[Official] Round 14 - Singapore Grand Prix @ Marina Bay

[jab]

No doubt you’ll hear the phrase “well, if you hadn’t noticed, there is actually a race on this weekend” many times, as once again the Formula 1 circus rolls into its latest destination under a cloud. But let’s not dwell on “Crashgate”. We could be in for a very interesting weekend on track.

Singapore’s Marina Bay circuit last year hosted a thriller, albeit partly down to the safety car periods, and the race had many typical street circuit features - long trains of cars, sparks from the bumps, and plenty of drivers losing concentration and smacking one of the unforgiving concrete walls. Kimi Raikkonen was one, taking too much kerb at the tricky turn 10 chicane, whilst team mate Felipe Massa, already running down the order, had already nearly binned his red car at turn 18, the left-hander just before the tunnel under the grandstand.

The circuit itself is also classic street circuit territory, being like a modern Adelaide - a modern pits complex and artificial first and last corners, but plenty of 90 degree bends, concrete walls and bumps. With the addition of the race being held under the lights, it proved an instant hit, unlike the other new street circuit on the calendar in 2008.

I say this year could be very interesting, reason being that rain is currently forecast for the days and nights of the grand prix weekend. Night racing in the rain could potentially be very hazardous, so we could end up with a thriller...or no race at all, of course. A more detailed forecast is provided down the bottom by Autosport Live with regular updates through the week - they are currently saying it’s likely to be dry. We can only hope that it is for the sake of having a race.

As for the pecking order, with a stop-start circuit, expect Brawn and McLaren to be the main contenders, with Ferrari once again as...dark horses! This weekend should see the end of Red Bull’s title challenge, as they will be expected to struggle as they did in Valencia and Monza. Force India may find it tough to repeat their fast circuit form due to the slow nature of the layout and the fact that Tonio Liuzzi has never driven the circuit. Toyota will struggle too. If you want an outside bet, how about Rosberg in the Williams? He finished 2nd last year and the Williams is much better in the slow stuff

Graphics by Andy Blackmore Design

Formula 1 World Drivers Championship Standings

Pos.	Flag	Driver		Constructor	Points
1.		Jenson Button		Brawn-Mercedes	80
2.		Rubens Barrichello		Brawn-Mercedes	66
3.		Sebastian Vettel		RBR-Renault	54
4.		Mark Webber		RBR-Renault	51.5
5.		Kimi Räikkönen		Ferrari	40
6.		Nico Rosberg		Williams-Toyota	30.5
7.		Lewis Hamilton		McLaren-Mercedes	27
8.		Jarno Trulli		Toyota	22.5
9.		Felipe Massa		Ferrari	22
10.		Heikki Kovalainen		McLaren-Mercedes	20
11.		Fernando Alonso		Renault	16
12.		Timo Glock		Toyota	16
13.		Nick Heidfeld		Sauber-BMW	12
14.		Giancarlo Fisichella		Force India-Mercedes/Ferrari	8
15.		Robert Kubica		Sauber-BMW	8
16.		Adrian Sutil		Force India-Mercedes	5
17.		Sebastien Buemi		Toro Rosso-Ferrari	3
18.		Sebastian Bourdais		Toro Rosso-Ferrari	2
19.		Kazuki Nakajima		Williams-Toyota	0
20.		Nelson Piquet Jr		Renault	0
21.		Luca Badoer		Ferrari	0
22.		Romain Grosjean		Renault	0
23.		Jaime Alguersuari		Toro Rosso-Ferrari	0
NC.		Vitantonio Liuzzi		Force India-Mercedes	-

Formula 1 World Constructors Championship Standings

Pos.	Flag	Constructor	Car	Points
1.		Brawn-Mercedes		146
2.		Red Bull-Renault		205.5
3.		Ferrari		62
4.		McLaren-Mercedes		47
5.		Toyota		38.5
6.		Williams-Toyota		30.5
7.		Sauber-BMW		20
8.		Renault		20
9.		Force India-Mercedes		13
10.		Toro Rosso-Ferrari		5

Marina Bay Street Circuit

Length	Direction	Turns	Laps (Distance)	Lap Record (Driver, Year)
5.067km	Anti-Clockwise	23	309.087km	1:45.599 (Kimi Raikkonen, 2008)

Roll of honour

Year	Driver	Car	Location
2008	Fernando Alonso	Renault	Marina Bay

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[Super Hans]

This is a real acid test for Romain Grosjean after his predecessor helped the team to a memorable victory there last year.

[Lotusonpole]

Lovely job jab.

I'm looking forward to Singapore. Last year for me was a very pleasant surprise and expect it to be as enjoyable to see this time.

BBC say weather likely to be wet for quali but dry for the race.

It will be interesting to see if Liuzzi impresses again.
P

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally Posted by Lotusonpole

BBC say weather likely to be wet for quali but dry for the race.

How much more difficult will a floodlit track be if it's wet? Surely all that artificial light on a wet track would make it pretty hard work...

[Cougar]

What happened there last year then :P

Nice job jab!

(too many pts for RBR though )

[Born Racer]

Yes, I'd be interested in any thoughts as to where Liuzzi 'should' have ended up, had he finished. (Please post them in the Monza thread if you know).

The child in me liked the gleaming cars and sparks last year in Singapore.

[Rgms320]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

The child in me liked the gleaming cars and sparks last year in Singapore.

Oh, man, I'd completely forgotten about that! You're right -- those cars certainly do look beautiful under the lights. Something to look forward to.

Thanks for the reminder!

Tom

[chillibowl]

maybe this belongs in the replacement thread, but any word on who will be stepping up from within Renault to act as team principle for this race.
are there any rules saying that this is a position that needs to be filled by someone during a race weekend?

[chillibowl]

never mind, just saw this on pitpass.

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpa...s_art_id=39079

Bob Bell will take on the position and duties for the remainder of the year.

[Bononi]

Nice work Jab.

[JeremySmith]

Great work Jab, thank you for that!

[Matt]

One of my favourite tracks, I'll be in Dover for the NASCAR race, but I'll be sure to watch this race ASAP when I get home!

By the way, Super Hans, I LOVE your new avatar, hahahaha.

[Super Hans]

Originally Posted by Matt

By the way, Super Hans, I LOVE your new avatar, hahahaha.

Many thanks!

[JeremySmith]

I am looking forward to this race, I predict Kimi will smoke the field..

[ECW Dan Selby]

Yeh that's hilarious!! Took me a moment to figure

And thank you, jab. Great post.

I'm looking forward to this one. I'm just a bit ticked off that the drivers cried about the bumps so much to the point where they've flattened the track. It was a real joy watching the cars bounce as they kicked up sparks - was a true nostalgia trip.

Selby

[mllevy]

grosjean not feeling well, di grassi may drive

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by mllevy

grosjean not feeling well, di grassi may drive

Full story:

http://www.f1press.com/full_story/vi...oping_to_race/

[ECW Dan Selby]

In other news, the weather still looks appauling...!

Selby

[jab]

It's expected to be dry for all the sessions:

Originally Posted by Autosport Live

The forecast for the weekend promises little or no threat of rain during the time that the Formula 1 cars are on track. There is of course a low chance of showers or storms late in the morning, stretching to early afternoon, but any rain should have cleared away by the start of proceedings each day.

http://live.autosport.com/commentary.php/id/147

[ECW Dan Selby]

Ahh I was going by the forecast on the left They should change that!

Selby

[duke_toaster]

[ME_BEING_ANAL]This could be considered the 9th Singapore Grand Prix on the roll of honour. The race was run on the Thomson circuit from '66 to '73. I don't know what set of technical regulations all of them were run with, but the first was Formula Junior and the last was Australian Formula 2 (in essence, FJ). No idea about the ones in the middle, but the winners are on Wikipedia.[/ME_BEING_ANAL]

With regards to weather : timeanddate.com says that Friday has a 37% chance of rain at 6pm, and 32% at the same time on Saturday (it's 6 hour intervals). No word on 6pm Sunday.

If Saturday were to be cancelled, what would happen about allocating grid slots? IIRC the rules don't say what to do if there is no quali, they would either have to cancel supports on Sunday or not have a session - lottery, points, practice times or something else?

[jab]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

If Saturday were to be cancelled, what would happen about allocating grid slots? IIRC the rules don't say what to do if there is no quali, they would either have to cancel supports on Sunday or not have a session - lottery, points, practice times or something else?

I think they'd go on practice. If not, on championship standings. One of those 2, anyway

And I know about the previous winners of the SGP. Just testing

[duke_toaster]

IIRC the BTCC have legislated for it and would use car numbers out of a hat, but that's BTCC. F1 hasn't legislated for it, I think car numbers out of a hat would be best as FP times are unrepresentative and doing it on championship is a bit of a cop-out really.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

and doing it on championship is a bit of a cop-out really.

Think about it though! The first two rows would be quite interesting to say the least!

[jab]

Originally Posted by duke_toaster

IIRC the BTCC have legislated for it and would use car numbers out of a hat, but that's BTCC. F1 hasn't legislated for it, I think car numbers out of a hat would be best as FP times are unrepresentative and doing it on championship is a bit of a cop-out really.

The teams would complain like hell. It would have to be grounded on something. The American series go for championship order if quali is rained off

Last time F1 quali was rained off was Japan 2004, I think. They ran quali on the Sunday morning