There was a sense of irony in the paddock at the Singapore Grand Prix. While the F1 fraternity was still seething from the shock of the Renault race-fixing scandal, Renault prodigy, Romain Grosjean, just 9 laps into the first practice session, put his car in the wall at exactly the same spot as Nelson Piquet did, ‘deliberately’ so, in 2008.

The real irony, however, was the fact that Formula 1 recovered from the race-fixing scandal almost as quickly as it broke, thanks to the awesome spectacle that is the Singapore Grand Prix – with presence and glamour to match even that of Monaco.

While Bernie Ecclestone has been receiving flack for saying that the lifetime ban issued by the FIA to friend and business partner, and perpetrator of said scandal, Flavio Briatore, is too harsh – no one can fault him for being the driving force behind the first, and only, night race in Formula 1. Seeing the F1 cars do battle within the tight confines of the streets of Singapore – with sparks flying and brake discs glowing – is yet to lose any of its novelty one year on. It truly is a spectacle, and a testament to Bernie’s vision, not to mention the organizational capabilities of the Singapore government.

The best thing for the sport of F1, as it recovers from yet another scandal, is an on-track spectacle that highlights the prowess of both the cars and the drivers. And that’s exactly what Singapore did – Lewis Hamilton proved yet again that he’s a real racer and street fighter at heart, as he took pole position and the win on the challenging streets of Singapore. Of course, his progress was closely monitored in the pit garage by superstar girlfriend, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, and Black Eyed Peas lead singer, will.i.am. Lewis also had the opportunity to mingle with Beyonce in the paddock over the course of the weekend, as she was among the many performers at the inaugural ‘F1 Rocks’ concert – another Bernie brainwave. All in all, it was a lot of glamour and spectacle packed into one weekend – just how the F1 supremo likes it. It does make you wonder, though, about what an Indian Grand Prix will have to do in 2011 if it’s to match up to any of the leading races on the calendar?

Back to Singapore for the moment however – while Fernando may have had some help in securing the win in 2008, he had no such assistance this year as he muscled his underperforming Renault to a well deserved podium position. Of course, he was helped on his way by the misfortune that befell Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. Both drivers were on Hamiltons’ tail, but were forced to serve drive-through penalties – Rosberg for crossing the white line at the pit exit, and Vettel for speeding in the pit lane.

Alonso, meanwhile, dedicated his unexpected podium to former team boss and manager, Flavio Briatore. For what it’s worth, while no one condones what Briatore did, many share the same sentiments as Alonso and Bernie – for Flavio will be missed. Even if you don’t agree with his tactics (as I hope you don’t), you have to admit that he was certainly a flamboyant and colourful character, and a racer at heart. He’s also helped groom Schumacher and Alonso into the great champions that they are – a point not lost on Alonso, as he sprays champagne one year on from the ill-advised collusion of Briatore, Pat Symonds and Nelson Piquet Jr. In fact, it could well be the last time that Alonso celebrates with a team that made him world champion twice over.

Alonso is almost certainly heading for Ferrari next year, as Kimi heads back to McLaren once again. Mercedes Motorsport boss, Norbert Haug, feels that the Finn has unfinished business at McLaren – a team with whom he came within arms’ length of winning two world championships in the past. Ironic then, that he should have headed to arch rival, Ferrari, in 2007, and secured said championship by beating both McLaren drivers by one point, no less. Of course, McLaren’s title hopes were severely dented that year by in-fighting between then reigning champion, Alonso, and then rookie, Hamilton. In 2010, if all goes to plan, McLaren will be fielding two world champions in Raikkonen and Hamilton. However, they feel they’ll be able to better manage both drivers this time around. Moreover, they have a responsibility as a team to secure the best driver line up they can – obviously Kovalainen’s on his way out. Thankfully for him, he’ll have a number of new teams to choose from in 2010.

Back to the current championship however, which, for the moment, looks like a foregone conclusion in favour of Jenson Button. His tremendous form at the start of the season has ensured that he’s still got a 15 point lead over his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, with just three races to go in the season (and likely one or two by the time you read this). And that could mean, of course, that he could well be champion by then. On the other hand, if the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that, well, absolutely anything can happen in Formula 1 – so I’d keep the champagne on ice for the moment.

A few closing points – in the melee that will undoubtedly play out as musical chairs determine which driver goes where, don’t count out the ageing bunch led by Barrichello just yet. He’s on top form, and judging by the starting grid at Spa a few weeks ago, so are the others. The top four on the grid at Spa were Fisichella (36), Trulli (35), Barichello (37), and Heidfeld (32). And Mark Webber (33) isn’t exactly doing badly either. Maybe Schumacher, at 40, should make a comeback after all. In fact, Ferrari have been trying to amend the regulations to run a third car if possible in 2010, which would provide the very exciting prospect of having either Schumacher or even Valentino Rossi in the drivers’ seat. As good as that sounds, unfortunately, it has little or no chance of materializing.

One final note, the actions of Nelson Piquet Jr. at last years’ race point to the tremendous pressure that young drivers in F1 face – in which they’re willing to sacrifice their own safety, as well as that of others, to be in a better position to retain their race seat. I suppose that’s the price you pay to race at the pinnacle of the sport. Nevertheless, let’s hope that, in the light of this terrible incident, teams and drivers think twice before allowing the temptation to win at all costs get the better of them. Here’s to a just end to a great 2009 season.

Gaurav Gill finally saw lady luck smiling down on him in Rally de Kolkata – round 3 of the Indian National Rally Championship. This change of fortunes has come following an unusual and unfortunate string of mechanical ailments that have invariably afflicted his machine in practically every rally he’s participated in this year – be that in the INRC (Indian National Rally championship), or on the world stage, in the APRC (Asia Pacific Rally Championship), and PWRC (Production World Rally Championship).

At Kolkata, however, things went the way of this flamboyant Indian star once again, as he, along with co-driver Musa Sherif, came away with overall honours in their Team MRF Mitsubishi Cedia. They picked up a maximum 16 points from Kolkata, as they were quickest throughout the event. In a fast paced rally saw quite a bit of attrition, in second place, 1 minute and 19 seconds behind, was Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik) in their Red Rooster Racing Cedia. Following the retirements of the other Cedia’s, in third place was the Baleno of Sujay Suresh (co-driver Varun Satyanarayana), who also took the win in the 1600cc class.



The INRC, this year, has picked up some steam, having found a title sponsor for the championship in Speed Fuels (Bharat Petroleum). Add to that a full field of entries, led by competition at the front amongst the flying 200+ horsepower Cedia’s – competing in the top-rung 2,000cc Group-N+ category – and there’s been something to cheer about recently. The next step has to be better organization of the individual events, especially now that the cars are faster and the margin for error is reduced.

The final classification at Kolkata saw Francis Kinatingal Jose and Manoj Mohan take the 1400cc class win, while Karna Kadur (co-driver Somonita Ghosh) took the Rally Star Cup win, not to mention having finished in a very creditable 5th overall, while Khushwant Randhawa and Vinay Sekhak took the Gypsy cup win.