Singapore's historic inaugural Grand Prix — also the first night time event in F1 history — will be remembered for a long time.

Without doubt it was a roaring success, despite what Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo had to say about it afterwards. The highly lit street circuit against the spectacular backdrop of Singapore's skyscrapers and historical colonial buildings created an almost surreal image that many cities and states across the world could only dream about. It can be safely assumed that the authorities have received a much larger return than their $60m investment in the event.

Operationally things also ran more smoothly than one would have expected from a new venue that had not held a race meeting of any nature beforehand. Except for a few grumblings among drivers about some of the kerbs, the bumpiness of the surface (what else did they expect?) and the confined pit entrance and exit, no one could point a finger at anything remotely approaching a serious defect in the running of the event.

Apart, that is, from the actions of the FIA stewards (nothing to do with the organisers, of course).

Once again the need for permanent, competent stewards was underlined following another set of inconsistent decisions.

Fernando Alonso had clearly benefited from taking shortcuts on the opening lap, yet, in contrast to the decision by the stewards in Spa which compromised Lewis Hamilton's race, no report from Race Director Charlie Whiting was forthcoming and therefore no sanction was levied on the Renault driver.

Then, after Felipe Massa was dangerously released after his first pit stop, he was given a drive-through penalty, while for the same infringement in Valencia he received a post-race fine. As long as this sort of inconsistency in stewards' decisions continues, the FIA will not be taken seriously as the governing body of the sport.

There were also mumbles afterwards about the amount of time the stewards took to come up with the obvious 10 second stop-go penalties for Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg, but that can probably explained by the order in which they received Whiting's reports.

Even though most comments after the race were highly complimentary, not everyone agreed.

"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," Montezemolo was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "This is humiliating for F1."

No, Luca, you are wrong, because the race was spectacular, not because of the safety car, but because of the way some teams and drivers dealt with the situation they were facing better than others. No doubt you would have sung a different tune had the safety car benefited one of your drivers…

Yes, there was plenty of drama and yes, were it not for the first safety car the eventual outcome might have become predictable fairly early on. But such is the nature of motor racing.

Fernando Alonso's unexpected victory did indeed come as a direct result of teammate Nelson Piquet's error, which is not to say his 20th career win was undeserved. He was well placed to take advantage at the time, but it was still up to him to fully capitalise and that he did like the world champion that he is. For those who believe in such things, it was poetic justice after his bad luck on Saturday which saw him ending up 15th on the grid.

But the biggest talking point of the race was the spectacular way in which Luca's team succeeded in shooting themselves in the foot. Not only did they throw away a virtually assured one-two in the process, but they also left the circuit pointless for the first time in two years.

The situation Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and their pit crew found themselves in on lap 17 was indeed the result of the Piquet safety period, but while others managed to deal with the pressure without a mistake (including McLaren-Mercedes who also stacked both their drivers), Ferrari went to pieces.

Not only was Massa released too early, resulting in him barrelling down pitlane with the fuel hose still attached to his car, but he was also released into the path of Adrian Sutil, who (after Monaco and Valencia) must now be convinced that the Scuderia has put a price on his head.

In an instant the pressure had turned the dream into a nightmare. But it wasn't over yet.

With Massa out of the picture and seeing his deficit to Hamilton growing from one to seven points, Ferrari were still hoping that Raikkonen would salvage some points for them to retain their top spot in the Constructors' Championship.

And the world champion was doing well. A long middle stint saw him eyeing a fifth spot despite having lost a huge amount of time during that botched twin pit stop earlier, but then, three laps from the end, he lost concentration and slammed into a wall. That was it; the nightmare had turned into a disaster.

One can't help but wonder whether Ferrari were getting a little too clever for their own good.

The traffic lights system used during pit stops instead of the traditional lollipop has failed them three times in the last four races (twice in Valencia and now in Singapore). Also, both F2008's were set up very low and stiff as could clearly be seen under braking over the bumps, which might have had something to do with their superior performance compared with especially the McLarens. But it could also have led to Raikkonen losing control after hitting a kerb pretty hard...

Perhaps, and despite the fact that the pressure is now on them and that they need a one-two in at least the next two races, Ferrari would do well to go back to basics and follow the measured approach to winning the title that McLaren have already adopted.

The first ever Singapore Grand Prix may well be remembered for another reason: As the race that sealed the destination of the 2008 title. And nobody would be able to blame the safety car for that.