“There is no MRT track beneath Turn 13,” an SMRT official said, possibly whilst giving the Vs. “The nearest MRT tunnel is about 200 metres away with a depth of about ten metres. And train wheels and running wheels do not generate static electricity.”
Fernando Alonso v Lewis Hamilton, Ron Dennis v Max Mosley, Bernie Ecclestone v Luca di Montezemolo… F1 has seen its fair share of mud-slinging in recent times. Now pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz and David Coulthard - both of whom write columns for ITV’s F1 website - are engaged in a war of words.
Kravitz started it when he wrote about DC’s lacklustre performance in the Singapore Grand Prix:
“It seems pointless to criticise a man who’s only got three more races to go in his F1 career, but since he may well be dishing plenty of criticism out to others next year, I’ll start now: he was mediocre in Singapore.
“David was handed a gilt-edged opportunity by his team, who made the right call when Piquet crashed. […] When the safety car came in, he was looking good - running right behind Alonso and Webber, yet he finished the race behind Rosberg (with a 10 second stop & go), Hamilton, Glock, Vettel and Heidfeld…
As Bernie Ecclestone said earlier this week, when questioned about the sight of Felipe Massa driving off with a fuel rig still attached to his Ferrari in Singapore, sometimes it’s best to keep things simple. Wee Bernie said:
“If it’s a matter of turning a switch, which I am led to believe is how it [Ferrari’s fancy fuel system] works, then why not stick with the “lollipop” man of old? Why do you want to have some other piece of technology that can go wrong? It’s over the top.”
So, in the wake of the Singapore GP shambles, humbled Ferrari have decided to make a u-turn and revert to the traditional “lollipop” pit-stop system for this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Red Bull believe Mark Webber’s Singapore Grand Prix may have been ended to a tram. The Australian was on course for a podium finish when he had to be rolled into the garage with transmission problems - his first mechanical retirement of the season.
Ferrari fans might be getting increasingly infuriated by the curious performances of Kimi Raikkonen, but he announced himself as the fastest Formula One driver with yet another fastest lap at Singapore. The reigning world champion set the quickest lap for the tenth race of the fifteen that have taken place so far this season.
That equals the Finn’s own record from 2005 with McLaren and Michael Schumacher’s from the 2002 season. If he sets the fastest lap at any of the remaining grand prix this season he will hold the record by himself and wipe Schumi off at least one of F1’s records.
Footage of Piquet’s nasty collision with barriers on both sides during last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. Of course, it was all a ploy to set team-mate Fernando Alonso up for victory!
After the European Grand Prix in Valencia, where Ferrari were hit with a €10,000 fine for an unsafe pit-stop release of Felipe Massa, and Kimi Raikkonen ran over a mechanic after wrongly been given the green light by the team’s semi-automated pit system, Grid Crasher asked you whether it was time to bring back the lollipop man. You answered with a resounding maybe.
So following the Ferrari mechanics’ 100m fuel hose dash at Singapore, we are putting the question to you again. With two mechanics having now been flattened by cars getting the green light to go too soon, should Ferrari now be reviewing their strategy?
Lewis Hamilton interview sticks the knife into Massa
A post-Singapore Grand Prix interview with Lewis Hamilton proved too good an opportunity for a dig at Ferrari for the McLaren PR team to pass up. The interview was full of thinly-veiled swipes at Felipe Massa and his Ferrari team. Even the opening ‘question’ of the interview was a tongue-in-cheek comment against Ferrari.
“The race was a good example of team-work, with your first pit stop perfectly timed and the whole team working faultlessly during a number of high-pressure situations,” said the interviewer.
