Formula One: The Singapore Grand Prix – The championship twister (Part 2)
The Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina bay will be an interesting twist to the 2010 championship and it will give a clearer idea of the world championship’s future.
However, things have changed since the race in Budapest as the rulebook was heavily revised regarding the flexibility of the bodywork. Additionally, the work done by engineers at the McLaren Technology Centre after that has ensured that the MP4-25 is working
much better on slower tracks.
“Singapore will be interesting for all of us - we'll not only get an idea of the speed of the Ferrari and Red Bull, but we'll get to see for the first time whether all our efforts over the past two months have helped put us back in the ballpark at high-downforce
tracks,” said Jenson Button.
Lewis Hamilton on the other hand, radiates resolve. He claims he has moved on and is not thinking about his retirement at Monza anymore. The British driver believes that this is something every driver has to go through in motor racing and it is quite normal.
“It’s always so disappointing, because your adrenaline is really flowing and then, immediately, it gets cut short right when you’re in the heat of battle. But, like I say, these things happen - it’s not the first time my race has ended on the first lap,
and it probably won’t be the last, unfortunately,” he said.
Hamilton said that he forgot about it the very next day and was already focused on the next race and thinking of new ideas in order to improve the car. He will have to score some good points at the Singapore grand prix in order to be in a good position to
win the title. The 25 year old believes that it is better to let go of something and the team is still in a good position so have to capitalise on that.
“I’ve had two non-finishes and one win in the last three races - and, while that’s not bad, it does mean that I lost points to some of the other drivers in the hunt for the title. In addition, those results are not enough to get me the title. I’ll keep
pushing,” added Lewis.
Team McLaren believes that they will have to take each race as it comes and make sure that they at least finish the last five races as they head to Singapore to win.
Mercedes, Force India and Williams are yet to have their latest updates of this season however, it has been cleared that Paul di Resta will not be driving for Force India this weekend. On the other hand, GP2 champion Jerome D’Ambrosio will get a try-out
with team Virgin on Friday to replace Lucas di Grassi for team’s driver evaluation for the 2011 season.
Nick Heidfeld will return to the grid with Sauber this weekend as well, as he has signed with the team for the remainder of the season to replace Pedro de la Rosa’s seat.
The Singapore Grand Prix will take place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit directs in an anti-clockwise direction with a length of 5.073 km passing several landmarks in the country including the Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, City Hall, the Supreme Court and the
Esplanade Bridge. The track consists of 23 corners and runs beneath 1,500 light projectors that boast 2,000 watts each.
Some minor changes were made to the circuit after some complaints about serious bumps were made in the section between turns five and seven and turn 14 and 19. These portions of the track were resurfaced and some kerbs were also re-profiled including those
in turn 10.
Bridgestone brings their medium and super-soft tyres this year as Hirohide Hamashima, the director of motorsport tyre development believes that Singapore is a street circuit and we will see a lot of surface evaluation and improvement after the track is first
cleaned by running cars and then the rubber will be laid to provide better grip.
The weather is expected to be unsettled as thunderstorms and showers were forecasted with an ambient temperature between 33-34 degrees Celsius. The Singapore Grand Prix is going to be one h**l of a ride and the drivers will have to pull their socks up for
this one.
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