Paul Hembery says the teams would devise effective strategies at Marina Bay – Formula 1 news
The motorsport director of Pirelli, Paul Hembery, believes that unusual circumstances at the Marina Bay Street Circuit would force drivers and teams to devise effective strategy to cater to the floodlight race.
The Singaporean Grand Prix is scheduled at night and is conducted on a street circuit with a lot of lights. The circumstances are unusual which would push drivers and the teams to make clever strategies over the circuit. The circuit is also known to have
substantial downforce over the tyres therefore it can be anticipated that the pit stop strategy will play an important role.
Hembery said, “Due to the unusual circumstances in which the race is run, under more than a thousand spotlights, the teams and drivers have to think very hard about strategy - as track conditions and evolution are somewhat different than you would find in
a normal daytime race.”
The history of the circuit is that safety car has been introduced in every race after 2008 until now. He anticipates that safety car will play into role in the upcoming race as well, therefore the strategies should be designed in such a manner that drivers
could avail opportunity, if they find any.
The motorsport director of Pirelli further anticipates that it would not rain during the race as it has always happened and their soft compounds will give impressive performance over the hard track. Besides, he said that last year the race was won by Sebastian
Vettel of Red Bull who had adopted a three pit stop strategy whereas Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished fifth with four pit stops and a drive through penalty as well.
“While the humidity is constantly high, it hasn’t yet rained in any Singapore Grand Prix so this should be the same again this year and we are likely to see the ultimate performance offered by the two softest slick compounds in our Formula One range,” Hembery
said.
He expects that tyre degradation will not be an issue because cars do not achieve substantial high speed however it could only be possible if wheelspin is controlled at corners because it may lead to overheating.
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