McLaren bosses hails Singapore spectacle

Sunday 28th September 2008

McLaren boss Ron Dennis believes the success of the first grand prix to be held at night in Singapore will change the future of F1.

An incident-packed race saw Renault's Fernando Alonso come out on top on Sunday while Williams' Nico Rosberg finished second and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton third.

Despite high drama on the circuit, the race stood up well to expectations from a lighting aspect with the track brightly lit throughout.

The weekend proved a success on the whole and Dennis believes Singapore has set the benchmark for future night races.

"I don't think anybody does not appreciate the success of the concept of racing at night," Dennis said.

"The only negative comment I've heard throughout the weekend from any member of our team was that the circuit is a bit bumpy, but everyone adapts to that and it is easy to rectify for next year.

"The really impressive thing relates to the lighting. There are very few places that don't look even better at night because they are beautifully lit and it is the same of this city.

"When you see the shots of the city and the way they have brought the whole atmosphere of Singapore into the event, it is just a phenomenal spectacle."

Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone has expressed his desire to add more night races to the calendar, with Japan a recent target, and Dennis believes Singapore's success will herald more races under floodlights across the globe.

"Clearly it provides Formula One with a very powerful tool because we can now target anywhere in the world," he added.

"If both Singapore and Valencia tweak the circuits with experience then this is going to set a new trend. It is a real big step in the history of Grand Prix racing.

"It has done so well. Everything has been proven to work and we can take this model and apply it anywhere.

"It could be used in Europe to bring us into night and we can change the viewing times.

"It can be used now to glamourise Formula One even more."

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug echoed Dennis' sentiments but added that the Singapore Grand Prix could become the most difficult race of the season.

"It is a great statement for Formula One," he said. "Normally for a new venue you sometimes are expecting something and sometimes you are a little bit disappointed, but here it is quite the other way around.

"I was expecting great pictures, I thought that with it at night and the lighting would work like a photo studio and it is amazing.

"They have done a particularly good job with the helicopters to integrate the city.

"The track is challenging and I believe this will be one of the toughest if not the toughest of the calendar."

Your Comments

johnbt

"Let's get technical and give some thoughts to night racing. Please remember that temperature is the most important aspect for the tyres in F1 racing. Supposing we have night races in Europe, already in summer the average TRACK temperature hovers around 16 to 25 degrees celcius (plus, minus), mind you that's in the day. In the night for sure, it will drop drastically and I can't imagine if it rains. That could spell disaster trying to heat up the tyres, that's really dangerous. You know, "Between the car and the road are the tyres". Now for the venue. Singapore GP is in the heart of the city with colonial and modern architecture and glitzy with lights. Did you watch the night race for MotorGP in Qatar, it wasn't spectecular at all from the air. If it was in Paris, Vegas or cities alike than maybe it's worth thinking about it. I can't imagine having a night race in Fuji, boy oh boy, rain and fog certainly won't be a good choice. We were lucky that it didn't rain in Singapore. Sepang and China are the only 2 venues which I can think of. So let's all not get overhyped as success can be followed by failure too."

Enzo_Kemm

"Basicaly i thnk.. Piquets crash was planned by renault. simple. McLaren deserved the points... and I also do not feel sorry for ferrari, kimi, or massa. Ferrari hasnt let kimi down, In my opinion, they still have the best car on the grid, the drivers, jus dont have the talent that My boy Lewis hamilton has. That race felt like a win to me and im sure it does the same to McLaren! Good luck Lewis. "

big_als_dad

"As a rule, I don't think its right to serve a penalty anywhere other than the race where the foul is committed. In my view, the fact is that, the Spa penalty was just totally wrong. Interesting to see the FIA re-establish the precedent for a drive through penalty for unsafe release in the pits in a case where it would make no difference to the result (for Ferrari). I should feel sorry for Massa but he was gifted an undeserving win in Spa so I don't. This Ferrari pit fiasco in Singapore just helps to put right another wrong. I guess you could say, "What comes around goes around". I think Ferrari are still well in front in terms of advantage gained from the imbalance of fairness but I think we are now closer to where we should be for this season. I don't think Kimi's driving has fallen away, I think Ferrari have let him down in the same way that BMW have let Nick Heidfeld down. I am worried about the apparent lack of performance from Heikki though. I think Lewis is going into the last three races on his own and I think Kimi is much more likely to affect the outcome of the championship than Heikki."

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