McLaren and Red Bull get ready for the Singapore Grand Prix
McLaren’s Jenson Button thinks that the current situation regarding the drivers’ standings will make the Singapore Grand Prix very interesting, as it will give an idea as to the destiny of the 2010 drivers’ championship. The last time McLaren was on a low-speed
high-downforce track was at the Hungarian Grand Prix in the beginning of August and the car was not able to compete so well there. After two high-speed circuits, it will not be easy for McLaren to gain the same sort of advantage at a completely different track.
Jenson qualified in the 11th place and finished in 5th place last year at the Singapore Grand Prix but hopes to score a good result in order to gain an advantage in the drivers’ standings.
However, there have been many changes since the race at Budapest. There have been some revisions to the rulebook regarding bodywork flexibility forcing the engineers to work a lot on the cars at the MTC to ensure the car fulfils all the requirements for
a slower circuit. The Singapore Grand Prix will be relatively more interesting as the fate of the championship will be reflected in the first of the final five races. McLaren will get to test all their hard work since the past couple of months and find out
how it pays off.
“Personally, I think Singapore has quickly established itself as one of the best races on the calendar, and I’m already really looking forward to the race”, said the world champion.
The young McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton started in pole position on the grid last year before winning the race last year. Lewis claims that his victory at the Singapore Grand Prix was one of the most satisfying victories of his Formula 1 career. The team
started working on the car since the beginning of the weekend and overcame every major problem to ensure a good performance. The British said that it was an amazing experience and feeling after crossing the line there and he hopes to do the same this year.
As Hamilton said, he is over the whole Monza episode and needs to sharpen his mind in order to improve, as this is the most important part of the season.
The race next weekend will be quite unpredictable and it is not easy to tell how McLaren will be performing there. The Singapore Grand Prix is more like Monaco and Hungary. McLaren has not been able to perform so well in these two tracks however, the engineers
seem quite confident and the team believes that they have made some good progress. Lewis seems satisfied as well and is eager to go on track and feel the car’s improvements personally. Therefore, the team is over what happened at Monza and they believe that
they will move on with a fresh mind.
“The race should give us a clearer indication of exactly where we stand as the championship closes down over the next five races, but I definitely want to score as many points as possible in this Grand Prix”, he said.
McLaren’s rivals Red Bull also seem confident, as they were able to dominate the high-downforce tracks this year. Mark Webber personally likes Singapore for its unique night race. Because of the light, it seems that the crowd is closer to the track in most
of the sections of the circuit so it makes it more exciting. Mark hopes to improve his last year’s result at the Singapore Grand Prix as he qualified in 4th place but was not able to finish the race as he had to retire. The Australian agreed with
Hamilton that the track has the same characteristics as Monaco and Budapest hence Red Bull will have quite an advantage over the rest of the teams. “We’ve yet to experience any wet running on a flood-lit track, so it will be interesting if that happens”, he
added.
His teammate Sebastian Vettel could not agree more with his rivals as the Singapore Grand Prix an unforgettable event. The night race makes it difficult for the drivers to manage the time as well as they try to sleep in the afternoon in order to be fully
fresh for the race in the evening. The circuit consists 23 corners so the drivers have to maintain a momentum in every lap. The track requires hard braking therefore; the drivers have to be extra careful as it causes bumpiness. The Singapore Grand Prix offers
the fan an exciting race and it will be a nerve-racking race.
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