MY FIRST reaction when I read Mr Luca di Montezemolo's comments on the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix on Wednesday ('Ferrari boss blasts Singapore's 'circus' track) was, what a sore loser.
Last Sunday's event here was the first Formula One night race and was held on a new track. As with anything new, the unexpected can happen. Even last year's champion Kimi Raikkonen crashed out with just four laps to go, probably due to a lapse in concentration.
This shows that even the best can make mistakes.
What happened to Ferrari has nothing to do with the track. They only have themselves to blame. Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Raikkonen took the top three pole positions after qualifications.
The lack of passing chances on the 'circus' track practically ensured them podium finishes if nothing unexpected happened.
However, as Murphy's Law says, what can go wrong can and will go wrong.
Was it a track problem when Nelson Piquet Jr crashed? Perhaps. But was it a track problem in the Ferrari pit stop
when Massa drove off with the fuel line still attached? Definitely not.
The Ferrari pit was where the real circus was on race night.
What happened during Massa's pit stop was simple human error, lack of concentration and poor team coordination.
If anything, the race demonstrated the truest qualities of a sporting event.
It shows that neither the best nor richest team wins all the time. Fernando Alonso started in 15th position, and managed to win the race with superior team strategy. Nico Rosberg finished second even after a 10-second penalty, demonstrating that his race was well-coordinated and managed to make up for the penalty.
For Ferrari, it has nothing to do with the 'circus' of a track, as Mr Montezemolo described our circuit; and everything about Ferrari being a sore loser when it failed to win any points in this crucial race.
I wonder what Mr Montezemolo's comments would have been if everything had gone uneventfully, and the three
best-placed drivers on the starting grid had won as expected.
Danny Tseng
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 3, 2008.
