Congratulations to Parth Shah for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Anand Datla for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Congratulations to karthikeramesh for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Matt Vincent for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur has won the Tata Steel Western India Open. The game, which concluded at the par-71 Poona Club Golf Course, on Friday, saw the lead changing hands thrice in four days. The 24-year-old golfer finished the tournament four shots ahead of overnight leader, Samarth Dwivedi, with a level par-284.

“I dedicate this victory to my parents, who have always been supportive,” said Karan.

Syed Saqib Ahmed, of Bangalore, finished third in the tournament with final round of 70 and a total of 290. Viraj Madappa of Kolkata and Bangalore’s Trishul Chinnappa had to share the fourth place at 291.

Manu gandas finished off sixth at 293 while Vikram Rana, who was leading the game on first two days, ended up seventh at 294. Both Manav Das and Amul Waghmare shared the eighth place at 295.

Here are the final scores after 72 holes:

284 Karan Taunk (75, 70, 69, 70)
288 Samarth Dwivedi (69, 72, 72, 75)
290 Syed Saqib Ahmed (72, 73, 75, 70)
291 Viraj Madappa (74, 71, 74, 72)
291 Trishul Chinnappa (72, 71, 74, 74)
293 Manu Gandas (79, 71, 71, 72)
294 Vikram Rana (68, 72, 77, 77)
295 Manav Das (73, 75, 73, 74),
295 Amul Waghmare (70, 74, 75, 76)
296 Jasjeet Singh (76, 76, 72, 72)
296 M Kanishka Sinha (75, 74, 71, 76)
297 Udayan Mane (73, 77, 75, 72)
297 Piyush Sangwan (75, 73, 72, 77)
298 Shakti Singh (74, 74, 71, 79)
299 Jaibir Singh (76, 71, 75, 77)

Parag Kulkarni is the Sr.Vice President & Business Head, Commercial Lighting & Furniture Business at Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting Group. Aged 46, he is father of two and has been with Wipro for the last 20 years and is Bangalorean for the last 10 years. He is a jogging enthusiast, goes to the gym regularly and plays weekend tennis as well. In fact, he has played University level Tennis at the All India Inter Universities during his college days. We had the opportunity to catch up with him and here are the excerpts of the interview:

When and how did you first start running?

I took it up about 5 years back. I was a walking enthusiast before that, regular at walking for the last 15 years before that. I played tennis, badminton and other sports before that at school and college level. Jogging came naturally to me and I strated enjoying it, first at the gym on the treadmill and later on the lanes and roads of Koramangala, which to me is a far more pleasurable experience considering the greenery, serenity and openeness of the space available here. It’s terrific to connrct with nature like this early morning, hear the birds chirp and enjoy the terrific Bangalore weather. Now I am a die hard jogger with my sneakers tucked in to my travel bag wherever I go. I enjoy jogging in different cities in India and outside as it helps you understand and connect with that place better.

Can you recall your first marathon?

It was a few years back at TCS World 10K. I just fell in love with the atmosphere, the energy, the enthusiasm of even those who were not running but cheered from the sidelines – it was terrific. The realisation that I could do a 10K was fantastic. I had my young son participating too and that made it even more memorable. I targeted a finish of under an hour, and I guess I just managed that. With the current levels at 53 – 54 mins for 10K, I seem to have improved.

How do you go about preparing for a marathon?

I do my regular weight training in the gym; that’s important. But I cut weight training time a bit and devote slightly more time to cardio – essentially running to increase my stamina and also to get my body get used to a longer run. I start this about 45 days before the run – spend more time running outdoors, on the roads, to get used to the conditions. I do a 40 minute run about 8-10 times in the 45 days before the 10K run to get acclimatised to a longer duration (that’s possibly the maximum that time permits with your regular work).

Do you follow a diet in preparation of a marathon? If yes, describe it.

Nothing specific, but definitely stay off any unhealthy food. Eat light to ensure you feel fit and fine and also eat less outside.

Can you take us through your running kit? For example, shoes, outfit, drinks, supplements, etc.

To me, simple things like good shorts and a good tee is very important to feel nice, light and flexible in them. Running shoes are also very important – they have to be light, should support your ankle and you must get used to it. What I mean is that, in case you are going to try a new shoe, you must run in it a good dozen times before you embark on your Marathon. Don’t buy a new shoe a day before the event and try and run in that. It might not be the right way to handle a run like this.

How often have you participated in the TCS 10K run? Any highlights?

Three times. Last year was hot and humid. I think the previous evening it had drizzled a bit and hence by 8, when the run starts, it was quite sunny and muggy. I thought it was going to be difficult, and around the 4km mark, it was getting harder with the sun beaming as if it wanted to test us all. I then found ahead of me a young ex pat and a couple of forces runners running and decided to tag them and keep pace with them. It was a master stroke as I was able to take my mind off the weather and had a goal to stay in touch with them, and they maintained a nice pace. Ultimately, it helped me improve my timing significantly to 54 minutes and a 500 finish at the end.

What are the other runs you participate in?

Spirit of Wipro run, which is an annual event at Wipro. It’s equally good and well managed.

What other sport do you play or follow?

Lawn Tennis is my favourite and I use the weekends to have a good game of tennis.

Who is your favourite sportsman?

Many, but when it comes to Athletics, it’s Usain Bolt.

Do you have any message for our readers who wish to start running?

It’s never too late. I started post 40 and have only improved. I think it’s a fantastic way of keeping fit and if you run outdoors, it also helps you keep in touch with nature

India’s most followed sporting event, the IPL, has once again taken fans by storm. To add an element of fun to the tournament, USHA International, the official sponsors of the Chennai Super Kings team and broadcasting associate sponsor of IPL 6 on Set Max, has announced the launch of a nation-wide contest called the ‘USHA Air Play Challenge’. Aimed at engaging the country’s youth and adding to the fervour of cricket, the contest invites participants to showcase their love for cricket by sharing innovative videos. The top 10 winners of the game will get a chance to meet their favourite cricket stars of the CSK team. Also, the next top ten entries stand a chance to win tickets for CSK’s matches in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Cricket enthusiasts can participate in the USHA Air Play Challenge by creating videos that demonstrate their skill of playing cricket in the air without the use of any bat, ball, any cricketing gear, or any other property. The participants have to upload their videos on the official YouTube channel of the brand (www.youtube.com/USHA) during the contest period, starting from April 03, 2013

By setting a premium on the use of pure imagination, the Air Play Challenge would make even the most passionate cricketing minds rife with ideas about how to shoot their video in the quirkiest fashion possible. With a lot of videos already pouring in, Usha is happy with the participation.

USHA International Limited is a trusted household consumer durables company with a turnover of Rs. 2000 crores (approximately) today. Building on its 75-year-old heritage with the knowledge and vibrancy of today’s times, the company has grown from strength to strength, developing an infrastructure of 16 location offices, 60 company showrooms, 34 warehouses and 200 service centres backed by an in-house customer call centre. Headquartered at Gurgaon, India, Usha has overseas offices in China and Sri Lanka. The company exports its products to over 30 countries. The products marketed under the USHA brand name include electrical appliances, fans, sewing machines, power products, water coolers and dispensers, inverters and auto components.

To know more please visit www.ushainternational.com.

Love it or hate it, the IPL manages to overshadow every other event, sporting or otherwise. The two-month cricket extravaganza gives birth to various pundits, critics, lovers and haters, each wanting to give his/her opinion among a group of friends, on Facebook, on Twitter, or on any other platform they can find. But now, members of Google Plus, have an opportunity to be part of a live video chat on Youtube, sharing their views about the game. Welcome to #IPLHangover.

#IPLHangover gives you the unique opportunity to be a panellist, where you can freely talk about the match and your team’s chances with fellow fans, opposition fans and guest celebrities. And the best part is that anyone can be a panellist by simply emailing their basic details to hello@circleofcricket.com. If you are one of the lucky participants, you will get a chance to feature on the show that begins 35 minutes before the start of each match.

Although it’s only been a few days since the show debuted, it has already developed quite a following, with approximately 1 lakh people watching it everyday. The eclectic mix of fans, experts and TV personalities ensures that the show is a perfect mix of cricket, humour, banter, among many, many other things. DJs Ramona and Jose, along with ‘funnyman’ Tanmay Bhatt ensure that there is never a dull moment, with every facet of the game being dissected in ways you didn’t think were possible. The spontaneity is what truly makes this show stand out from the rest of the so-called ‘cricket shows.’

A common complaint among cricket fans in the country is the fact that most of the people hosting cricket shows are not really fans themselves, which makes the show very non-interactive. In today’s ‘tweet-a-second’ world, when TV shows take themselves so seriously without paying any real heed to the fans’ voices, the viewers can’t help but feel alienated. #IPLHangover changes all that, ensuring that the real fans get a chance to voice their opinion, for better or for worse. It is this interactivity that truly provides for an interesting watch.

Tired of watching the same old self-proclaimed ‘experts’ saying the same things over and over again? Think you can do better? Well, times are a-changing now. Join ‘Circle of Cricket’ on Google Plus to get the complete details of how you, the fan, can now be the expert. Don’t waste any time, join Google Plus, be a part of the more than 14 million cricket fans there and let the games begin.

Congratulations to Gautam Viswanathan for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Matt Vincent for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Congratulations to James Pomfret for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Anand Datla for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Congratulations to Matt Vincent for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Nikhil M. Nair for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit saw Paul Di Resta and Adrian Sutil qualify in 11th and 13th places respectively for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix.

P11: Paul Di Resta VJM06-04

Q1:   1:37.478
Q2:   1:36.287

Paul: “I think P11 is a reasonable result considering the difficulties we had during final practice where our performance level dropped away. The changes we made ahead of qualifying improved things and in the end I just missed out on making Q3. I don’t think that will make much difference tomorrow because it’s going to be a race all about making the tyres last. The good news is that we’ve got a free choice on tyres for the start and our car has proved to be competitive over race distances, which means we can be optimistic of scoring points.”

P13: Adrian Sutil VJM06-03
Q1:   1:37.349
Q2:   1:36.405

Adrian: “It’s fair to say I was hoping for a better result, but for whatever reason the warmer conditions during qualifying did not work to our advantage. There was no major problem with the car and I felt happy with the balance, but I lost some performance during qualifying and didn’t have the grip to go any faster. The positive is that I’m able to choose my starting tyres tomorrow and I have all new sets available for the race, which should allow us to target some points in the race.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal
“It has proved difficult to gauge our true performance level during the practice sessions, but we expected to be a bit more competitive this afternoon. Paul and his crew did an excellent job to solve the set-up issues that held them back in final practice and in qualifying he was on the cusp of making Q3. Adrian’s relative lack of performance compared to this morning is a little more mysterious so we need to investigate that in more detail. All considered we are in reasonable shape for the race, especially when you consider the role that tyre performance will play and the variations in strategy. We know our car is competitive over long runs and with lots of new tyres at our disposal there’s every chance to move up the field and claim some points.”

The second leg of the Champions League quarter finals is just around the corner and as the teams battle it out in their bid to lift the prestigious trophy, Heineken has launched a new video ad campaign, “Road to Final”.

Everyone loves watching a game with a chilled bottle of their favorite drink, and the witty video successfully demonstrates that. It showcases the extent to which a die-hard football fan will go to be a part of the grandest stage of them all, the UEFA Champions League finals.

The video revolves around a lucky fan who wins a ticket to Wembley to watch the finals. The only thing between him and the finals is the distance that he will have to travel in order to make it on time for the game. The fan (or football fanatic, as I like to call him) proves that he is more passionate about football than anything else – including his music – as he leaves an ongoing gig to rush for the event.

He faces many obstacles on his journey and also gets arrested at one point. But the football fanatic is determined to reach his destination and through his diverse skills and tricks, he overcomes all the hurdles. The lucky fan finally reaches Wembley, right in time for the kick-off, takes out two bottles of Heineken and lives the dream.

Heineken’s campaign, the ‘Road to the Final‘, is built around the type of experience a football fan finds while watching a game. The main character or the “football fanatic” takes the road, the sea and the air to reach his destination and also scores a superb goal in the process. If that doesn’t impress you, wait till you watch his ride to the stadium and the gorgeous young lady that he gets a seat next to. Sounds too good to be true? Watch the video yourself and decide.

Fans can also play the pinball-style game on Facebook that has elements from the commercial, which is a fun experience in itself. And you don’t just play the game in isolation; you can compete against other players from around the world, including Heineken’s ambassador, Clarence Seedorf. You can also engage with Seedorf on Twitter and get a chance to win exciting prizes.

As the Champions League final approaches ever closer, Heineken fans seem set to experience the tournament with a new kind of enthusiasm, and a coveted seat in the house.

Sponsored post

Congratulations to Shamir for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Matt Vincent for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Whilst, for the most part, people thought it was terrible news that F1 would be broadcast on SKY, the prospect of their news coverage featuring Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel‘s voicemails resulted in my lips being licked until they were sore and blistered like a set of Supersofts that had done 30 laps.

Alas, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation is now as transparent as a pair of rose-tinted glasses and so an aboogerdamus hack such as myself has to make his own mischief.

All this Webber/Vettel controversy must be music to Mr Ecclescake’s little ears. As the sayings go: All news is good news and there is no such thing as bad publicity.

It’s nothing new. Damon Hill made the call to Eddie Jordan suggesting Schumacher ‘the slower’ should remain behind him in Spa back in 1998. Coulthard took it on himself to forfeit a race winning lead awarding it to Mika Hakkinen on Melbourne’s straight also in ‘98. I’ve forgotten the year, or number of years, Barrichello did the same for Schumacher ‘the faster’.

Only a blind man without a stick would seriously suggest we didn’t see such selfless valour in the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. I maintain that was an example of Vettel playing the Red Bull team game, even if the official line for him comfortably leading, losing the lead on-track to Mark Webber on lap 31, but maintaining a very safe second place for another 41 laps was gearbox trouble related.

That was Webber’s only win of the 2011 campaign while Vettel had already amassed eleven race wins. Any interpretation of the pair’s results as teammates, before and after, shows there is a gross difference in class, which is plenty enough to intimidate anyone.

Mirthlessly and methodically, Webber recalls his British and Monaco GP victories of 2012 but, anomalies apart, in the current climate there is no significant quantifiable economical value in paying a pilot who is not prepared to accept his mantle as ‘second driver’.

If Webber needs his teammate to be ordered to under-perform to claim race wins, it’s clearly time to swallow his pride and get on with life in the same way Felipe Massa does at Ferrari. Or simply call time on an extraordinarily long career.

Teammates? It’s Fluid

Since 1939, no Austrian/German link-up has been as successful as the Vettel/Red Bull alliance and so they will not be parting company any time soon.

Meanwhile, the bookmaker’s offering for Webber still driving for Red Bull in 2014 means they believe there is only a 42 percent chance that they will keep him on for another season of turmoil and disappointing results. That’s the kind of price I’d want about Vettel arriving at the Shanghai circuit without a black eye!

For sure, Mark Webber will not go down without a whinge and most seem to forget the latest episode started during final qualifying in Malaysia when Sebastian Vettel got a late change of boots and, in addition to the faux-pas of mistiming his last flying lap, Webber didn’t.

You have to see the funny side of it all. Of course, we never saw all the post race interviews. In one, Seb apparently explained how he had lost two litres of fluid during the race. When asked if that’s the usual amount you lose in sweat, he replied “No, I lost that much during the last ten laps whilst pissing myself laughing!”

But seriously, history dictates that Sebastian will now give one up for his teammate before the end of the current season. It’s that, or the next time Webber and Vettel are in contention for a race lead the Aussie, is going to turn-in with the venom of Michael Schumacher eyeing up a world title in a final deciding race of a season.

Wing It

Unsurprisingly, following recent events, F1 hierarchy have requested extra garage space from the Chinese authorities to accommodate additional toys, prams, dummies and front wings.

Talking of front wings, amidst the radio fuelled fast moving soap opera that was the Malaysian Grand Prix, a number of outstanding performances amongst the mid and rear field teams was totally missed.

Topping the bill was Jean-Eric Vergne’s march into a point-scoring tenth from seventeenth on the grid. His progress was not entirely due to the dropping away of his rivals – many of which he had mastered before their demise – and he was forced to endure a torturous time in the pits after a false release led to the necessity of an unscheduled front-wing change.

Qualifying may not be Vergne’s strong suit – Daniel Ricciardo out-qualified him 15 times last season – but when it comes to race day, he invariably outperforms his teammate.

The Caterham’s impressive progress on the drag run to and around the opening corner was another noteworthy charge which caught the eye, but missed the attention of the cameras and their experts.

Timing

To clarify, this piece is being penned before a car has been removed from its crate in China. The primary purpose of a half-way successful gambler is to identify value by seeking odds which are bigger than the true probability of an outcome.

On the basis that Massa finished 25 seconds behind the beleaguered race winner in Malaysia, and Massa never finished in front of Alonso in the 17 races the duo both completed last season – when the average distance between the pair was in excess of 25secs – there’s grounds for believing the Spaniard would have taken the spoils in Malaysia had his wing not have been displaced.

Maybe I’m like one of those mug punters feeding a slot-machine hoping a row of bars will finally line-up and a cash jackpot rattle out of the bottom, but I’m going to keep returning to the wishing-well with Alonso probably until he stands on a top podium step this season.

As ever, my judgement is backed by my money but also fed by pre-Malaysian comments from Ross Brawn stating things like: “Ferrari was the fastest car in Australia and it would have won there with a two stop tyre strategy” adding “it’s the car we all have to beat.”

Ferrari’s second driver, Massa, is now on a 69 race losing-streak, so when he qualifies in fourth and then second, you know the Italian car is currently quick and we all know the Ferrari has a better race-pace than single fast-lap capabilities.

We thank Roy Brindley for sending us this article

The Bua Sa Hockey Village, a non-profit foundation based in Rajasthan, India deals with the social recovery in rural communities, and runs a hockey academy for the children in villages nearby where the organisation is based.

The foundation was started by a German woman by the name of Andrea Thumshirn, and has helped build a hockey ground from scratch, along with it giving the kids jerseys and equipment to play the sport. To read her heart-warming story, please click here.

To help the organisation offer the village children a world-class hockey facility, the Bremer Hockey Club in Germany donated their astro-turf to Thumshirn and the Bua Sa Hockey Village. However, they are currently having trouble transporting the astro-turf back to India, as the sand in the turf is very heavy, making it impossible to carry it in one container without damaging the surface. The turf needs to carried back in two or three containers, with the extra two containers set to cost the organisation USD 10,000, which despite being a huge price, would still be cheaper than making a new astro-turf here in India.

Lacking the finances to pay such a huge fee, the foundation is looking for sponsors who can cover the cost of shipping the containers back to India.

If you would like to offer your help to Andrea Thumshirn, then email Sportskeeda at contact@sportskeeda.com, and we will connect you to her.

You can find out more about their hockey program on their Facebook page, or even go to their website – Hockey Village India.

Congratulations to Ahmed Hashim for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Garfield Robinson for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Cricket is a religion in India and the Indian Premier League is one of the most notable tournaments in the world. Which is why Sportskeeda, in association with 5 Minutes to Kick Off, brings to you a unique cricket fantasy game that is sure to bring all your selection skills to the fore. This brand new game, which you can find at fantasy.sportskeeda.com, has all the features that you wish for in a fantasy cricket competition. It has been developed by two game freaks Karan Khairajani and Mohit Lala from Mumbai, who are absolute sports freaks.

Squad: You need to pick a 15-player squad consisting of 7 batsman, 6 bowlers and 2 wicket-keepers. Every player has a certain value and you are given a budget of 120 million with which you have to select your squad.

Number of players from a single team: The best thing about this game is that, unlike other fantasy games, you have no limit to the number of players that you can choose from one country or franchise.

Transfers: You get one free transfer everyday. However, every subsequent transfer will cost you 20 points.

Leagues: There are public and private leagues, as you would have guessed. By scoring points and go up/down in the global public league. You can also create your own league and ask your friends to join to see who prevails.

War of the Cities: While creating your team, you will be asked what team you are supporting in this year’s IPL. You will then be added to a league consisting of all members supporting that team. All points scored in that league will be added towards that team’s points total in another league called ‘War of the Cities’.

Captain Fantastic: You can assign a player to be your captain. The points he scores get doubled once the match finishes.

Power Play: Probably the most unique feature of the game. You get 5 power plays in the entire tournament. Once you activate it for any day, it doubles your points scored in that entire day. It would be wise to use this feature on the days when there are two matches, or when a majority of the players from your team are in action.

Scoring: Players in all positions, i.e Batsman, Bowlers and Wicket-keepers, have the same points scoring system. Points scoring can be done in the following ways: 

• 1 point per run
• 20 points per wicket
• 5 points per catch/run-out/stumping
• 20 points for Man of the Match
• 10 points for maiden over

Press Conference: There is the additional feature of the press conference where you can give your thoughts on the upcoming games or who you think will win the competition.

Deadlines: The greatest feature of the game is the deadline up to which you can change and shuffle your team. Yes, as the name suggests, it’s 5 minutes. You heard it right, only 5 minutes to kick off - you can make as many changes to your team up to 5 minutes before the start of the first match of the day.

Rivals: The unique platform also lets you send  and receive rival requests to/from one another.  Add fellow players to your rival-list in order to keep track of what they are doing and how well they are scoring.

What you get in real: Lastly, but most importantly, there are fabulous prizes up for grabs. At the end of the tournament, the winner of the overall fantasy league gets to win a Nokia Lumia 520 and the one finishing second gets a Micromax Funbook Tablet. There are three HP 16 GB pen drives as consolation prizes as well!

Also, did we mention that you can win a T-shirt or a laptop skin every week from store.sportskeeda.com?

So get started and invite all your friends so that you can have a gala time!

Please visit fantasy.sportskeeda.com now to create your team and invite your friends.

Congratulations to Matt Vincent for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Vikram Shah for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

It’s probably best that I’m kept a long safe distance away from McLaren team principle Martin Whitmarsh because I’m in do doubt we are both currently residing in the same dark place. Put us two together for anything over 15 minutes and there’s a real good chance we would forge a suicide pact.

Instead of manning-up to another weekend of exciting unpredictability, I’m fighting the urge to pen my own punting obituary in the wake of Jensen Button’s woeful Australian showing.

“Revolution and not evolution is the way McLaren have gone this season” said one pundit prior to the lights out in Melbourne. As history tells us, revolutions are all too often stamped out and betting slips, in this instance with the name Jenson Button etched on them, all too often end up lining the bottom of a birdcage.

I’m not looking for sympathy here – a word which rightly resides in the dictionary between s*** and syphilis – I’m looking for my money back.

On to Malaysia then, where ‘rain or no rain’ is the question. The answer seems to be: most probably rain. So, whilst the obituary is on hold, I’ll take this opportunity to perform an autopsy.

A dissection of last year’s Malaysian results shows Ferrari engined cars loved this track and the changeable conditions. A Ferrari propelled car may not have qualified in the top eight but, at the conclusion of the 56 lap race, there were three of them in the top eight, including winner Alonso and runner-up Perez, driving a Sauber.

Alonso’s victory, his third here (also victorious in 2005 & 2007), was seen as a major surprise as his car was clearly inferior to a number of his rivals at the time.

However, the Spaniard’s runner-up spot in Australia last weekend was his eighth podium finish from his last nine races. Who knows, with a two-stop strategy instead of three, he may have claimed victory there. In any case, the man’s the best all-round driver on the grid and his car has to be fast around here, faster than last year when he was victorious.

Italian engineering was quick in Albert Park – Ferrari was the fastest through the speed trap and the Ferrari powered Toro Rosso the second fastest – but this venue, Sepang, will be even more suited to raw speed.

Returning to Australia for the final time, it was striking how the established No. 1 driver in the main teams finished ahead of their teammate. Existing partnerships saw Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel prevail against their teammates while Hamilton and Button, surely holding the No.1 mantles within their teams, also finished ahead of their partners.

There’s no apparent No.1 driver in Toro Rosso but Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne finished eighth in Malaysia last year (one of four eighth-placed finishes during the season) and has a marginally better record than his teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

This weekend’s ‘Fastest Lap’ markets offer some terrific value with bookmakers clearly having not compared their notes on them. It’s an inexact science – 11 different drivers representing seven different teams claimed one last season – although, amazingly, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were not amongst that number. Raikkonen had the fastest lap here last year incidentally.

Many thanks to Mr. Roy Brindley for sending us this article.

Congratulations to Vineet for winning this week’s competition in the football category!

Congratulations to Krishna Teja for winning this week’s competition in the non-football category!

Check out other winning entries here - http://www.sportskeeda.com/section/writer-of-the-week/

Australia, statistically, is an amazing place. On a daily basis, the country’s population grows by almost 1,000 people. It gains one new person every 92 seconds. That means 60 new people will be residing in Australia between lights out and flag fall of this weekend’s Melbourne Grand Prix.

Not quite so amazing, but a truly noteworthy stat, is Mark Webber’s record at this race/venue. His form figures read: 5-R-R-5-R-13-R-12-9-5-4. These figures tell only part of the story, as he has often been reckless, verging on dangerous around this relatively smooth street circuit. I suspect there will be 62 new Australian residents by the time he completes the course, as I don’t believe he will be making his first Australian GP podium.

Not everyone agrees. I recently read an online tipster’s piece which recommends a bet on the Aussie, citing “his fitness levels are greater than ever due to the removal of a metal plate from his leg”. It begs the question, if I were to get my fillings removed from my head, would I be a smarter person?

Additionally, said tipster also states the appointment of a new race engineer – that’s the voice a driver hears in his head when racing – will increase Mark Webber’s chances. In all other walks of life, it’s generally accepted that things improve when the voices actually go away, isn’t it?

As it stands, Sebastian Vettel is currently rated 40% probable to retain his World Driver’s Championship crown, while his teammate, in identical equipment and without a metal rod in his leg, is less than five percent likely.

Regardless of his shortcomings, Webber remains one of Australia’s best known exports, right up there with Home and Away, Men at Work, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and the classic ‘Brewed in the UK’ tinny, Fosters.

For those slow on the uptake, that’s a parody akin to Milton Keynes distancing themselves so far from the locally-based Red Bull F1 team that it’s officially described as being an Austrian outfit.

Of course, we all know that the reason for Red Bull being based in Milton Keynes and not Salzburg is the roundabouts. It’s no coincidence Formula 1’s best cornering car hails from a town which has more roundabouts than any city in the United Kingdom, and also the biggest concentration of them: 3.82 per square-mile.

Same old same old

Traditionally, the opening race of the season has featured a high attrition rate, but the reliability of all F1 cars has been greatly improved in recent years and, with no major regulation changes this season, it is fair to expect 2012’s reliability, form and trends to translate directly into 2013.

That means, throughout the early season, Alonso will surely be prominent and way superior to his teammate, Massa. Vettel, who boasts 21 wins and 16 other podium finishes from his last 58 outings, will be a rightful favourite race-on-race. But Hamilton’s departure from McLaren means Button has been pushed up the pecking order of likely race winners. Conversely, Hamilton takes a drop.

It is the veteran Brit, Button, who, since 2009 when given a competitive car, boasts course form figures of 1-1-6-1, who looks the best betting proposition this weekend. He’s coming off a win in Brazil and will be thriving now, perched on the mantle of No.1 driver in the McLaren team.

Button’s car is traditionally very competitive early season, and the McLaren team have very much been on the pace for this opening race of the year in recent times. In addition to last year’s 1-2 starting positions, the team also boast 2-4 grid positions in 2011, 1-3 in 2008 and 2-4 in 2007.

It’s as much true form as you have to go on because, as a form-guide, winter testing has been as much use as a c**k flavoured lollipop.

With reliability being less of a concern (three of last year’s six non-finishers here were due to collision damage), the only remaining variable is tyre wear and a potentially wet track.

Early indications suggest this season’s Pirelli tyres are going to warm-up quicker and degrade rapidly. That’s music to the ears of Button fans, who know their boy may be a poor qualifier but is commonly regarded as one of the best strategist in the game and a pilot who always gets the best out of his tyres.

Ditto those thoughts for a possible wet race which is now, three days before lights out, being mooted. Button’s victory here in 2010 was a homogenised brilliant mix of wet weather, driving skill and opportune tyre changes.

Elsewhere, both the Lotus and Mercedes teams have shown definite competitive pace in testing just as they did prior to last season’s curtain opener here in Melbourne, when both Mercedes qualified in the top seven and Romain Grosjean claimed third on the starting grid.

Many thanks to Mr. Roy Brindley for sending us this article.