Sunday, May 2, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Fernando Alonso goes to Ferrari
Ferrari said the Spaniard had signed a three-year contract and that he would partner Brazilian Felipe Massa.
Ferrari have announced that double world champion Fernando Alonso will join them for 2010 from Renault, with Kimi Raikkonen making way.
“Driving a single-seater for the Prancing Horse is everybody’s dream in F1, and now I have the chance to make this dream come true,” said Alonso.
The 28-year-old said the move had been brought forward by a year.
Alonso’s switch to Ferrari had been the worst-kept secret in F1, and the announcement is likely to trigger a string of driver moves.
“I’m very happy and very proud to become a Ferrari driver,” said Alonso.
Kimi Raikkonen has not ruled out a return to F1 but admits he prefers the relaxed attitude in the WRC
Kimi Raikkonen says he achieved all he set out to in the Jordan Rally, and believes the experience gained will stand him in good stead on the next round in Turkey.
Raikkonen’s debut WRC season with the Citroen Junior Team got off to a shaky start in Sweden when he drove into a snow bank, and got worse on the next round in Mexico when he rolled his C4 WRC off the road. But in Jordan, only his eighth-ever rally, a largely mistake-free performance netted him a top ten result.
"From the beginning my goal was to get to the end of the rally and I'm really pleased that we've been able to do that even though the conditions were difficult," said Raikkonen.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Singapore Grand Prix
Prior to the race becoming part of the Formula One calendar, the Singapore Grand Prix was held as a Formula Libre event in the 1960s and 1970s at the Thomson Road circuit.
The inaugural Singapore Grand Prix was organised in 1961 as part of a year-long calendar of events for the Visit Orient Year, an idea that was mooted by the Philippine president, Carlos P Garcia, the previous year to attract tourists to Asia. It ran on public roads at Upper Thomson Road and consisted of motorbike and car races. As the British self-rule colony of Singapore headed for merger with Malaya, it was renamed the Malaysia Grand Prix the following year (Not the Malaysian Grand Prix, which is another event that started at Batu Tiga, Kuala Lumpur, in 1969). It carried this name until 1965, when Singapore and Malaysia separated into two independent nations. After 146 years of British rule and subsequently merger with Malaysia, organisers decided to rename the next event in 1966 at Upper Thomson Road the First Singapore Grand Prix (after independence) to reflect its new identity as a sovereign nation. The annual races were stopped after 1973 in the wake of the global and oil crises. Other reasons also contributed to its end, including the six fatal accidents in its 13-year history and an increasing incidence of motorists racing on public roads as a result of the popularity of the sport. It did not, however, spell the end of motor racing. Without a permanent facility, the Singapore Motor Sports Club (which became the Singapore Motor Sports Association in 1995) began organising motor sports events in public car parks and at tracks in Malaysia for its members, but it won’t be another 35 years before circuit motor racing returned to Singapore.
In 2007 it was revealed that Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone was in talks with Singapore tycoon Ong Beng Seng to hold a round of the world championships on the island. On May 12, the two men struck a deal and it was also revealed that Singapore would host F1’s first night race, this time at the Marina Bay street circuit in downtown Singapore.
Singapore will host a round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race will be the first night-time event in Formula One history. The timing of the night event means it can be broadcast at a convenient time for European TV audiences. The track will be illuminated by a series of projectors which adapt their output to match the shape of the course.
An agreement for a five-year deal was signed by Singapore GP Pte Ltd, the Singapore Tourism Board and Bernie Ecclestone. In November 2007 it was announced that the telecommunications company, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), will sponsor the event. The official name of the event will be the FORMULA 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The race will be co-funded by the Government of Singapore.
Around 110,000 tickets was made available for the country's first Formula One race. Corporate hospitality suites and packages went on sale at the end November 2007, three-day passes to the public went on sale in February 2008. Single-day passes went on sale a month later.