2012 Singapore Grand Prix Discussion Thread

Following an incident-packed Italian Grand Prix, Formula One leaves Europe behind and embarks on a championship end-game that will see the teams and drivers take on seven long-haul ‘flyaway’ races in 10 action-packed weeks. And first on that list is the Singapore Grand Prix – the sport’s only true night race.

Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit is the antithesis of high-speed, low downforce Monza. Here, on the winding roads of the Lion City, average speeds are some of the lowest in Formula One and the teams employ their highest downforce settings in an effort to ensure maximum grip around the 23 corners of the floodlit track.

In keeping with its street-circuit nature, grip is at a premium in the early practice sessions. The bumpy surface does ‘rubber in’ over the course of the event but, as the track is constantly evolving, teams are often left chasing the perfect set-up across the race weekend.

The night-race schedule presents its own challenges too, and in a bid to keep personnel at optimum performance levels at the right times, teams opt to keep everyone, including their drivers, on European time to cope with the demands of racing at 8pm. It’s also a long and demanding race, with all four of the races staged so far stretching to within five minutes of the two-hour mark. With temperatures and humidity still high despite the late start, it all adds up to one the toughest races of the year.

As the 2012 Formula One season heads into its final third, Fernando Alonso still leads the Drivers’ Championship. The Ferrari driver now has 179 points, 37 clear of Italian GP winner Lewis Hamilton, who has 142. Meanwhile, dark horse Kimi Raikkonen has snuck up on the rails and sits in third place, just a point behind Hamilton. In the Constructors’ battle, leaders Red Bull Racing, on 272 points, go to Singapore just 29 points clear of McLaren, while Ferrari have 226 points, nine ahead of Lotus.

The single DRS zone here remains unchanged from 2011. The detection point is at Turn 4 and the activation point is after Turn 5.

Pirelli will offer its yellow-banded Soft and red-banded Supersoft tyre compounds this weekend. This combination was last used at the Canadian Grand Prix in June and before that in Monaco.

The Marina Bay circuit is the second slowest of the year after Monaco, with an average speed of just 172 kph (106.8 mph) and an average cornering speed of 105 kph (65.2mph). Approximately 46 per cent of the lap is taken at full throttle, compared with over 75 per cent at the last race at high-speed, low downforce Monza.

Singapore’s 23 corners mean that the twisting layout is very hard on brakes. It doesn’t do gearboxes any favours either with drivers changing gear around 80 times per lap.

The Singapore GP is usually packed with incident and the safety car has intervened here at least once in every race since 2008.

Race Stewards = José Abed FIA vice president, Garry Connelly deputy president, FIA institute, Allan McNish ex-formula one, Le Mans winner.

http://184.106.145.74/fia-f1/f1-2012/f1-2012-14/sin-preview.pdf