Ecclestone hits back at Ferrari boss

Di Montezemolo had said after the first Formula One race at night, that the venue would have been better to stage a circus than a grand prix event.

"Unfortunately when we race on tracks where staging a circus or something else would be better, anything can happen, because the spectacle is supplied by the Safety Car," di Montezemolo was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"This is humiliating for F1."

The race was a disaster for Ferrari, who failed to score any points and saw McLaren take the lead in the constructors' championship.

Ecclestone has told the Ferrari boss that he should have kept quiet after the problems his team had in Singapore.

"After the weekend Ferrari had, their president should have shut up and kept his head down," Ecclestone was quoted as saying by the Mail on Sunday.

"If Massa loses the world championship, he will know the team were responsible. He would have destroyed everybody in Singapore if he had kept going."

Felipe Massa lost all chances of a good result in Singapore when he was given the green light to leave the pits before the fuel hose had been removed from his car.

Ferrari use a lights system instead of the traditional "lollipop", and Ecclestone suggested the team should try to simplify things.

"If I wanted to be a smart-arse, I'd have devised a system so that the light goes green to release the driver at the same time as the coupling hose comes off the car," Ecclestone added.

"If it's a matter of turning a switch, which I am led to believe is how it works, then why not stick with the 'lollipop' man of old? Why do you want to have some other piece of technology that can go wrong? It's over the top."