Jonathan Noble: Online

As the Formula One paddock sat there revelling in the glory of F1's first night race on Sunday, the one word you would never have imagined anyone describing the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix as was 'humiliating'

To anyone who experienced the spectacle of Singapore first hand last weekend, there was nothing but absolute praise for what the race organisers had done. And for those who watched it at home on television, have you ever seen a grand prix track look so spectacular as the helicopter swooped from race track to city scape?

Yes, there were a few issues with bumps and some minor tweaks needed ahead of the 2009 race, but it really was a five-star weekend that put F1 back at the top of the world of sport after a summer dominated by the Beijing Olympics.

Kerbing in the chicane © LAT

So when Luca di Montezemolo weighed in with his views about the event and the way the race was decided by the safety car as being 'humiliating' for F1, it left an air of total disbelief with those of us who had been there.

Yes, the race had been 'humiliating' for Ferrari - whose pit stop error with Felipe Massa and then driving error with Kimi Raikkonen left them with no points. But there was no way, not even in a slightly remote way, that it was a bad weekend for F1.

Admittedly, heading into Singapore there had been plenty of fears about what we were letting ourselves in for. I, for one, was extremely sceptical about what was about to happen. All I had heard was that the track would be terribly tight and twisty, the night race element was just a pure gimmick, and the likely evening rain would turn the whole thing into a lottery.

But how wrong I was. Singapore was a truly great 'event' - and not just because we had a pretty exciting contest on track and that random element of a safety car. They were just the icing on the cake. The whole city got behind the race - the whole paddock had a buzz about the place and everyone was smiling inside at what was a totally new experience. From journalists of all ages, drivers, team bosses, and onlookers, there was a universal belief that this had been a good weekend for F1.

There was nothing humiliating about sitting down for a chat with Frank Williams, with the team boss smiling greatly as the clock on his desk ticked past midnight. Or the wry grins you got from everyone as you nodded, 'good morning' to them at 4pm, because of the way the paddock was staying on European time.

The F1 paddock can be a very conservative place at time, with corporate pressures and sponsorship demands meaning things can become too dull - with the life and personality sucked out of too many things. But by the end of Singapore, I sensed a change of attitude. There was suddenly a belief that the sport can do things differently without it taking away all that is great about F1. And the reality that news channels, journalists, and fans can go out there and speak about the sport for all the right reasons - and not because of chicane cuttings, sex orgies, or tyre strategies - was very important.

For sure we don't want 19 races like Singapore on the calendar, we need our Silverstones, our Monzas, our Spas, our Melbournes, but the sport has proven that reaching out to the fans and doing something very different at times is a good thing.

Luca di Montezemolo at the Italian Grand Prix © XPB

I got the impression that Singapore woke up many in F1 to realise that what is good for the teams is not necessarily what is good for the sport. My jaw dropped open on Sunday night when Martin Whitmarsh from McLaren, which in the past has been the most conservative of conservative teams when it comes to holding onto the 'purity' of F1, started talking about $1 million dollar Friday shoot outs.

So, di Montezemolo, I think you are totally wrong. Yes it was difficult to overtake at Singapore, but where isn't in F1 these days? Yes, the safety car rules need changing, but that is coming. And what you have criticised Singapore for is what the teams have accepted and loved about Monaco for years.

Singapore was a huge, huge success for the sport. In years to come I reckon we will look back on it as the start of a new dawn for F1. And there is nothing humiliating about that.