The Singapore Grand Prix

The 59th Formula One season which will start in March 2008 and consist of eighteen races is going to be marked with probably the most innovative debut which will take place in Singapore on September 28. The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix race is approved by FIA to be the first night event in F1 history.

The reason to stage at night is in striving of organizers to broadcast the event at a fitting time for TV audiences in Europe. With its origins in Europe, Grand Prix still has the majority of its spectators in there. The in-principle start of the race will be at 20:00 local time (13:00 Central European Time), that's why two tests of daylight conditions replicating system have been successfully passed by Singapore GP Pte Ltd., the official Singapore Grand Prix 2008 managing company.

The night start time is not the only Singapore Race distinction. Since the construction of a purpose built track is seen as wasteful, it was prompted to propose a street circuit. Singapore city state Marina Bay will play host to the Race. The 5.067 kilometres (3.148-miles) long circuit which serpentines the harbour area to the East of the city centre is similar in style to the Monaco Grand Prix. It was initially designed by famous German Formula One circuit's designer Hermann Tilke and consists of 10 right hand turns and 14 left hand turns. Due to specific shape of the circuit the race will be anti-clock wise for enhanced safety both for drivers and spectators.

The challenge is formed by 61 laps. It is thought that before turn 7 the cars top speed will be along Raffles Boulevard at over 300km per hour, but after crossing the ninety seven year old Anderson Bridge prior to the last turn they will be throttled back to 80km per hour. The 500m Pit Straight where the race will start and finish will be situated close to the new Singapore Flyer complex.

The Singapore event meets some concerns from the Malaysian authorities, who claim that it would create unhealthy competition with well-known Malaysian Sepang International Circuit which is only 300 kilometers away from Singapore. Still, the Sepang Circuit's Chairman, Mokhzani Mahathir welcomes the idea. Anyway, they are full of optimism in Singapore offering hospitality suites worldwide since November 2007. 80,000 general entrance Singapore Grand Prix tickets also are going to be available, three-day passes from December 2007 and single-day passes after New Year subject to inventories. It is believed that additional economic benefits will be derived from the influx of visitors of the Championship, which estimates say could exceed $100 million. The innovative spirit of the GP is likely to attract additional publicity and a number of sites offering information for this most prestigious of Singapore events are already to be found online.

The telecommunications company Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) will sponsor the event. Therefore the official name of the Race will be the 2008 Formula 1" SingTel Singapore Grand Prix.

The inception of world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950 as a successor of some earlier events took place in France. Since that time it spread across the world and entered Asia. Along with Bahrain and China in 2004, Turkey in 2005 and Singapore in 2008, there are Abu Dhabi, Indian and Korean Grand Prix's scheduled for 2009 and 2010. Singapore Grand Prix 2008 success is essential for Formula One development worldwide that is why the role of the event is of a really high importance.A

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Formula 1 Roundup

Dennis has finally come clean, or at least, Martin Whitmarsh signed the letter of apology from McLaren that has hopefully brought the curtain down on the farce of the Stepneygate saga. President of the FIA, Max Mosley, seems to have been persuaded by the public humiliation of the British team and has now asked for the meeting scheduled by the World Motor Sport Council for February 14th next year to be canceled. If the meeting had gone ahead as scheduled McLaren might have fallen foul of the orders laid down by the Council, warning against any Ferrari/disputed technology being found on the plans for next year's Silver Arrows. It would seem that Max Mosley is giving up his so-called witch hunt for Valentine's Day. How romantic!

Alonso goes back to Renault

In a move that surprised no one but Heikki Kovalainen, Fernando Alonso this week inked a new two- year deal with his former team Renault which brought with it confirmation that Giancarlo Fisichella would lose his race seat (no surprises there) but also the bombshell that Heikki Kovalainen, the rookie sensation, would himself lose a race seat in spite of having been consistently the fastest of the two drivers during the last season. It was a matter of a few short hours before the true reason for Kovy's departure became known and, true to form, the old Spaniard had his role to play. Heikki's speed had been his own undoing as the former two-time world champion reportedly negotiated the removal of the Finn from the team to avoid the same kind of challenge he received from Lewis Hamilton this year.

The greatest champion of all time, as some Spanish media sources have named him on a number of occasions then, has to contend with 'just' Nelson Piquet jr, another rookie fresh from GP2. That should be easy enough, shouldn't it? Nelson Piquet's father doesn't seem to agree, saying that his son is certainly not in F1 to be a Number 2 driver. Oh dear Fernando, its not looking good for you this year, is it?

No harm though. Through all the hard times, McLaren hasn't lost its knack for spotting an opportunity as they confirmed the signing of one Heikki Kovalainen to partner Lewis Hamilton for next year. If they have a car that is. Here's hoping...

Champion Taxis

Michael Schumacher just can't keep out of the headlines, no matter how hard he tries. As confirmed by his spokeswoman, the former seven-time world champion, was in the back of a taxi on his way to the airport to jump on his private plane back home and, running late as they were, he asked the taxi driver if he could drive. The taxi driver dutifully stood aside and was treated to a first hand display of the German's mastery of his craft, in an Opel Vivaro! Storming through the traffic, a Schumacher specialty on track (and off, it seems), the Schumachers arrived on time for their flight and the taxi driver was paid his fare and a tip of 100 Euros... A good day to be a taxi driver in Germany.

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Formula 1 Calendar

The Ferrari F2008 was launched on Sunday at the company's base at Maranello. The debut saw the first public viewing of the car Ferrari pins its hopes on for continued championship glory. Its drivers, World Champion Kimi Raikkonen and championship hopeful Felipe Massa are hoping and expecting a two way fight between themselves for the coveted title. The new F1 challenger is, according to Chief Designer, Aldo Costa, an important step in the development from last year's 2007. The ban on traction control and the introduction of cost saving measures such as the requirement that gearboxes must now last for four race events, along with the introduction of a standard ECU have meant that the designers were limited as to how far they could go. Raikkonen welcomed the return of traction control-free Formula 1 whilst Felipe Massa, not surprisingly, confirmed that he was now ready to take the battle to the current title holder for championship glory.

The second of the two likeliest championship contenders, McLaren Mercedes, also launched their car, the MP4-23, at their engine partner's base in Stuttgart, Germany. The Woking squad's CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, referred to the new contender as 'a step forward' in spite of the freeze on the development of some aspects of the car offered by the team as penitence in the wake of the Spygate scandal. Lewis Hamilton was in a confident mood at the launch, which coincided with his twenty-third birthday explaining that he was going into this year's championship with more confidence than he had at the beginning of last year's campaign. If 2007 was 'tentative' for the young Hamilton, Schumacher's record books must be shaking themselves off the shelves at the prospect of a properly confident Lewis in 2008.

Finally, the Honda A Team have not yet confirmed that their drivers for 2007, Takuma Sato and Brit hopeful Anthony Davidson are confirmed for 2008, although a spokesperson has intimated that to sign them up is the intention of the team. Meanwhile, Honda's second team has long since confirmed Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello as their drivers of choice. Or were they the first team? Oh dear, Honda's in a bit of pickle isn't it?

And so the season's testing and public gesturing begins. 2008 will be a vintage year for every Formula 1 fan, no doubt. Here's hoping that the Whinger Fernando Alonso can keep his complaints to himself, like the double champion that he was, when Nelsinho turns the 'rookie pressure' button to maximum attack.

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