This weekend’s race is going to be exciting. Wanna know why? A rookie will give the seasoned racers a run for their money. No he’s not Lewis Hamilton. He’s been lapping the Sepang circuit faster than Kimi Raikkonen. He’s none other than the guy in pic:

F1 Weekend

But I’m a big fan of Kimi so I hope Kimi will be able to keep up with him.

Ok seriously, the simulation was awful. The pedals were out of place, and the cockpit could barely fit a cockerel - what more someone like me. The steering was made out of plastic, and the audio was bad. Worst of all, you don’t actually need to step on the brakes when you take the corners, cuz they had the ‘driver-assist’ kinda thing turned on for every participant. Whutteheck. That took away 99.9% of the fun. And no I didn’t win any big prizes that day. It was just for fun. To play, all I gotta do was answer a questionnaire. The prize for the fastest lap time was F1 merchandise… some jersey (football, I guess), and F1 cap. My facial look damn serious right? Tension weh… a group of people were standing nearby watching from a huge plasma screen.

As for this weekend, I say Kimi has an advantage in the Ferrari - the car is so reliable and Kimi is just too quick. Previous, the McLaren couldn’t take Kimi’s beating, and the car often suffered mechanical failures. The Ferrari is just the opposite. We all know how reliable the Ferrari cars can be - coupled with Kimi’s talents, I can’t see how he won’t win the championship this year. And my guess is that Alonso is still trying to adjust in the new car, new team. But all eyes will be on his teammate, Lewis Hamilton - because he really had a great run in Melbourne. Could’ve been luck, could’ve been the skill. In any case, he’s a popular man this week. He’s my age only 22 (a year younger than me, my bad!), by the way - that makes him the youngest dude on the track.

Narrowband’s predictions: Kimi will have another podium finish :p

[Updated@Sunday, April 8th] Man, Lewis Hamilton has just moved up a couple notches in my book (and the Drivers’ Championship, too). That wheel-to-wheel thingy with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari was awesome. It was truly F1 racing at its best. The Ferrari was clearly the quicker of the two cars, but perhaps Felipe could’ve been more patient and prolonged the attack a couple of laps more. In any case, Lewis was definitely top-class today, especially after having finished third just a fortnight ago. I thought it was funny he actually apologized to Felipe - because it wasn’t at all his fault that Felipe went off course. Well as for Kimi, given the circumstances, he must be contented with the third-place finish. My predictions came true, although it could’ve been better.

In terms of the Constructors’ title chase, I think it’s going to be difficult for Ferrari if both the McLaren cars keep finishing top-three. Felipe went from hero to (almost) zero this weekend, effectively allowing McLaren Mercedes to extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship. The real star of this weekend, is yet again, Lewis Hamilton - without a doubt. Now that we’re moving on to the third race of the season - the first after Michael Schumacher’s retirement - I must say that the sport is getting pretty exciting.