F1

Reflective tyre markings for Singapore night race

Formula One tyre suppliers Bridgestone will use special reflective paint to mark their super-soft and extreme-wet compounds at the forthcoming Singapore Grand Prix, the first Formula One race to be staged after dark.

The all-new 5.067-kilometre street circuit will be artificially lit - meaning excellent visibility for the drivers - but Bridgestone have taken the unprecedented step to be sure that fans can still differentiate between tyre compounds as easily as they would in normal daylight...

McLaren defends Kovy's performance

Tuesday, 16 September 2008 17:31

McLaren team CEO Martin Whitmarsh has defended Heikki Kovalainen's Italian Grand Prix performance and insisted the squad was not frustrated that the Finn failed to beat Sebastian Vettel.

As the only one of the regular victory contenders to qualify near the front at Monza, Kovalainen was expected to easily turn his second place on the grid into another win.

But instead pole-sitter Vettel and his humble Toro Rosso pulled away from Kovalainen's McLaren in the opening stint, and the Finn never managed to get back on terms - finishing 12s adrift of the shock underdog victor.

Afterwards Kovalainen said he had struggled with low tyre and brake temperatures and had no answer to Vettel's pace.

Whitmarsh said the Finn had nothing to be ashamed of at Monza."Heikki has no reason to feeldisappointed," he said."The reality is that he didn’t put a foot wrong all weekend and looked blindingly fast in dry, damp and full-wet conditions."Fuel-corrected, he would have been on pole position comfortably.

"He struggled a little with visibility in the early stages of the race and had a few difficulties with his tyres and brake temperatures, but we are not disappointed with his result."

He added that Kovalainen was still settling into the team and Formula 1, having joined McLaren this year after a promising rookie season at Renault in 2007."Let’s not forget that Heikki is fearsomely quick but is still very much developing his approach," said Whitmarsh."We have a clearly defined programme for him in the weeks and months ahead and feel certain that he will only grow stronger."

Kovalainen was disappointed to only finish second at Monza