[Race] 2013 Singapore GP

[ottostreet]

As usual, please add to Frostie's thread when its up! Looking forward to this race, despite the fact I'm working all weekend so can't just relax and watch!

Link to article on FormulaSpy

Next up on the calendar, Formula One stops off for one of the most fearsomely physical Grand Prixs the drivers face. It's hot, it's humid, it's relentless....but at least they don't have to get up early.

Singapore is one of the marathon races, the complete antithesis of what we've grown accustomed to over the last few weeks of racing. From the fast, sweeping bends of Spa, to the long high speed straights of Monza, Marina Bay is a track that just doesn't let the drivers relax, with endless corners, slow chicanes, and vicious kerbing all testing the driver's concentration over a gruelling slog of a race.

Singapore is a draining race just watching on TV, so spare a thought for the drivers, who will sweat litres of fluid out, almost certainly will suffer dehydration during the Grand Prix, as well as keep their cars out of the barriers, which are always perilously close. Add to that, similarly to Monaco, that the corners are never ending, with the longest straight only a handful of seconds in length.

So who can stop Vettel winning under the spotlights on Sunday evening in Singapore? Fernando Alonso certainly has form here, winning twice (let's ignore the circumstances of his 2008 win), and scoring two podiums out of his five outings here already. In fact, Alonso is the only driver to have a Grand Chelem at Singapore, scoring the pole, victory and fastest lap back in 2010. But while he has form, it doesn't appear that his Ferrari has an answer for the leading Red Bull of Vettel. Never strong at Spa or Monza in previous seasons, Vettel dominated both races, and heads to a brace of circuits where he is traditionally very strong, starting this weekend at Spa.

With 7 races remaining, Vettel is almost in a position where he can afford to finish second in every race and still claim the title. Comfortable leads like that are rarely eroded, but Alonso in particular will be hoping for a stroke of fortune in Singapore to help him close the gap, as fortune appears to be the only chance left for a championship challenge. Ferrari have been outpaced for the 4th straight year running by Red Bull, and the frustration of this Groundhog Day situation is telling from Fernando's recent behaviour and comments. Mentally, he must steady the ship and not alienate himself further from the team before the arrival of Raikkonen, a man remembered fondly by the men at Maranello, if not quite so much by his bosses.

Raikkonen himself looks unlikely to challenge again this season. Lotus haven't kept up with the leading pace as well as they did last season, and Kimi's poor run of fortune has put him almost certainly out of contention. A strong challenge looked unlikely prior to the Belgian GP, and with two straight retirements, and Vettel putting an additional 50 points between himself and Kimi, the game is up for 2013. Individual wins are a little more likely, but maybe not here in Singapore, as Lotus don't look particularly comfortable on street circuits. Kimi finished 6th in last year's race and is aiming for a podium this weekend, saying he has 'unfinished business' at Singapore.

Another man with unfinished business is Felipe Massa. Massa appears to have come to the realisation that his axing from Ferrari has essentially freed him from the shackles of pandering to the wishes of the team and Alonso, and should he be able to challenge pace-wise, there is no reason or incentive for him to capitulate in the same manner he did in Monza. After all, if he disobeys orders, what can they do...fire him? Felipe put in a very strong showing under tremendous pressure in Italy, and while it was too late to save his Ferrari job, it isn't too late to save his F1 career. It was at this track in 2008 where Massa's championship destiny that season was decided, and it may be here in 2013 that he convinces Eric Boullier that he is the man to replace Raikkonen at Lotus.

Massa's competitor for the Lotus seat, Nico Hulkenberg, certainly managed to get people to take notice of his intentions to hang around in F1 last time out, but Singapore isn't likely to be kind to the Sauber. Monaco is a representative barometer of what kind of performance to expect from a chassis, and Monaco was a frustrating, solidly midfield showing from the Hinwil crew, and will likely remain the same at Marina Bay. Even if he can't compete with the big boys this time out, all Nico has to do is continue to show up Gutierrez, appear to be doing the best he and Sauber can do, and pray that Felipe Massa sabotages his own race, as he often does.

Lewis Hamilton's 'nearly there' championship challenge became a 'not there at all' championship challenge in Monza, and the reaction from Lewis after the Italian race showed that the Mercedes man had started to believe that he could string a tilt at the title together. With such a catastrophic weekend in Monza, that tilt has now gone, but seeing as it is his first year at a team that haven't been strong since 2009, there won't be any pride lost on Lewis's part, particularly as he is driving at the highest and most consistent level he has since the year of his title defence. Hamilton's qualifying pace this year, as well as Mercedes' form in Monaco, indicates that he should be the strongest challenger to Vettel this weekend. Mercedes' tyre woes appear to be a thing of the past, and despite Hamilton's recent results at Singapore, I predict Lewis to win this weekend's race. Closely followed by Vettel, who will hold Alonso at bay.

My 'Midfield driver to have a great race' selection for this race is...Adrian Sutil. He looked incredible at Monaco earlier this year with some very plucky overtaking, and he has scored points on his last two outings in Singapore. He'll be looking to pack some extra punch this weekend as Paul Di Resta aims to recover from a dire weekend in Monza, and a strong result in Singapore could swing the pendulum at Force India in Adrian's favour.

[Beetle]

Thanks for the intro, ottostreet!

Call me odd but I always look forward to the Singapore GP over any other GP on the F1 calendar. I suppose the night racing past magnificent skyscrapers and opera houses might be the allure for me. Charming city, insane laws.

[andy666]

Thanks, also just been reading that the chicane at turn 10 (Singapore Sling) has been removed . Now it is a single apex left hander , according to the F1 website it will result in lap times around a second quicker .

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by andy666

Thanks, also just been reading that the chicane at turn 10 (Singapore Sling) has been removed . Now it is a single apex left hander , according to the F1 website it will result in lap times around a second quicker .

But that chicane was the Singapore GP...

[ECW Dan Selby]

Yeh, I kinda liked it in a weird way. Was nice seeing the slow-mo shots of the cars launching over all those kerbs!

But still, let's see what the new corner is like. Looks pretty darn fast!

Nice intro dude, but might be worth trying to break it up a bit like Frostie does? Either with pictures, or even just sub-headings.

Selby

[frostie]

It look like I won't be able to get a preview done for this weeks race so if the mods want to update this thread title and make it the race thread? Im not sure which races I'll be able to write a preview for the rest of the year to be honest, I'm going to be working at the MotoGP races this season so that has to take my priority and unfortunately juggling writing with my fulltime job means that its the two wheeled stuff that will be covered. I will however be at the Abu Dhabi GP so I'll be doing a preview for that GP anyway and hopefully one or two others.

What I might try for this weekend is to sort out a track lap of Singapore with some of my photos from last year, I did something similar for Monaco and gave a bit of insight into each corner based on what I saw different drivers doing last year. So hopefully you will enjoy that...and anyway my previews are way too long much better to be able to just talk about the weekend upcoming!

[Marbot]

The new turn 10:







http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109966

[Bononi]

Originally Posted by frostie

It look like I won't be able to get a preview done for this weeks race so if the mods want to update this thread title and make it the race thread? Im not sure which races I'll be able to write a preview for the rest of the year to be honest, I'm going to be working at the MotoGP races this season so that has to take my priority and unfortunately juggling writing with my fulltime job means that its the two wheeled stuff that will be covered. I will however be at the Abu Dhabi GP so I'll be doing a preview for that GP anyway and hopefully one or two others.

What I might try for this weekend is to sort out a track lap of Singapore with some of my photos from last year, I did something similar for Monaco and gave a bit of insight into each corner based on what I saw different drivers doing last year. So hopefully you will enjoy that...and anyway my previews are way too long much better to be able to just talk about the weekend upcoming!

Thanks frostie !

[321Go]

Looks like it will be much easier to identify the Mercedes drivers for this round. Great, hope it stays that way. So hard with both Nico and Lewis having very similar yellow helmets.

[JeremySmith]

The FIA are going to put restrictions on all the helmet changing, which I agree with completely, total waste of money ...

[wnut]

Originally Posted by JeremySmith

The FIA are going to put restrictions on all the helmet changing, which I agree with completely, total waste of money ...

The FIA should mind their own business IMO, this would be just plain abuse of their power! What is the problem?


Interesting to note Massa out qualified Alonso using the B spec car!

http://www.formula1.com/news/technic.../906/1102.html

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by wnut

The FIA should mind their own business IMO, this would be just plain abuse of their power! What is the problem?


Interesting to note Massa out qualified Alonso using the B spec car!

http://www.formula1.com/news/technic.../906/1102.html

I haven't seen specifics yet. What are they going to do?
Require all drivers to register their colour scheme at the beginning of the year and fine them if they depart from it? Insist they can only have one spare helmet change over the calendar year?
Ludicrous.

[321Go]

FIA to put restrictions on helmet design changes??? Ok.

Drivers change their helmet designs for Monaco, and some drivers change helmets for their home race. So I really can't see it being an "FIA" regulation.


Back to Singapore... will Kimi get behind the wheel today? Some talk he may withdraw from the race. If so, who will jump in the Lotus seat? Think it's a bit too late to organise a spare driver now.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Thank you for the intro ottostreet.

If a driver wants to change their helmet color scheme, that's surely up to them.

Anyway, I hope this is a good race and it looks like it has the ingredients for one, as the last two were somewhat disappointing,

[bjohnsonsmith]

Nico initially got the jump on Vettel but ran a tad wide before turn two. Good start by Alonso, up to third.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Daniel Ricciardo into the wall and a FCY. A little excitement to what has been a dull affair.

[Rgms320]

Looks like it's going to hit the 2 hour cutoff.

[canamman]

Lap -54 Go Kimi!

[Rgms320]

Webber passing Kimi? Uhh.... no.

[Rgms320]

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Rgms320

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats again to Vettel on winning what was a very dull race until the last 7 or so laps. Great drive by Kimi, 13th to 3rd.

[Rgms320]

"Fernando, we said to pick up rubber. Rubber! RUBBER!!!!"

[Born Racer]

Congrats to Vettel.

Silence for the football fans that stand below the podium (I'm not going to bother booing them).

Regarding the request for Hulkenberg to move over for Perez, this should only be acceptable if now he is not in charge of driving off the circuit to "avoid an accident". If the kerb is going to be considered the edge of the circuit, why not actually stick a wall there, furthermore?

[chunterer]

Would have been great race if it was Vettel in the wall and not Dan

Seriously though that was tedious. I find it utterly inexplicable that drivers are ordered to keep 2 seconds of the back of a car in front to preserve tyres, engines, brakes and all sorts.

Loved Webber's post race dismissive remarks about the whole situation.

Agree with Born Racer, what on earth was that Hulk penal about, do not understand that all, and loved his car to pit disbelief!!