So, it was here at last; the first night race in Formula 1 history, with a thousand plus floodlights lighting up the streets of central Singapore. Somehow F1 managed to look even more glamorous with the lights blazing bright against the velvet blackness of the Asian night sky, making the circuit look like a big budget Hollywood film set. 

Had it been a movie then I am glad that the director chose to throw in a crashing Renault and its resulting safety car otherwise, once the novelty of the dark sky back drop had worn off (which it did; quickly!) we would have been left with another processional grand prix circuit in my opinion. It’s all well and good that one could see the sparks fly and it was marginally interesting to watch the cars bounce over the kerbs that were too high, for the first couple of laps anyway but other than that, what would the Singapore grand prix afforded us? 27 corners and only two places, at best with half way decent over-taking chances. Great. 

Ron Dennis no less, has hailed the Singapore grand prix as a great success. 

“It’s not just a new experience; it is a real big step in the history of grand prix racing because it has been done so well.” 

Yes Ron, the whole might race thing was great fun; I mean, floodlights – how exciting! But let’s not let that retract attention from the circuit itself which was almost as boring and processional as, dare I say it – Valencia (snore)? 

We had a race that would have no doubt been won in the pits had it not been for Piquet’s crash resulting in the race being won because of the safety car. I have previously lamented the safety car consequences in other articles so I won’t go down that road again. 

So what of the race itself? Massa’s pace was pretty fast and furious off that line. Kimi was blazing too. Were it not for the horrendous Ferrari pit stop, a 1-2 was very much in the bag for them.

Massa was miles ahead of everyone and with the times Kimi was putting in he was going to jump Lewis in the pits. And then Massa went flying down the pit lane with the fuel hose still attached.

I did chuckle when Ted Kravitz informed us that the McLaren team were out roaring to the Ferrari crew as they fled up the pit lane to retrieve their fuel hose. 

The Ferrari line is that, due to all the activity in the pit lane at that time what with everyone dashing in at the same time, they were not using the automated system. They had switched to manual. The green light became the lollipop and ‘someone’ let Massa go too early, with the fuel hose still attached. How convenient for them. Obviously, had they been using the automated system that would have made big mistake number two this season, what with the whole Valencia (snore) episode. But they were on manual so that lets them off the hook somewhat. At least they were actually issued with a penalty this time round. 

The pit lane fiasco did everything to scupper Kimi’s race too as he had no choice but to queue behind Massa while he waited for his pit stop. It all turned out to be academic in the end as the Flying Finn went flying across the kerbs near the end of the race anyway, straight in to the barriers. 

So, pole position and third on the grid resulted in zip diddily squat for the Italian boys. Stefano Domenicali was in tears at the end of the race, so I am led to believe. I’d love to muster up some compassion but I can’t. When it comes to Ferrari feeling down on their luck my heart turns in to a swinging brick. It comes from years of watching McLaren go through it. It’s nice to see the pendulum swing the other way for a change. Let him weep. 

It was a sublime move on David Coulthard though from our overtaking master of masters; Lewis Hamilton. It was also comforting to see the boy use his head for a change and just take things easy in the closing stages of the race to ensure he crossed the line with his six points in the bag. It is never beyond the realms of possibility to see him go all out to finish further up the field only to wipe himself out (think Brazil people!). A calm and rational manner could win Lewis the drivers’ championship title this year. 

Great job from the Renault team too. They played it right and reaped the rewards. It was a master-class from the flawless Fernando and I was really pleased to see him on the top step of the podium once again. 

As is becoming the norm for me I must finish with a little moan about James Allen. How many times did he make a snide comment about the prospect of Lewis and Fernando being together on the same podium? They are grown men James. They might not exactly be best friends but what was he expecting? Fisticuffs? Hardly. Fernando’s victory hasn’t exactly impeded Hamilton’s championship chances; the race wasn’t snatched from Hamilton’s grasp in the dying seconds of the race by his arch-enemy Alonso. Let it go James, let it go!

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