After Ferrari launched its 2009 title challenger last Monday, it was time for both Toyota and McLaren to reveal their 2009 cars. Both the teams are arguably the richest teams in Formula 1 and every eye was on them hoping to see a revolutionary product. Toyota revealed its car on the 15th of January while McLaren did the same the very next day. As per this year’s FIA guidelines, both cars has extra wide front wings and tall rear wings. Toyota are all set to register their first F1 victory this season and their lead driver, Trulli is reasonably confident. McLaren, on the other hand, are eying both titles this season.

Ferrari unveiled its 2009 Formula 1 racer, the Ferrari F60 last Monday. The numbering scheme of this new car marks the 60th year of celebration for Ferrari as a Formula 1 team. In fact, they are the only team in F1 history to have taken part in every racing season thus far. The new car was taken for a shakedown by Felipe Massa shortly after its unveiling. Massa was extremely happy with the performance and handling of the car and termed it as “cute”.

The Brazilian Grand Prix 2008 was an epic finale to a sensational season. Both the title contenders, Felipe Massa of Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren came here with a chance to capture the title. This being the little Massa’s home grand prix, he had an outside advantage. Although, Lewis was leading by a good number of points already and was on the brink of becoming the first black F1 World Champion, the undisputed leader of the racing world.

The Chinese Grand Prix 2008 was the penultimate round of the championship and as things were so closely matched between Ferrari and McLaren, a grand stand finish was guaranteed. Last year’s race was won by Kimi Raikkonen in rainy conditions. This year though, things were much better for McLaren in the rain and they always proved to have a car which handled better than Ferrari in wet conditions.

Here comes the much awaited review of the Japanese Grand Prix 2008. Just Kidding! I could have done away with the reviews of last three races but then decided to post it for the sake of completeness. What I’m going to do here is write very short notes on invidual performances and not go into description of events as I usually do. I’ll round it up with the complete race results. First up, its the Japanese GP won by none other than Fernando Alonso.

First of all, sorry for lack of updates during the last month. I was mostly out of station and was kind of busy with other activities. To make up for it, I’ll try and post more frequent updates from now till the end of this month. Thereafter, it will be as usual from next year. I can’t promise anything but I’ll try my best to make things exciting. I’ll be back with a few interesting articles and a couple of missed F1 reviews from last season within a few days. So, keep watching this space and have fun.

The Formula One “circus” reached the city of Singapore to witness the city stage its very first F1 race which also happens to be the first ever night race in F1’s history. Yes you read that right, it was a night race as in all cars went round in circles under flood lights. The entire track was illuminated to such an extent that it almost felt like daytime. The tarmac was smooth and the background was delicious, none of the teams knew what to expect.

The Italian Grand Prix 2008 took place only a week after the Spa race. Ferrari took heart from the fact that Massa was declared the eventual winner of the Belgian Grand Prix while McLaren weren’t too happy after Lewis was stripped of a victory. Whether or not Lewis tried to push the limits of the rulebook will be debated for days to come. That’s his style and the aggression which some fans love while others love to hate. However, he was all set to conquer Italy.

The Belgian Grand Prix 2008 was first of the two back to back races in September. Spa Francorchamps being the premier racing venue and many driver’s favorite circuit, a lot of excitement and hardcore racing was guaranteed. The circuit didn’t disappoint on any count and with the unpredictable weather adding its own charm, it easily became one of the most watchable race this season so far.

After a three week break, Formula 1 turned to Valencia for the European Grand Prix 2008. Valencia is one of the two new circuits introduced to F1 this year. As with any new venue, there was an air of uncertainty and anticipation at the same time. The initial impressions were satisfactory and almost all drivers giving it a thumbs up. Valencia is a 5.4 KM long street circuit with numerous twists and turns.