
There is an old saying that you cannot please all of the people all of the time, and sure enough, Luca di Montezemolo this week offered further evidence to support such a truism.
Maybe the Ferrari president had munched on a few sour grapes in the build up to his criticism of the Singapore Grand Prix because his comments certainly bore all the hallmarks of bitterness.
The Far East island state bathed in praise throughout a glittering weekend, enhanced by the 1,500 lights that coiled their way through what was once a colonial outpost, illuminating Formula One's brave new frontier.
Singapore showcased not only its appeal to the world, but produced an event of such magnitude it can now safely lay claim to rivalling Monaco for glitz, glamour and grandeur.
One of its most renowned of establishments, the Raffles Hotel, now 121 years old, still offers a touch of class to a futuristic setting that has for some time been crying out for recognition.
The vision of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has given that to Singapore, putting in their place the doubters who scoffed at the 77-year-old when he initially aired his idea of a night race.
Singapore laid on the kind of sporting spectacle Ecclestone has long coveted for F1, putting to shame - and in the shade in this instance - many of Europe's ageing venues.
But what of that all-important element for any new grand prix, the track? Another of circuit designer Hermann Tilke's creations.
Whereas Valencia five weeks previously was a major disappointment, the Marina Bay venue stood up to scrutiny, offering on occasion a bumpy stage that forced the drivers to work for their money.
Not for the sport's millionaires was there a billiard-table smooth tarmac veneer on which to parade their high-performance, computer-aided designs.
Instead, there was the old-fashioned sight of sparks kicking up at the rear - enhanced by the night-time show - as cars with ride heights just a few millimetres above the surface, bottomed out.
With humidity soaring to 70% and the temperature hitting 29 degrees centigrade at the race start time of 8pm, the 100,000 fans packed into grandstands hewn in between the skyscrapers witnessed a true test of man and machine fighting to find perfect harmony.
More crucially, going against the grain of a street circuit, we saw the welcoming sight of points at which to pass, limited maybe, but there all the same.
So why the gripe from di Montezemolo?
The 61-year-old remarked: "When we race on tracks which should be used for the circus, anything can happen because the spectacle is supplied by the safety car. This is humiliating for F1."
Indeed, there were two safety car incidents which added to the show and conspired to give Fernando Alonso his first victory for a year.
But a circus? Humiliating? Words perhaps more appropriate for his team in the wake of their abject performance in Singapore.
How else can you describe the sight of Felipe Massa flying off down the pit lane with around 20 feet of fuel hose still attached to his car?
And then came the Forrest Gump moment as a handful of the pit crew - those still standing after Massa had knocked two to the ground as he made his hasty exit - embarrassingly had to run past the garages of all their rivals before attending to the stricken Brazilian.
You can almost imagine someone in the background shouting: "Run Ferrari, run!"
Massa later received a drive-through penalty for an unsafe release from the pits as he came within inches of colliding with Force India's Adrian Sutil.
Bizarre how the stewards arrived at that decision with Massa at the back of the field, in contrast to Valencia when the same charge was applied for an identical incident, yet he was only fined after he had won the race.
Cynical? Me? No, but maybe one to look at another time.
Massa eventually trundled home a miserable 13th, and as if that was not bad enough, Ferrari's reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen crashed into a wall late on.
That is four successive races Raikkonen has now failed to finish in the points, and for the first time in 48 grands prix going back to Australia in 2006, neither driver scored.
Maybe that was more humiliating for Mr di Montezemolo rather than a circuit and a venue that did Formula One and Ecclestone proud.
There is another saying: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
De Montezemolo should bear that in mind before casting unwarranted aspersions.


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