Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali is confident that Giancarlo Fisichella will be much more competitive in next weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

The Italian qualified 14th and finished a quiet ninth on home ground as he made his debut for the legendary team on home ground at Monza last weekend.

Although that performance was far better than his predecessor Luca Badoer had managed in the car usually driven by Felipe Massa, it was overshadowed by Tonio Liuzzi's spectacular efforts in the Force India that Fisichella had just vacated in favour of the Ferrari seat.

But Domenicali does not think it is fair to judge Fisichella on Monza, especially as he lost momentum with a practice crash on Saturday morning just as he was acclimatising to the Ferrari.

"I think that Giancarlo performed well," said Domenicali.

"He had a difficult Saturday, and Friday was the first time he drove for us."

The team boss emphasised that Fisichella had been under instruction to drive sensibly and gain mileage in his first race with Ferrari.

"It was important for him to arrive at the end of the race, and I'm expecting that the experience he has gained will help at the next race," Domenicali said.

"I'm sure that from Singapore he will have a better performance."

Domenicali also admitted that it was becoming clear that the Ferrari F60 was a difficult car to get to grips with.

Our car is not so easy to handle, this is for sure, and we have to take this comment on board and consider it," he said.

Singapore’s government is confident the race-fixing scandal involving Renault will not have an adverse impact on the city-state’s grand prix.

Last year’s inaugural Singapore race - which was also Formula 1’s first floodlit night-time event - was hailed as a big success, but has recently returned to the headlines for the wrong reasons amid the allegations that Fernando Alonso’s unexpected victory was achieved by fraudulent means.

Yet although last year’s race appears to have been exposed as a charade and the controversy has overshadowed the build-up to next weekend’s GP, Singapore’s trade and industry minister S. Iswaran believes the event’s prestige and popularity will not suffer as a result.

“From what I understand from the experts, this is really about more a particular team’s tactics and so on, not a comment about the venue,” he told local media.

“So I don’t think it has any particular impact on Singapore.

“This is really a matter between the FIA and the teams.

“We are a host for the race - our job is to make sure that we put on a good show so that the visitors come here and enjoy themselves, have an eventful experience and a memorable one.”

Organisers say they have hit their target of selling at least 90 percent of tickets for the night race and expect 40 percent of the daily 85,000 capacity to come from outside Singapore.

“The economic downturn does not seem to have really affected us,” said the event's executive director Michael Roche.

“There was always a buzz surrounding sales throughout the build-up.

“The possible return of Michael Schumacher and success of British-based team Brawn has helped considering the amount of expats that live here from that part of the world.”

Officials are more concerned about the smog haze that has blown in over Singapore from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia potentially affecting the race.

Singapore Motor Sports Association president Tan Teng Lip admitted that in the worst-case scenario track action would have be stopped due to poor visibility.

“The last resort is always to stop the race,” he said.

“It is actually similar situation to if there’s very heavy rain, just like what happened in Sepang earlier this year.

“But of course that has to be decided by the race stewards.”

The Singapore tourism board’s F1 project director Justin Chew said the bright lights around the Marina Bay circuit are powerful enough to cut through the haze at its current levels.

According to Singapore’s environment agency, the hazy conditions may persist for several days due to the prevailing southerly winds.

The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) showed a marked improvement in air quality over the past two days, with the reading moving from the ‘moderate’ to ‘good’ range.

Roche is confident the race weekend timetable won’t be affected: “We don’t have a reserve day but will not need one as we will finish on schedule,” he said.

Renault F1 has parted company with team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds over the race-fixing allegations made by its former driver Nelson Piquet Jr.

Piquet has accused Briatore and Symonds of asking him to help secure victory for his then team-mate Fernando Alonso in last year’s Singapore Grand Prix by crashing and triggering a safety car period that played perfectly into Alonso’s hands.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Renault said it would not contest the charges against it when it appears before the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council next Monday.

It added that Briatore and Symonds had now left the team.

“The ING Renault F1 Team will not dispute the recent allegations made by the FIA concerning the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix,” the statement said.

“It also wishes to state that its managing director, Flavio Briatore, and its executive director of engineering, Pat Symonds, have left the team.

“Before attending the hearing before the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris on 21 September 2009, the team will not make any further comment.”

Renault had been given a deadline of today to put in its official defence submissions to the FIA ahead of next Monday’s WMSC hearing.

Its decision not to do amounts to a tacit admission that it conspired to cause a deliberate crash for its own competitive benefit – an offence that FIA president Max Mosley said last weekend would be even more serious than cheating or race-fixing because it put human lives at risk.

Mosley said that if Renault were to be found guilty, a severe penalty would be warranted and the World Motor Sport Council could go as far as banning the team from Formula 1 for all time.

“It could be anything up to disqualification,” he said.

“Because that's what's set out in the [International Sporting Code].

“Disqualification means you are out, finished.

“Out. Total. Exclusion forever, gone, finished.

“That is the worst that could happen.”

The race-fixing allegations came to light shortly after Piquet was fired by Renault for failing to hit performance targets.

Only last Friday Renault announced that it, and Briatore, had launched criminal proceedings against Piquet for making “false allegations” and attempting to blackmail the team into retaining him.

Piquet’s three-time world champion father approached Mosley with the allegations after the Hungarian Grand Prix and his 23-year-old son made a statement to the FIA on July 30.

He announced his split from Renault four days later, launching a fierce attack on Briatore – his manager as well as team boss – who he labelled his “executioner”.

After receiving the testimony from Piquet Jr, the FIA launched an investigation into the claims and interviewed Briatore, Symonds and other team members at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Piquet’s statement and key evidence such as telemetry data and radio transmissions were leaked to the media in the lead-up to last weekend’s Monza event.

In an apparent attempt to isolate Briatore, the FIA has offered Symonds immunity from punishment at the WMSC hearing in return for full disclosure of the facts pertaining to the Singapore incident – having promised the same to Piquet when the Brazilian made his statement.

It is not known whether Symonds has taken up the FIA’s offer, and it remains to be seen whether he and Briatore will now appear at the hearing following their departure from the team.

Ferrari has triggered a new wave of speculation about Kimi Raikkonen's future by refusing to confirm if the former world champion would be retained for 2010.

Raikkonen is already contracted to Ferrari through next season, but rumours persist that the team is keen to extricate itself from this deal to sign Fernando Alonso instead.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali reiterated that Raikkonen has a Ferrari contract yet when asked if that meant the Finn would definitely be with the team in 2010, he declined to comment.

"We don't want to discuss this now, because I don't think this is [the] correct [time]," said Domenicali

"As you know, Kimi has a contract with us for next year."

But he did praise Raikkonen's recent surge in form, which has seen the 2007 champion out-score all his rivals in the last four races.

Having taken just 10 points in the first nine grands prix of 2009, Raikkonen has finished on the podium in every race since Hungary.

"This is what we can say now: we are happy about Kimi's performance because honestly he's being really fantastic and driving very, very well," Domenicali enthused.

"The team is very happy with the way that he is performing, above all in the second part of the season.

"I think the Kimi that we've seen in the second part of the season is really very, very strong, very consistent and always there.

"For sure he has improved significantly, but he's the Kimi that we know - the Kimi who was world champion two years ago."

Raikkonen's step forward has coincided with his team-mate Felipe Massa's absence through injury, but Domenicali does not believe this has made any difference.

"I don't know, I really hope not," he said when asked if the changes in driver line-up were a factor.

The team boss is very confident that Raikkonen's strong run will continue through the rest of the season.

"I hope that he will also be on the podium in the next four races," Domenicali said.

"Kimi can do it, he's very, very good.

"If we're able as a team to maximise our performance then I really think Kimi can be on the podium for all the last four races, for sure."

Ferrari had long been expected to announce its 2010 driver line-up at Monza, but its situation is currently in a state of flux.

Alonso is widely regarded to be Ferrari-bound eventually, but his position is currently complicated by the uncertainty that present employer Renault's forthcoming FIA hearing has created.

Although Massa has a long-term Ferrari deal, the team will want to be certain of his fitness following his horrific Hungaroring crash.

Giancarlo Fisichella has already been signed as the team's 2010 reserve, alongside long-time testers Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, while Michael Schumacher could yet make a comeback if Ferrari is successful in its push for teams to be allowed to run third cars from next year.

Raikkonen had been linked to McLaren and Williams if he loses his Ferrari seat, although he is keen on a switch to the World Rally Championship in the longer term.

Kimi passed front-row starter Adrian Sutil on the run to the first corner and - in a virtual carbon copy of Giancarlo Fisichella’s charge at Spa - relied on his KERS power to keep the otherwise faster Force India at bay for the rest of the race.

Sutil harried Kimi all the way but had to make do with fourth place, easily the best result of his young F1 career, and underlined his pace by setting the race's fastest lap.

In terms of the championship, Red Bull had a disasterous race with Webber being hit off on the first lap and Vettel struggling home in 8th place thanks to Lewis crashing on the last lap. Brawn now lead a massive gap in both drivers and constructors and looks like its between Jenson and Rubens to claim the 2009 crown.


Italian Grand Prix result (53 laps)

1.  BARRICHELLO  Brawn         1h16m21.706s      
2.  BUTTON       Brawn         +2.8s
3.  RAIKKONEN    Ferrari       +30.6s
4.  SUTIL        Force India   +31.1s
5.  ALONSO       Renault       +50.1s
6.  KOVALAINEN   McLaren       +60.6s
7.  HEIDFELD     BMW           +82.4s
8.  VETTEL       Red Bull      +85.4s
9.  FISICHELLA   Ferrari       +86.8s
10. NAKAJIMA     Williams      +120.0s
11. GLOCK        Toyota        +163.9s
12. HAMILTON     McLaren       +1 lap
13. BUEMI        Toro Rosso    +1 lap
14. TRULLI       Toyota        +1 lap
15. GROSJEAN     Renault       +1 lap
16. ROSBERG      Williams      +2 laps
R.  LIUZZI       Force India   +30 laps
R.  ALGUERSUARI  Toro Rosso    +33 laps
R.  KUBICA       BMW           +37 laps
R.  WEBBER       Red Bull      +53 laps

Fastest lap: SUTIL 1m24.739s

A new front wing for Ferrari in Italy, with a totally new main plane featuring a little step (black arrow) either side of the 50cm-wide central area. This effectively raises the wing further from the ground, meaning less drag and downforce, as is the requirement at the high-speed Monza circuit. The little fins previously seen inside the end plates (inset) have been removed for this race.

Source: http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2009/818/695.html

For the 2009 season, the FIA are making public the weights of all cars ahead of the race start to help give an idea of relative fuel loads. The cars that made Q3 are weighed after qualifying, while the weights of the remaining cars must be declared by their teams shortly after the session.

Below is the provisional grid for the Italian Grand Prix with each car's weight.

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 653.5kg
2. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 655
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 662
4. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 683
5. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 688.5
6. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 687
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 679.5
8. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 677.5
9. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 682
10. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 683
11. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 703
12. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 699.8
13. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 697.5
14. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 690
15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 697.5
16. Timo Glock, Toyota, 709.8
17. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 706.2
18. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 708.6
19. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 706
20. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 706

Giancarlo Fisichella reckons his crash in final practice was the main reason for his disappointing qualifying performance at Monza.

The Italian will start only 14th on the grid for his first race with Ferrari - 11 places behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

He missed half of morning practice after sliding into the Parabolica barriers, and felt this was crucial.

"After many years in Formula 1 and a lot of experience, I know how important it is to do practice three," said Fisichella.

"It was important to do as many laps as possible to have a better feeling with the car, to adjust the right set-up for the qualifying session, and to work on the soft tyre – and it was quite frustrating.

"I was really sad, really disappointed before the qualifying session.

"I was not comfortable and confident, but considering all of this I think 14th is quite a good result."

He insisted he was not bothered by seeing the Force India team he had just left qualifying second and seventh with Adrian Sutil and Tonio Liuzzi, as he still felt he had a hand in that result but would not have sacrificed a Ferrari chance for anything.

"I am happy for them," said Fisichella.

"I did fantastic development of the car and now this is the result.

"I am happy because in the last race I was second in the race, I did a pole position which was a great result.

"But you know the chance to be a Ferrari driver was the dream all my life and even if they can win the next five races, I would make the same decision.

"I want to be a Ferrari driver for the rest of the season.

"I am happy about my choice and I am sure I can do a good job."

Fisichella is confident that he will show better form in the race as he continues to build mileage, although he was not sure whether the rain that set in at Monza this afternoon would be a help or hindrance if it returned tomorrow.

"Tomorrow is going to be a much better day for me," said the Italian.

"After 53 laps in the race I have a good chance to do well.

"Considering my grid position, maybe if it's a wet race it could be good.

"But I don't know the behaviour of the car in the wet so it could be difficult and dangerous in these conditions."

Lewis Hamilton claimed his and McLaren’s second pole position of the season in the dying moments of a thrilling qualifying session at Monza on Saturday.

Raikkonen was nearly half a second adrift in third, but the tifosi will doubtless hope that a lightning KERS-assisted start can propel him into the lead before the first corner and into contention for a second consecutive win.

Giancarlo Fisichella was on the back foot going into the qualifying hour following his morning practice crash at Parabolica, and managed only 14th on the grid a fortnight after he took that sensational pole for Force India at Spa.

Italian Grand Prix grid
1.  HAMILTON      McLaren       
2.  SUTIL         Force India   
3.  RAIKKONEN     Ferrari       
4.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren      
5.  BARRICHELLO   Brawn        
6.  BUTTON        Brawn        
7.  LIUZZI        Force India   
8.  ALONSO        Renault      
9.  VETTEL        Red Bull      
10. WEBBER        Red Bull    
11. TRULLI        Toyota   
12. GROSJEAN      Renault      
13. KUBICA        BMW          
14. FISICHELLA    Ferrari       
15. HEIDFELD      BMW           
16. GLOCK         Toyota       
17. NAKAJIMA      Williams     
18. ROSBERG       Williams      
19. BUEMI         Toro Rosso    
20. ALGUERSUARI   Toro Rosso

Check later tonight for fuel loads.

Giancarlo Fisichella says he is content with his first day as a Ferrari driver, despite finishing afternoon practice at the foot of the times.

The Italian was quicker than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in the morning, when he was eighth fastest, but fell to 20th in the second session.

But he felt he had made good progress with acclimatising to his new car.

"I'm quite positive about the day, I just need to improve somewhere, but apart from that it's been a good day," said Fisichella.

"Tomorrow is going to be another important day for me.

"It's important to do another good amount of laps and do a little bit more."

Fisichella's erstwhile team-mate Adrian Sutil went quickest in the Force India today, but the Italian said he was not bothered to see his old car going so quickly while he was down the order for Ferrari.

"It's not surprising," he insisted.

"Force India for the last couple of races was very strong, we made a step forward and my last race was fantastic.

"I knew it would be quick here."

"I know they are probably lighter than us today in terms of fuel load, but for sure they will be competitive tomorrow."

Ferrari is currently only in middling shape for its home weekend, according to Raikkonen.

"The feeling was not too bad, there are some issues and we need to fix them, but I don't know if we can or not," said the Finn.

"There seem to be the same problems here every year, but overall I'm quite happy with the car so let's see what happens tomorrow.

"We need to look at the details to see where we lose time to the other cars, but overall I was quite happy.

"There are just a few places where we need to improve the car, but not too bad.

"It's too early to know if the podium is possible or not, but we'll do our best like at every race."