As remarkably as Fernando Alonso won the Singapore Grand Prix in the Formula One Racing season of 2010 in a dramatic race of attrition in which he led from pole, the mind raced back to a couple of years back when Singapore made its debut, and Alonso fought his way from the brink.
Formula One's Brush with Night Rage in Singapore!
(Published in 2008)
While India still awaits its first Grand Prix, the Singapore Grand Prix raised the bar with the evolution of night racing adding to the glitz of Formula One, writes Sreelata S. Yellamrazu.
Exceeding expectations exceptionally
Singapore was one of the most anticipated venues for the 2008 Formula One calendar and with good reason. While much of the focus of the season has been on the battle on the track, here was one that would put others to shame. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix also provided Formula One with added glitz and adventure – a night race.
The Singapore Grand Prix has been the third in fifteen races this year on the Formula One calendar to be a street circuit, and the first in Asia, racing on actual roads instead of a pre designed race track. After the much coveted Monaco Grand Prix and another new feature, the Valencia Grand Prix in Spain, Singapore becomes the latest on the Formula One adaptation. But the Singapore Grand Prix is also third in another sense, it is the only other anti-clockwise designed circuits after the Spa Francochamps at the Belgian Grand Prix and the Turkish Grand Prix.
The peculiarity of the race ensured enough media attention, celebrities making a beeline for a glimpse of the most happening event, fans thronging to be a part of the historical event, and the drivers and team excited about a novel prospect in store. The atmosphere under lights took on a hue of its own, with regalia and pompous festivities marking the event and rendering a tourist attraction purely on its own merit.
To understand what went into making the Marina Bay street circuit such an enticing prospect, one must dwell on the picturesque setting at dusk and as well as the amount of additional work that went into making the lanes worthy of a Formula One race. It is estimated that somewhere in the region of 3,200,000 watts were required to light up the track, four times that required at other sports stadiums. This would naturally mean about 250 steel pylons and something like seventy miles of cables for power alone. The circuit winds itself between the central business districts that boast of world class restaurants and hotels including Raffles as it meanders its way over two bridges, St. Anderson and Esplanade.
While considerable thought has gone behind staging a night time Formula One race, the reasons are believed to be primarily commercial. While the infrastructure made it possible to host a race of this nature, hosting the Singapore Grand Prix at night also meant that European audiences, that constitute the majority of motor racing audiences for Formula One, could still view their favourite Formula One race at a time that was convenient to them. With television audiences forming the largest base of Formula One followers, logic suggested that holding a night race at a newer venue that could be adapted to the demands of hosting a race at night would be a more feasible experiment.
Set for Photo Finish as Appeal Denied
Lewis Hamilton had a pit stop to make between the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Singapore Grand Prix that involved an appeal against his drive-through penalty. Hamilton was handed down the penalty in violation of Article 30.3 (a) of the 2008 FIA Formula One Sporting regulations and Appendix L, Chapter 4, Article 2(g) of the International Sporting Code at Spa Francochamps in the Belgian Grand Prix. In simpler terms, Hamilton was penalized at the end of the race for cutting a chicane and found guilty by race officials of having gained advantage even though Hamilton was of the assumption that he deliberately stepped back from gaining an unfair advantage as a result of the move. The decision demoted him from the top man at the podium to third and allowed Felipe Massa to close in on the drivers' championship.
However, Paris and France held little by way of beauty for Hamilton as his appeal was turned down. Hamilton's penalty being a drive-through, the hearing conducted by five FIA International Court of Appeal judges ruled that such penalties were not predisposed to appeal and hence, held no credibility to make a claim.
The Italian Grand Prix intervened between proceedings and with the Singapore Grand Prix coming close on its heels, Hamilton had little time to spare and little choice other than to focus on the task at hand. After all the Singapore Grand Prix held different challenges with drivers complaining of a bumpy circuit even as the threat of rain that preceded the week into the Singapore Grand Prix. Being a street circuit, instead of gravel, the drivers were staring at metal barriers and narrow lanes that held little room for overtaking and considerable risks and thus, increasing the demands on the driver dressed for heated conditions under rather humid, exhausting conditions.
One Point Separates Leader from Flock
Hamilton refused to see the decision of the appeal as a disappointment stating that he was mentally ready to accept that he would have only a one point advantage over Massa going into the Singapore Grand Prix and that was the way he was prepared to take it forward. Hamilton's move and his racing style at Monza has caused some of his fellow racers to believe they have someone in the mould of Michael Schumacher on the race circuit, a man unapologetic about his style of driving meaning that, sometimes he would incur the wrath of other race drivers on the circuit for some of his more outrageous moves. But Hamilton is less concerned about his reputation among his colleagues, concentrating fully on ensuring this year's championship does not slip away from him to another Ferrari man, much like last year. After all with four races, it was all to race for with only one point separating him from Massa, Raikkonen still in with an outside chance.
Making History in sensational fashion
One had to wonder at Fernando Alonso's words at the end of the qualifying session on Saturday for Sunday's race. A world champion no less, Alonso's defeatist attitude could only be accepted from the point of the view of the disaster that was his session with the car bailing out on him after outclassing his more successful rivals over the season in the practice sessions earlier. Alonso's anguishes expression to eager reporters said it all, "The race is lost…starting from fifteenth, I will go out just to lap the track, but it's over already."
But Alonso did more that just lap the track and a look back at the race will give us the idea how victory was sought. While the start began predictably for the front runners, pole positioned Massa, second in line Hamilton, followed by Raikkonen. However, it could be said Alonso was benefited greatly from his own team mate Nelson Piquet Jr.'s misfortunes. Renault team boss, Flavio Briatore, was less forthcoming in admitting it, accounting that the safety car would have be required for Reubens Barrichello's accident in any case.
However, it was Piquet's impact that forced other cars to make pits stops behind the safety car while Alonso moved ahead because he had pitted earlier. The line up underwent a drastic change and was further thrown into turmoil with the incident in the Ferrari pit stop that led to Massa's pulling away from the garage with the fuel rig still attached to his chassis. With another Ferrari lined up in the pits, the mechanics overlooked Massa at the end of the pit lane awaiting assistance in helping getting rid of the apparatus and rejoining the race which was effectively ruined for him. The trouble became apparent when the light system used by Ferrari as opposed to the traditional lollipop man indicated go while the fuel rig was yet to be pulled out. The result was a speeding Massa spraying oil from the detached oil rig all over his mechanics and even knocking down one of them.
Ferrari's hopes of scoring points at least in the team championships rested on Kimi Raikkonen but he would become another casualty of the hit and halt victims with just four laps to go. Massa finished out of the points as well on thirteenth position. Massa's spin were perhaps also responsible for one Force India car, that of Adrian Sutil, crashing into the barriers after being causght off guard on a turn by a spin-and-recovery Massa move. This was after a miserable start at the end of the grid for Force India. Without rain in the air, bets were greater on Ferrari making a clean finish but it was a rather unfortunate day for them.
Nico Rosberg thought he had blown his chances when he was forced to comply with a stop-and-go penalty for making a pit stop that coincided with the safety car withdrawal. But he found he had enough time to catch up with the front runners and his second position at the end of the race was his career best since his third position at Melbourne. Hamilton managed to stay on and was rewarded with a podium finish albeit just six points to add to his one point lead over Massa.
McLaren Mercedes now moves ahead of Ferrari by one point, making this a battle two-fold for team championships as well as the drivers' championships. A seven point lead for Hamilton is hardly room for breathing space. But it does give Hamilton the edge and the onus will be on Massa to make a move if he wishes to seal this season for Ferrari, like Kimi Raikkonen staged a late hour comeback to steal it last year from the rookie-takes-world-by-storm Hamilton.
India's Wait Just Got Longer
India's chance to host a Formula One race just got longer as Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has indicated that the original proposal for a Formula One race in New Delhi has been pushed back a year from 2010 to 2011.
While no particular reason was forthcoming from the Formula One boss, the obvious deficiencies have been spoken as accounting for the delay. While not inked yet, as things stand, Ecclestone has expressed that 2011 will be a possibility. Ecclestone's decision comes on the heels of Narain Karthikeyan's comments that India still lacks funding as well as infrastructure for putting for an Indian driver on the Formula One circuit as well as hosting a Formula One race. With a minimum ten year agreement on the cards, better planning and execution will ensure that Formula One does not only come to India but also, makes a permanent place for itself amongst the growing motor racing enthusiasts in the country.
One of the reasons why the decision to defer bringing Formula One to India is not being viewed pessimistically is because of the Commonwealth Games that are scheduled to be hosted by New Delhi in late 2010. Perhaps this was a case of avoiding a repeat of 2006 when Melbourne could not traditionally host the first race of the season because it was already hosting the Commonwealth Games. With Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi letting everyone know last year that the venue was decided upon in Greater Noida after also looking at a circuit possibility in Gurgaon as well with the aid of well known Formula One circuit designer and track architect, Hermann Tilke, it was perhaps a blessing in hindsight that the postponement has happened thus, avoiding the two events coinciding with each other.
What it does do is give Vijay Mallya an additional year to prep the Force India team for his dream to "win a Formula One race in the Indian Grand Prix".
©Sreelata S. Yellamrazu
©www.mindspacecricket.com
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