Michael Schumacher to race at the Singapore Grand Prix for the first time
The 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher is excited about his debut at the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend at the Marina Bay Circuit.
The circuit was added to the Formula 1 calendar in 2008 after Michael Schumacher had retired from the Formula 1 in 2006. This will not be an easy race for the German and his experience will not play a vital role as this was the first night race introduced
in the Formula 1 and Michael is not familiar with the conditions. The Singapore Grand Prix will be a new experience for Michael, as he remains undeterred by this challenge. Fernando Alonso made history in his Renault by becoming the first driver to win at
the Singapore Grand Prix followed by Nico Rosberg in 2nd and Lewis Hamilton in 3rd place.
The track witnessed its second race last year where Lewis Hamilton was able to secure a victory after taking a pole position for his team followed by Timo Glock and Fernando Alonso in 2nd and 3rd places respectively. The Marina bay
follows the street like circuit type and is 5.073km long consisting of 23 turns. The circuit directs in an anti-clockwise direction holding a capacity of 110,000 people. Although the track witnessed numerous races in 1960’s and 1970’s, the Marina bay was yet
to witness a championship race until it was finalized in 2007 that the track will witness a Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2008.
However, according to Michael’s performance and statistics this year, it will not be as easy as it looks for the German. Michael is not getting a hang of the car as it was designed to suite Jenson Button’s likings. According to some reports about Schumacher’s
driving this year, it is quite clear that this will be the toughest week for the German but this does not mean that all the odds are against him. After all, he is a 7-time world champion and knows how to handle these sorts of situations more than any other
driver on the grid knows. In addition, the Mercedes driver is used to facing new challenges but there is a difference this time. Firstly, Michael is not in his comfort zone at the moment and is suffering a lot in order to achieve the pace required. Secondly,
this is going to be his first night race, he is not used to driving under floodlights with dark sky above him. The German looks quite confident but deep down, we all know that it is easier said than done in the Formula 1.
“I have always been fond of getting to know new circuits and Singapore will definitely be an exciting adventure”, he said.
The Mercedes driver said that he has three reasons to look forward to this weekend. The first reason is that this will be a new circuit for him, this will be a city race and this will be his first night race ever. Michael loves driving on new tracks and
it has never been too complicating for him as he learns to find the rhythm very quickly. The team Mercedes would like to perform at its best in the coming race and they will give their maximum to deliver a good result.
Team principal Ross Brawn is confident of another good result, as the team has tweaked Michael’s car to cope with the street circuit’s characteristics.
“From our team's perspective, we have some refinements to our existing upgrades for Singapore and the high downforce set-up required for this low-speed street circuit”, Brawn said.
He added that the team has achieved satisfying results with the performance limitations of their car at the past couple of races and the team believes that it will be able to have a strong end to the 2010 season during the final five races. The team has
already started working on Michael’s car for the 2011 season and the team is satisfied with the progress that they are making.
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