Bernie lets fly
F1 chief slams Ferrari boss for 'circus' remark
LONDON: Bernie Ecclestone has given Ferrari a tight slap across
their red faces for criticising the Singapore Grand Prix, his
'night-race baby'. 'If the Ferrari president is right about the
Singapore GP being a circus,' the Formula One supremo told The
Daily Mail, 'then we have to be grateful to him for providing the
clowns.'
'If the Ferrari president is right about the Singapore GP being a
circus, then we have to be grateful to him for providing the
clowns.' The Sept 28 race was a complete fiasco for the Italian
giants. Felipe Massa was allowed to drive away from the pits with
the refuelling hose still attached to his car. It was a mistake
that not only ruined his race - he finished 13th despite starting
from pole - but may also have also handed the title to McLaren's
Lewis Hamilton, who finished third to open a seven-point lead at
the top of the drivers' standings.
Massa's teammate, reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen, also
crashed into a barrier, which meant he had not scored a point from
his last four races.
Rather than address the shortcomings his team showed in Singapore,
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo condemned F1's first night
race, which had received nothing but praise from the rest of the
world. 'When we race on tracks which should be used for a circus,
anything can happen,' di Montezemolo had said. 'This is humiliating
for F1.'
But Ecclestone pointed out that the humiliation belonged only to
Ferrari.
'After the weekend Ferrari had, their president should have shut up
and kept his head down,' the Briton said. 'If Massa loses the World
Championship, he will know Ferrari were responsible.
'The mistakes in Singapore have swung the championship in
Hamilton's favour. Seven points is a healthy lead with three races
left - and Ferrari will be feeling the pressure now. Lewis has
shown us for the last two years how strong he is.'
He also condemned the elaborate electronic system Ferrari use in
the pits instead of the more familiar 'lollipop' man, which all the
other teams use. 'Why do you want to have some other piece of
technology that can go wrong? It's over the top,' he said.
While the Singapore GP would have taught Ferrari not to blame
others for their own mistakes, Hamilton has also come away with
valuable lessons of his own. Trapped behind David Coulthard's
slower Red Bull for 24 laps after a safety-car interruption jumbled
the order by causing drivers to pit out of sequence, Hamilton had
to teach himself the art of restraint.
With Massa's problems in the pits, the 23-year-old Briton knew it
was important to pick up points to extend his lead instead of going
all out for a win and risk crashing.
'Once you get in the car, it can be hard to stop the instincts you
have been developing since you were eight years old. But I actually
think Singapore was a good learning experience,' Hamilton said. 'I
hate driving for points, but I think we can all see the benefit of
that approach at the moment.'
The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji on Sunday, which
Hamilton dominated last season despite extremely poor weather
conditions.
The rain was so heavy that drivers had to follow a safety car for
the first 19 laps.
