Open Source at Microsoft

So how many people really know that Microsoft does do some Open Source. I'd guess not many. So those of you who find this as new, please go to www.codeplex.com and start your way through.

Formula 1 diary - French Grand Prix

On a personal front the French Grand Prix being conducted for the last time in Magny-Cours was a disappointment for me as a McLaren fan. Alonso started from 10th after facing gearbox problems during qualifying. His gearbox got welded to the engine which had to be cut off and replaced with a new gearbox. A change of engine would have been an easier option but he would have had to start from the end of the grid in such a case.

The two Ferrari's had a perfect start with Massa taking off from 1st and Kimi grabbing the 2nd position in the first corner after starting 3rd from the grid beating Lewis who started 2nd. Alonso managed a flying start getting into 7th position after starting from 10th. Robert Kubica followed Lewis all through the race. The race was thrilling in two sections particularly. The first was Alonso's battle with Nick Heidfeld before his first pit stop, the Spainard clearly had the faster car but Nick's clever driving saw Alonso at his wit's end attempting all sorts of heroic stuff. He would go on to overtake Nick after his second pit stop but lost a lot of time meanwhile.

This was a race where strategy took over when all other tricks drivers had in their bags failed. Sample this, Massa leads most of the race till he stops for his final stop and get's out behind Kimi who is yet to pit for tyres and fuel. Kimi pits and get's ahead of Massa and goes on to win the race, what is that? Absolutely determined driving and good strategy. McLaren's strategy was found lacking in many areas. Getting Lewis to pit the third time for softer tyres and fuel added about 20 secs to his lap time. At one point a charging Lewis had closed the gap between him and Massa to about 8 secs with 20 laps to go.

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts

1 6 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 70 1:30:54.200 3 10

2 5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 70 +2.4 secs 1 8

3 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 70 +32.1 secs 2 6

4 10 Robert Kubica BMW 70 +41.7 secs 4 5

5 9 Nick Heidfeld BMW 70 +48.8 secs 7 4

6 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 70 +52.2 secs 5 3

7 1 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 70 +56.5 secs 10 2

8 7 Jenson Button Honda 70 +58.8 secs 12 1

9 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 70 +68.5 secs 9

10 11 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 69 +1 Lap 11

11 8 Rubens Barrichello Honda 69 +1 Lap 13

12 15 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 69 +1 Lap 14

13 14 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 69 +1 Lap 16

14 17 Alexander Wurz Williams-Toyota 69 +1 Lap 18

15 4 Heikki Kovalainen Renault 69 +1 Lap 6

16 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 68 +2 Laps 22

17 20 Adrian Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 68 +2 Laps 21

Ret 19 Scott Speed STR-Ferrari 55 Technical 15

Ret 21 Christijan Albers Spyker-Ferrari 28 Accident 20

Ret 23 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1 Accident 19

Ret 12 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1 Accident 8

Ret 18 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Ferrari 0 Accident 17

Over to Silverstone next weekend, the circuit where Mika won the GP in 2001 with a 3 pit stop strategy while all/most other cars were on 2 stops.

The picture says it all

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This ad is a must see for it's sheer brashness

Formula 1 Diary - US grand prix

McLaren have been right on top with their car's performance and reliability this year and the US grand prix was a testimony to their sheer domination. The first four cars that finished were the one's that started from the same positions on the grid. There were two instances where Alonso challenged Hamilton but couldn't get past due to superb driving by the latter. Turn 1 this year didn't provide too many crashes, only 6 cars retired from the race. McLaren go to France from here with 106 championship points in their kitty and Lewis leads the drivers championship with 58 points with Alonso on 48. With some upgrades expected on the car in France McLaren could emerge stronger.

Felipe Massa had a decent race and help up the challenge from fellow team mate Kimi Raikkonen in the finishing stages. Kimi lost 4 places in the starting lap but fought back agressively to gain all of them back. He was also set the fastest lap of the race at 1m13.117secs which could be signs of the Finn fighting back. Nick Heidfeld was driving well until his car simply gave up on him. Ferrari and Sauber have good cars and are the one's that can challenge McLaren. Surprisingly the Torro Rosso Car of Luizi was the fastest in terms of top speed hitting 335 kmph in the straight section from Turn 13 to Turn1.

1 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1h39:09.065

2 Fernando Alonso Vodafone McLaren Mercedes +1.518

3 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari +12.842

4 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari +15.422

5 Heikki Kovalainen Renault +41.402

6 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1:06.703

7 Mark Webber Williams F1 +1:07.331

8 Sebastian Vettel BMW Sauber +1:07.783

9 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault +1 lap

10 Alex Wurz Williams F1 +1 lap

11 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri +1 lap

12 Jenson Button Honda Racing +1 lap

Can someone ask the Indianapolis Motoring Speedway authorities to do some publicity and get the stands filled? It's appalling to see stands vacant in the main straight track of the race.

Lewis Hamilton's first GP win

In April I quoted Lewis talk about getting his first GP win sometime this year and I was looking at one after the championship fights were settled. Last week in Montreal Lewis tasted success by clinching the first place for McLaren. It was a flawless drive for Lewis and the opposite for Fernando who kept spinning many times. Lewis Hamilton is already leading the championship points and Ron Dennis should be one happy man. Now if only Fernando Alonso take full advantage of his team and car, McLaren will be one unstoppable force this year. Ah, do I smell constructors championship for McLaren?

Formula 1 Diary - Malaysian Grand Prix

The second race of the 2007 season kicked off in style. The first corner saw Alonso take the lead and close fight between Hamilton and Massa for about 8 laps till Hamilton established his place in the 2nd position. McLaren's race all the way with a one-two finish which saw Ron Dennis back on the podium for the Constructor's trophy and Alonso and Hamilton take 1 and 2 respectively. The last 10 laps of the race were scary with Kimi Raikkonnen closing in on Hamilton and almost was going to take off the 2nd position.

1 Fernando Alonso Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1h32.14.930

2 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes +17.5 secs

3 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari +18.3 secs

4 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +33.7 secs

5 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari +36.7 secs

6 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault +65.6 secs

7 Jarno Trulli Toyota +70.1 secs

8 Heikki Kovalainen Renault +72.0 secs

9 Alex Wurz Williams F1 +89.9 secs

10 Mark Webber Williams F1 +93.5 secs

11 Rubens Barrichello Honda Racing +1 Lap

12 Jenson Button Honda Racing +1 Lap

13 Takuma Sato Super Aguri +1 Lap

14 Scott Speed Toro Rosso +1 Lap

15 Ralf Schumacher Toyota +1 Lap

16 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri +1 Lap

17 Tonio Luizzi Toro Rosso +1 Lap

18 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +1 Lap