Singapore Grand Prix preview
When the concept of night racing was first announced it was met with some scepticism, however now the Singapore night race is as much an exciting fixture on the calendar as Monaco, Monza and Spa.
There has always been something very cool about street circuits, the night-time theme adds to the whole spectacle and atmosphere plus it is based at Marine Bay, which is an architecturally stunning place.
The track itself is a renovation of the original circuit last seen in Formula One in 1973, then good old Herman Tilke stepped in to reinvent it for its eventful 2008 debut.
It’s along the lines of Monaco and has a huge amount of turns, 23 in all. Stand-out features include a tight hairpin on turn nine between Stamford Road and Nicoll Highway as well as the corresponding turn 14 that is symmetrically opposite. Raffles Boulevard is an area where drivers can really get there foot down, and get a glimpse of the famous Raffles Hotel, no time to stop for a Singapore sling though.
Drivers have criticised it for being overly physical and very bumpy, particularly the high kerbs at turns 10 and 13 which are considered as a particular hazard by the drivers.
Of course the thing that everyone remembers Singapore for mainly is the infamous 2008 “crashgate” incident. Nelson Piquet Jnr probably won’t be watching this weekend, he now drives in something called the Nascar Camping World Truck Series.
Of course Fernando Alonso will be there though, fresh from his victory at Monza, and it would be fantastic to see the stewards’ faces if Felipe Massa was to conveniently scuttle into a wall early on allowing the Spaniard to get a leg up in the race. The way the FIA dealt with Ferrari following their team orders dispute though, it would be no surprise to see them give it a go.
As it stands the championship looks to be a five-horse race between Alonso, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel and, with five races left, every place counts.
Australian Webber currently sits aloft the standings but his five-point lead over Hamilton is miniscule when you consider the huge points on offer under this seasons scoring system.
Both Webber and Hamilton have been driving consistently but Red Bull are the better at cornering and much more suited to the tricky turns of Singapore than the McLaren. Vettel hasn’t performed since Spain and would need to pull something special out the bag to get himself back up there.
Button just chugs along but is still very much in contention currently lying in fourth place, while teammate Hamilton has driven superbly this season and you can never rule him out as he chases his second championship.
The form man right now though is Alonso. In his last four races he has picked up a second place and two firsts and has Massa there to form a barrier if needs be.
Elsewhere old man Michael Schumacher is meandering along thinking about retirement while fellow Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg and Renault’s Robert Kubica are going well at the moment.
All eyes will be on the five drivers chasing the title as they battle it out for the vital win. There’s no denying they will have to put in a shift though as this is a tough and demanding circuit.
It also proves that sometimes things are better with the lights off.
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