The 15th round of the 2016 Formula 1 season will take place under the night sky with the sparkling lights illuminating the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. The Singapore Grand Prix is one of two night races in the F1 calendar, the other being the Bahrain GP. The race creates a sci-fi movie effect on TV. It is hosted under psychedelic light and runs through the winding, narrow street circuit in the Lion City. The ninth running of this race launches the final seven flyaway races of the F1 season. The F1 circus swings through Asia, USA, Mexico and Brazil, before finally arriving in Abu Dhabi for the final race.
F1: Preview of the Singapore Grand Prix
The History
The Singapore Grand Prix was launched in 2008 and in its short history the race has established itself as one of the most popular races. The street circuit comes to life under 1600 lights with a total power of 3,180,000 watts, fed by 108,423 meters of power cables. The circuit is lit four times as brightly as a normal floodlit stadium. Under the glaring lights the F1 cars roar around the twisty and slow circuit.
The Marina Bay Street circuit is a complete contrast to the high-speed, low downforce circuit at the previous race in Monza. The hot and humid conditions and the very bumpy nature of the street circuit leads to an energy-sapping experience for the drivers. The race normally lasts close to two full hours and starts at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. European time).
The Drivers and Teams
In the eight races held at Singapore since 2008, Sebastian Vettel (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015), Fernando Alonso (2008, 2010), and Lewis Hamilton (2009, 2014) have been the only winners. Alonso won the first Asian street race in Singapore driving for the then Renault F1 team under controversial circumstances. This incident is now known as the infamous ‘Crashgate’ episode. A year after the win was secured, Alonso’s teammate Nelson Piquet Jr revealed that he was under orders from Team Principal Flavio Briatore and Chief Engineer Pat Symonds to crash into the wall to bring out the safety car. This resulted in the Renault team being handed a suspended two-year disqualification. The key instigators were banned from F1.
On the narrow winding street circuit, it is difficult to overtake. Therefore, drivers starting from the front rows of the grid typically win. In 2012, pole-sitter Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado, who started P2, retired from the race. This handed Vettel, who started P3, an easy victory. Red Bull Racing, with their high downforce cars, are always a favourite at this circuit. Vettel took pole position and won for Ferrari last year. The dominant Mercedes team struggled to match the pace of the Ferrari and Red Bull cars in 2015.
The Circuit
The 5.065 km Marina Bay Street circuit with 23 corners and two straights is one of the slowest tracks on the calendar. The Singapore Grand Prix features an average speed of only 170 km/h. The anti-clockwise circuit has predominantly left-hand corners and demands a high downforce setup. The cars are on full throttle 45% of the time, and fuel consumption is high. The brake-wear is very high, with the cooling of brakes demanding special attention.
As the track is a street circuit, it has a very bumpy and abrasive surface. The cars normally use higher ride-heights at this circuit because of its bumpy nature. The drivers have to drive over the high kerbs as they tackle the tight right-angled corners. At the start of the free practice sessions, the surface is very slippery and the grip improves as the track has rubber laid on it as the weekend progresses.
Sectors, Corners, and DRS Zones
Sector one from turn one to turn six starts with a narrow left-handed corner (T1) leading to a gentle right-hand corner (T2). This is followed by a tricky almost ninety degrees left-hand corner (T3) and a gentle kink (T4). This leads to the right-hand corner (T5) leading to the straight on Raffles Boulevard broken by the flat-out last corner (T6) of this sector.
Sector two from turn seven to turn 13 starts with a set of three sharp corners at ninety-degree angles and high kerbs. The first left-hand corner (T7) leads to the right-hand hairpin (T8) leading to another sharp left-hand corner (T9). This leads to the famous ‘Singapore Sling’ chicane at Turn 10 which was not very popular with the drivers. In 2013, the track was redesigned with the chicane removed and replaced by a smooth left-hand bend. This makes a lap around the circuit faster now. Turn 10 leads to the chicanes (T11 and T12) leading to the Anderson Bridge followed by a sharp left-hand corner (T13). This leads to the straight with good overtaking opportunities.
Sector three from Turn 14 to 23 comprises of a series of twisty low-speed corners. It starts with a right-hand corner (T14) followed by three sets of chicanes. This leads to the penultimate left-hand corner (T22) leading to the final corner (T23) and the start-finish straight.
There are two DRS zones this year. The first DRS detection point is before turn five with the activation point after the apex of turn five. The second DRS detection point is before the apex of Turn 22 with the activation point after the apex of turn 23.
Tyre Strategies
Pirelli tyre choices are the yellow-striped soft tyres, red-striped supersoft tyres, and the purple-striped ultrasoft tyres. The ultrasoft tyres is the tyre of choice for the Singapore Grand Prix. The majority of drivers opted for eight or more sets of the allocated 13 sets for each driver. A two pitstop race is predicted, but the high temperatures and excessive braking causes high tyre wear. The weather forecast for the race is for thirty-two degrees centigrade temperatures, with high humidity levels. All eight races in Singapore so far have been dry races. The chances of a safety car is high at this race as the narrow track with walls leads to accidents and with restricted accessibility, clearing debris also takes time.
Pirelli Tyre Allocation: http://www.fia.com/news/f1-tyre-choices-singapore-grand-prix
Current Form
Lewis Hamilton (250 points) has a wafer-thin two point lead over teammate Nico Rosberg (248 points) after Monza. Rosberg has won both races after the summer break. This has reignited his challenge for the drivers’ title. Hamilton botched his start at Monza, handing Rosberg an easy and dominant win. Rosberg has truly thrown down the gauntlet and the Briton knows he has a real fight on his hands to defend his title. Daniel Ricciardo (161 points) follows in third.
Mercedes leads the constructors’ championship comfortably over Red Bull Racing. Red Bull Racing has a narrow 11-point gap over Ferrari. Williams has overtaken Force India again for fourth. McLaren holds a narrow three point lead over Toro Rosso for sixth.
Mercedes, who struggled at this venue last year, seemed to have solved their problems and are back in form this year. Rosberg with a dominant pole lap is in the driver’s seat to take another win. Hamilton has struggled all weekend and will be starting only third on the grid. Ricciardo on the front row with Rosberg. Max Verstappen, who is fourth on the grid, will pose a real challenge to the Mercedes drivers. Sebastian Vettel was unable to post a timed lap in Q1 due to broken suspension. Therefore, the four-time winner at this venue will start last. So the Red Bull drivers will be the main challengers along with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen to the Mercedes drivers. We could very well have a new championship leader in Rosberg at the conclusion of the Singapore Grand Prix.
