F1: Kimi Raikkonen wins Australian Grand prix...

Kimi Raikkonen got off to a perfect start in the 2013 F1 season by winning the Australian Grand prix in Melbourne last weekend. Riding on a 2 pit-stop strategy, the Finn Raikkonen preserved his car and drove an impeccable race and scored a victory for his Lotus team.
Fernando Alonso of Ferrari and reigning F1 champion Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull Racing completed the podium at the Australian Grand Prix F1 race.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen with the Australian Grand Prix 2013 F1 title for Lotus

Pic courtesy: Kimi Raikkonen (Twitter)

F1 2013 Season - Race 1 round-up
Race  - Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne
Date  -  15-17 March, 2013

Pole Position after qualification: 
1. Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing-Renault
2. Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing-Renault
3. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes

Podium Finishes: 
1. Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus-Renault
2. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari
3. Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing-Renault

2013 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Podium winners - Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel 

Pic courtesy: www.grandprix.com.au

Kimi Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel celebrate podium finishes at the Australian F1 Grand prix

Pic courtesy: Getty Images

Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus racing car at the 2013 season of F1 Australian Grand prix in Melbourne

Pic courtesy: Getty Images

Australian Grand Prix Pole positions for Vettel, Webber and Hamilton

Pic courtesy: www.grandprix.com.au

A good start for the F1 season.. seems Lotus, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes all have good speeds and will compete to win races this F1 season... would be interesting to see what happens in the next race... 

Youngest F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel's stylish pictures

German F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel  is the youngest F1 champion and a double time Formula 1 champion too driving for his Red Bull Racing team. He won the F1 Championship in the years 2010 and 2011.

 

Youngest F1 Champion Sebastian Vettel showing his trademark Number 1 sign

Vettel started out as the youngest Formula One driver to drive at a Grand Prix, at 19 years and 53 days. At the 2007 US Grand Prix when he became the youngest driver to score championship points.

Here is a collection of Sebastian Vettel's stylish pictures that I like and which also matches his calm and simple personality.

 

Red Bull Racing's F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel's wallpaper pose

 

A close-up portrait of the Youngest F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Germany

 

Young Sebastian Vettel in his teens when he started racing at the Formula 1 level

 

A grown-up Sebastian Vettel, now a double F1 World Champion for the Red Bull Racing team

 

German Formula 1 Champion Sebastian Vettel in a close-up portrait

Pics courtesy: From the great world wide web..

Vettel had a slow start to this year's F1 championship but Vettel and his team Red Bull are getting better as he won the Bahrain Grandprix last week to open his win account for the 2012 F1 racing season.

Top Sporting Moments of 2011

The year 2011 witnessed quite a few sporting success and surprises... Here are some of the top sporting moments in the year 201, according to me.

1. India's World Cup Cricket Triumph

 

Wallpaper of India's World Cup 2011 Victory

First and foremost being India winning the Cricket World Cup 2011 beating Sri Lanka in Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on 2nd April, 2011. This was India's second World Cup after Kapil Dev's team led India to their first World Cup way back in 1983. Sachin Tendulkar achieved his World cup dream after six attempts playing in World Cups.


2. New Zealand's All Black Team winning Rugby World Cup

 

All Blacks winning Rugby World Cup  after 24 years

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team - the All Blacks winning the Rugby World Cup beating France 8-7 to lift the Rugby World Cup for the second time in Auckland on October 23rd 2011. The first time they won was way back in 1987 which was the inaugural Rugby World Cup.


3. Tennis World Number One Novak Djokovic showing his supremacy in 2011

 

2011 - The Year of Djoker in Tennis

The world no. One Serbian Novak Djokovic dominated this tennis season with a 70-6 win-loss record, which saw the Serbian winning 10 ATP titles, including three of the four Grand Slams - Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. His 43-game unbeaten streak from the start of the season was an ATP tour record, surpassing John McEnroe's 42-game mark in 1982.
He had a phenominal 2011 where both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal lost their ground to this Serbian star.


4. Formula One Champion Sebastian Vettel's amazing 2011 season

 

Sebastian Vettel winning successive Formula One Championship for Red Bull

German Formula One star Sebastian Vettel claiming his second successive Formula One Championship representing the Red Bull Racing team. It was a strong dominant season of 2011 for Sebastian Vettel as claimed a record 15 pole positions, eclipsing Nigel Mansell's 1992 record. Vettel won 11 races out of the 19 F1 Grand Prix races. He also finished on the podium in 18 of the 19 races he completed. The young German (just 24 years old) is the fast on the rise to be an efficient successor of Michael Schumacher.


5. Virender Sehwag scoring double century (219) surpassing Sachin Tendulkar's 200 in ODI Cricket

 

Virender Sehwag scoring second double century in One Day International Cricket

Virender Sehwag of India scored a double century against West Indies to become the second batsman in the world, after the Maestro Sachin Tendulkar, to score a double-ton in the 50-over game.
The Nawab of Najafgadh became the highest scorer in an ODI innings with 219 runs.


6. French Open Grand slam champion Li Na of China becoming Asia's first singles Grand Slam winner 

 

China's Li Na wining French Open and becoming Asia's first singles grand slam winner

Asia's first singles grand slam winner Li Na - the French Open Women's Champion in 2011. China's Li Na becomes Asia's first-ever Grand Slam title champion when she beat the Italian Francesca Schiavone to win the women's title at Roland Garros.


7. England Cricket Team lifting Ashes beating Australia 3-1 in Australia

 

English Cricket Team winning Ashes in Australia

The England cricket team winning the Ashes series 3-1 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 7, 2011. England claimed their a first series triumph in Australia in nearly a quarter of a century. The English team dominated the tests in 2011 and ended the year as Number one test team deservingly.


There were many more such sporting moments.. to name a few.. 
1. Lionel Messi taking Barcelona to the 2011 UEFA Champions League title beating Manchester United 3-1
2. New Zealand cricket test team beating Australia in a test match in Australian soil after 26 long years
3. Samantha Stosur winning the US Open Grand Slam 2011 title and thus becoming the first Australian woman to win a Grand Slam since Evonne Goolagong in 1980.
4. The Czech tennis star Petra Kvitova winning her first Grand Slam title in the form of Wimbledon 2011. This year saw three new women's grand slam tennis winners.


Wish You All A Happy New Year 2012. Hope the year 2012 will bring many more such sporting moments...

Sebastian Vettel - 2011 F1 Champion collects his trophy...

Sebastian Vettel collected the Formula 1 world champion’s trophy for a second straight year on December 9th, 2011 at the FIA Prize Giving Gala in New Delhi’s Kingdom of Dreams.

 

Sebastian Vettel with his F1 World Champion Trophy in New Delhi

The Red Bull driver collected the coveted World Champion trophy from FIA president Jean Todt, while team principal Christian Horner was presented with the 2011 Constructors' Trophy by Bernie Ecclestone.

Jenson Button and Mark Webber also received awards for second and third place finishes, respectively in the Drivers' Championship.

"It's great to be here in India at the FIA Gala to collect my second Drivers' Championship Trophy," said Vettel.

"I have had the trophy in my house all year and didn't want to give it back, so this means a great deal to me. It's hard to put into words how it feels to win again; the team stayed focused and made few mistakes and I would like to thank them for all their impressive efforts.

"I would also like to thank Renault who worked so hard all year. The history of Formula One means a lot to me and it's special to know that we are now somehow a part of that," he added.

 

Formula 1 Champion Sebastian Vettel with World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb 

Vettel famously never led the 2010 Championship until the last day of the season. In 2011, he led from the first day to the last and along the way, scored victories in Australia, Malaysia, Turkey, Spain and Monaco, at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, in Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea and India. He only finished off the podium twice during the 19 races, took a record-breaking 15 pole positions and three fastest laps.  Also, in India he became the youngest man to record a grand chelem: taking pole, victory, fastest lap and leading every lap of the race.

 

The 2011 FIA Formula World Champions in the podium - (L to R in podium) Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber 

Some success news for the Indian Grand Prix hosts too.. 

Sameer Gaur of Jaypee Sports International (JPSI) received the Formula One Promotional Trophy for hosting a successful inaugural Indian Grand Prix at a glittering FIA Awards Gala ceremony on Friday.

 

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone presents a trophy to Sameer Gaur, CEO and managing director of JPSI Sports, builders of the Buddh International Circuit

Photo Credit:  by Parivartan Sharma/pool/AFP/Getty Images

Jaypee Sports International (JPSI) managing director Sameer Gaur, the Indian Grand Prix promoters, received the Promotional Trophy for their efforts in hosting a new race on the F1 calendar.
Korea was awarded the same trophy for hosting the first race last year and so did Abu Dhabi for 2009.

"This is indeed a very proud moment and I am honoured to receive this FIA award on behalf of my entire team and everyone whose support was indispensable in ensuring the resounding success of the first even Indian Grand Prix," Sameer said after receiving the award.
"These compliments give us strength and will definitely inspire us to take ensuing events to new heights."

Buddh International Circuit (BIC), which hosted the Indian Grand Prix was awarded the 'Motorsport Facility of the Year' award at the Professional Motorsport World Expo 2011 Awards held in Cologne, Germany recently.

It was also awarded 'Best Motorsport Facility' by CNBC Overdrive. Also, Sameer was named TopGear 'Man of the Year' by BBC and 'Man of the Year' by Man's World Magazine for his efforts to make the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix in India such a success.

  RedBull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany with his F1 World Championship trophy

 

Best Wishes for Sebastian Vettel for 2012 Formula One Season

Photo Credit: Reuters and Getty Images