Welcome to F1 Minute, it’s the 30th September 2008.
If you ignore the slight marshalling issue, all reports regarding the Singapore Grand Prix have been good. Until now. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has some pretty harsh words about the race, and Formula 1 in general. He’s reported as saying: “When we race on tracks which should be used for the circus, anything can happen. This is humiliating for F1 and it is an aspect I want to talk about with the other teams in the next few weeks.” In particular, he’s annoyed about the safety car, as are many of the teams.
Elsewhere today, Renault believe they have done enough to convince Alonso to stay with them for next year, including a rumoured replacement of Piquet with tester Lucas di Grassi. Alonso, in turn, says that his lack of enthusiasm on the podium this weekend was because he was tired, and not because he wants to leave the team. But, he’s still going to leave us waiting for a decision until the end of the season.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
Following on from the great race in Singapore, here are some news snippets we might have missed.
Bernie Ecclestone has announced that the Indian Grand Prix, due to be on the calendar from 2010, has been pushed back a year. It looks as though construction work will be finished in time for the 2010 debut, so reasons for Bernie’s decision remain unknown.
Ferrari have confirmed they will be keeping Luca Badoer and Marc Gene as test drivers for next season.
Alonso says that although he knows he was lucky with the safety car timing at the weekend, he also had a fast car, and he believes this win makes up for what has been a really tough year.
Ex-F1 champ Jackie Stewart has said the biggest winner from the Singapore race this weekend was Formula 1 in general, because such a fantastic event should help put some of the recent controversies behind us.
And finally, it’s no surprise that the overhaul of the safety car regulations has resurfaced, with teams very unhappy about the lottery effect.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
After an intense two hour race, Fernando Alonso emerged the surprise winner of the Singapore Grand Prix following two safety car periods.
The first few laps were nice and clean, and running got underway with Massa stretching a lead from Hamilton. Alonso started on soft tyres, and pitted really early for hard tyres, having changed his strategy because it wasn’t working. Then Renault team mate Piquet smashed into the wall and the safety car came out. Kubica and Rosberg had to pit for fuel, although the pit lane was closed, so they received penalties. As more drivers took their stops, Alonso worked his way to the front.
Despite serving his penalty, Rosberg managed to finish second, and Hamilton picked up third. Massa suffered another Ferrari pit stop blunder as he was sent on his way into the path of another car and with the fuel hose attached. He finished way down the order. Raikkonen was running fifth but crashed into the wall in the last few laps. At the end of the race, they all looked pretty exhausted.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Massa has scored pole position for the very first F1 night race at Singapore, beating Lewis Hamilton by six tenths of a second. Hamilton pulled out an impressive lap at the end of qualifying, especially considering the fact that he almost didn’t make it through to Q3. His first lap in the second session went wrong, and he had to abort it, and his second lap saw him tenth. Once again, he had to abort the third, and thankfully for him no one managed to push him out. Alonso finished 15th in that session, as he had to retire his car moments after hitting the track.
In team mate comparisons, Vettel pulled out an impressive 7th to Bourdais’ 17th, and Button finished in 12th to Barrichello’s 18th. Fisichella finished last having only managed to complete two laps due to a gearbox problem from Free Practice 3.
We also learned today that Kovalainen is using up his free engine joker for this race, and will therefore start with a fresh motor.
That’s it for today, please join me again tomorrow for another F1 Minute.
We saw our first Singapore track action today and it was unbelievably beautiful. The lighting seemed to work according to plan, and it was down to the drivers to get to grips with the circuit. Free Practice 1 saw Mark Webber crash into the barriers, and Rubens Barrichello suffer the same fate. Trulli spun round on the main straight, and decided it was safer to travel several car lengths the wrong way and u-turn into the pits, rather than swing round on the straight. The stewards disagreed, though, and after the event reprimanded him and fined him 10,000 Euros.
Hamilton led the first session and much of the second, until Alonso pipped him at the very last moment. FP2 was a quieter affair, with Glock knocking his front wing off against the wall, and a near miss between Bourdais coming out of the pits and Heidfeld on a flying lap. Webber missed a lot of the running but did get some laps in, whilst Fisichella retired halfway through with a gearbox problem.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 25th September 2008.
It’s a simple countdown until Singapore now, as the drivers have spent today preparing for the race on the new circuit. Most will have walked the track at some point, and there have been a couple of concerns.
Bourdais has already expressed his opinion that the chicane at Turn 10 is not a particularly good corner, and the high bumps on the kerbs may cause a problem. Alonso, having walked the track today, agrees, and goes so far as to say that the bumps could end a driver’s race. “It is not the best solution that they could find. We worry that if you miss the chicane or miss the line then you have to go over the kerbs - and then perhaps you damage the chassis or damage the bottom.” The FIA are aware of the situation and apparently race director Charlie Whiting has already inspected the corner.
Elsewhere today, Massa has said that if he won this year’s championship by the points margin taken from Lewis Hamilton in Belgium, essentially winning off track, he still believes he is a worthy champion, having fought a hard season.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
It’s the 24th September, and you’re listening to F1 Minute.
Although Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has already expressed his desire to sell sister team Toro Rosso before the end of 2009, co-owner Gerhard Berger wants more investment into his team. He believes Toro Rosso’s first win should inspire more support to get better results.
As well as that, customer cars are being outlawed after next season, and Berger knows they will need to increase the infrastructure. “If we need to build the entire car, it’s clear that to do that I can’t wait until 2010, I will have to start before then, and I will need more people. From the 160 staff we are now, to build and produce the entire car in 2010 we’ll need to grow to 230 people.”
Elsewhere today, Nakajima has spoken about Bridgestone’s new one-size fits all wet weather tyre, as he tested it at Jerez last week. He concludes that it was way too slippery, like driving on an ice rink: “It is the first generation one and I think we need to do a lot of work there.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
The result is in, and the FIA have rejected McLaren’s appeal against Lewis Hamilton’s Belgium penalty, deeming it to be inadmissible. The official FIA Statement reads: “Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are ‘not susceptible to appeal’.” McLaren tried to use an appeal from 2007 as a precedent – Tonio Liuzzi at the Japanese Grand Prix, for overtaking under yellow flags – but the FIA didn’t agree.
Hamilton released a statement soon after the announcement saying he was disappointed but ready to move on. “People will probably expect me to be depressed about today’s result, but that isn’t me. All I want to do now is put this matter behind me and get on with what we drivers do best: racing each other.”
McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh added to this that they are also disappointed to have received no ruling on the actual substance of the appeal, as they felt it was a perfectly valid complaint.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
It’s the 22nd September 2008, and this is F1 Minute.
At the Jerez test last week, Williams ran a brand new but old-style rear wing in preparation for 2009. Not everyone, including myself, is in favour of the look of the cars with this wing, but Ross Brawn has defended the change. “I think they look okay - and they look in many ways nicer because the bodywork doesn’t have all this furniture. It is a much bigger front wing and smaller higher rear wing, but we have had things like that in the past.” He said that just like when grooved tyres were introduced, people didn’t like the look of them, but we will soon get used to it.
Talking of 2009, Vijay Mallya has spoken about how he is measuring the performance of his team, and whilst he says Force India are doing well this year, next season will be the real test. “I’ve always said that we will take baby steps in 2008, such as getting into Q2, and I think we have managed to do that. In 2009 we have no excuses, I know that, and I will make sure that we perform.”
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo has been talking about the ever increasing number of street circuits on the calendar, which he thinks is a problem. He believes that street circuits don’t allow many opportunities for overtaking, and regarding the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix, he said: “I have the impression it will be one of those letdowns where you cannot overtake, like Valencia.” He added that to keep on encouraging street circuits on the calendar would be a bad thing for Formula 1.
Montezemolo has also been discussing the team’s decision to extend Raikkonen’s contract after he has failed to live up to expectations this year: “I know some disagreed when we lengthened his contract, but we are talking about the world champion, who won the title in his first year at Ferrari.” He said that Kimi will soon be back on form and getting results once more.
Finally, Lewis Hamilton is preparing for a busy week, as not only does he have to prepare for the race next Sunday, he is also planning to attend the Court of Appeal hearing in Paris tomorrow. Let me know how you think the result will pan out at F1Minute.com.