26/09/2008
NEWS STORY
 |
The first evening of practice here at Singapore has come and gone, and it's taken place with surprising ease and lack of problems. The TV images have been great, the spectators seem to have welcomed and enjoyed it and the event looks set to be a big success.
If there are any problems, they centre on the first and last corners and the entry and exit to the pit lane. The problem is that cars coming into and out of the pits are right on the racing line. Various drivers have had unfortunate experiences in either position. For instance, twice we saw cars exit the pits and take to the dust and dirt on the inside to get out of the way of a car on the racing line. If there is a car entering the pits, a car wanting to take the racing line has to leave a car's width, and that can result running on dust and dirt and loss of grip.
Both subjects were brought up at the drivers' briefing and solutions are being sought as I write. The pit entry is expected to be shortened so that drivers coming into the pits will still take the final corner on the racing line, but now at racing speed. The solution to the pit lane exit is not so easy, however.
Comment has scarcely been made about the lighting of the circuit, which means that it's mainly a success. But some drivers have said that there is a dark spot in turn five, which is being addressed.
The other problem was that the track was much bumpier than drivers expected. Almost immediately drivers pitted to have their car's ride-height raised but in some cases this resulted in a reduction of downforce which affected the cars adversely.
During Thursday night's track tests, there was some alarm when the lights went out. This was the one thing that every driver feared. "It's not like a football match where you just stop and wait and see what happens next," pointed out Heikki Kovalainen. Not at 300kph you don't, no. There was no explanation why the lights had gone out. It was suggested that if they had been switched off on purpose, then perhaps that should be explained to get the organisers off the hook. No one explained, so perhaps they had gone out by accident... However, Bernd Maylander kept going in the safety car, so perhaps there wasn't too much of a problem although he did, of course, have the benefit of headlights.
After leaving the circuit, we successfully found a taxi - one of the difficulties here - to take us on to a party given by a major sponsor. I'm not naming them to spare them embarrassment, but hundreds of people had somehow managed to find the venue, even though there wasn't a single sign to tell us where it was.
Later the sponsors' drivers appeared - not that you would know it because there weren't any spotlights to light them. How basic is that? Are these sponsors newcomers? Definitely not. Maybe the local office hasn't done anything like this before, but that really isn't any excuse. Surely the sponsor should have a stage manager who oversees these things worldwide. Otherwise they do more harm than good.
Interestingly we were handed a glass of what tasted like diluted vodka when we walked in. Not exactly appetising, but there were plenty of beers. There were a few snack stands and it was at one of those that I struck up conversation with a couple of Indians. One was a major in their army, the other from Mumbai. The major knew little about motor sport and didn't want to talk, but I was impressed by the other chap's knowledge. Of course, he knew everything about Force India but quite a lot about other teams as well. It underlined that we should never underestimate the coverage of our sport, and the knowledge of so many people worldwide. Sadly, for one of our party, the evening ended badly when he had his wallet and phone stolen. Certainly that was a good enough reason for not going at all.
My neighbour in the press room, a young lad who hasn't been around long, has been chirping about how great the Singapore schedule is. How wonderful it is to get up at midday, have a swim, then lunch and then come in mid-afternoon. I wasn't impressed. I've been in since before midday and I'm not sure why...
Bob Constanduros