Street Races Concern Ferrari Boss

[DOF_power 0]

Street races concern Ferrari boss

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has expressed his concern at the number of street circuits in Formula One.

Circuits in Valencia and Singapore have joined traditional street track Monaco on this year's F1 calendar.

But ahead of the inaugural Singapore race, Di Montezemolo said the lack of overtaking opportunities is not good for the future of the sport.

"I have the impression it will be one of those letdowns where you cannot overtake, like Valencia," he said.

"Going forward with these circuits heralds a bad future for Formula One."

The Grand Prix around the streets of Singapore on 28 September will be the first night race in the sport's history.

[Rainmaster 7]

Strong comments from a powerful man. I kinda agree, but you have to change the cars before you moan about the circuits.

[goferrarigo 0]

Strong comments from a powerful man. I kinda agree, but you have to change the cars before you moan about the circuits.

Like in Valencia there was no place to overtake, at all... Let's see the Singapore race before speaking, but in general , Street races suck...

[Rainmaster 7]

Like in Valencia there was no place to overtake, at all... Let's see the Singapore race before speaking, but in general , Street races suck...

I wouldn't mind a couple of sucky street races a year if the other races were interesting though...

[goferrarigo 0]

I wouldn't mind a couple of sucky street races a year if the other races were interesting though...

What's the point of having street races??, just for the higher ticket prices???

[5P33D3V1L 0]

Valencia to me has no reason to be on the calendar.

I track is average and theres no glamour or character there (except all those containers which look awful). Also Spain already has 1 race in the calendar already.

To me the Valencia race just seems completely pointless, to top it off, the racing there is rubbish too.

A test day there would also seem irrelavent so building the track was a complete waste of money.

Scrap Valencia and bring in more like Suzuka and Spa I say.

[Jean Todt 4]

Strong comments from a powerful man. I kinda agree, but you have to change the cars before you moan about the circuits.

Valencia was absolutely crap, Monaco was brilliant as always. But I agree with you about the cars and circuits.

Lets see how could drivers cope with night race, because of the fact that it is going to have a very limited visibility, unlike Motogp drivers are a lot closer to the ground and have limited visibility as i said earlier.

[Jez 0]

From what I here visibility will be fine in Singapore. They've made it as bright as day. A friend of mine was there earlier this year when they tested the lighting. The only unknown I suppose is what effect rain might have..

[HandyNZL 1]

Was watching the F3 round at Bucharest on the idiot box this weekend - that track looked ok, and there was passing going on. Valencia was a total snore, and half of it would have been the uninspiring surrounds - at least at Monaco you get to look at flash boats and pretty buildings.

Singapore will at least look attractive....as for how many cars are still running after 90-deg'ing it under that grandstand will be another matter.

Whoever said it up above is right though...before they attack the tracks, they should be attacking the cars and getting them able to overtake even on a flippin' race circuit, let alone a road circuit.

Street races should be a part of the calendar - do we need three out of seventeen? Doesn't seem a huge amount really. Is Melbourne a street circuit???? I don't really consider it as one.

There are certainly some "race-circuits" that could be gotten rid of first, mind you.

IF Singapore is yet another s##tty race, on a s##tty circuit, then I will agree with the arch-enemy, Ferrari, because two out of three being s##te, is very s##te, and not what F1 should be.

[goferrarigo 0]

From what I here visibility will be fine in Singapore. They've made it as bright as day. A friend of mine was there earlier this year when they tested the lighting. The only unknown I suppose is what effect rain might have..

If i remember by geography correctly (which is very unlikely), Then the rains should be at 4pm since Singapore is close to the Equator. And since Qualfying is at 10pm while the race at 8, i think they might just use inters and then switch to hard for the rest of the race.....

[HandyNZL 1]

Its not the wet track that will be the problem, but the near impossible vision with lights reflecting off the rain and mist that will be a problem.

If it rains, then expect the race to be red-flagged

[aussief1 4]

Like in Valencia there was no place to overtake, at all... Let's see the Singapore race before speaking, but in general , Street races suck...

I agree.

Valencia was absolutely crap, Monaco was brilliant as always. But I agree with you about the cars and circuits.

Valencia was a major disappointment I agree.

Was watching the F3 round at Bucharest on the idiot box this weekend - that track looked ok, and there was passing going on. Valencia was a total snore, and half of it would have been the uninspiring surrounds - at least at Monaco you get to look at flash boats and pretty buildings.

Singapore will at least look attractive....as for how many cars are still running after 90-deg'ing it under that grandstand will be another matter.

Whoever said it up above is right though...before they attack the tracks, they should be attacking the cars and getting them able to overtake even on a flippin' race circuit, let alone a road circuit.

Street races should be a part of the calendar - do we need three out of seventeen? Doesn't seem a huge amount really. Is Melbourne a street circuit???? I don't really consider it as one.

There are certainly some "race-circuits" that could be gotten rid of first, mind you.

IF Singapore is yet another s##tty race, on a s##tty circuit, then I will agree with the arch-enemy, Ferrari, because two out of three being s##te, is very s##te, and not what F1 should be.

I'm with you Craig, I don't rate Melbourne as being a typical street track because it's expansive and flowing, unlike majority of street tracks which are 90 degree turns, point and stab affairs.

Its not the wet track that will be the problem, but the near impossible vision with lights reflecting off the rain and mist that will be a problem.

If it rains, then expect the race to be red-flagged

The drivers should be responsible to decide if the race is red flagged in the event of rain, not race control. I wonder if the GPDA has addressed this issue as yet??

[Rainmaster 7]

What's the point of having street races??, just for the higher ticket prices???

I dunno, I enjoy Monaco and it's good for the sponsors, but that's Monaco of course. I don't really care for the others either.

Valencia was absolutely crap, Monaco was brilliant as always. But I agree with you about the cars and circuits.

Lets see how could drivers cope with night race, because of the fact that it is going to have a very limited visibility, unlike Motogp drivers are a lot closer to the ground and have limited visibility as i said earlier.

I think racing at night won't be a problem unless 1) powercut or 2) it rains and the drivers are blinded by reflection on the track. Let's wait and see...

Was watching the F3 round at Bucharest on the idiot box this weekend - that track looked ok, and there was passing going on. Valencia was a total snore, and half of it would have been the uninspiring surrounds - at least at Monaco you get to look at flash boats and pretty buildings.

Singapore will at least look attractive....as for how many cars are still running after 90-deg'ing it under that grandstand will be another matter.

Whoever said it up above is right though...before they attack the tracks, they should be attacking the cars and getting them able to overtake even on a flippin' race circuit, let alone a road circuit.

Street races should be a part of the calendar - do we need three out of seventeen? Doesn't seem a huge amount really. Is Melbourne a street circuit???? I don't really consider it as one.

There are certainly some "race-circuits" that could be gotten rid of first, mind you.

IF Singapore is yet another s##tty race, on a s##tty circuit, then I will agree with the arch-enemy, Ferrari, because two out of three being s##te, is very s##te, and not what F1 should be.

It was me, go me!

If i remember by geography correctly (which is very unlikely), Then the rains should be at 4pm since Singapore is close to the Equator. And since Qualfying is at 10pm while the race at 8, i think they might just use inters and then switch to hard for the rest of the race.....

Well apparently it rains every bollocking night in Singapore so there's a good chance of....you guessed it, rain.

The drivers should be responsible to decide if the race is red flagged in the event of rain, not race control. I wonder if the GPDA has addressed this issue as yet??

Not sure about that, some guys will just keep on racing even if it's snowing and people are throwing glass onto the circuit. What we need is ex-drivers making these decisions (would help with chicane cutting calls too).

[Furabio 0]

The drivers should be responsible to decide if the race is red flagged in the event of rain, not race control. I wonder if the GPDA has addressed this issue as yet??

GPDA already expressed their concern about that issue, they would likely agree with the race control for a red flag. My concern is about Bernie and his extreme need to make money.

[tifosi too! 0]

Its not the wet track that will be the problem, but the near impossible vision with lights reflecting off the rain and mist that will be a problem.

If it rains, then expect the race to be red-flagged

Rain was considered when they put the lights around the circuit and they 've been placed stategically!At least that's what the video I saw about the track said!

Speaking of boring races, the only GP I remember falling asleep for the past few years, including those I was out at night and watched with minimal or no sleep, was Valencia..!!Must have been really tired that Sunday... (not!)!

[The Rumble Strip 0]

I vaguely agree with him.

However, Monaco needs to stay, if only for the fact it's Monaco.

I think we can do without Valencia but let's wait and see before we make a decision on Singapore.

[aussief1 4]

I think racing at night won't be a problem unless 1) powercut or 2) it rains and the drivers are blinded by reflection on the track. Let's wait and see...

I think they have back up generators in the event of a power failure. Not sure if the generators can power the entire track though.

Not sure about that, some guys will just keep on racing even if it's snowing and people are throwing glass onto the circuit. What we need is ex-drivers making these decisions (would help with chicane cutting calls too).

I'm talking not just in the event of extreme rain but drizzle and light rain as well. Race control may deem the conditions fine but the drivers maybe really struggling to see. In Motogp the riders are responsible for making a call for a wet race to be declared, why can't F1 drivers have input? I know it's slightly different but it's still along the same lines. As for drivers wanting to continue on no matter what: as soon as a few drivers voice their concern, that should be enough to convince race control that they need to take action.

Oh I agree with the idea of ex-drivers to be involved in some decisions made by race control

GPDA already expressed their concern about that issue, they would likely agree with the race control for a red flag. My concern is about Bernie and his extreme need to make money.

As long as the race goes for an hour the event organisers won't have to refund the ticket price, that will be Bernies concern.

We make all this talk about the rain and so forth, I bet the race weekend will be run in perfect conditions!!!

[goferrarigo 0]

Well apparently it rains every bollocking night in Singapore so there's a good chance of....you guessed it, rain.

Yup. Just read that on f1.com.... Quite interesting Mallaya chose to be a Singapore resident... I always thought he was Isle of Man or Schelleys (whatever the spelling)

[Alan333 0]

I think it was rainmaster who said before we complain about tracks, sort out the cars. Surely the regulations could be written to somewhat force a rear wing assembly that not only ends the inability of cars to follow one another, but actively promotes the draught. I remember the Hanford device on Champ cars a few years ago ,admittedly designed for ovals, that dramatically increased the speed of the car behind. While this particular configuration is undoubtably wrong for F1, if such a system could be devised it would most likely solve the type of issues we see at modern street circuits.

[goferrarigo 0]

I think it was rainmaster who said before we complain about tracks, sort out the cars. Surely the regulations could be written to somewhat force a rear wing assembly that not only ends the inability of cars to follow one another, but actively promotes the draught. I remember the Hanford device on Champ cars a few years ago ,admittedly designed for ovals, that dramatically increased the speed of the car behind. While this particular configuration is undoubtably wrong for F1, if such a system could be devised it would most likely solve the type of issues we see at modern street circuits.

While i agree with some mdifications which can be made on the car, But if there are only 2 overtaking places on a track there's only so much you can change the car to make those two better. I rather have tracks with 6-8 overtaking options...

[DOF_power 0]

Felipe Massa - Overtaking to also be rare in Singapore Grand Prix

E-mail Source/Credit - GMM Wednesday, 24 September 2008

Felipe Massa has earmarked qualifying for this weekend's inaugural Singapore Formula One Grand Prix as a crucial element to his championship challenge. The Ferrari driver, who trails McLaren's Lewis Hamilton by a single point with four races to go, thinks overtaking will be even more difficult on the twisty floodlit city circuit than it was at Valencia last month.

Valencia's European Grand Prix, staged on a faster urban circuit than Singapore, was slammed as a processional race that lacked overtaking moves.

"Saturday will be very important, for sure," Massa, 27, told the local Straits Times newspaper on Wednesday, highlighting the importance of a good grid position.

"I've never driven on the Singapore track but it'll be even more difficult to overtake compared to Valencia, because the straights are even shorter," the Brazilian added. Formula 1 veteran David Coulthard backs Massa's views about the Singapore layout. "It appears to be less flowing than Valencia and more of a classic street track, with lots of 90 degree block changes, albeit a relatively wide one in most parts," the Red Bull driver said.

[goferrarigo 0]

Finally one Qual after a long time i'll watch. Glad to see it's important... And Sucks that the race will be crap...