Goodbye F1

Formula One (F1) supremo Bernie" Ecclestone has publicly said that he believed both Singapore and  Malaysia will no longer be hosting the F1 Grand Prix once their current agreement expires in 2018. I can only say one thing to that; it’s about time!

I don’t know about Malaysia but I never thought Singapore was a good fit for the F1. It’s an open secret to everyone in Singapore the race has been losing money since it came to Singapore and it’s became a yearly nightmare to close off part of the Marina Bay area for the race. Though the visual of the night race was great, the fact is neither the racers nor the teams were all that interested in coming to Singapore in the first place.

Singapore is a small country with no car manufacturing industry to speak of. The price of cars in this country is so high, most Singaporeans who own one has to take multi-years loan just to own it. We are just not a good fit for the F1 so goodbye night-race, and I hope the Singapore replacement is a better fit for you.

Vettel Is Too Good?

Yesterday, German Sebastian Vettel took a huge step towards his fourth straight world title with a victory in the Singapore Formula 1 (F1) race. A race he won by over 30 sec…and boos from the crowd while on the podium.

The 26-year-old 3-time world champion laughed it off and the F1 Supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, even compared Vettel to 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher (who was also booed on occasion) as been too good for his own good. Sorry but I have to disagree with Ecclestone. I don’t think Vetttel is booed for being too good, I think he’s booed for the direct opposite.

Yes, Michael Schumacher has suffered boos on occasion but even then everyone (including his own rivals) agreed that he was the best driver in F1 then. Vettel do not have that. If you ask fans who is the best driver currently in F1 is, fans will say Spain's Fernando Alonso, followed by Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen and then maybe, U.K’s Lewis Hamilton. Vettel comes in third or fourth in the standings.

That is why he is being booed. Not for being too good, but because fans think he is winning only because he got the best car and with the full support of his Red Bull team. Remember earlier this season when he disobeyed a direct order from his team not to overtake his team-mate Mark Webber? After Webber had switched down his car? What happened to Vettel then? Nothing.

Fair or not, that’s why fans boo Vettel. Fans think he wins only because he got an advantage over his rivals. Fans think if he is in the same car as everyone else, he might not even beat Webber, much less Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton.

That’s why fans boo Vettel, Not for being too good, but for being not good enough!

Behind The Times, But Still Correct

Sir Stirling Moss is a former racing driver from England often called "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship". There’s good reason for that. Moss raced from 1948 to 1962, winning 212 out of 529 races. 16 of those wins came in the Formula One Grand Prix, the pinnacle of motor sports.

He drove for Lotus, Maserati, Jaguar, Ferrari and Porsche, all big names in motor sports at that time and to this day, remains a well-known, well-respected, and much loved figure in motor sports. So when this guy speaks about motor racing, he knows what he is talking about.

Recently however, Sir Moss got into trouble for saying that women should not be competing among men in motor sports because they can’t compete with men in motor sports. Basically, he was saying that women should not compete alongside men because there is no way mentally they are not going to beat men in a sport where their lives are on the line.

Sir Moss was criticized for being behind the times. Now at 82, I believe there is some truth that Sir Moss might be behind the times, but that doesn’t change one thing; the man is also right.

Although machines play a big part in motor sports, the physical and mental strength of the driver are also very important. Right now, the most famous female driver is Danica Patrick. The 31 year old is by far the most successful woman in motorsport and took pole position in this year's Daytona 500 IndyCar race. She even won an IndyCar race in 2008. 

However, before supporters use her as an example, they need to look at the big picture. Danica Patrick may do well and win a race here and there, but she is never going to win the championship. Going through a whole season, scoring wins and points throughout the season is something beyond her. I'm not knocking her ability, I'm just stating a physical and metal fact. No matter how skilled or determined she is, she is at a physical and mental disadvantage from the get-go. 

That is just a fact.

So before people start criticizing Sir Stirling Moss, they also need to look at the picture of motorsport. It is a sport and woman are at a natural disadvantage when competing against men. So in short; Sir Moss may be behind the times, but he is still correct in his assessment. Women should not be competing alongside men in motorsports.

No More Please

With the exit of Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone is the person in sole charge of Formula One. One of the first things he said after the Singapore Grand Prix is that Singapore could staged F1 for the next 20 years.

For the stake of all concern, I hope not.

After the end of the Singapore Grand Prix last week, I decided to wait for the podium presentation. Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were the top 3 finishers and as the camera showed them waiting in a small room for the podium presentation, you can just see how tired they were. Teammates Webber and Vettel shared a handshake and just fell into their chairs. Alonso had a bottle of water and instead of drinking it, he poured it over his head.

All 3 drivers were so tired and hot that they looked like they had been in a sauna!

Since the first year, drivers had complained about the Marina track. The complains ranged from it being humid, hot, bumpy, to the track being “challenging.” And that’s just from the drivers! Singaporeans raged against the roadblocks; shop-owners along the circuit complained about loss of business due to the roadblocks; and it is believed that Singapore had been losing money on the race since year one. It was no surprise when Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry S. Iswaran refused to confirm that Singapore is thinking of extending the race beyond the current contract.

Frankly, I’m all for a Singapore F1 race but I hate the Marina track. It sucks! If Singapore wants to hold an F1 event, we need to build a proper racing track! However that doesn’t seem likely so when the current F1 contract runs out in 2012, here is one Singaporean and racing fan that hopes it will not return.

Nothing But Roadblocks!

For the third year running, the Formula One is in Singapore. The SingTel Singapore Grand Prix race will be held over the weekend at the Marina Bay so-call circuit.

Ever heard of familiarity breeds contempt? For Singaporeans, that seems to be the case this year as I heard of nothing but groans this year. There is just no interest among Singaporeans this year for the F1. It’s not just Singaporeans who have this problem as even government officials doesn’t seem excited about the race. The F1 concert was cancelled and outside a few advertisement banners, there had been almost no promotion of the race.

In fact, the best (if not the only) way to get a reaction out of Singaporeans for the race is to mention the roadblocks in the Marina area! Now that; that will get a reaction out of almost anyone in Singapore! “Nothing but roadblocks!” everyone will cry.

Outside that…no one cares.

The King Is Back To Save The Day

The king has returned, only this time the king has turned into the messiah.

That is basically the story of the new Formula One (F1) season. After a season of scandals and off-season of turmoil, Michael Schumacher's comeback couldn’t have come at a better time for F1.

After the Liegate of Lewis Hamilton and the Crashgate of Renault, manufacturing giants Toyota, BMW and Honda have left, and Renault already has one foot out of the F1's door. Having a 7-time world champion returning to the sport was a heaven’s gift to the desperate F1. After all, it’s hard to get excited over Lotus, Campos, Virgin and USF1, the new teams on the block.

Never mind that Schumacher is already 41, retired for 4 years, is generally hated when he was in F1, and had a neck injury that kept him out of the season in 2009; the messiah has come to save F1!

The Race Is Over!

F1 is over. Hooray!

After a boring race which all overtaking take place in the first corner (okay, maybe there’s 1 or 2 overtaking after that…if you can stay awake watching it), the road blocks will the lifted. Traffic will flow as usual and we won’t see police every 5m in the City Hall MRT (it will now be back to the usual police every 10m).

F1 is over. Hooray!

The Circus is Back in Town

In 2 weeks time, the Formula 1 circus will be back in Singapore and I think it’s fair to say most Singaporeans are NOT looking forward to it.

Why should we? Heavy traffic jams due to the road closure, can’t get to the waterfront side due to the race, heavy police presence in the area and high-sky prices for the race itself; it’s no wonder most Singaporeans find the race an inconvenience.

However don’t expect to read this in the Singapore papers. The Strait Times will probably say what a great success the race is, just like last year when they said the race was a great success. This is even though retailers situated around the F 1 track reported a 40% drop in business during the F1 period last year and hotels were reported to be fully booked when they were not.

And that’s not even including the terrible F1 season this year. Even the most die-hard F1 fan will have to say that this season has been nothing short of disastrous.

The list of disasters this season is long and between ‘Liegate’ (when defending champion Lewis Hamilton lied to race stewards (twice) in Australia), the loophole in the rules found by 3 of the teams which allow them to modify their cars, and (the latest) Renault begin accused by their former driver of ordering him to crash; it’s hard to remember a worse F1 season.

Yes, the F1 circus is back in town and it is a circus in more ways than one.

Idiotic Decision in F1

After the disastrous start to the new Formula 1 (F1) season, you would think that Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley would be doing everything within their power to right the boat.

You would be wrong! The greatest scandal this season has been ‘Liegate’ where defending champion Lewis Hamilton lied to the race stewards (twice) on a racing incident in Australia. The punishment for lying is a 3 race suspended ban for McLaren. The punishment is a 3 race ban but the ban is suspended. In case you are wondering what that means; it means that nothing will happen to McLaren!

Now McLaren’s sporting director Dave Ryan and boss Ron Dennis has both fell on their swords for the team but what about Hamilton? He was the one who lied to the stewards and that is clearly something you cannot do. Hamilton has been screaming that it’s all McLaren’s fault and he was just following orders. That’s total bull! He’s been racing for years and don’t know you can’t lied to the race stewards (twice)? It just proved that not only is he dishonest, he is a lair; he’s a dishonest lair who can do so with a straight face in front of the cameras.

I’ll love it if Hamilton managed to win the F1 title this year, just to see the egg on the face Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley. Seeing those two trying to defend this idiotic decision now is great; just imagine how it would be at the end of the season if Hamilton wins the title!

Go, Go, Hamilton!

Disastrous Start to New F1 Season

As the new Formula One season get under away and our neighbor Malaysia holds the second race of the season today, I have to wonder what the hell is going on in F1 this year.

Only 2 weeks into the season and I believe everyone will have to agree that the season has thus far been a total disaster. Before the season even started, there were already mass complains and appeal when 3 of the teams found a loophole in the new rules and modify their cars to achieve more speed. One of the cars won the opening race Australian Grand Prix and the rest of the padlock are appealing the decision to allow the cars to race.

That however is nothing compare to the furor surrounding defending champion Lewis Hamilton. In Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton exchange of third place with Jarno Trulli while they were behind the safety car. You are not allowed to overtake when the safety car is on track unless the car in front of you went off the track. That’s what happened when Trulli went off the track to avoid the debris from the collision. Hamilton took over third place but later Trulli took over third place again while the safely car was on the track. Trulli said that he had no choice as Hamilton slowed to a crawl and allowed him to overtake. In 2 hearings after the race, Hamilton and McLaren racing team said that they never did so and that Trulli overtook them illegally.

The race stewards ruled against Trulli. He was out of the points and Hamilton was placed third in the race. Now a fresh stewards' hearing into the Melbourne race was held this week after they got their hands on new audio evidence of the team radio transmissions. That plus an amateur video taken by a fan at the Australian race made it clear that Hamilton did slowed down to allow Trulli to pass him and orders were given to him to that effect. The stewards realized that they had been lied to (twice) and promptly disqualified McLaren and Hamilton. Now there is talk about disqualifying McLaren and Hamilton from the rest of the season.

I fail to see the problem here. McLaren and Hamilton clearly lied to the race stewards (twice) and even the British press, faithful defender of Hamilton till now, has condemned him for it. McLaren has gone into damage control by suspending its long-standing sporting director Dave Ryan but no matter who masterminded the lie, one thing is clear. Hamilton was the one who lied! I fail to see the reason why he shouldn’t be kicked from the season.

Just suspend him for the rest of the season and hopefully we can get back to the racing.

It’s not about the racing

The first F1 race in Singapore is over. The first night race in F1 history was incident packed as there were crashes and accidents all over the place. The safety car has to be activated twice during the race.

As expected, the race was won in the pits. Ferrari's Felipe Massa went from first to last after a pitstop blunder, while Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso won his first race in more than a year sent him as he had made his pit-stop before the first safety car came out.

Image wise, the race is good for the image of Singapore. However, I think they must work on the race track before the race next year. First thing is how narrow the track was. Before the race, a driver said that Singapore will be a crash-fest. He wasn’t wrong. While I can remember all of 5 over-taking moves in the whole 55 lap race, there were just too many crashes, too many laps under the safety cars. It spoilt the race for me.

I also think they need to look into the heat of the race. When you see the drivers after the race, all of them were sweating like crazy and most looked shattered by the experience. They don’t look that bad even after the Malaysian F1 race which is held during the day-time. Maybe it’s the fact Singapore is a street circuit or it’s the heat from the floodlights, but I think that’s something that must be looked into before the next race.

There wasn’t much too crow about the racing but F1 Singapore was always more about selling Singapore than the racing itself. On that part, I believe F1 Singapore has to be counted as a successful

F1 Singapore

F1 Singapore is well on its way. Good news is that the lighting seems to be NOT a problem for the drivers and the track looks good on TV. Also it looks like there will NOT be rain tonight, so thats good news for the image of Singapore.

Good news for the city of Singapore, but bad news for racing fans. The track has 23 corners and drivers seems to dislike it. World championship pace-setter Lewis Hamilton and two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso hate each other but both agreed that there would be virtually no chance of overtaking at the Singapore Grand Prix. The 5 km street circuit is narrow and bumpy and both drivers (and others) feel that over-taking is impossible.

That means that the race will be won at the start and in the pits. Too bad for racing fans.

No Layout?

With the Formula One drivers in Belgium this week for the Belgian Grand Prix, one innocent remark by a veteran F1 driver caught my eye.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli told reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix that drivers are still worried about Singapore's night race because the drivers don’t know much about it. Less than a month before Singapore's new street circuit makes its debut, the drivers say that the schedule, the testing times for the debut circuit, are still unknown.

I must say I am shock by this. Singapore will be the first night race in F1 history, we have never held a race before and there is no testing for the circuit? Testing of vital importance to the success of the race as the Singapore circuit is totally untested. We have never held a race before, so testing is necessary. Trulli say that he hasn’t even seen the circuit layout yet!

That’s shocking! Organizers of the race better get their act together because F1 is serious and dangerous sport. The last thing we need are rivers going 300km/h on our road without an idea of the circuit layout.

Give out the info ASAP to the drivers

Betting on F1

Like most countries in the world, Singapore will suffer from slowing economic growth this year. Now most countries will grudgingly admit this and try to put a positive spin on things. Singapore is no different.

So when Singapore government said that Singapore is not facing stagflation, rising inflation accompanied by falling industrial production and high unemployment, I wasn’t surprised. What surprised me was the reason the Singapore government gave.

While admitting that Singapore’s economic growth has slowed, the Singapore government says that strong foreign investments and upcoming tourism projects, including the Formula One race in September, will provide relief for the rest of the year.

Now I know that the F1 race on Sept 28 is supposed to be a major tourist attraction, but is it right to bet on the whole year’s economic growth on one race? I mean Malaysia has a F1 race for years and I never heard of them betting their yearly growth on the race. Surely, the Singapore government can come up with a better reason than a F1 race.

So the next time the Singapore government wants to say that the Singapore economy is doing fine; go right ahead. Just please, try to give a better reason.

I'll believe it when I see it!

After last years fiasco, FIA is gearing up to prevent a repeat incident. FIA President Max Mosley has warned that any Formula One team found guilty of spying in future is going to be kicked out of the championship.

But somehow, I doubt it. Last year, McLaren were found to have a 700+ page dossier from rival Ferrari and they were fined $100 million. Yes, they were stripped of their 2007 constructors' points but it took the last race of the year before Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were NOT crowned world champion. (Big relief here for this blogger)

After having a 700+ dossier, McLaren drivers were still allowed to remain in the fight for the drivers' title last year. Can any team do worse than having a 700+ dossier given to them by a spy in the rival's team?

If they 'only' fine McLaren $100 million', how does FIA justify more punishment for other teams? If McLaren were got spying again (or Ferrari even), will the FIA dare to kick them out of F1? Kick out one of the top teams in F1? Somehow I doubt it.

Kimi wins! A Race God in the sky!

There is a racing god! That's what come to mind when Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won his first Formula One drivers' championship after finishing first at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton's bid came to a dramatic end in the Brazilian Grand Prix after going off in the first lap and a gear-box problem at lap 8 costing him over 40 seconds in the race.

Hamilton, who needed to finish in the top 4, could finish only seventh while his McLaren "team-mate" Fernando Alonso's hopes were dashed as he finished third behind Raikkonen and the Finn's Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa. This is good for F1 fans (or for all F1 fans who isn't British) as no one from McLaren has won the championship. With their spying on Ferrari this year, it would be laughable if one of their drivers won the title.

As I have said last month, the spying saga has, in my view, tainted the title race for the McLaren's drivers. So I was delighted when Kimi Raikkonen won it; at least now, we can say for sure Raikkonen is the real champion of the track (without blatant spying for help).

Cry-baby Lewis Hamilton made a last ditch attempt to steal the title by appealing against a decision by the race stewards. The Williams and BMW Sauber team, whose cars filled fourth, fifth and sixth places, were investigated for ilegall fuel usage. Fortunately the stewards decided to impose no penalty. Had they been disqualified, Hamilton would have moved up to fourth, giving him enough points to win the world title.

Yes, Hamilton is a true cry-baby. Thank you racing god, whoever you are!

Countdown to F1 race in Singapore

1 year to Singapore's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix race, things have moved into high gear.

The FIA, the governing body of world motorsport, has granted approval for Singapore’s street circuit and are now awaiting whether it will be a day or night race (god I hope it will be a day race). The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be working on modifications to some existing infrastructure such as road kerbs and traffic islands. There's also a new 1.2 km road along the pit building to be constructed that will cost around S$18 million.

All goods news for F1 fans who this year were treated to McLaren's spying saga and the less than stellar punishment from the FIA (the team got kicked but not the drivers?). The spying saga has, in my view, tainted the title race between Fernando Alonso and the cry-baby who is Lewis Hamilton. for the sake of F1, I hope Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen win it this year.

That way, when F1 come to Singapore next year, we can exactly know who is the real champion of the track.

F1 extraordinary hearing

Amazing what can happen if you are a multi-million company, isn't it. In Formula One, the Ferrari and McLaren team are locked in a spying row. A row that McLaren seems to have gotten away with.

A disaffected Ferrari employee gave McLaren's chief designer, Mike Coughlan, confidential Ferrari documents. Police raided Coughlan's home under a tip from Ferrari and the 780-page technical dossier was found. However in an extraordinary hearing, the FIA's 25-strong World Motor Sports Council ruled that there was no evidence that McLaren had benefited from the confidential Ferrari documents that were found in the possession of their chief designer.

An FIA statement said: "The WMSC was satisfied that McLaren was in possession of confidential Ferrari information and is therefore in breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code. However, there is insufficient evidence that this information was used in such a way to interfere improperly with the FIA F1 championship. We therefore impose no penalty."

I'm no lawyer but doesn't this mean that McLaren were found guilty by the FIA World Council but no action will be taken? Talk about an extraordinary hearing! Michael Rasmussen must be laughing his guts out in France at this!

BTW, if anyone is interested, reports state that Rasmussen has hired a lawyer already. That didn't take long did it?

F1 backlash

There seems to be a growing backlash againest the F1 race here in Singapore. The latest question about the race is whether the race will harm the environment.

The Singapore Minister of State for Trade and Industry, S Iswaran, said that noise and smoke are inevitable during the race, but organisers will studying ways to minimise their effect. Question- When did Singaporeans start caring about the environment?

Answer- When Singaporeans discovered that the Singapore government is to fund 60% of the $150 million race. Seeing that the race would take in only $100 million, there's a lot of people are wondering if the economics of the race is viable.

When it comes to money, Singaporeans will ask a lot of questions. Unfortunately, they are too late in asking the question. A lot of people who read my blog knows my views about holding the race in Singapore, at night, at that stupid location, but the deal is signed already. Too late to back out now!

When I start questioning the race, a lot of people say that F1 should come to Singapore. (I was a bit of a spolit-sport, it seems.) Well, it's too late to have doubts now! So Singapore, stop your whining! F1 is coming, whether you like it or not.