ferrari was clearly the faster car in the day. Bottas finished third in his maiden race with Mercedes and Kimi brought his scarlet Ferrari home in a respectable 4th just missing the podium.

A few good fights further down the grid with the pink Force India's making up places with some exciting overtaking lit up the race every now and then. New car livery was also on display for a few teams, the Force India's were in pink, McLarens looked conspicuously like the Orange Arrows from the early 2000s. The Saubers also have a new Blue and Pink layout this year and the new kid on the block - Haas racing team have gone for a very uncomplicated black and red combination.

The first race is over, reliability issues that had to surface have done so, there are two drivers who have been served a grid penalty for the next race because of unscheduled engine changes. Vettel winning the first race with Lewis finishing only 10 seconds behind sets up a mouth watering contest for the rest of the year (only if this performance was not a flash in the pan for Ferrari). 

As Toto Wolf, the Mercedes team chief said right after the race, "we will come back hard", we can expect a ripper of a season ahead of us. There are still 19 more races to go, the finale is due to be held in Abu Dhabi. As is evident, the margins between the teams have gotten smaller, drivers are closer than ever (in qualifying and in the race). The host of aerodynamic (rear wings are lower, cars are now narrower) and tyre changes (rear tyres are now wider and slicks are back) have resulted in crashing lap times, this years fastest lap was almost 3 seconds faster than in 2016.

The Chinese grand prix is only 2 weeks away and the teams will now make their way across the disputed South China sea to Shanghai for the next round. The stage is set for a long and exciting season. The two traditional rivals are set to fight it out and with the margins in performance so low, every pole position and every race victory will count. The countdown to the 2017 world champion has begun.