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Well OK, superhuman may be over-doing it, but he does have a nickname that deserves comic book status: the Iceman. Jenson Button may have secured the McLaren hotseat to race alongside Lewis Hamilton, but outgoing F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen leaves both men trailing in the category marked 'superhuman' The Iceman (a woefully underused way of describing sporty Scandinavians, we're sure you'd agree) was frozen out at Ferrari earlier this autumn and now seems set for four-wheeled frolics on ice as a rally driver. In common with many comic book creations, the Iceman doesn't say a lot and his words aren't weighed down with deep meaning, but his animated F1 driving has been the stuff of dreams... or nightmares, depending on which side of the 'no pain no gain' credo you fall. When Raikkonen's car burst into flames in the pit lane on the first lap of this year's Brazilian GP and drops of petrol trickled into his eyes, rather than leap out of the car, douse his eyes in Optrex and run to an optician, he put his foot to the floor and rejoined the race. The fire went out, but the flammable fluid in his eyes remained. Despite the risk of an incendiary outcome just around the cornea (apologies), he continued for the duration of the race - 70 laps - and finished sixth. Afterwards the flaming Finn monotoned: "I ended up with some drops of petrol in my eye from the fuel line stuck on Heikki Kovalainen's car and then I was engulfed in flames and blinded. I was going to stop, but luckily the flames soon went out." He added, with all the emotion of Schwarzenegger delivering a Hollywood line: "My eyes are still burning, but I'm all right." Driving at speeds of up to 200mph for 70 laps while virtually blinded with your eyes about to combust may seem superhuman or stupid, but this is mere child's play for a man who has been described, often and unimaginatively, as born to drive... brings to mind an image of a baby Raikkonen driving his mother back from the maternity ward with the umbilical cord still attached like a fuel hose feeding a Ferrari. Born to drive indeed. In 2002, while racing for McLaren, Belgium GP fans looked on incredulously as he powered his car into a sea of smoke caused by the blow-up of a BAR Honda. Most drivers would have slammed on the brakes knowing that, somewhere in the dense black cloud, the obstacle of a slain F1 car was lying, but the Finn accelerated into the blackness and emerged from the smouldering plume like the T1000 in Terminator 2. A best qualifying lap was in the bag. And at Suzuka in 2005 he put in a Herculean effort to rise from the back of the grid and torpedo past Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault on the final lap to take the chequered flag. Oh and he won the world championship in his first season at Ferrari. While Raikkonen's F1 driving was dramatic, his interviews were devoid of drama. When he spoke to the media - he preferred not to - he did so in a Dalek-like drawl. He sometimes needed waking up shortly before the start of a race after a power nap - or just a nap - and he could be ruder than Amy Winehouse. His response to being asked if he would get over the disappointment of missing a special presentation involving football great Pele and Michael Schumacher at the 2006 Brazilian GP: "Yeah. I was having a ----." Now the flying Finn is heading for a Formula One sabbatical. He leaves F1 unchallenged as the paddock's monosyllabic maverick. Interviewer: Kimi, have you ever got angry about anything? Raikkonen: Yeah, many times but more in normal life than racing. Interviewer: Can you give us examples? Raikkonen: No, not really. Interviewer: What are the kind of things that make you angry in normal life, as you say? Raikkonen: If you keep asking questions like those.

Mercedes GP Nico Rosberg (not confirmed) Nick Heidfeld / Heikki Kovalainen (maybe) Red Bull (confirmed) Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber McLaren (confirmed) Lewis Hamilton Jenson Button Ferrari (confirmed) Felipe Massa Fernando Alonso Williams (confirmed) Rubens Barrichello Nico Hulkenberg Renault Robert Kubica (confirmed) Romain Grosjean (maybe) Force India Adrian Sutil (not confirmed) Vitantonio Liuzzi / Karun Chandhok (maybe) Toro Rosso Sebastien Buemi (not confirmed) Jaime Alguersuari (not confirmed) NEW TEAMS USGPE Jonathan Summerton (maybe) Alex Wurz / Bobby Rahal (maybe) Campos Brunno Senna (confirmed) Pedro de la Rossa (maybe) Manor Timo Glock (confirmed) Takumo Sato / Christian Klien (maybe) Team Lotus Jarno Trulli (maybe) Kamui Kobayashi (very likely)

BBC: 08:13 GMT, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 Toyota has confirmed that it is pulling out of Formula 1 racing after posting its worst ever financial loss. The world's largest car manufacturer will concentrate on its core business. Toyota president Akio Toyoda said the Japanese team had no option but to pull out citing "the current severe economic realities" affecting the world.

LONDON: Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen has been named Formula One's biggest earner, pocketing nearly three times as much as the next best-paid driver. Hamilton and Raikkonen The Finn's 2009 salary is

Hi all, hope you guys enjoyed last year's diray and back again to bring you guys an exclusive pic diary of what goes on behind the scenes (no boring professional photographs of F1 cars) !!! Stay tuned for a day-to-day update !!!

Has anyone try using 1 before ? Formula 1 Carnauba Wax Renews paint color and shine! Formula 1 Pearl Glo (TM) Gives metallic and pearl coat paints intense shine! http://www.formula1wax.com/

http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option=com_c...&Itemid=219

Jenson Button is locked in a worsening contract dispute with Brawn GP over money just as he closes in on his first Formula One world title. Championship leader Button will fly to the Singapore Grand Prix this week 14 points ahead of his closest rival but without a deal in sight for next year. Last winter Button had ignored the advice of his manager, Richard Goddard, by agreeing to reduce his old Honda contract from an estimated

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h4r0Mkfmkg Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ze6zx_Nat44&feature=fvw Check out 01:54 of part 2. [laugh]

http://formuladrift.com.sg/ July 4 & 5. only 4000 tickets this time round, last year was much more and sold out, so if want better grab fast: http://www.sistic.com.sg/portal/dt?dt.isPo...tCode=drift0709

from 7:00pm and 11:00pm each day from Friday, September 12 till Sunday, September 14 2008. gd deal hehe http://www.petrolwatch.com.sg/news/

SINGAPORE: Shell announced on Thursday that it will progressively phase out its Formula 92 petrol from stations island-wide. This will be completed by the end of June. General Manager for Retail Sales and Operations for Shell Eastern Petroleum, Henry Chu said most consumers prefer 95 octane and 98 octane fuels, and taking away the octane 92 will allow customers more space in the stations to provide the 95 and 98. About five per cent of Shell 's customers still use Formula 92. However, while 92-Octane petrol is the cheapest, it's not necessarily the smartest choice as more fuel is needed to reach optimum levels. In contrast, rival Caltex had launched its own version of 92-octane petrol less than two months ago. This was done as a cheaper fuel alternative for motorists. Currently, 92 grade petrol is priced at around a S$1.52 per litre in Singapore. 95 grade petrol is now about a S$1.55 per litre with 98-grade petrol going at about a S$1.64 per litre. - 938LIVE/vm

The result I am looking for is the OT hour clocked would be reflected as in terms of eg 0.25, 0.5, 0.5, 0.75. This I can get by eg divide by 60 but how could I get it if the hour clocked in is 1.0 hr?

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../407755/1/.html

The FIA has issued its official entry list for the Formula 1 World Championship. There are no real surprises on the list. The list is as follows: 1, Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes); 2, Heikki Kovalainen (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes); 3, Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro); 4, Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro); 5, Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber F1); 6, Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber F1); 7, Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team); 8, Nelson Piquet (ING Renault F1 Team); 9, Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota Racing); 10, Timo Glock (Panasonic Toyota Racing); 11, Sebastien Buemi (Scuderia Toro Rosso); 12, TBA (Scuderia Toro Rosso); 14, Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing); 15, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing); 16, Nico Rosberg (AT&T Williams); 17, Kazuki Nakajima (AT&T Williams); 18, TBA (Honda Racing F1); 19, TBA (Honda Racing F1); 20, Adrian Sutil (Force India F1); 21, Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India F1). The FIA noted that the Honda team is for sale, but an entry was made under that name. ---------------- It is quite likely that the Honda team will use Mercedes-Benz engines in 2009. The team will be renamed but at the moment there is no word on what it will be called. Ferrari has all-but announced that it will not be supplying engines for the team, which would seem to suggest that the team has a limited number of options, but we believe that negotiations are well-advanced with Mercedes-Benz. The team will not be getting much in the way of pre-season testing (if any) and so it is going to be starting a little behind the opposition but much effort has gone into the 2009 programme and so the team hopes to be relatively competitive. The discussions over who will own the team are ongoing but a decision is expected within a few days. We believe there will be a management buyout. from grandprix.com

On radio 938 today... Public Transport Fare adjustment=0.5XCPI + 0.5XWage index. No wonder fares go up when fuel prices are down lah...The wages keep going up for the MIWs no matter what the price of oil...fares how to go down. So even if oil is FREE, based on this calculation, since MIWs pay go up by 30% or so, expect transport fare to up at least 15% hor!

FRANKFURT/TOKYO, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Global sales at BMW, the world's top premium carmaker, plunged by a quarter in November, and Honda backed out of Formula One racing on Friday as the economic downturn exacted a mounting toll on automakers. With even well-heeled consumers keeping a tight grip on their wallets, group vehicle sales at BMW fell 25.4 percent to 96,570 units, led down by a 26.2 percent drop at the flagship BMW brand, it said. [iD:nL5452941] Car sales across the globe have plummeted as consumers curb spending in the face of mass lay-offs and a credit crunch, pushing big U.S. carmakers to the brink and heaping pressure on their foreign rivals, too. In Germany, Europe's biggest auto market, new car sales are expected to hit post-reunification lows this year and next before recovering somewhat in 2010, the VDA auto industry association forecast this week. In Japan, Honda Motor Co <7267.T> delivered a major blow to Formula One by withdrawing from the sport with immediate effect. Japan's number two carmaker is seeking to cut costs to combat the global economic crisis and concluded it would no longer bankroll the Formula One team and its estimated annual budget of $500 million. [iD:nT343829] Honda Chief Executive Takeo Fukui told a news conference a return to the sport could take time, and that there were no plans to continue as an engine supplier. "This difficult decision was taken recently and was made in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry," Fukui told reporters. "Honda must protect its core business activities and secure the long term as widespread uncertainties in the economics around the globe continue to mount." BMW shares were down 2.7 percent in Frankfurt, and Honda's shed 1.9 percent in Tokyo, while the DJ Stoxx autos index <.SXAP> was down 1.8 percent. Detroit remains the epicentre of the consumer earthquake shaking the automotive world. The chief executives of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC told the U.S. Congress on Thursday they would consider restarting merger talks if that was what it took to win their slice of up to $34 billion in emergency U.S. government aid. "I would be very willing to look at it seriously," GM CEO Rick Wagoner told the Senate Banking Committee, adding that merger talks earlier this year were dropped on concerns GM did not have the financing to merge with Chrysler. Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli said his job would likely be the first to go in a merger with GM, but if that would save Chrysler and its workers, "I would do it". The chiefs of the Big Three automakers, including Ford Motor Co CEO Alan Mulally, pledged to refocus on higher fuel efficiency vehicles and lower production costs. But they encountered deep skepticism among lawmakers who are suspicious of such promises, given the companies' past failures to wean themselves off gasoline guzzlers and to make innovative cars that consumers want to buy. "I don't trust the car companies' leadership," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer at the hearing. But in a comment reflecting many lawmakers' sentiments, he added, "We can't let the industry fail."

Since this week is the F1 week, everyone is grooving into the mood of the events (forget what the ST writer mentioned in yesterday newspaper). I would like to see what all the drivers out here enjoy watching more, F1 or WRC? Here are 2 review clips to give those who don't know what we are discussing here an idea on the differences. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfA9zID4Kic&feature=related Personally, I choose WRC over F1.

From the ST, it seems like quite a few people are still not aware of the upcoming F1 event. To all the brothers here, if you are going downtown this period, DO NOT get caught by the massive road closure, especially the different timings for different days: extracted from onemotoring Formula One Race Preparations While most of the race preparation will be completed prior to September 2008, the traffic and transport plan to be implemented during race week will include a series of gradual road closures in the Marina Centre area from 20 September 2008 to 28 September 2008 with full access to roads restored by 2 October 2008. The plan will be implemented in three phases: pre-race (20 to 26 September), during the race weekend (26 to 29 September), and post-race (29 September to 2 October). Date: 20 September 2008 to 28 September 2008 http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onem...ad_closure.html Visitors and commuters to the area are strongly encouraged to use public transport to get to their destinations in the Marina Centre area. Public transport services such as public buses, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and taxis will continue to operate in the area. Some bus services will be diverted.

For those interested in learning how to drift, Formula Drift Singapore is having an event as posted below in the flyer. Cars will be provided.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../297164/1/.html Works begin for Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix By Vimita Mohandas, channelnewsasia.com | Posted: 31 August 2007 1813 hrs SINGAPORE: Work has started at the Marina Bayfront for the F1 Singapore Grand Prix as officials await a decision next month by the international governing body for motorsports,FIA,on whether Singapore will proceed with a night or day race. In nine months, what's now a muddy patch of land at the Marina Promenade will be transformed into a sleek Pit Building for the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix. Trade and Industry Minister Mr Lim Hng Kiang, who graced Friday's groundbreaking said the event marks an important milestone. He noted that although the F1 Singapore Grand Prix is set to flag off in a year's time, the infrastructure will have to be up in about nine months. "But Singapore is a City of Possibilities, so I have full confidence we will be ready for the 28 September race date." According to Mr Lim Neo Chian, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, the Pit Building will be completed by the end of May next year, which is a construction industry record. The Pit Building, a key element in the infrastructure of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix, will house the race control facilities, team garages, hospitality lounges for about 4,000 guests, a Media Centre and other facilities. Located along the waterfront at a new stretch of road off Republic Boulevard, the estimated S$33 million, three-storey Pit Building will measure some 350 metres long. The structure has been designed to be simple yet modern, and also environmentally sustainable. Taking up most of the ground floor is space for 36 garages for the 12 race teams. The Media Centre, hospitality lounges, race control centre and the winners

Those never bring umbrella will kena fried by the sun...

Here are some casualties of the day that were quite severe as well This is about the time he realises he's losing it. Into the wall (Notice the drivers is as far left as his seat belts would allow) As the rear end meets stiff resistant the front end swings around

Shell Formula One ticket giveaway (Ep 1) May 30, 2008 In case you haven't heard, Shell is giving away a pair of grandstand tickets everyday for Singapore's inaugural night race in September. The first batch of Shell customers who won tell us how they managed to snag their precious booty http://multimedia.asiaone.com/Multimedia/S...80530-3602.html HURRY UP [bounce1]

Was there doing videoing for one of the sponsor. Enjoy the highlight :-