Pit Lane Exit

The trip to Singapore started with a little hick up. Our plane was delayed for over an hour because of some minor technical difficulties. But at the end we took off and we also landed so we are all here.

It was raining in Singapore of Friday morning (before our arrival) but since we landed here there hasn’t been a drop of rain.

The track itself is very impressive. It is hard to describe, it has to felt, but the atmosphere here is very special. Things seem to be working well, lights stayed on for the whole Friday practice session, beer is a bit cheaper than it was in Valencia . And when I need to get us and our minibus driver to the same place I simply gave my phone to do policeman to the all the talking, worked perfectly :-). All good so far.

On the track action itself. The drivers seemed to have difficulties with the final corner where several of them spun - Barrichello, Trulli, Kovalainen. Then there was that crash of Mark Webber early on in P1 that kept him out of action till about last half an hour of the P2. But the place where real trouble may be brewing is the pit lane exit. Several drivers had to drive on the dusty patch near the wall to avoid the cars on full speed taking the same corner (see the title photo). Watch out for this place on the track.

No major surprises in performances I would say. Ferrari, McLaren seem to be the quickest early on, BMW Sauber not doing too bad too. And then there was that quick lap from Alonso …

See inside this post for few pictures I took on Friday. Taking photos in this light is really a challenge …

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F1Wolf

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This is the final video before my departure for Singapore GP. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel get their names wrong, look at the track from about 300 metres above the ground, conduct a business meeting and then take a short trishaw ride to the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel to fix themselves a glass of Singapore Sling. We may have to wait till next season who is the better driver, but you can find out now which one of these two is a better bartender.

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The European part of 2008 F1 season is over, it is time for the fly away races. The post European show begins with the night race in Singapore. The Prediction Game is back with round 15. Hamilton lost his appeal, Massa kept his Spa win, the gap between top 2 is only 1 point but there are still another 4 drivers with mathematical chances to win the title … How will this change after Singapore GP ?

So place your predictions as usual in the comments below this post:
- Top eight finishers in the race
- Pole position
- Fastest lap

The summary of the rules and current standings - click here
Round 14 results - click here.

Do not forget - the predictions must be placed before the qualifying starts. Better do not leave it to the very last moment !

The results of this round will very likely be only published late on Monday, after my return from Singapore.

F1Wolf

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The Singapore GP organizers have this nice habit of keeping the ticket holders up to date with all the changes. Following their previous good news message on photo and video equipment I found another one in my mailbox today. The highlight - We can bring a bottle of water with us without risk of having it confiscated at the gates (as was the case in Valencia this year and as has been the case in Sepang or Shanghai forever )!

I cut the original twenty things down to seventeen - here is the list of what I believe are some useful tips for those who perhaps haven’t received the email and are planning to go to the Singapore GP track this weekend:

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F1Wolf

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Daniel from F1Bloggen is doing great job discovering all these videos … Here is his new find, onboard lap of Singapore track with Nico Rosberg (click to watch). Simulator of course, the real F1 cars still have to wait till Friday to taste the latest F1 street track. The video is also featured on WilliamsF1 website and in F1WolfClub video collection.

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Lewis Hamilton, McLaren Mercedes

The verdict is out, the penalty stands, Hamilton still leads the championship, but still only by a point. I have been expecting no other result but my feelings about the whole issue are rather mixed. On one hand I do agree with the actual penalty. But the way FIA swept the appeal off the table raises fresh questions about the integrity of the body that among other things also rules Formula 1.

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F1Wolf

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2008 Singapore GP

Formula 1 is heading to another new venue - The Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. The added excitment is the fact that the Singapore GP will be the first ever Formula 1 night race. The new track, the unknowns of the F1 racing under artificial lighting combined with predictably unpredictable tropical weather may be the perfect mix for another surprise result. Or maybe not.

The main attention will again focus on the title fight. Following yesterday FIA ruling the gap betweem Hamilton and Massa remains at only 1 point. There are still 6 drivers who can in theory win the 2008 title - Hamilton, Massa, Kubica, Raikkonen, Heidfeld and Kovalainen. Realistically however only Ferrari still has both drivers really in the title fight and even that may not be the case after Singapore GP. Ferrari camp would probably hope the track stays dry, McLaren perhaps would not mind a bit of rain. But it should also be remembered that there were occassions when even Hamilton lost it in the wet … So can it rain ? Well this time of the year in Singapore often rains after sunset, it however hasn’t rained that much this year (at least that is what my sources in Singapore have been saying).

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As I will be heading down to Singpore later this week, the race video preview is here earlier than usual. So here is the preview of the first Formula 1 night race - 2008 Singapore F1 Grand Prix.

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This video edit features
- photos from Singapore
- interviews with Nico Rosberg, Christian Danner, the Toyota guys Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli, Dieter Gass, Richard Cregan and John Howett
- flying (virtual) lap on Singapore street track with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel
- and the man with the magic light switch

Warning - the noise level of some parts of this video edit is purposely higher.

This video is also available on F1Wolf Group on Facebook and Dailymotion

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2008 Belgian GP - The podium

As many predicted, FIA rejected McLaren’s appeal against Lewis Hamilton’s 25 sec penalty for the chicane cutting back in Spa. The FIA’s reasoning - drive-through penalties could not be appealed:

“Article 152 of the International Sporting Code states that drive-through penalties are ‘not susceptible to appeal. The competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes appealed the Steward’s decision before the International Court of Appeal in a hearing in Paris on September 22nd. Having heard the explanations of the parties the Court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible.”

That means the result of Belgian GP remains unchanged. Felipe Massa keeps the win and Nick Heidfeld the 2nd place they inherited following Hamilton’s penalty. That also means that the gap between Championship leader Hamilton and 2nd Massa remains 1 point.

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Full text of the FIA decision inside this post:

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Last Sunday Reanult took their F1 cars to the streets of Ukrainian capital Kiev. Estimated 60,000 people turned out to watch the Formula 1 cars for the first time ever in Ukraine. Renault’s test drivers Sakond Yamamoto and Romain Grosjean were behind the wheel. Check out the high resolution photogallery (inside this post) !

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