The action kicked off in Japan today, with Hamilton leading Free Practice 1. It was bright and sunny, a vast difference to the state of the track this time last year. There were barely any incidents, bar a few wide corners, and we spent most of the session trying to distinguish between the soft and hard tyres with the lovely green stripes.
Free Practice 2 saw much more action, although still few incidents, and several drivers led the timesheets at one stage or another. Timo Glock ended the day as the fastest man, giving Toyota a much needed boost at their home race weekend. Alonso was close behind in second, whilst early pace-setter Hamilton settled for third.
Elsewhere, the Montreal government have said they will meet with Bernie Ecclestone to try and get the Canadian Grand Prix reinstated. Mayor Gerald Tremblay said he wants to understand the economic state of the race first, as the disagreement with Bernie is worth between $10 and $20 million.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.
We heard earlier in the week that McLaren are pushing forward with development this year and it’s good news to hear that BMW haven’t given up on the title, either. Technical director Willy Rampf said that they will still develop despite Kubica being 20 points down on Hamilton. He said: “We will continue though. We will try to have at least small modifications and updates for the next races and hope to get closer to the top. We are not far away, not the team and not Robert as our leading driver.”
Elsewhere today, Autosport.com is reporting that the FOTA are looking at a new concept of sharing commercial revenues between the teams equally. Currently, teams get a bigger share, the higher they finish up the constructor’s championship. You’d imagine the larger teams wouldn’t appreciate getting less money, but Autosport has asked Frank Williams who said it’s the best way of making things more competitive. I’d love to know what you think about this potential new scheme, leave your thoughts at F1Minute.com.
You’re listening to F1 Minute and it’s the 1st October 2008.
With most teams saying they will be focusing on 2009 now, it’s a refreshing change to hear that some updates will be taking place for McLaren. CEO Martin Whitmarsh says Singapore was supposed to be their last upgrade, but now they’ll be bringing in some more aerodynamic “bits and pieces” for Japan and China. Whitmarsh also had a bit of a moan about the penalty process in Singapore, saying that because the stop/go call for Rosberg pitting under the safety car came so late, that he had been able to pull out enough of a lead to effectively cancel it out. Whitmarsh believes Hamilton could have won it had things been different.
Elsewhere today, Malaysia have reportedly said no to the night race idea. Previously Bernie has said that the 2009 race would begin at 7pm local time, but officials have said they will compromise to start at 5pm. They certainly don’t intend to host a race after dark.
That’s it for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with 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.
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.
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.
This is F1 Minute and it’s the 20th September 2008.
Ron Dennis has said he has absolute faith in the International Court of Appeal, who are due to meet on Monday to discuss the Belgium penalty against Lewis Hamilton. When asked if he thinks there is a bias against anyone other than Ferrari, Dennis said: “Although Lewis has had five penalties already this season, I wouldn’t claim that he hasn’t been treated fairly. More importantly, we have to have faith in the system, and in the fairness of the FIA International Court of Appeal at which our appeal will be heard.”
Elsewhere, other teams are looking forward as well, although the Singapore Grand Prix seems to be at the forefront of their minds. BMW boss Mario Theissen thinks it is going to be something to behold: “You only need to think of the special atmosphere you get at a football match under floodlights: the surroundings melt into the background, the action itself takes centre stage. I’m expecting this premiere in Singapore to be the highlight of the year.”
That’s all for today, I’ll be back tomorrow with another F1 Minute.