Last week was dramatic as far as formula one controversies go, Renault got a 2 year suspended ban from formula one. Pat Symonds got a 5 year ban from formula one and flamboyant Flavio Briatore got a lifetime ban from the sport of formula one. But there were 2 peculiarities.

First one being the suspended sentence for Renault, kind of reminds on McLaren punishments during the spygate. Even over there the team pleaded ignorance to the action of 1-2 individuals in the company and even in this case the Renault formula one team pleaded the same to Briatore’s and Symond’s actions. While these may seem like valid defences in the sense that they can let you off the hook, its quite safe to say that the defences though plausible seem like long shots.

So this also brings us to the questions whether Nelsinho piquet deserved to be banned alongwith the Renault F1 team and the 2 officials. Now, there are 2 sides to the debate, 1st is the legal one. Nelsinho Piquet got immunity from the FIA for deposing in the case, sort of a whistleblower to the whole incident. Most people agree that whistleblowers deserve amnesty. But was Nelsinho really a whistleblower, he was happy crashing into walls as long as he was getting paid and his seat was secured at the Renault F1 team , when he saw that Flavio was probably going to fire him anyway, he decides to come clean and become the whistleblower. As a fan I feel that Nelsinho Piquet alongwith Renault have brought F1 into a lot of disrepute. One often gives the Ferrari team orders example for F1 controversies, but Renault took it to a new level by telling Nelsinho to crash and that too at a specific point which would cause a longer safety car period.

They not only together cheated the fans, the game , but they also cheated themselves. Its a shame that Nelsinho wasnt banned, his stay is bad for the sport and its reputation. Needless to say after the scandal, formula one will never be the same again.

Furthermore Flavio Briatore has been banished from the sport of formula one forever. Pat Symonds got a similar punishment but with a lesser timeframe of only 5 years.

But the decision has not went down well with fans. Most believe that the penalty given to the Renault formula one team is too light. Most notably Brit fans and their press who were OK with the concept of a suspended sentence for the McLaren team when they were punished suddenly disagree with the concept of suspended bans.

Anyway, it seems that formula one is losing its credibility and sheen, hawks like Flavio dont deserve to be in the sport of formula one. They cheat fans and fix races which is unacceptable to all.

The World Motor Sport Council finds that Renault F1 team members Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr. conspired to cause a deliberate crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. The World Motor Sport Council therefore finds Renault F1, which, under article 123 of the International Sporting Code, is responsible for the actions of its employees, in breach of Articles 151 and point 2 of Chapter IV of Appendix L of the Code, and Articles 3.2, 30.3 and/or 39.1 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations.

The World Motor Sport Council considers Renault F1’s breaches relating to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to be of unparalleled severity. Renault F1’s breaches not only compromised the integrity of the sport but also endangered the lives of spectators, officials, other competitors and Nelson Piquet Jr. himself. The World Motor Sport Council considers that offences of this severity merit permanent disqualification from the FIA Formula One World Championship. However, having regard to the points in mitigation mentioned above and in particular the steps taken by Renault F1 to identify and address the failings within its team and condemn the actions of the individuals involved, the WMSC has decided to suspend Renault F1’s disqualification until the end of the 2011 season. The World Motor Sport Council will only activate this disqualification if Renault F1 is found guilty of a comparable breach during that time.

In what will come as a big shocker to loyal Renault F1 fans, the team today made public a statement that Pat Symonds and Flavio Briatore have left the F1 outfit. Moreover they will not dispute the charges pit against them by the Piquets that Nelsinho Piquet was asked to crash his F1 car by Flavio Briatore at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.

It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.

In what comes as an apparent admission of guilt, the Renault formula one team are probably hoping for leniency from the WMSC.

For once i would like fans to be present instead of actors and models to be present at various races of Force India and their names and faces in the Media images. If you are looking for a fan to fly to any grand prix, choose me Mr. Mallya

Take last week’s Singapore Grand Prix for example :

Leo Sayer was present !

Sonam Kapoor and Imran Khan were present !

Even Shilpa Shetty was present !

Some photos of these people below :

All photos from Force India Media Centre.

Its an evening Felipe Massa shall never forget, the ambience was set, the lights were on and the Brazilian was in peak form. Felipe Massa steered his Ferrari F2008 in 1:44.801s, Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren was second on 1:45.465s ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who clocked 1:45.617s. Its suspected that Felipe Massa is on a lighter fuel load than Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastien Vettel seems to be taking his new found confident forward, he got 7th place in his Torro Rosso. Force India were very disappointing with both the cars bringing up the extreme rear. Here are the top 10 positions of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix :

2008 Singapore Grand Prix start positions :

1 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1min 44.801secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:45.465
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:45.617

4 R Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:45.779
5 H Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:45.873
6 N Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:45.964
7 S Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:46.244
8 T Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:46.328
9 N Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:46.611
10 K Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:47.547

2nd Photo Copyright : SpA Ferrari, Written Post is a copyright of http://F1chronicles.com

Copyrights : Top 2 – Honda GP Ltd, Bottom Ferrari SpA , both images from Media Centre.

Its time for the mega event, everyone was waiting for the formula one Singapore Grand Prix 2008, not because its Singapore, not because its a great track but because of the gimmick of it being a night race. After initial concerns by drivers and teams, the venue was accepted for a night race. A large number of projectors will be used to illuminate the track.

I am pretty unhappy with the organisers as they didnt approve our request for media access telling us (surprisingly) we are infringing upon copyright of another company (we had used the FIA logo in the FIA ruling article as a low resolution image like Keith does or even BBC does ,the logo was used to illustrate that the decision is made by the FIA). Since then i removed the logo and replace it with a photo of Felipe Massa and told them about fair use which is also incidentally included in Singapore IP law. Anyway, lets forget about that, we will post images from the teams whose media centre we are a part of.

The Singapore Grand Prix is on the 28th of September and the race will be a night race held in the Marina Bay Area of Singapore. A large number of projectors will illuminate the track. Will the cars also have headlights ? We were also able to find a few videos about the Singapore Grand Prix on Youtube, here they are:

1. Red Bull Racing 4th Sector : Join Mark Webber on the Singapore Street circuit. Some good info in the video, the Race will have 61 laps anticlockwise, approximately a 309 Km, the track has 6 slow turns, 4 high speed streches and 3 ideal overtaking spots. A great video from Red Bull 4th Sector which also features a flying lap with Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel

2. Martin Whitmarsh and Mclaren Video : A funny video, Martin Whitmarsh the CEO of the McLaren formula one team is giving an interview while the team works in the background, making loud noises, dropping stuff and walking inbetween the camera and Whitmarsh. One can also see headlights on the car (but they look very un-aerodynamic to me)

3.Nico Rosberg driving the Williams car on a simulator at the Singapore Track.

Photo Under GNU License/CC SA originally by chensiyuan sourced from WikiMedia

Changes to the designation of corner numbers will mean that the Marina Bay circuit is officially reduced from 24 to 23 corners for the 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore  rand Prix on 28th September. The change in designation reflects amendments to Turn 10, at the end of St Andrew’s Road which passes City Hall and The Padang.

“Previously what was Turn 10 and 11 was actually 3 corners close together in a
chicane configuration, created to provide the right geometry and corner speeds, due to the lack of straight ahead run off in this part of the circuit” says Singapore GP Director–Technical & Race Operations, Michael McDonough.

“As it is created solely around what is in effect the approach to one corner it was determined, in association with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, that one turn number (Turn 10) be used with a, b and c identifying the change in geometry through the turn.”

In addition, there have been further changes to offer additional grandstand seating to accommodate overwhelming demand. In just five months, over 92% of the tickets to the 2008 FORMULA 1™ SingTel Singapore Grand Prix have been sold.

With less than 90 days to the race, the demand remains so strong that race promoter Singapore GP Pte Ltd will be releasing an additional 1600 grandstand seats on Friday, 4 July 2008.

The Singapore Flyer Premier Grandstand will be converted to a conventional grandstand. In addition, there will also be a new 1100 seat Connaught Grandstand on Esplanade Drive (opposite the Esplanade). Three-day passes for these grandstands are priced at S$698 and offer a great view of the action although they will not have access to giant screens.

Singapore GP will also be adding an additional 500 seats to the existing Turn 2 Grandstand so that it now links to the Turn 1 Grandstand. The new seats are priced at S$1388, the same as all grandstands in the Northern Loop.

Due to the high take-up rate of the walkabout tickets, the City Hall Steps, previously identified as a potential grandstand location, will instead accommodate viewing platforms for walkabout ticket holders. All these locations are shown on a new circuit map which will be made available to all ticket holders.

With the new additional grandstand, a total of 84,600 three-day walkabout and grandstand passes will have been released, plus 13,000 corporate hospitality and Paddock Club seats. A further 3,000 single-day walkabout passes brings the total capacity per day to 100,600.

The Stamford, Raffles, Marina and Esplanade Waterfront grandstands are now
sold out.

Turn 3, Bay and the Pit grandstands have only single-seat availability.

However, seats are still available at Turn 1, Turn 2, Padang, Singapore Flyer, Esplanade Steps Premier and of course the new Connaught Grandstand.

About F1™ Singapore Grand Prix
The inaugural F1™ Singapore Grand Prix will take place on 28 September 2008 on a street circuit of public roads around the Marina Bay area. The design proposal includes a bespoke state-of-the-art lighting system that delivers optimal visibility for night race conditions. The race will be the first held at night in F1 history and is the first street race in Asia.