There was a chill in the air. The brand new buildings of the Buddh International Circuit stood silently, serenely sticking out of a sea of mist which covered the surrounding flatlands.

There was crispness in every one’s walk as they wheeled the huge tyres to the track or moved equipment around for the greatest motor sports show India has ever seen, The First Airtel Indian F-1 Grand Prix.

The Red Bull Racing team office was buzzing like a beehive with frantic activity. There was a subdued excitement because the team had made racing history the day before. They were the first team to get 16 pole positions in a single season.

Sebastian Vettel chalked up his 13th pole position of the year. He is now one short of the record set by Nigel Mansell in 1992. However, Vettel has two more races to go this season. Red Bull's 16 poles put them ahead of McLaren and Williams who have 15 poles each to their credit for a season. There are hushed whispers. Will Vettel take the Indian GP? If so, he will equal Michael Schumacher's record of 13 wins in a year. What are team orders? Will Webber. The other Red Bull driver, be told to stay as number two?

All this amidst the euphoria of the Red Bull drivers starting from the first two positions on the grid. As a prelude to the grand finale, the drivers were driven around the track in some of the most delectable vintage and classic cars. For once, the crowds could see what the drivers looked like. It also gave the drivers a chance to go over the track one final time before the race and etch it into the mind’s memory card.

Said Vettel after going around slowly and regally in the oldies, "The track is fantastic. It's wide so we have a lot of lines to select and overtaking opportunities. I am looking forward to this race."

Sahara Force India had a good position on the starting grid. Adrian Sutil was No. 14 and teammate Paul di Resta at No 15. The only Indian driver, Narain Karthikeyan, was in position number 22 out of a field of 23 cars in the fray.

The race was preceded by a minute of silence for Daniel Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli, two motor sports personalities who recently lost their lives. This was followed by the National Anthem of India.

The warm up lap began at 3 p.m. sharp. The cars zigzagged across the track to warm up the tyres and then they were off. In the first four minutes of the race Rubens Barrichello in the AT&T Williams and Jarno Trulli in his Lotus spun off the track. Both had to make a pit stop to repair the nose cones.

The yellow flag came out thrice because of these mishaps and this brought the crowd to their feet yelling, screaming and waving.

Bruno Senna spun off the track on lap 14 and was out. By lap 22, over a third of the race had been run and most cars had made one pit stop, all for a change of tyres.

Lap 25 saw a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. The stewards held Massa responsible for the collision and gave him a drive-through penalty, which entails leaving the track, entering the pit lane and driving through at a lower speed. This ensures losing your position on the track. Massa then repeated yesterday’s foul-up. He hit the curve and broke his suspension. The blue flag was shown at least 11 times during the race. This indicates to a driver that a faster car is close behind and is about to lap him.

The battle for first place is raging between Vettel and Jenson Button by lap 45. The battle for third place was between Fernando Alonso and Webber. The race ended with Vettel taking first place followed by Button, Alonso, Webber and Michael Schumacher.

Vettel had equalled Schumi's record of 13 race wins in a year. His average speed was 307 km per hour. He thanked the Buddh International Circuit for this feat.

At the press conference Vettel took a dig at the foreign media that had made some negative remarks about dogs on the track, naked children and the poverty. “It might be a poor country but people are richer here,” Vettel said. “You can't take your bank balance with you.”

Driver standings

constructor standings

1. Red Bull 595

2. McLaren 442

3. Ferrari 325

4. Mercedes-Benz 145

5. Renault 72

6. Force India 51

7. Sauber 41

8. Toro Rosso 41

9. Williams 5

Lotus

HRT

Virgin

New Delhi, October 30
The recent deaths on the Formula One tracks appear to have sent alarm bells ringing for racers, with Lewis Hamilton now saying that he would prefer to die in a racing car, if the end comes prematurely.

British racer Dan Wheldon recently died in a Las Vegas IndyCar race, while MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli died of chest, head and neck injuries after he lost control of his Honda and swerved across the track, merely a week after Wheldon's accident.

Although Hamilton hopes to live a long and successful life, he believes that these incidents have made drivers much conscious. "You have got to do what you do because you love it," express.co.uk quoted him, as saying.

"It's a sacrifice and a risk we all take. No one wants to be in those situations. For me, if I was to pass away, I cannot imagine a better way. I've always said if I was going to go, then in a racing car would be the way to do it. It's what I love," Hamilton added.

Hamilton echoed the thoughts of former F1 racer David Coulthard, who had revealed that he had told his parents not to worry if he was killed in action because it would be a sudden and peaceful death.

Kolkata, October 30
Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni blamed an ordinary display by his batsmen for the hosts' six-wicket defeat at the hands of England in the lone Twenty20 International here.

Opting to bat, India struggled for a good partnership in the middle as the 121-run victory target was easily achieved by England with eight balls to spare last night.

Dhoni said they were always short on runs despite playing with eight batsmen. "We were short of runs. We were playing with eight batsmen. We always knew that wicket would be on a slow side. It was important for batsmen to continue till end. We did not get off to a good start.

"If you see the comparison between the two sides, the big difference was the four-wicket and the eight-wicket fall. So, there we lost the game," said Dhoni at the post-match press conference.

Asked about the Eden strip which he had termed 'ugly' for the ODIs, Dhoni said it was a decent one. "It was not the wicket where you look to score 160-170. 130-135 would have been a very good score on this wicket. But Kevin Pietersen batted well, they calculated the game really well.

"The wicket was on a slower side. As the game progressed, it did not change a lot. It was a bit slow compared to ODIs, overall a decent one. I would not say that it was a bad wicket," he said.

India were drubbed in England this summer as they were whitewashed in all three formats of the game, but Dhoni said they were never short on confidence - something that helped them bounce back.

"We did not completely need to revamp the conditions. Even when we lost the series in England, we were in a positive frame of mind. If you know what went wrong, it becomes a bit easy to focus on those areas and improve as a team.

"I think the gap we got in the middle, the individuals got some time to work on those areas. If you see, the fast bowlers did a good job for India. Also the spinners were brilliant. It was like not down and out. The mood was always good in the camp. That helped us bounce back," the skipper added. — PTI

Greater Noida, October 30
The three-time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973) said India need to give more emphasis to the grassroot level to produce champion drivers. "You need to have more motorsports, more circuit to get drivers. You need to build more infrastructures," Stewart told PTI.

"You have lots of young people playing cricket but until you have lots of young people in motorsports, you can't produce champions," said Stewart, who was nicknamed 'Flying Scotsman' for his daredevilry during his hey days.

Referring to iconic Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, the legendary driver said, "This man standing here started his career at the age of 16 and that's how he became a champion. You need to have more karting (in the country)." — PTI 

Karachi, October 30
Pakistan hockey team manager Khawaja Junaid has come under fire for trying to play down the altercation with the Indian side during a tri-nation series in Australia and not filing an official complaint against the arch-rivals.

Soon after the showdown during which the players and officials swung hockey sticks and tried to exchange blows and kicks, Junaid played down the incident describing it as a minor one when contacted by a TV channel.

The former Olympian said such incidents take place in hockey specially when Pakistan and India play, as the rivalry on the field is intense. But after Tournament Director Graham Napier banned the Indian team coach, manager and three players for different number of matches and also imposed a ban on Pakistan captain Shakeel Abbasi, former Olympians turned on Junaid.

"What was he talking about? A very serious incident took place after the final whistle was blown and an Indian player hit one of our players Imran with a hockey stick. This led to a big fight and our manager says it was a minor issue," former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh said.

Leeds, October 30
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani's hopes of winning the eighth world title went up in smoke after he failed to overcome a spirited challenge from defending champion Mike Russell of England in the World Professional Billiards Championship here today.

Advani, the 26-year-old winner of seven world titles, lost 1012-1250 to Russell at the Northern Snooker Centre.

Russell once again proved to be Advani's nemesis as the veteran Englishman produced an impeccable display of cue control and dipping to beat the 2009 champion 303-343, 188-148, 167-140, 133-134, 109-00 in 24 visits.

Advani was seeded fifth in the tournament. The Bangalore-boy is yet to lay his hands on a world title this year. Last year, Advani had lost 608-723 to compatriot Dhruv Sitwala in the quarterfinals. — PTI

Madrid, October 30
Lionel Messi rattled in a 17-minute hat-trick as Barcelona swept aside Real Mallorca 5-0 on Saturday. World Player of the Year Messi has not been at his best in recent games, failing to score in three outings, but quashed any debate over his form with a first-half treble at the Nou Camp that took his league tally this season to 13.

Barca youngster Isaac Cuenca and Dani Alves wrapped up the scoring in the second half to leave the champions second with 24 points from 10 games, one behind leaders Real. Barca coach Pep Guardiola left four World Cup winners on the bench, with a fifth (Xavi) resting in the stands, but they were not missed at the Nou Camp. The hosts won a penalty for hand-ball in the 13th minute and Messi, who had a last-minute spot kick saved last weekend, blasted the ball high into the net.

"It was madness when they said I was in crisis after threegames. It doesn't bother me. I score when I can and when I don't, the important thing is the team win,” Messi said. — Reuters