Our old mate Bob Constanduros (right), the official trackside commentator at every round of the Formula One World Championship - for more years than he chooses to remember - is running a blog from Singapore especially for Pitpass readers.
We are sure you'll enjoy it, for Bob is one of the best informed guys in the F1 paddock, and always to be seen in the vicinity of the big names, he's the man who accompanies the drivers on the Sunday morning driver parade and the guy you hear shouting "and now the Champaaaaaaaagne!" during the podium ceremonies. One day we've got to get him to do it in the French House.
Anyway, without further ado, here's the first of Bob's blogs from Singapore
Goodwood is still fresh in my memory; a wonderful Saturday spent walking around the circuit until 'er indoors fell out of the ladies (she'd only had a cider, honest), sprained her ankle and cut her knee and spent the whole of the touring car race in the excellently equipped and scrupulously serviced treatment centre.
What I'm trying to say is - what a contrast. The Sussex downs as a backdrop; four days later it is Singapore and their much vaunted Singapore Flyer - the world's largest Ferris wheel to you and me.
I've arrived at Formula One's latest stop. It's not the first time I've been here, so it's not that new, but you're still impressed that within two minutes of walking off a plane you're in immigration (having filled in the forms in London). Five minutes after that you have your case, and walk straight to a taxi. Sao Paulo? You would have moved two feet in the immigration queue.
My taxi driver - an elderly respectable chap driving something Japanese - took me away from downtown, which is predictably fouled up thanks to the road closures caused by the circuit. I'm staying a 20 minute walk from the circuit, and it feels like normal life exists here. I suspect downtown it's murder to get to your hotel because of road closures, and not easy to walk around. I think I'm best off where I am.
One always looks for how a new venue embraces Formula One and Grand Prix racing as a whole. Are the newspapers stuffed with it, does TV cover every move? Are there posters and F1-related advertisements everywhere? Certainly there was something in Singapore Airlines's on-flight magazine, and F1-related posters and merchandise at the airport, but not a lot of ads since. There are flyers in the hotel, but as all hotels are booked and probably all grandstand seats, there's not a lot to sell.
I've noticed from the British newspapers that the Singapore temperature has been creeping over thirty degrees over the last few days while my tweeds kept me warm when the sun went in at Goodwood. It was with some relief that the pilot told us that it was only 28 when we landed, and I noticed puddles around the place so something has obviously cleared the air a little.
Incidentally, flying in, I noticed that we approached from a completely different direction to normal, from the south, I would say, and we flew over a small circuit about ten minutes out. Not sure where this is, so I will be making inquiries, but I never knew there was a circuit here. I do know there is a kart track, but this looked bigger.
Tomorrow, then, is a day of exploration. I intend to walk the circuit as my commentary position does not have a view of the track, so I shall need all the help I can get to recognise landmarks. Then we have a press conference with drivers at 6pm local time, including Lewis Hamilton, who of course will be asked his reaction to the decisions of the FIA court of appeal regarding his Spa penalty.
Everyone has a view as to whether Lewis should or should not have been penalised. I am in the happy - if strange - position of not having actually seen what happened. I was walking from my commentary box opposite the old rostrum half way up the old pits to the new rostrum above the new pits during the final couple of laps, and although I did see part of the incident on a replay in the press office, I was pretty much in the dark regarding it.
In such cases, one is very much tempted to rely on the drivers' colleagues to judge what happened, and so I was fascinated to hear from Martin Brundle and other former drivers, plus several current drivers when we got to Monza. They all agreed that Lewis did get an advantage even though he let Raikkonen past. By that I assumed they meant that he wouldn't have been as close to Raikkonen going into La Source and certainly not close enough to overtake. That was good enough for me, although some observers said that this was partially because some of his colleagues are upset that Hamilton is perhaps getting too big for his boots. But then most of the drivers agreed that the penalty was too harsh, which would suggest that it wasn't anything personal.
Anyway, in the end the appeal was inadmissible apparently. I haven't got a press release relating to it, so I shall read with interest, and whether Lewis will want to argue the case remains to be seen. More tomorrow, then.
Bob Constanduros
sign in