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Formula One is not for the faint hearted. It is not even much for punters you may say — especially after seeing what went on at the Singapore Grand Prix. McLaren looked set to dominate the proceedings. Lewis Hamilton had set some amazing times to grab the pole position a day before the final race. He led with authority in the finals initially, but on lap 23, a gearbox failure for the Briton, handed the lead to Sebastian Vettel. And the German made the most of it! Hamilton had looked assured behind the well. Even if his current contract situation with McLaren is not exactly helping anybody on the team (he has been offered a new deal with a somewhat drastic cut in wages). But the former World Champion is keeping his side of the deal firmly intact. The qualifying session was heavily dominated by him up until the very last lap. He was quicker and more decisive than anyone else. Even when the race kicked off, he didn’t, for once, look like throwing away his advantage and as he set the pace, lap after lap, Vettel was sinking perfectly into his rear-view mirror. But on the 23rd lap, after some quickly maneuvered turns and frantic communication between the driver and his pit crew, he started losing speed. Finally, it dawned upon him and everyone else that his race was over as the steering wheel speed flashed a big zero. A gearbox failure had ruined his evening, but set it up perfectly for
Vettel.
The German has had to endure some frustrating moments along the season but after taking the lead, he displayed nerves of steel to grab all 25 points. Jenson Button, after surviving a scary moment and a possibly race-ending collision with Vettel, took second place just ahead of Fernando Alonso. It was also a career-best fourth place finish for Force India’s Paul di Resta, while Lotus, in a bid to keep Kimi Raikonnen’s title shot alive, brought him ahead of Roman Grosjean in sixth position. But a major talking point of the race was definitely the excess of the safety car on the track. So much so that when the race clocked two hours and the chequered flag came out, it was still two laps shy of the official 61. Narain Karthikeyan after an impressive qualifying and a decent start to the race lost his head and crashed, becoming the first to draw out the safety car. That slowed down some of the madness on the track, but only for the slightest possible time. Even Pastor Maldonado, who had impressed with his aggressive driving all through the weekend, retired with what seemed like a hydraulics problem. As the race continued, in the 38th lap Michael Schumacher rammed into the Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso. The cars went flying off the track as it looked like a case of Schumacher locking up right behind Vergne. The incident was later investigated and the German was handed a 10-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix.
The results do add to the exciting finish for the Formula One season, but one can’t help but feel the pain Lewis Hamilton had to endure. But if a fightback is what the Briton needs to get inspired by, he needs to look no further than Felipe Massa. The Brazilian driver’s Ferrari suffered a punctured tyre at the very first lap and he fell around 16 seconds behind the back of the field. He fought back his way to an extremely respectful 8th position. But any title aspirations Red Bull’s Mark Webber might have had seemed over as he fell more than 60 points behind Alonso due to an extremely difficult weekend in Singapore. For Force India, it was a solid performance and Di Resta’s position must have come as a shot in the arm for the Indian team. Also despite Hulkenberg finishing 14th, the car is showing major signs of improvement. Vijay Mallya had pointed out before the race that they were expecting big things over the weekend, and they were almost on the mark as Di Resta’s fourth place finish was only four seconds behind Alonso. The stage is set for a thrilling finale in this year’s Formula One season. So fasten your seat belts, as we head over the Japan!
Little master Chess
is a game of mind over matter. Yet, often, money matters matter the most as the parents of Grand Master Sahaj Grover have realised. But for their sacrifices and support, Sahaj would not have achieved this feat. Sahaj Grover became the 29th GM of India a few days before he turned 17 on September 7, to become one of the youngest Grand Masters of India. He achieved this feat a year earlier than his idol, Vishwanathan Anand. When Anand became a GM in 1987, he was 18.
“It was a tough and difficult journey. I could not have reached where I have without the support of my parents, coaches and the school authorities,” says Sahaj in an exclusive chat. Sahaj’s father Vijay Grover has a small establishment selling denim apparel in the bustling Chandni Chowk market in Delhi. He has often found the expenses needed to sustain Sahaj’s chess career beyond his means, though the Sports Ministry has been extending financial grants under the schemes Sahaj fits in. During the last eight odd years, Vijay has spent close to Rs 5 crore on Sahaj’s tutorials and outings. “On an average I spent between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh every month for Sahaj’s travels, as he makes at least 10 trips abroad every year, chaperoned by his mother, Sangeeta and coach Vishal Sareen. We haven’t got a sponsor for him yet,” says Vijay. Vijay got Sahaj a chess board when he was just three and a half years old and at the age of four and a half years, he was winning competitions, beating many established players. His school, too, Kulachi Hans Raj at Ashok Vihar, New Delhi, has gone out its way to support him. Sahaj will be sitting for his Class XI Board exams next year. He has made a steady progress ever since he won the Under-10 World Championship in 2005 at Belfort (France), when his ELO rating (equivalent to the ATP ranking in tennis) was 1,944. He has now 2,514 rating points. As many as 2,500 points are required to become a Grand Master. In the next couple of years, he hopes to break into the top 10 at the international level. The GM norm has got him among the top 18 in the country. His Under-10 gold was the first by an Indian —and the youngest at nine years and five months — after P. Harikrishna’s feat in 1996. He also lifted the Under-20 bronze in 2009. The event is considered as the next best after the World Championship, and he was the lone Indian to lift a medal. International Master Vishal Sareen has been coaching Sahaj after his World Under-10 victory with the help of Vladimir Chuchelov of Belgium, Lev Prakhis of Israel and Elizbar Ubilava of Spain. Sareen feels he needs foreign coaches regularly to reach the next level. Hiring foreign coaches, however, will cost a fortune, and his parents are finding it difficult. Sahaj got sponsorship for three years from a business house after he won the Under-10 World tile, but has been without any backing since it ended. Sahaj feels that India have many strong players who are talented and have great potential, but they don’t get the backing and opportunity to realise their potential.
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Adding to the twists and turns of the current Formula One season, this win brings Vettel a little closer to the current leader, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard finished third and his points tally has now swelled up to 194. Vettel sits right behind him on 165. But the day was all about Hamilton’s growing frustrations and Vettel’s luck. Not to forget the four other retirements as well.
