It’s Singapore, so rain was not unexpected and in the hours before the F1 race started, commentators were saying things like ‘buckets’ and ‘dumped with enough water to sail a small boat’. Due to the heavy rain, the scheduled 8 pm start was delayed for an hour to 9:05 pm. Even though the rain eased about 20 minutes before the start time, at least 24 mm of water had fallen on the track.
Heavy rain notwithstanding, the fans turned up in the biggest number in the 13-year history of the event, with attendance of 302,000 spectators. That was 2,000 more than the first F1 race in 2008 and according to Singapore’s Transport minister, about 50% were from overseas.
After being unable to run in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Singapore F1 Grand Prix is on again this weekend as Round 17 of the 2022 Formula 1 World Championship. Singapore has never had a permanent racing circuit and created one in 2008 for its first ever Formula 1 event. It was also the first ever night race in Formula 1 history, to be followed by Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and more recently, Jeddah. Next year, the Las Vegas GP will also be run at night.
With the cancellation of the Singapore Grand Prix again as the government is uncomfortable having too many foreigners entering the country during this pandemic period, Turkey has again been added to the 2021 Formula 1 calendar. The date of the Turkish Grand Prix will be on October 3, the same weekend originally scheduled for the Singapore Grand Prix.
This will be the second year in a row that the Turkish Grand Prix is being run, last year having been the first time since 2011. The 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, which was to replace the cancelled Canadian GP, was removed in May when strict travel restrictions (imposed by the UK) were expected to make it difficult for teams to travel there from their base in the UK.
Most of F1 community vaccinated
However, things have changed and it is now possible to travel to Turkey and the Formula 1 organisation has decided to use the venue. The organisers have taken many measures to protect the health of those involved and say a significant proportion of the F1 community has been vaccinated already.
The circuit for the Turkish Grand Prix will be the same Intercity Istanbul Park or Istanbul Racing Circuit (or initially, Istanbul Otodrom) in the country’s capital city. The track was opened in 2005 and was another project of Hermann Tilke, who has designed many of the modern F1 circuits around the world.
One of the most challenging circuits
Istanbul Park has often been regarded as one of the most challenging modern circuits in F1. Of the 14 turns, Turn 8 is ‘legendary’ – a fast, high-g 640-metre left-hander with multiple apexes. Though today’s racing cars are better designed to handle the turn compared to 10 years ago, the speed (around 270 km/h) and duration in the turn will still place a lot of loads on the tyres.
“Due to the increased downforce levels, the iconic Turn 8 will be less of a focus than before. It was pretty much flat-out in the 2011 cars, but it will become even less of a challenge in these 2020 machines. So, teams don’t need to compromise the setup so much for it,” said Mercedes-AMG’s Toto Wolff.
Besides Turn 8, there are also other challenges around the 5.338-km long circuit that the drivers will do 58 laps on. It will be tough and technically demanding, with the long back straight that allow DRS to enable overtaking heading into Turn 12. The end of the lap consists of a combination of three low-speed corners where braking stability on entry and traction on exit are important.
Lewis Hamilton passes his team members after taking the chequered flag at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix where his seventh world title was confirmed.
Lewis Hamilton confirmed his 7th title in Istanbul
Last year, when the teams returned to the Istanbul Park circuit, they were familiar with the layout but much of the data from earlier races was somewhat outdated. This year, things will be better with the experience of having run a race last year, which was won by Lewis Hamilton. It was in Istanbul that Hamilton confirmed his 2020 title to make a total of 7 in all.
This weekend sees the first of two rounds at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The first is the Styrian Grand Prix, and the second round to be held one week later will be the Austrian Grand Prix.
After a thrilling French Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing top the championship charts. The Dutch driver is 12 points ahead of Hamilton, whom he beat to the chequered flag at Paul Ricard, while his team is 37 points ahead of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team.
The F1 races in Malaysia and Singapore have always been physically the toughest due to the high temperatures and high humidity. This year, the drivers must also cope with the haze though it does not seem to have been mentioned as much of a problem.
The steel beams underpinning the concrete of the Esplanade Bridge are magnetised and the magnetic fields created are strong enough to interfere with some sensors on the cars. Therefore, teams replace some sensors with special sensors that are less susceptible to interference. In order to prevent the magnetic field impacting the hydraulic valves in the gearbox, they are shielded with what’s called ‘mu metal’ (a special nickel alloy which is effective against magnetic fields) – only used in Singapore.
The first ever F1 race at night was run at the Marina Bay Circuit in 2008. There were concerns about whether the lighting conditions would be good enough to ensure safety, especially on a narrow street circuit. The organisers installed 1,600 lighting projectors around the circuit and no one has ever complained of conditions being unsafe due to inadequate illumination.
Drivers can lose around 3 kgs of weight through sweating over the course of the race, due to the incredibly high temperatures and humidity. Fluid loss is also a factor for team members, so keeping hydrated is crucial. The recommended amount of fluid intake on a hot day ranges from three to five litres.
Drivers change gear about 62 times during one lap of the Singapore circuit, the second most number among current circuits. In the 2018 race, Lewis Hamilton completed 3,100 gear changes and Valtteri 4,140.
The drivers and crews do not change their ‘body clock’ to Singapore time, which means that when the race starts in the evening, it will be like their usual afternoon timing in European events. Therefore they stick to European time and routines, having breakfast at midday and lunch around 6 pm. Dinner times vary depending on the day and workload but are usually from 1 am onwards. The drivers will go to bed around 6 am to get 8 hours of sleep.
Race starts at 8:10 pm Singapore/Malaysia time on Sunday
UPDATE FOR STARTING GRID: Daniel Ricciardo starts from last position due to disqualification for exceeding the MGU-K power limit during qualifying.
Previous Winners Of The Singapore Grand Prix
2008: Fernando Alonso (Renault)
2009: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes)
2010: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2011: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault)
2012: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault)
2013: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault)
2014: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG)
2015: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
2016: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes-AMG)
2017: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG)
2018: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-AMG)
