F1 chief slams Ferrari boss for 'circus' remark
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Bernie lets fly
F1 chief slams Ferrari boss for 'circus' remark
LONDON: Bernie Ecclestone has given Ferrari a tight slap across their red faces for criticising the Singapore Grand Prix, his 'night-race baby'. 'If the Ferrari president is right about the Singapore GP being a circus,' the Formula One supremo told The Daily Mail, 'then we have to be grateful to him for providing the clowns.'
'If the Ferrari president is right about the Singapore GP being a circus, then we have to be grateful to him for providing the clowns.' The Sept 28 race was a complete fiasco for the Italian giants. Felipe Massa was allowed to drive away from the pits with the refuelling hose still attached to his car. It was a mistake that not only ruined his race - he finished 13th despite starting from pole - but may also have also handed the title to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who finished third to open a seven-point lead at the top of the drivers' standings.
Massa's teammate, reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen, also crashed into a barrier, which meant he had not scored a point from his last four races.
Rather than address the shortcomings his team showed in Singapore, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo condemned F1's first night race, which had received nothing but praise from the rest of the world. 'When we race on tracks which should be used for a circus, anything can happen,' di Montezemolo had said. 'This is humiliating for F1.'
But Ecclestone pointed out that the humiliation belonged only to Ferrari.
'After the weekend Ferrari had, their president should have shut up and kept his head down,' the Briton said. 'If Massa loses the World Championship, he will know Ferrari were responsible.
'The mistakes in Singapore have swung the championship in Hamilton's favour. Seven points is a healthy lead with three races left - and Ferrari will be feeling the pressure now. Lewis has shown us for the last two years how strong he is.'
He also condemned the elaborate electronic system Ferrari use in the pits instead of the more familiar 'lollipop' man, which all the other teams use. 'Why do you want to have some other piece of technology that can go wrong? It's over the top,' he said.
While the Singapore GP would have taught Ferrari not to blame others for their own mistakes, Hamilton has also come away with valuable lessons of his own. Trapped behind David Coulthard's slower Red Bull for 24 laps after a safety-car interruption jumbled the order by causing drivers to pit out of sequence, Hamilton had to teach himself the art of restraint.
With Massa's problems in the pits, the 23-year-old Briton knew it was important to pick up points to extend his lead instead of going all out for a win and risk crashing.
'Once you get in the car, it can be hard to stop the instincts you have been developing since you were eight years old. But I actually think Singapore was a good learning experience,' Hamilton said. 'I hate driving for points, but I think we can all see the benefit of that approach at the moment.'
The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji on Sunday, which Hamilton dominated last season despite extremely poor weather conditions.
The rain was so heavy that drivers had to follow a safety car for the first 19 laps. -
OWNED WITH A POWER OF OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!!!!111111oneoneeleven
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kanna upside down, inside out, left and right.
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sinkie cmi!
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good job mr F1 chief...
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PAWNED!
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*clap* *clap*
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featured on the straits times yesterday.
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ferrari can go rest in the bottomless pit lah..
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for once, i want mclaren to win
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i've also posted the ferrari to revert back to the "lollipop" at the formula 1 forum..
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Originally posted by QX179R:
i've also posted the ferrari to revert back to the "lollipop" at the formula 1 forum..
didn know that htere was a f1 forum..
this article very hard to find online..
only straits times have.
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Originally posted by kenn3th:
didn know that htere was a f1 forum..
this article very hard to find online..
only straits times have.
you go see, i took it off the CNA news webby under the sports section..
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Originally posted by QX179R:
you go see, i took it off the CNA news webby under the sports section..
this article? -
no, i mean the article about the ferrari to revert back to using "lollipop" dat i posted over at the formula 1 forum..
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orh
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But seriously F1 circuit in sg is really not something to look at... my frens and i watch the entire race and was dicussing..... its a no show.... basically its too narrow, its too short, and putting so many bends into a short and narrow track... chances to overtake is really almost zero if you up against good driver.... alonso was said to be confirmed to be first even with more then 10 laps left...... nothing really to be done just follow the back and be second .... same for the third.... i think the circuit needs to be extended and broaden if really wanna watch F1 racing
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Look carefully @ the trend.
In every race, as the years passes, there are lesser and lesser car overtaking sessions. on the same tracks too.
Why?
Technology had been so advanced, till a point where, it is not street racing anymore. Cars can't really over take each other as there are forces preventing them to. For example: aerodynamic streams. - invisible to the eye, but felt by the driver as he closes in on a car.
Slip streaming is the best, if you are not able to chase up, in more narrow races like in singapore.
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lets support hamilton and mercedes all the way.
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The governing authority of F1 racing have also issued a new ruling for pit stop:
Cars must not leave the pit with the fuel hose still attached to their fuel tank connection.
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haiz.... really just for the pride of sg to have F1..... really removes the joy of F1