Motorsport Facility of the Year 2008

Wow, what an achievement for Singapore!!!!

The Marina Bay circuit was awarded the title of motorsport facility of the year and was commended for its revolutionary lighting system, and for the location of the track, which was situated right in the heart of the Central Business District.

Being the first ever night race, I have to agree that the lighting system was really fantastic. Night was turned into day with those lights. The circuit has a great backdrop of the city with its night lighting and it was a sight to behold as the cars raced round the circuit.

This award really shows the appreciation to the people who brought the F1 to Singapore. Well done, Singapore !!!!

Latest 2009 schedule

2009 FIA Formula One World Championship

29 March Australia
5 April Malaysia
19 April China
26 April Bahrain
10 May Spain
24 May Monaco
7 June Turkey
21 June Great Britain
12 July Germany
26 July Hungary
23 August Europe (Valencia)
30 August Belgium
13 September Italy
27 September Singapore
4 October Japan
18 October Brazil
1 November Abu Dhabi

Massa wins the race .. but Hamilton wins the "war"

The 2008 F1 Grand Prix has officially ended with the completion of the Brazilian F1 GP. Hometown hero, Massa, led from start to finish to take the chequered flag. You can imagine the joy on Massa's face when he crossed the line. However, that joy soon turned to tears a few seconds later. Hamilton dramatically overtook Timo Glock on the final turn to cross the finish line in 5th position to claim the Drivers' Championship title by a single point.

Nonetheless, Massa took his lost of the drivers' championship title graciously. And I must say, Hamilton definitely kept his cool and deserved to win the title. Of course, the Constructors' title went to Ferrari, for the 16th time.

What a season!!! For me, it was a great F1 season, especialy when the F1 rolled into Singapore for its first ever night race. I cannot described the feeling of being at the Singapore F1 race, the lights, the sounds of the F1 roaring past you, and the thrill of trying to capture a F1 car (speeding past you at high speed) on my DSLR camera. That was really a test of my amatuer phtography skills. I will be looking forward to 2009 when the next season starts again, with the Singapore GP being the key interest on my calendar.

Brazilian F1 Grand Prix

The last race of the 2008 season will start soon. Yes! Massa qualified first and Hamilton starts from 4th position. This race is expected to be close, with Hamilton needing only a top 5 finish to clinch the drivers' championship. Toyota's Trulli was a surprise package after he qualified in 2nd position, after edging Kimi to 3rd position.

If the weather remains dry, it should favour Ferrari, as Hamilton has shown that he is very capable in wet weather conditions.

Starting Grid for Brazilian F1 Grand Prix:
1st - Massa
2nd - Trulli
3rd - Raikkonen
4th - Hamilton
5th - Kovalainen
6th - Alonso
7th - Vettel
8th - Heidfeld
9th - Bourdais
10th - Glock
11th - Piquet
12th - Webber
13th - Kubica
14th - Coulthard
15th - Barrichello
16th - Nakajima
17th - Button
18th - Rosberg
19th - Fisichella
20th - Sutil

Stay tuned for the post race blog.

Brazilian GP Practice Session

This is the last race on the 2008 F1 calanedar. Looks like this race is really going to be interesting and it will certainly determine if either Hamilton or Massa will be crowned the champion in the Driver's Championship table.

Massa clocked the fastest time in the practice session, sending out a strong signal to Hamilton (probably) that he is gunning for the driver's title. However, Hamilton was not far behind in the practice session.

For Massa to win the championship, Hamilton needs to finish in a position lower than 5th or have an engine/mechanical failure (since Hamilton is running on the same engine used for the last race). Reliability could be an issue for the Mclaren car.

This last race will be really interesting. I am gunning for Massa to win the race and hopefully the championship.

Standardised Engines for all F1 cars?

With the global economies looking to head for a downturn, FIA is looking for ways to cut costs in order to help teams keep their budget low. One of the idea they are toying with is that of using standardised engines on all cars.

I find this very ironical. F1 has always been a sport where engine manufacturers put their new engines to the test. Engines are also one component of the cars which the leading teams (like Ferrari, Honda, Toyota, Mclaren, etc) take pride to improve and that is what makes the contructors' championship interesting. Apart from car setup, race strategies used by teams, reliability of their engines are also important if they want to win the contructors' title.

It is probably why Ferrari and Toyota have expressed their displeasure and they could withdraw from the F1 if FIA gets their way on the standardised engines issue. If they go the way of standardised engines, then they might as well scrap the F1 and focus on A1 GP (where every team uses the standardised car).

In my opinion, what is F1 without Ferrari.

Who is going where in F1?

As the season draws to a close with the upcoming Brazilian F1 GP, it is interesting to know which team the drivers will be driving for in 2009 season.

Ferrari: Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa will continue their Ferrari partnership at least until the end of 2010. However, there are still those who believe the Finn could turn his back on the Scuderia - and Formula One - at the end of the year. The man himself is insisting the loss of his drivers’ title - possibly to his team mate - will only inspire him to come back stronger in 2009. And given his revived form in recent races, only the most cynical would disagree.

McLaren: Lewis Hamilton is securely signed until the end of 2012 and Heikki Kovalainen has been confirmed for a second season with the Woking team.

BMW Sauber: Robert Kubica was no doubt high on the shopping list of many a team boss for 2009. In the end the Pole opted to stick with BMW, for one more season at least. Nick Heidfeld’s qualifying problems prompted the team to delay their ’09 announcement, but with those now solved, the team are keeping their faith in the German, ensuring an unchanged line-up.

Renault: Fernando Alonso is staying put, especially after back-to-back wins in Singapore and Japan in a much improved R28. Who is his likely 2009 team mate? Nelson Piquet’s future remains uncertain.

Toyota: Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock have proved a consistent and competitive pairing in 2008 and both will continue in 2009. It will be Glock’s second season and Trulli’s fifth with the Japanese team, who still await that elusive first win.

Toro Rosso: With Sebastian Vettel departing for Red Bull Racing, there’s at least one ’09 vacancy up for grabs. Gerhard Berger has admitted he’s having a tough time making a decision on Sebastien Bourdais (who in turn has said he can’t wait around forever). It looks like there is likely to be new faces at Toro Rosso in 2009.

Red Bull Racing: Another clear cut line-up here, with Mark Webber retained and Monza winner Vettel stepping up from Toro Rosso to replace the retirement-bound father-to-be David Coulthard.

Williams: Nico Rosberg stays put for 2009, along with Japanese team mate Kazuki Nakajima.

Honda: Honda have one of the most experienced and successful line-ups on the grid and both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello are keen to remain for 2009. But neither driver has been confirmed, most likely because Alonso’s future plans remain uncertain. In the unlikely event that the Spaniard is tempted away from Renault, who would be for the chop? According to reports it’s Barrichello, with some even suggesting that Honda bosses in Japan are keen to replace the veteran Brazilian with a younger name regardless of the Alonso outcome.

Force India: Comments from team owner Vijay Mallya would lead you to believe that Force India’s line-up of Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil is a dead cert to remain unchanged. However, there has been no official announcement, so nothing is confirmed yet.

2009 F1 Grand Prix schedule

The F1 schedule has been released. There will be 18 races in all. The race of interest to me would of course be the Singapore leg of the F1 calendar, where I would once again get tickets to watch the race. The Canadian Grand Prix is replaced by Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (the last race).


2009 FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) : 26 - 29 Mar

2009 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) : 03 - 05 Apr

2009 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Bahrain) : 17 - 19 Apr

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2009 (Catalunya) : 08 - 10 May

FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2009 (Monte Carlo) : 21 - 24 May

2009 FORMULA 1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) : 05 - 07 Jun

2009 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) : 19 - 21 Jun

FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2009 (Magny-Cours) : 26 - 28 Jun

FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2009 (Nürburgring) : 10 - 12 Jul

FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2009 (Budapest) : 24 - 26 Jul

2009 FORMULA 1 TELEFONICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) : 21 - 23 Aug

2009 FORMULA 1 ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) : 28 - 30 Aug

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2009 (Monza) : 11 - 13 Sep

2009 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) : 25 - 27 Sep

2009 FORMULA 1 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Suzuka) : 09 - 11 Oct

2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) : 16 - 18 Oct

FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2009 (Sao Paulo) : 30 Oct - 01 Nov

2009 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX (Abu Dhabi) : 13 - 15 Nov

Pictures from F1 support races.

The Porsche Carrera Race ..... with our very own Singaporean drivers.




THe BMW Formula race .....

The Aston Martin race ... featuring Aston Martin DB8s

Guess not many people are interested in these 3 support races as the majority of the crowd only started streaming into the circuit around 6pm.

Pictures from 1st Singapore Singtel F1 Grand Prix

Here are some pictures taken during the night race. It was a worthwhile trip to the F1. It gave a different perspective of watching the F1 race, compared to watching it on TV. Definitely will get tickets to 2009's Singtel F1 Grand Prix, and hope to improve on my photography skills to take better sports photos.

That is the safety car leading the pack down the circuit after Nelsinhq Piquet's accident.


Here's a shot of Heikki's car at the One Raffles Link turn.

A Force India's car.

Toyota's F1 car.

A glimse of Massa's car at turn into City Hall's part of the circuit. Travelling in excess of 200km/h

Massa at the turn at Fullerton Hotel, after Anderson's Bridge

Fernando Alonso at the Fullerton Hotel's turn, after Anderson's Bridge

Game over for Rubens Barrichello's Honda

A glimpse of Kimi at the turn outside Singapore Recreation Club.

Kovalainen's Mclaren-Mercedes

This was how fast Massa was taking the corner outside Singapore Recreation Club. I was panning the camera so fast that the foreground is so blurred.

Singapore F1 Night race - Drivers Parade

Managed to get some photographs of the F1 drivers during the Drivers' Parade with my camera. Photos are taken from SRC. Pictures may appear a little blurry due to panning, since the vintage cars are also moving quite fast at this particular fast corner of the race circuit.

First F1 Night Race - Singpore F1 Grand Prix

Yes .. the day has finally arrived. The first ever F1 Grand Prix to be held at night and it is right here at our door step in Singapore.

Expecting a big crowd, I started my journey to the F1 circuit as early as 2.30pm. I arrived at the gates at about 3pm. The Aston Martin support race has already began, as I joined the queue to clear the security checks. The checks were very quick and thorough. Nonetheless, I was through the gates within 5 mins.

Little known to some poeple, there were 3 support races prior to the F1 night race. They are the Aston Martin , BMW and the Porsche Carrera races. Aston Martin race featured drivers in their Aston Martin DB8s. The races lasted for 10 laps. Engine noise was very loud, but cannot be compared to the loudness of an F1 engine. The next race was the BMW race. This feature cars looking similar to F1s but smaller. I was surprised as I was expecting to see BMWs going past me. The 3rd support race was the Porsche race, featuring Porsche Carreras. Engines were quieter then the Aston Martins.

The inaugural F1 night race started at 8pm and before the first 20 laps was completed, out came the safety car. I guess the turning point of Massa's race came with his first pitstop. What was the lollipop man doing !!!! Lifting the lollipop (albeit a digital lollipop) when the fuel dispenser was still connected to Massa's car !!! That cost Massa and Kimi their race as they fought hard to regain track position. Both Ferraris finished without a single point for the first time this season and Ferrari lost their contructor's first position to Mclaren. In the end ... it was Fernando Alonso who took the chequered flag with Nico Rosberg coming in 2nd, and Lewis Hamilton finishing 3rd. Hamilton now leads by 7 pooonts from Massa in the F1 Drivers Championship standings.

Will be posting some pictures soon, once I get them sorted out. I must say that the F1 cars were travelling at such high speeds, it made photo taking a real challenge for an amatuer photographer (like me). Stay tuned.